Autism and Employment (another PennSilverTaco thread)!

Typical shortsighted thinking on the business part..the same kind that almost wants the higher paid people to leave so they can replace them cheaper.

On paper maybe saves a few bucks but in reality doesn't work out that way. Usually ends with management wringing their hands over the knowledge lost.

 

I don’t know how my friend Doug still turns a profit, but the fact that he drives a 2011 Nissan Altima probably has something to do with it. His car has a V6, but I guarantee you he still gets better mileage in that car than I do in my truck!

 

Yet another way that I believe DoorDash is purging drivers who actually want to earn a living, is by using background checks to dredge up traffic violations from years ago.

I zoned out behind the wheel in the late night hours of January 2nd, 2019; I essentially treated a red light like a stop sign. I didn’t blatantly blow through the red light, but rather sat there for three seconds and looked both way. There was nobody else on the road, except a sheriff’s deputy who was coming from my left.

Deputy Dickhead had the authority to pull me over and detain me, but not to write a ticket. He made me wait for a good 20 minutes until a regular cop, the embellished the truth to the cop and made seem as though I was some hoonigan who blatantly ran a red light.

The cop wrote me a $140 ticket and tried to intimidate me into not showing up to fight the ticket; I know a good lawyer, who I called the next day. The debacle was dealt with, and I didn’t get any points on my license…

This didn’t show on my PennDOT driving record, nor did my insurance company find out about it. This incident occurred in January 2019, I started doing DoorDash in either June or July 2019; DoorDash was just doing regular background checks when a driver signed up, and once per year thereafter, and this didn’t show up.

In either late 2023 or early 2024, DoorDash’s new background check company (Checkr) managed to dredge up a speeding ticket from July 2023; I got pulled over for 45 MPH in a 25 MPH zone, I took it to court, and it was reduced to 5 MPH over because of my clean driving record. This doesn’t show up on my PennDOT record, but Checkr somehow managed to dredge this up, and I was temporarily locked out of my DoorDash account pending an investigation; I complained and got back in within an hour or two.

Earlier this year, Checkr managed to dredge up the red light incident from 2019, over five years earlier! Once again, I was locked out of my account pending an investigation; I contested it, and I believe that I was let back in within the hour.

The first ticket I ever got was a speeding ticket back in May 2017, and it was reduced to 5 MPH over, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Checkr dredged that up as well.

 

Still original, he was having trouble pushing the pedal all the way down as it's quite a heavy pedal. The Tacoma is too hard to learn on as it has a clutch accumulator which translates to a numb pedal feel.

 

I’ve driven a stick Mustang, but I attempted to drive a stick Camaro at the dealer where I used to work, and it didn’t go well because it had a very heavy clutch…

 

Yeah if you are not used to a heavy clutch it can take some time to adjust to it.

 

I'm new to this thread. Why doordash (etc)? Don't most people make like less than minimum wage except during dinner hours, not even including vehicle depreciation?

 

The best I’ve ever done with DoorDash is over $400 in a weekend when the platform was offering incentives. I started out doing Uber Eats in December 2018, but I was working two part-time jobs at that time (barback at a nightclub and car detailer at a dealership$. It was a nice side hustle.

I lost the job at the bar in January 2019 through no fault of my own when that bar closed, and I stuck it out at the dealership until June 2019 when I quit purely out of hatred for the job. I started doing DoorDash in July 2019 and earned $2,500 during my roughly two months of unemployment, which kept me out of the poor house. I got a job at my dad’s company in September 2019, and still did DoorDash on the side.

COVID hit and I was furloughed from my dad’s company for three months; I voluntarily stopped doing DoorDash for a year because of the pandemic. My dad was 59 and my mom was 61 when COVID started, and they were afraid I’d get COVID and infect them if I got another job. My dad paid me like $500 a week to stay home on the condition that I saved at least half of it; I also got a couple of stimulus checks.

I started working at my dad’s company again in June 2020, and started doing DoorDash again in January 2021. I had a minor fender bender in June 2021 and took a break from DoorDash for about six months.

I stopped doing it for over a year beginning in March 2022 or so, and the I got laid off from my dad’s company in October 2023.

 

Sorry for that novel, but the long story short is that gig work (DoorDash and Uber Eats) is very lucrative when used as a side hustle, but sucks when it’s your sole source of income; I made the mistake of relying solely on DoorDash and Uber Eats for income while I was unemployed between October 2023 and June 2024.

As for vehicle depreciation, I’m in a Tacoma with over 200K miles that I don’t think can depreciate anymore. My parents bought me the truck brand new in 2009 when I got my learner’s permit, it’s been paid off for about 11 years, and I’ve got a clean title in my name. My truck also got a new frame under recall in November 2021.

Dinner is the most lucrative in my area, and lunch can be as well depending where you are, but all of this is a moot point because I’ve got a full-time job now and refuse to do DoorDash again; I also scrap HVAC equipment on the side and that is a much more lucrative side hustle than gig work!

 

Nice part of scrapping is it can be done at your leisure..literally. See something on the curb in your travels, stop and grab.

 

What parts of HVAC are actually payable? The copper?

 

Copper and the condenser coils (with the exception of those in Trane and American Standard units, because those are aluminum) are the most valuable bits. Compressors and motors are also reasonably valuable.

 

@6 gearT444E
@ABA180
@Bishop84
@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@shakerhood
@Speedytech7
@steelcity2
@Steves104x4
@TnShooter

I am willing to keep this dishwashing job at least through the beginning of 2025, but I’ve about had it; Amanda doesn’t really like it here anymore either.

The insurance on my truck is due on December 15th, and I would like to buy gifts for my parents and Amanda. I am hoping that I find a new job before Thanksgiving, but if I don’t have one, I am willing to put in my two weeks at this one without having a replacement; I have paid back my dad for the transmission replacement, and six months of insurance on my truck will be my biggest expense until springtime.

I did not get the Fred Beans warehouse job, likely because somebody older and/or with more experience also applied, but I was encouraged by the people at Fred Beans to apply for other positions and that my resume and other info would be kept on file; I have applied for a $15-per-hour full-time car washing position there. It has the same pay as the nursing home, but the hours are much better, with only every other Saturday and no Sundays; Amanda applied for a full-time job as well, as a customer service rep in the call center making $40,000-$50,000 per year. Fred Beans has a strict policy against employee fraternization if you are working in the same building, but the warehouse recruiter told me that people working in different departments is fine.

I also applied for two different jobs at Thompson, which the dealership that replacements my frame is part of, but I haven’t heard back. I applied for a job in the Thompson Lexus parts department last winter, and actually got an interview, but was ultimately passed over for somebody with more experience; I have no idea if I was temporarily blacklisted due to having previously applied, but I’m going to reach out if none of the other jobs I applied for pan out.

I also applied as a parts counterperson at Earthborne, a heavy equipment dealer and service facility right with a location right around the corner from my house. This job is full-time and pays $18 per hour.

I just now applied at Sullivan’s Scrap Metals, the recycling facility where I’ve been bringing my scrap for years, and will take a job there if they offer me one.

 

I'll throw a wild idea at you. There are a few aggregate quarries in your region - and one can make a decent career path that way, either equipment operator or a "work your way up" mechanical position. With your attention to detail, I bet you could do well in an industrial environment.

Foor fer thought.

 

@6 gearT444E
@ABA180
@Bishop84
@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@shakerhood
@Speedytech7
@steelcity2
@Steves104x4
@TnShooter

I just realized after posting the above comment that I forgot to tag @Lt. Dangle; I would really you to read it, because it’s very important!

Anyway, I would like to make it abundantly clear that I have no problem with the managers and supervisors, and nor do I have any specific problems with any specific coworkers. However, a lot of my coworkers are in their teens and early 20s, and the oldest I’m aware of is a woman who is 74 years old. The old woman is a very hard worker, but is also very set in her ways and become incredibly unpleasant to be around at times.

The problem is that a lot of the younger employees will just randomly decide they don’t feel like coming into work and call out. There always seems to be at least one call out per day, and sometimes two or three people have called out. This really puts a lot of stress on the team.

Also, Amanda and I work at a Jewish nursing home. You don’t have to be a Jew to work or live here, but they keep Kosher and celebrate all Jewish holidays. Holidays mean more food, and more food means more dishes and pots to clean, which means more work than usual for yours truly.

Amanda started working here in late April, and my first day was June 21st. Amanda missed having to work Passover by mere days. All full-time employees get two days off per week and work every other weekend. During Passover, you are obviously allowed your previously scheduled days off, but nobody is allowed to take off during Passover unless it is a legit emergency. Both of us are hoping to be out of here long before Passover!

 

Become an oil change specialist at Valvoline, maybe

 

The oil has to want to change first, you can't just change it

 

Those places aren’t my cup of tea…

 

I don't blame you.

I'd personally take the opportunity to make sure the next job has room to grow, and that it has skills to teach. Thinking towards long-term development is how you break into that $20-30 range.

 

Here’s a story that I’ve told on TW before, but I don’t remember who’s read it…

In the spring of 2019, I was desperate to leave my job detailing cars at a dealership and get a new one; I had applied for and gotten interviewed for entry-level positions at HVAC companies, and been passed over both times.

I applied for a job at an established HVAC company in Levittown in May 2023 if I remember correctly (may have been June) and after a passing an online HVAC knowledge assessment, was scheduled to come in for an in-person interview on a Monday; I was all excited that I may have finally found my way into the HVAc interest, but nothing could have prepared me for what I was told when I called on Konday to confirm the interview time…

I forget the name of this company, but they family-owned and very tight-knit. A woman told me that the very guy who was supposed to interview me had been killed in a car accident over the weekend, that the family needed some time to grieve, and that the job was no longer available.

I quit my job at the detail shop in mid-June because I just couldn’t take it anymore, lying and saying I’d gotten an HVAC job when I put in my two weeks.