So I had a job interview yesterday. It’s civil service, so I have absolutely no clue how well or how poorly I did. I think it wasn’t a complete disaster but there was, by obvious intent, no feedback whatsoever.
The position is ethically challenging, but I face impending calamity, Sword of Damocles style, with so-called rideshare driving, as 1) these companies are not financially viable[1] and I will be flat on my ass when they go belly up, 2) the business of picking up strangers and giving them rides is inherently hazardous,[2] 3) driving on Pittsburgh roads, where what’s routine here would be considered reckless where I come from, places both myself and my car at considerable risk,[3] 4) the condition of those roads places my car at additional risk, and 5) anybody who thinks they’re doing well driving for Uber or Lyft is not accounting for their costs properly, which is to say that when any of one through four occur, I will be ill-prepared for the financial consequences.
Driving for Uber or Lyft in Pittsburgh has to rank among the stupidest things one can do and I have only done it because I have had no choice.[4] So here, potentially, ethically challenging or not, there may be a choice. I have to take the job if it is offered. I would not be proud of doing so.
I have long wondered about overturns, accidents where vehicles are overturned. After my job interview, I returned to Uber driving and was transporting some passengers, thinking nothing in particular on a four-lane road (that’s two lanes in each direction), when a van (car #1) heading the opposite direction overturned rather spectacularly.
I was in the right lane; there were two cars stopped in the left lane and I saw that the front (car #2) of those cars had damage to its front left, presumably where it had impacted car #1. The car (car #3) in back of that one was pretty close in back.
The rest of this is conjecture. I think it is what happened, but I cannot be sure. I think car #2 was stopped to do a left turn and was rear-ended by car #3, pushing it (car #2) into the opposing lane of traffic, where it impacted car #1. I have no idea at what speed.
My impression now, however, is that it just really doesn’t take all that much to produce an overturn.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, I spoke of the risk of collisions, saying that a collision was inevitable: Even if you are perfect, you’re sharing the road with a lot of imperfect drivers. That’s certainly no less true here in Pittsburgh. This was the second collision I’d driven by that day. And it was still early.
As I said, driving for Uber or Lyft in Pittsburgh is just fucking stupid.
Pardon my Schadenfreude. Confirming William Cohan’s expectation,[5] “the judge [Kathaleen McCormick] left the door open to compelling [Elon] Musk to complete his purchase, by hinting the case might require more than a $1 billion breakup fee to resolve. . . . Twitter’s lawyer argued that Musk had breached the deal, which, if the court agrees, allows the company to recoup more than the $1 billion breakup fee in damages, according to [Adam] Badawi.” The trial is set for October, not September as Twitter had requested, but a lot closer to that date than to February as Musk had requested.[6]
Elizabeth Dwoskin and Gerrit De Vynck, “Judge grants Elon Musk an October court date, in early win for Twitter,” Washington Post, July 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/19/twitter-elon-musk-trial/
Gilead
Donald Trump
Coup attempt
Secret Service agents, many of whom protect the president, vice president and other senior government leaders, were instructed to upload any old text messages involving government business to an internal agency drive before the reset, the senior official said, but many agents appear not to have done so.[7]
Carol D. Leonnig and Maria Sacchetti, “Secret Service cannot recover texts; no new details for Jan. 6 committee,” Washington Post, July 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/19/secret-service-texts/
Abortion
Laura Weiss, “After Roe’s Repeal, CVS Told Pharmacists to Withhold Certain Prescriptions,” New Republic, July 20, 2022, https://newrepublic.com/article/167087/roe-cvs-methotrexate-abortion-pills
Fossil fuels
Northeast (especially Pittsburgh)
Ryan Deto, “Allegheny County Council overrides Fitzgerald’s veto, bans new fracking in county parks,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 19, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/allegheny-county-council-overrides-fitzgeralds-veto-bans-new-fracking-in-county-parks/
- [1]David Benfell, “This is not a business plan,” Not Housebroken, May 29, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/06/20/this-is-not-a-business-plan/↩
- [2]David Benfell, “The vulnerability of Uber and Lyft driving,” Not Housebroken, February 18, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/02/18/the-vulnerability-of-uber-and-lyft-driving/; David Benfell, “Gaslighting Uber drivers on safety,” Not Housebroken, June 23, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/04/28/gaslighting-uber-drivers-on-safety/↩
- [3]David Benfell, “Pittsburgh driving culture,” Irregular Bullshit, n.d., https://disunitedstates.com/pittsburgh/pittsburgh-driving-for-the-uninitiated/pittsburgh-driving-culture/↩
- [4]David Benfell, “About my job hunt,” Not Housebroken, n.d., https://disunitedstates.org/about-my-job-hunt/↩
- [5]William D. Cohan, “The Case Against Elon,” Puck News, July 17, 2022, https://puck.news/the-case-against-elon/↩
- [6]Elizabeth Dwoskin and Gerrit De Vynck, “Judge grants Elon Musk an October court date, in early win for Twitter,” Washington Post, July 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/19/twitter-elon-musk-trial/↩
- [7]Carol D. Leonnig and Maria Sacchetti, “Secret Service cannot recover texts; no new details for Jan. 6 committee,” Washington Post, July 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/19/secret-service-texts/↩