A few days late announcement

 Well, as of a few days ago, back on Monday, I quit the plant. I took the huge, scary, and I have no idea how I'm going to make it step of walking out on faith and quitting. I quit a job which I liked, which had good pay and benefits. I quit a job which also had an awful lot of toxic shit going on the last six months or so, and I don't regret that. I'm a bit scared about how well I'll be able to support myself and the zoo, and keep all the bills paid now, because right now, my only source of income is driving my 21-year-old car into the ground doing door dash.

I don't mind DD. It's good money, if you do it right. But I can't deny that I'm absolutely shitting my pants terrified that I made a huge mistake and it's all going to come crashing down around me pretty darned quick. I'm doing as many hours as I can bear to right now while decompressing from the shit at the plant, and barely making enough to cover bills. It's going to be a bit tight here for a bit.

Thankfully, I have a few good limit credit cards and I've set all the bills to go on those. So my priorities for earning are rent, groceries, and paying on those two cards so the current balances go down and don't accumulate from whatever is going on either one. It's going to be a damn scary ride for a while, especially since winter is going to be here soon and I live in an area with a LOT of hills. This means I've got to get myself moving towards daylight dashing ONLY to avoid driving at night when roads are going to be worse and I won't be able to see where I'm going as well. I'm working on that a bit at a time - about half an hour earlier every other day right now. So by the time snow and ice hit, I should be doing breakfast, lunch, and most of dinner, and getting home right around dark. I really need to do this also because I'm in my mid-50s and really don't have the kind of night vision I used to have even ten years ago - add in astigmatism and my night vision is a bit rough. So the earlier I can get up and rolling and do 8 or 10 or 12 hours dashing to make money, the better.

This will also give me a chance on weekends to get groceries after "work" and get home before things get nuts. The only really huge downsides are the wear and tear on my car (poor baby) and knowing that if I don't dash, I don't get paid. The shop isn't doing a darn thing lately and I'm plowing away at adding products and advertising on my fakebook groups (because that's free advertising and I'm honestly too broke even before this to pay for ads - plus another thing that comes from a few years ago where FB and I are fighting over it that keeps me from running ads).

The upside however, is that I get somewhat more time to work on the shop instead of being too exhausted from slinging chickens all the time. Trust me, all that driving isn't nearly as bad as hauling my butt around in the plant. THAT was getting really rough on me, even more than this worrisome business is doing. I've got the hustle in my bustle, and I'm putting it to good use. Plus, if this winter gets too bad, while I wouldn't make anything dashing, if it's too awful to be out anyhow and everything including the plant would be closed anyhow (thus still not making any money), I don't have to worry about calling out of work and getting a point against me for missing work. I just don't make money when that happens. THAT I can handle. No money being made is one thing, but damn all, getting punished for being safe, when the company itself swears on a stack of Bibles that "safety for our teaam members is our number one priority!", that just wears on ya after a while.

And that while has come and gone. Last week was a nightmare. I got yelled at for something I wasn't even doing, and then when I made an extremely reasonable request, I got a snotty attitude from the same supervisor that yelled at me. So next day, I talk to the department head about it all, and get laughed at. Not told "thanks for not saying that rude thing you wanted to say and I will talk to Rude Supervisor about his behavior." Nope. Just laughed at. I took the next day off to start job hunting and getting DD set up, and off I went. 

If UberEats and GrubHub worked around here, I'd do those too. I am going to get Walmart Spark and Instacart set up tonight after a shower. Instacart only works for Aldi's around here, but just like WM Spark, if the money is good enough for what I gotta do, I'm game. Money is money, after all. And because everything here closes no later than 11pm, even if I stay out late-late to dash or whatever, and hate the night driving (thank goodness for Google Maps, because the DD app does NOT always do good directions, and half the time doesn't tell you voice directions)...I'll do what it takes to make some dough, dudes and dudettes. Ending by 9 at the latest means I still have time for TV and working on the shop. Might not get much done, but something is better than nothing, after all.

I've three more days to dash in this "work" week (DD pay goes Monday through Sunday, with payout sent on Monday - usually clears no later than Wednesday), and right now, I only need $306 to equal my take home from the plant for an average week. Tomorrow, Friday, bumps my start time back to 4pm and ends me at 10pm unless it's hopping and then I'll run till 11pm. If, as it has done the last couple days, things die off around 10pm other than LONG dashes for next to no money, I'll put in the time and make the money, and quit before it's too darned late. I've got a plan and I'm working the heck out of it. Besides, the later dashes are usually long and difficult to find. I'm a little tired of THAT already. 

I will admit I'm one of "those" dashers that goes with no tip, no trip. Sorry, but if you are too lazy to get up off your butt and go get the food yourself, especially when you know your place is hard to find, you need to tip a few bucks to get that food delivered. Sorry, but the person today who wanted me to make a 10 mile round trip for $2.77, nope, I did not accept your order, and I hope nobody else was desperate enough to take it either. That's at least worth $5 for the trip.

Sorry if my typing is weird right now. The pooch mcgooch decided I needed "puppy face wash" and half climbed on me to give me a face full of slobbery kisses. In doing so, she slobbered my glasses and so I have to go clean them. I wanted to finish this first, though. Good thing I need a shower anyhow!

Be safe, all!