it was rush hour, we were on the other side of beverly hills

and the Waze said 17 minutes.

17 minutes i told him.

he says i’ll give you $20 if you can get there in 11 minutes.

so i peeled out and said, hold on on bro

the problem with trying to get from one side of beverly hills to the grove is theres no easy way.

theres so many ways the traffic flow blocks you.

just getting to La Cienega is rough. mostly because of 3rd Street.

and of course all the olds who drive their cars so gingerly and cautious

as if theyd never taken the route before. JUST GO ALREADY you say at every stop sign.

but once you make the Uturn on La Cienega to get through the neighborhoods that amber once lived in you

oh crap, i have 2 minutes to get through the neighborhood? i’ll never make it

so i got on 3rd street and its jammed and because its not yet 7pm i couldnt turn left anywhere

so i try and try and at one point theres something very dangerous i could do

or i could wait like a a patient, responsible man

btw the passenger in the back was enjoying my trip

he had one hand on his phone, doing business deals (which were fascinating)

and one hand on the handle of the roof.

so of course i try the super dangerous thing!

but a truck turned the corner and stifled my move.

good try the guy said, adding, thats some weird puerto rican cabbie shit right there.

after the truck passed i went for the danger again

because who cares about life limb and cops

and we sped through the alley behind the sandwich shop and went the wrong way through

the farmers daughter

and boom, the grove.

still on the phone the dude pulled out his wallet and even though i didnt make it in time

he still gave me the $20 because i tried my hardest.

when he got out and shut the door i drove off

and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed

because that was so fun.

Remember when Virginia Postrel was an interesting, big time blogger? Have you noticed she has sorta fallen off the radar. Today she popped her head up in this contradictory and surprisingly unfair op-ed in the New York Post.

In her piece she pats herself on the back for being “a good tipper” but then says will not be tipping her Uber drivers and suggests to her readers to follow her lead. She goes further by saying she will save that money for her hotel maid.

Unlike maids, Uber drivers pay for their own car, gas, insurance, and maintenance and drive at the whim of the company who can raise and lower the rates whenever they please (typically the company lowers the fares).

Unlike hotels, Uber can flood the market with as many competitive cars as they wish making it tougher for drivers to pay for those cars/gas/repairs, etc. And unlike maids drivers have to deal with your ungrateful bs on the daily while in traffic often while you’re drunk/buzzed/irritated.