MrPhibb

Would you?

I will, depending on the price and if'n I think I can make enough to justify it. I think the companies typical do it to weed out the trouble. Just look at what's apparently going on with Spark, apparently they're having theft progblems with contractors who's info can't be confirmed. Yep, no charge background check, but nothing to stop you from lying on your application.

With Dispatch when I first joined, it was $30 or $35, don't remember, and I figured that was a small investment. Frayt wanted... $40 I think it was, that or $45, and I was a little hesitant but took a shot at it. They didn't like the registration paperwork, so although I paid for the background check, I got nothing for it, so I'm a little salty about that. Now I have GoShare, and I'm not sure I'll move forward, as background checks are $49 or $154, the latter for New York state if'n you've lived, worked or gotten a citation there, ostensibly because of a tax on background checks. That must be one heck of a tax to more than triple the price. I grew up there, though I moved in grade school, so does that mean I have to pay $154? Yeah, how about no, anything over $50 is just not worth the investment, especially when I expect the app to be one of my fallback apps at best.

So, as I keep trying new apps despite being pretty happy with Better Trucks, I figured I'd give you the latest.

Stuff I don't really do GoMo, Courial, no work available on these, not quite sure what they are, some manner of on demand work I think Veho, last mile delivery, no work here, not even sure they're operating in STL, a YouTube video showed a map of their warehouses, and STL wasn't on it, but at the same time, they're onboarding drivers here GoShare, Frayt, on demand I think, haven't tried it, they want me to pay for a background check, paid for the one with Frayt, but my paperwork wasn't in order, so they didn't bother with it, but did keep the money. CDS, Complete Delivery Service, on demand pharmacy deliveries, not much and too far or at a time that doesn't fit my schedule. I think they kicked me to the curb, but not sure about that. OneRail, on demand delivery, total train wreck, been trying to hook up with them for months, first application got ignored, second got a scheduled interview almost 1½ months later only to get stood up, waiting on a third try.

Stuff I'm doing Skipcart, on demand work, done a couple for a client that uses every service, seems to pay a bit less for it than anyone else when they actually have anything Roadie, my old standby, lots of garbage on their, but there is the occasional gem, especially the CVS deliveries they have now UberEats, another regular standby, has mostly hot garbage, but once again, there are gems in there if'n you can be patient. Dispatch, package delivery, mostly industrial stuff, has very little in STL for cars, does pay good, so long as you're near the pickup Amazon Flex, yep, I gave it another shot, last week was much better with surge routes well ahead of time, this week... Same old crap, base pay, nothing else Better Trucks, my bread and butter, useless as a second job since the main shift is 9AM load time, pay route and route length are a bit vague, but I've been averaging $25/hr most routes.

And that's where we are, always looking for new stuff, so I'm likely to either update on some of these apps, or add something else to my selection.

Can't write a review worth a damn, but figured I'd point out this story for anyone looking for something interesting to read.

So, a few things to explain, My Little Pony (MLP) was a cartoon about magical coloured ponies, MLP: Equestria Girls was a tween spin-off that introduced the character of Sunset Shimmer who passed through a magic mirror to a world of humanoids in a high school setting where we saw alternate versions of many characters from the original MLP.

So, I decided to give this a try thanks to a different story, Sunset's Isekai. I prolly don't need to explain what that one is, I mean it's such a sci-fi trope, but just in case, it's a time and dimension traveling bar run by a version of Sunset Shimmer. I was already aware of the story, but had figured it'd be MLP:EG in space, or ponies have a first contact or start their own space program, none of which particularly interested me. SI introduces us to this version of Sunset, field promoted Captain Sunset Shimmer of the USS Phoenix, and an overview of her life and current situation, all of which sounded like a well done Star Trek story, so I decided to read it.

At nearly half a million words and three seasons, there's a lot to catch up on, but it's worth it. Thanks to a 'magic' mirror, Sunset winds up at Starfleet Academy at 11 years old, and is obviously terrified to be surrounded by aliens, none of whom speak proper Equish.

Once she gets calmed down, and a medical examination, her life begins. Adopted by two teachers at the academy, she grows up on Earth, joins Starfleet because how else will she find home?

Six months into her life, she's joined by another pony that got sucked into the mirror, who will also join Starfleet.

Sunset winds up serving on the Enterprise, but thankfully the author doesn't insert her into the episodes we know, most times she has little to do with them and often times has know idea what occurred, after all she's just another ensign there, albeit a brightly coloured unicorn. The only change she makes to Star Trek is that she delays the warp core explosion long enough that the saucer section never crashes.

Beyond that, she dies, comes back to life (like that's never happened in Star Trek), becomes the XO on the Phoenix and takes part in the Dominion War, and eventually gets home.

The story is still going on, but the Phoenix, last surviving member of it's fleet, is limping home, limited to warp 4, barely any shields or phasers, a journey expected to take a year.

——————— Overall, it's a good read. Sure, fan fic, so it won't hold up like a professionally written story, but it is a very well done story. The author doesn't fall into traps like making the pony characters a huge part of canon, they don't replace anyone, and they don't save the galaxy. They do add an extra wrinkle to the dominion war, one you might be able to guess. Familiarity with MLP isn't necessary, the author explains most of what you need to know either in the story, or the author notes at the end of every chapter.

Ok, maybe not, but how has your day been? Or your week? Mine's been a bit odd, or in other words, good, which for STL app based courier work, is odd.

A little background first, I'm semi-retired, holding a job has always been hard for me, and with my husband making about $2100/mo net, it's not like I need to bring in much, most is just so we can live rather than survive. So, my weekly goal is $300, though I do often manage something around $400, mostly because of BetterTrucks being $100 to $120 a day.

So, this week has been interesting, it started with Amazon Flex on Monday. Yeah, I said I wasn't doing that any more, but out of boredom I decided to download the app again and see if'n it still sucks. Imagine my surprise last week when there were not only tons of offers, but many paid above base. In the past, you only got surge 30 to 45 minutes before the block, 0400 or so, and only at the station 30 minutes from here, but on Sat morning, I grabbed a 3hr block for $105, Monday at 0745. Still a little early, meant dealing with rush hour, but not terrible... Got there, got checked, waited 45 minutes because I arrived early, and... no route available, so I got paid for showing up, Headed home, stopped for breakfast, and scored a couple good paying CVS. $128 made.

Tue, BT was overloaded as usual, and it's not even the busy season. Two blocks, another $216, $344 for the week.

Wed, BT, usual one block, another $100, ditto for þurs, so $544 for the week

And then it's Fri. I'm not sure what I've made so far, waiting for UberEats tips to finalize, but that's not what's important about today, today has been weird. An unwanted Home Depot delivery 16 miles away that paid $30, and brought me about 7 or so miles back towards home. Another $15 for a short Sherwin Williams run when I was rolling up on a major accident (closed the highway, was still closed 3 hours later), just before they decided to redirect all traffic onto the ramp I needed. Got that done and found a $10 CVS order around 6 miles west going about 2 or 3 miles south. Went to a QT to get a drink, and picked up an order from the other end of the plaza going about 6 miles south of my house. Dropped that, hung out in my usual abandoned restaurant parking lot... And scored an order from the restaurant next door going 4 miles down the street.

And, today is done... Maybe, prolly, depends on it I get another ridiculous order, whether around the corner, pays silly good money or both.

So, for those of you out there moving packages, food, people or vehicles as a contractor, how's things going?