Perfume – Patrick Suskind
1984 – Orwell
Galapagos – Vonnegut
Slaughterhouse Five – Vonnegut
The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald

On a side note, I managed a proper ride for fun today, without a bag on my back. I destroyed my friends and it felt lush to be riding a lightning fast carbon road bike for a change. I’ll miss the fitness element for sure.

Pay is on a Monday, every two weeks. For some reason they pay you at around 5pm. Very odd

Chino’s vocals can be a little erratic. Still love the Weezer cover though.

25%! Blimey, I was lucky if I got 10% of people tipping. Agreed on the rapid expansion. According to the ‘Roo group chat there are now 900 riders on the books in Bristol. The Brighton riders threatened to stop working if Deliveroo kept hiring. There was a story on road.cc.

I paint a grim picture but that’s the worst of it. It can be fun and it’s great for your fitness. It can be irritating and it’s certainly not for everyone. I enjoyed it on the whole, it was a welcome respite from years at a desk but I was in a privileged position with some backup money from severance and skills to get cushier office jobs easily.

Most food is fine though spillages happen, usually if the restaurant don’t seal the tops properly or well enough. Most of them are quite good though. My bag stank of Ramen soup for a few weeks after a Wagamama box emptied itself. Pizza, you’re never quite sure about. There is a nack to make it slightly better.

The rates of pay have been messed with several times. It used to be a standard hourly rate + £1 per drop and some people were happy with that. Others prefer the drop rate but it’s pretty risky due to unexpected quiet days. There are some ‘guaranteed’ times where you’ll get paid for at least 2 or 2.5 drops per hour. When this was first introduced it killed the number of orders for each person stone dead so you had a lot of people getting paid approx min wage for sitting about doing nothing. They’ve scaled that project back to just peak times now where you’re usually busy enough for it not to matter. They also guarantee drops per hour when the system crashes, which is a lot! If you don’t have the address of the customer (sometimes it’s stapled on the order, sometimes it’s not) then you might get to keep the food. I’ve always managed to deliver it as I wanted the money and I know I’d be peeved if I were the customer. I never had much luck on the free food front though it’s quite often shared amongst the riders at certain popular meeting points if there’s enough on offer. Usually that’s because the customer isn’t at home or answering their phone.

Not sure if there’s a limit as such for deliveries through there is a zone for where people can order from. The customer side app doesn’t (it at least when I checked) give you the distance from your home to the restaurant so you sometimes end up carrying for across the city when there’s an equivalent place just around the corner from them. The worst average per drop I had was over 6km. That was a bad night.

If you work the evenings then I rarely easier more than 5min for a ping. I guess this will depend a lot on your location though. Day times I’ve had one ping in 2hrs before.

Riders keep 100% of online tips. Cash tips are better, mostly just because it makes you feel better when you see someone appreciates you a bit. That and you can buy beer with it. You can see your completed orders and if people have tipped online via the app after you’ve made the drop.

The above is an honest appraisal. It’s not all bad, sometimes it’s great, others it’s miserable. You have to be somewhat more hardened than me (someone who’s had cushy office jobs for years) to make it work as a full time job. I’m a bit too soft, haha. It doesn’t help that the company have a very aggressive recruitment policy so there are around 800 riders in Bristol alone. There is a high turnaround of people but and most are part time but that’s a lot of riders for a fairly small city so without the relative increase in orders it means less work and less pay. A lot of the guys I’ve met are really sound though, diverse, interesting and friendly. There’s the occasional rider you think may not last the night if they ride like that but for the most part they’re swift and safe.

I’ll keep doing it as a part time side gig as a few hours on a Sunday will pay for some shiny new things/save for holidays.

Yes, did it between Dec and last week (just found a new, more stable job) as a stop gap after severance from my last job.

The kit costs you a deposit of £150. This includes the bag, waterproofs, some tee-shirts, battery pack, helmet and lights if you need them. This is taken from your pay packets, no more than 50% of your pay. It’s refundable on return of the kit. You don’t have to wear the uniform. They’ll tell you that you do, this is incorrect. As you’re self-employed you’re not obliged. You can even use your own bag if it fits their specific details. If you work a lot, your bag will break pretty quickly. The zip on mine is fubar already and I use a bungey cord to keep it shut. This is actually quicker than using the zip so I was in rush to replace it.

You’ll be sent the Driveroo app, which you simply log in to to confirm that you’re available for orders and log back out of to finish. You can work any time between 11.30am-11.30pm Mon-Fri and 9.30am-11.30pm Sat-Sun. You’ll get a ping telling you to go to a restaurant and a map and directions on how to get there. Within a few weeks you’ll know the vast majority of them. The system is entirely automated and pretty flawed. There’s a lag in GPS data so if you leave one area and you get a ping, you’ll likely be getting called back to the place you’ve just left. Sometimes you’ll be called miles across town, which makes no sense at all. If you’re busy, it’s better to ignore these pings (you can’t decline it, you have to wait three minutes and then it’ll say you didn’t accept it in time) as you don’t want to waste 15min going across town for a pick up. Once you’ve accepted the ping, go to the restaurant. The allotted time to get there (and to the customers) is based on the google map estimate, which is pretty generous. Collect the food, stick it in your bag then swipe the app to say you’ve got it, ride to the customer and say you’ve delivered it then it’s done and you’re ready for more orders.

It’s ok as a side gig but as a full time job it’s tough. How tough depends on where you live. Some places are on hourly rates with a rate per drop, others, including where I live (Bristol) are drop rate only (£3.75 per drop Mon-Thu, £4.25 Fri-Sun, £6.50 Sat-Sun 9.30-11.30am). There are some guaranteed fees (2 or 2.5 drops per hour) but these are only when you’re likely to make more than that.

Bristol is chuffing hilly so it’s hard. There are a lot of rivers, which sucks, especially if half of the bridges are closed.

You’ll want to ride a crappy bike as well as you don’t want to leave anything nice outside a restaurant. If you do, you have to lock it securely every time and that eats into your time more than you’d think. Riding a heavy bike up hills with a bag that weighs about 4-5kg with just your basic multi-tool, tube, pump, food (you cane your way through calories!) and d-lock in is hard, doing it with three buckets of KFC and the assorted beverages is pretty crap.

How much money you’ll make is up to a variety of things, mostly luck and timing. Anti-social hours, between 6pm and 10pm are peak hours all week, Sundays are often the busiest times. In these times the drop rate means you can earn, if you’ve got good legs, between £12-18ph. On a sunny Tuesday lunchtime you’re more likely to earn £3.75ph. Good weather means more riders, fewer orders. Rain means more orders, fewer riders but ridiculously long drops. Both of those situations suck. The hardcore, full time riders will work 9-12hrs a day. I couldn’t be arsed to sit around in the cold and wet all day so worked split shifts, lunchtime and dinner time when it was busier.

Very few people tip. If you cart food from a kitchen to a table then you’re entitled to 10% of the bill, cart it halfway across a major city then you deserve little more than a comment about how much it must suck to do that in the rain.

If you deliver pizza, get ready to scarper before the customer realises the state it’s in.

Poorly organised restaurants will be the bane of your life, and there are a lot of those. They’re meant to have the food ready for your arrival a lot of them aren’t. “It’ll be a few minutes” can really mean it’ll be half an hour. Top tip, if you’re waiting more than 10min you can call rider support and get unassigned. Some restaurants will provide you with boxes that are far too big to put in your bag and refuse to do anything about it.

Customers can be great. They can give you precise addresses, visual tips to find their homes/businesses and give you cash tips when you get there. Soemtimes you’ll be given a completely wrong map, an incomplete address and no idea of where you’re supposed to go. The best customers are the ones who will order from a restaurant that’s virtually next door. They will apologise profusely for being lazy but if every order were as great as that you’d be minted.

To sum it up. It’s a mixed bag, mostly based on the luck of the orders, location and weather. If you do it full time, expect to get very bored, cold and wet for long periods. You’ll get super-fit and get paid for it. I was riding between 25-60km a day. A long day and you could do 100+km easy. Doesn’t sound like a huge amount but imagine doing it with a massive, heavy windbreak on your back. Best as a side gig or part time, student type job. I’ll keep my bag and head out on the evening or weekend for some extra pocket money.

Just sounds to me like she has an excellently dry sense of humour.

I find it hilarious when my girlfriend farts. Less so when I do because mine smell horrendous.

The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin’
That’s what I said
The looser the waistband, the deeper the quicksand
Or, so I’ve read.
My baby fits me like a flesh tuxedo
I love to sink her with my pink torpedo.

Big bottom
Big bottom
Talk about bum cakes
My gal’s got ’em.
Big bottom
Drive me out of my mind.
How can I leave this behind?

I saw her on Monday, twas my lucky bun day
You know what I mean.
I love her each weekday, each velvety cheek day
You know what I mean.
My love gun’s loaded and she’s in my sights
Big game’s waiting there inside her tights.

Big bottom
Big bottom
Talk about mud flaps
My gal’s got ’em.
Big bottom
Drive me out of my mind.
How can I leave this behind?

Lateralus – Tool
Everyone into Position – Oceansize
A Future Lived in a Past Tense – Juno
Far Beyond Driven – Pantera
cLOUDDEAD – cLOUDDEAD.

Though I’d probably choose a decent hip-hop album if I were actually stuck on a real desert island. Maybe some nice, late night house or techno shenanigans.

An eyeline check only as I don’t have an alignment tool

Hanger alignment seems ok,cable clamped in the right place as well :?

I found I had the rear outer loop from frame to mech too short and it was affecting how the mech moved when I had shifting issues on a new setup.

The rear outer loop is firmly in the mid-length range.

I read the title completely differently then this…

Whatever I do, however hard I try, the rear shitting

Many a tricky dump has been navigated in the past :oops:

Brewed just round the corner from me. Lovely stuff, particularly the Oz Bomb.

Left/right, or liberal/conservative needs to be broken down into two parts, socially and economically. As I get older I’m increasingly socially liberal and I understand some of the merits of capitalism, though I still think it’s a done all wrong for the most part. A bit further left and right from a pretty left wing baseline.

Just send back two words; “my apologies”. You’re both apologising and winding her up at the same time. :twisted:

I’ve used one (a fairly old 600 lumen) off road, combined with a very old Joystick helmet mount, without dying. Can’t say I notice beam pattern much to be honest, there’s plenty enough light to ride with so that’s all I need to care about.

Never had any urge to remove a quicklink at the trailside tbh

This. Why would you need to remove one on the trail side?

Until recently I was a ‘Business Support Officer’, which is a long way of saying Admin.

Joost was one of the, if not the best player I’ve ever watched. Always enjoyed seeing him play. Sad to see him go so early. :cry:

Hearing Pulp’s Common People takes me back to a moment a few years ago when I was listening to it on my headphones on the way to work. I was working for major highstreet bank earning decent money and generally enjoying my life. However I couldn’t help but notice those less fortunate than myself, huddled in doorways, only a soggy sleeping bag for protection from the savage elements of a London winter. After stopping to chat with some of the homeless guys I passed every day I realised that they’re just people, like you or me. I resolved to do something about the problem. Two years later and I’m currently running my own business designing and installing homeless spikes to stop these filthy wasters taking up valuable public space and cluttering the entrances of upmarket apartment complexes. I thank Pulp for helping me understand that it’s important to be an instrument for positive change.

Father John Misty on 6Music currently trying to out-dreary all of the above suggestions. Blimey it’s so dull.

Cheers guys, much appreciated.

I went a few years ago and loved it. Base yourself in San Ignacio for a week and there’s loads of amazing tours. Actun Tunichil Muknal was incredible, as was Caracol. You’ll have to go on tours as the Belizeans are very hot on conservation and have basically left the sites inaccessible without a good guide. Tours are small though (max about eight people) and the guides are great. It’s all good value for money and you can haggle down prices if you book a load at once.

I also went to Caye Caulker, which is a tiny island off the coast. Amazing for snorkelling, scuba and manatee spotting. They have the world’s second largest barrier reef nearby. It’s a bit touristy though.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g291969-d300696-Reviews-Actun_Tunichil_Muknal-Cayo.html

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g291969-d300157-Reviews-Caracol_Mayan_Ruins-Cayo.html

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/belize/the-northern-cayes/caye-caulker

I don’t get the hate for MAH. The Breezeblock entertained me for many an insomnia riddled night and she does a lot to promote great underground artists and genres. She also loves the Deftones and plays them on daytime radio at any opportunity so that’s a big win in my book.

LaLa doesn’t half waffle some nonsense, especially when she’s speaking to/reading stuff from the public. She’s got decent taste though.

unless she went to St. Brendan’s High School

So you’re a Wellsway kid then

We’ve got: Romanian, French, unidentified Eastern European, white British, Afro-Caribbean and some bonus crusties in caravans on our street. The joys of East Central Bristol. For the most part, everyone gets along.

After six months off your normally comfy Charge Spoon becomes a medium of torture. :evil:

that is mint, ring the local rag they love that sorta of stuff…

as it gives space for the local loonies to rant about red light jumpers, pavement cyclists massacring grannies and not paying road tax.

Ftfy

Last time I was in the States my friends to me to a Hooters. There was a child’s birthday going on. Very odd place.

Moto G4 is pretty good. I had a One Plus 1 before and that was better. The Cyanogen mod android is great.

Kyero.com has lots in Spain.

You know there’s plenty of outside to run in and it won’t cost you a penny.

Had a few of these the other night, very tasty.