My latest single, "It's About Time..." is a political protest, a symphonic progressive metal song.

Lyrics fully written by myself, AI generated vocals and music, with live backing vocals by myself strategically blended into the chorus mix. Yes, my real voice is blended with every bold lyric listed below...

But otherwise, it's my most political of songs so far. It's indirectly specific. The singular line about "use every tool in our playbook" is about diplomatic and legal actions to stop violence, corruption, and political evil.

Lyrics:

It's About Time...

>You’re looking for a hero?
Well, don’t look at me.
You couldn’t even handle
The ghosts haunting me.
Don’t try to make me change, no…
There’s nothing you can say.
Doesn’t matter if I’m the last guy!
Down on your knees to pray.

>You think there’s anyone listening?
I laugh at everything you say:
All your worthless soliciting
Won’t change a damn thing!

>[Chorus]
Don’t waste your time! Don’t waste your life!
Open your mind!
You ask for miracles but won’t lift your head.
Don’t waste my time! Don’t believe those lies!
Leave them behind!
Don’t believe what everyone else says…

>You think I’m your savior
Just because I’m still around.
The world is a disaster
Because you all voted for this clown.
You heard the propaganda;
You let it all go to your head:
All the lies about that bandit -
You wolfed down all you were fed!

>Supporting him – with passion.
Branding everything with his name.
He turned on you like an assassin:
You still thought he was the second coming.
Now you’re asking for a hero,
Hand out, looking into my eyes
As your finances erode,
You’re still echoing his lies!

>Why should I make any attempt to save you?
You did this to yourself…
You didn’t believe the truth:
He only praises himself!

>[Chorus]
Don’t waste my time! You chose this life!
You closed your mind! You closed your mind!
You voted for a tyrant – and now you’re filled with regret?
Now is the time! Set everything right!
Stand up and fight!
Only together can we eliminate the threat.

>I’ve never been a hero;
The role never suited me.
I think we all know
How to set the world free:
Put away the religion,
Set the dogma down!
Unite with a clear vision
To remove that clown…

>Use every tool in our playbook;
Don’t let him get away
With our future and the millions
He’s trying to take!

>[Chorus]
Now is the time! To save our lives!
There’s nowhere to hide!
We must seek out and cut off the – snake’s head!
Now is the time! Set everything right!
Stand up and fight!
Only together can we eliminate the threat!

I love Dr. Pepper. I miss it.

This is real. I am an human being - male, GenX, American... I grew up drinking Dr. Pepper more than any other soda.

Whenever I dine out or grab a bite anywhere, it's the only consistent drink on the fountain or menu.

But for over a month now, none of the restaurants have any. It's on their menu and on their fountain pump dispensers, but... nothing comes out but white soda water.

Burger King, KFC, Wendy's, Popeyes, Sonic, Thornton's Gas Stations, QuickTrip Gas Stations, Speedway and 7-Eleven...

ALL SOLD OUT. They say they are not getting shipments from Dr. Pepper. They have placed orders, but received none.

Is there a contract issue or something else going on here? OVER A MONTH without Dr. pepper in restaurants and convenience stores.

Locations: all western, northern, and southern suburbs of Chicago.

The music industry as a whole, like most artistic endeavors, has been an ever-changing landscape for decades, centuries... From the dawn of live performance with plucked strings to the modern era of a single lonely soul using algorithmic computing tools to generate something new...

Every revision, alteration, new generation, and disruption to the currently accepted way of doing things has been met with backlash and propaganda, declaring it work of the devil or pure insanity.

I'll skip the examples and lecture and get to the point...

While the industry built around composition of notes on sheet music or spontaneously performed song and lyric has become a behemoth of mass production, streaming a pipeline of "hits" and "singles"... Independent artists are finding new ways to revisit and consider what they have left behind:

Silent, unnoticed writings, abandoned melodies, forgotten tunes, cutting-room-floor lyrics... Writings we let rust, ideas we let fade.

But with the advent of AI Generative algorithms, trained on those industry hits, we - the starving artists who look at the price tag - of hiring a composer, auditioning vocal and musical talent, renting studio recording time, paying a mixing producer, coughing up cash to license, copyright, and release the final product...

We sigh and shake our heads in resignation... There is literally no way we could afford to do that on our own.

Then we look at the AI websites for possibilities. We test out some iterations, and realize that our rusted writings can become living, breathing songs and music. Our words and ideas can become inspiration to dance, work out, or run.

No longer gathering dust or rust in a trunk that we haven't opened for decades.

The purpose of AI Music from my point of view is exactly this:

I am a starving artist, working a difficult day job, wishing to bring my old stories, poems, and melody ideas back to life. I want to generate unique and original songs, which are wholly my own.

No, I am NOT taking anyone's jobs. I am NOT stealing anyone's words or riffs.

I actively double-check every generated song to ensure none of it exists elsewhere. I use Shazam, SoundHound, MusixMatch, and other tools to see if any section of any of my songs exists elsewhere in the online databases... If it does, I re-generate endlessly until I get one that is unique and untraceable.

Then I tweak and edit, remix and modify every semi-final version, to make it my own. I add sound effects, I use Audacity to record and layer my own backing vocals beneath the mix, and - when I feel it is ready - I release it to the world...

There is a difference between human and AI collaboration versus simply AI generated "slop". I will not judge any artist or individual for their technique. I will, however - as I have always done - judge the final song on its own merits and listen or not. If I like it, I will like it and say so. If I don't I won't - spread any sort of negativity...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Ecstasy is in the ear of the listener. Ugly exists, as does displeasure, but it's the simplest thing to just shut up and walk away. Let the creators create what they wish, and - if you don't like it - simply don't partake.

Live and let live, I say.

Tonight (Saturday 6pm-midnight), I worked 6 hours and got in 18 orders.

3 of those orders - when I got in my car, I wondered what that horrible odor was.

It was the food. Literally, raw week-old sewage at a water treatment facility smell... I was retching and rolled all 4 windows down while delivering those 3 orders. Then I held my thermal bags out the window as I drove through residential neighborhoods for my next pickup. The last thing I want is some "next customer" order reeking of S*&P* like the "food" the previous customer ordered.

Anyone else have similar experiences? Food you have no idea what it is and it just smells AWFUL! Like it came from the bottom level of hell after everyone in hell had digested and flushed it out?

Belonging...

That sense of ease, contentment, comfort, and occasional joy when you find yourself in a place, in a relationship, or experiencing something so profoundly relaxing that you let go of all your stress, strain, worry, and pain.

"To belong" is to become a part of something more than your own self, and find your mind at peace.

I wrote the original poem "Belonging" in 2016. The lyrics for this song are nearly identical to that original poem.

My use of AI to generate a musical composition, with vocals that (almost) met every ambition for the sonic and emotional experience of my poem, is a choice I made to both fit my (non-existent) budget and accelerate the process of seeking, finding, auditioning, mastering, mixing, and producing music with a team of strangers...

Regarding AI - specific to this adaptation of my original poem... In the end, it all comes down to the words, for me... The poetry...

I am a writer, not a singer or musician. I can hold a note, but never tell you what that note may be. I have a guitar covered in more dust than portrayed in this video - never touched after tinkering with it for weeks...

The use of AI to generate a song, adapted from my poem, is simply my way of trying to make something from nothing. To turn a rusted collection of random words into something moving, deeply emotional, and (hopefully) an experience that resonates with listeners and viewers.

All film clips in this video originate from Pexels.com... Every second of footage is royalty-free, with no credit required.

Synthwave orchestration, Progressive Metal vocals and guitars, blended with harmonies from a baritone male singer.

Original content lyrics, adapted from my poem "Someone Help Me!"

AI generated music and vocals.

--------------

With well over 500 written works, I have always pondered what it would take to convert my written poetry into lyrics, then turn that into actual songs.

I did the math, ran the numbers, dug into the costs of auditioning and hiring a team of composers... Then musicians, and a vocalist, with some backing vocalists...

If I went the professional route, I would need to take out a loan higher than my recently forgiven college student loan debt (Well over $100k).

I do not have that kind of money, nor would I be willing to bet it all on something uncertain.

So...

Here we go...

A.I.

I also launched a Patreon page if anyone likes what I'm writing (and AI is generating based on my words)...

Synthwave orchestration, Progressive Metal vocals and guitars, blended with harmonies from a baritone male singer.

Original content lyrics, adapted from my poem "Someone Help Me!"

AI generated music and vocals.

--------------

With well over 500 written works, I have always pondered what it would take to convert my written poetry into lyrics, then turn that into actual songs.

I did the math, ran the numbers, dug into the costs of auditioning and hiring a team of composers... Then musicians, and a vocalist, with some backing vocalists...

If I went the professional route, I would need to take out a loan higher than my recently forgiven college student loan debt (Well over $100k).

I do not have that kind of money, nor would I be willing to bet it all on something uncertain.

So...

Here we go...

A.I.

I also launched a Patreon page if anyone likes what I'm writing (and AI is generating based on my words)...

To those 4 individual drivers who accepted, drove to, and picked up the orders in the western suburbs of Chicago last night (9pm-2am), who decided they would rather steal someone's food, cancel the pickup, and literally screw 20+ other drivers out of valuable time, fuel, and emotional stability...

I have words. You already know what those words are.

All of us who work hard to ensure quality of service, security of deliveries, and actually give a damn are the ones reporting you - being the first driver to accept the offer - as a thief.

If the order was stolen by someone else before you got there, sorry about that. But how are we to know the handful of times that happens - versus the thieves who see someone's order and feel like they can just get away with it scott free...

1 Portillos salad, 1 Wing Stop 10-piece wings combo, 1 Wendy's order for 3 people, and 1 BK order... if these ring a bell, then you are the people I am addressing. You need to stop hurting your fellow drivers, the customers, and the restaurants. IDGAF about UE reputation. It's about respect: You have none.

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"Order was picked up by someone else" should have 2 changes:

1. Immediately upon canceling an order with that reason, the driver should be directly called by Uber Eats through the app, which can be done. A live human agent should ask for confirmation, so that those of us who are tired of being the 5th-10th driver in a row arriving to that same restaurant to pick up an order that was marked "Picked up by someone else" no longer have to waste our time. The order should be canceled, not re-routed to be offered to multiple other drivers.
2. Any time that option is marked and the cancellation completed in the app, the customer should receive a call from Uber Support, asking if they received their food. And if not, apologize and issue a 100%-110% refund account credit to that customer immediately.

This is all debatable. There are likely far better solutions, but - after over 5 years of being that 5th-10th driver arriving for a stolen order... I'm so sick of thieves.

------------------

Something I discovered last night that may be part of the reason this happens...

On the 1am Wingstop stolen order, I contacted support and asked them to cancel and refund, that the manager said I was the 6th driver coming to get a stolen order.

The Uber Support agent said that he showed no record of any driver before me having marked the order "Picked up by someone else". I asked if it was cancelled before I got there for any of the reasons... He said that no record existed in their database.

Could this possibly be the trigger? If the AI that runs the app is not reporting any of these "Picked up by someone else" to Uber Support, is it simply re-issuing the offer without any connection to the cancellation/refund/support system?

I discussed this with the agent. He said this is the first he has heard of it. I told him - in my 5 years with UE - this has been a DAILY experience for thousands of drivers.

My original lyrics.

While I prefer a male baritone AI voice... this is performances is pretty good IMO. It's better than the 10 that sounded like a mix of Sabrina Carpenter and Weird Al. LOL...

I've been working on the "free" models to see what sort of results I can get... This is my latest work.

A blend of synthwave and progressive metal.

All lyrics are my own poetry.

I am trying so hard to make it work. I am crying (mostly on the inside) after nearly every shift, when I get home to see my AR had fallen another 5-15 points. I expect it to be less than 5% soon.

Looking at my weekly reports for the past month and a half...

2000 offers. 500 completed deliveries. That includes trips accepted at a loss just to fulfill the quantity to reach the challenge bonus goal.

So many no-tip orders are coming through lately. I know things are very tight financially for many people, but the frequency growing so quickly has me shaken.

-------------------------

My point is: How many of us are really, seriously, considering a full-on abandonment of UE?

I know DD and GH, Instacart and other gig jobs exist. I've tried a few, but UE was the only one - for the longest time - that worked for me.

But it's not working anymore.

Too many 20-30-50-70 mile offers paying pennies per mile. IDK why I have to drive 16 miles to a retailer, when I am literally in the parking lot 0.1 miles from that exact same retailer - just a different branch location. IDK why so many offers are coming to me, being 22 miles from the pickup location, when the drop off is right down the street from me. Are there no drivers 22 miles away, near that pickup spot?

Customers are at fault just as much as the Uber Algorithm/AI Dispatcher. So many PROMOS and FREE items listed at the top of the UE ordering page, for restaurants and sellers 20-70 miles away, when there's a branch of that seller/restaurant within walking distance of the customer --- but the seller near the customer does not honor that promo.

Sorry for the rant. I'm just... so frustrated.

How many of my fellow drivers who do Shop & Pay find themselves struggling to figure out just WTF some of the items the customer wants are?

------------------

Today, I had yet another Shop & Pay order for 15 items, 10 of which I immediately knew where to find and what they were. The other 5? ... ... Not a clue. Even the in-app description (no aisle location) made no sense. Words I literally could not pronounce, pictures of things I have never in my life seen or imagined.

I ended up spending nearly half an hour going up and down half the aisles in the store, asked 6 different employees, and bounced between opposite ends and corners of the store. Eventually, I found everything. But it was a total nightmare.

I'm an American from Illinois, with very limited dietary knowledge outside of my grandmother's and my mom's recipe book. So when someone orders items from India, Iran, Russia, or Germany - that no landlocked Midwest American has ever heard of existing anywhere...

It's like... a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle with no picture or an undiscovered Pollack-style chaos painting of 50 different colors in no discernable pattern, design, or shape.

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3 months ago, I had a shop order at Super-H Mart, which I had never heard of nor been inside. Apparently, it's Authentic Asian ingredients with only 1/4 the labels having an English translation. That order for 17 items took me 2 hours of scanning every individual item in the store in every aisle - twice - before I could find what the customer wanted... The only employee was at the register, allegedly spoke no English, and could not help me at all.

Anyone else having these kinds of problems?

https://preview.redd.it/3vvzpojhpg4h1.png?width=2572&format=png&auto=webp&s=f2e929851bd21df2c244ec0b11106a05848cc0e2

I've had 6 deliveries for Jewel Osco Flash in the past 2 weeks... It's supposedly (according to the very upset customers when I deliver) a "30 min or less" delivery option for individual items from Jewel Osco...

As seen in this screenshot photo, there is one on Wabash Ave, Chicago. Pretty much any of the Jewel Osco stores with grocery pickup have this feature.

However, the only one actively shown as a pickup location for all Jewel Osco Flash orders is at Foster and Harlem, in the suburbs of Chicago.

ALL 6 of the deliveries I have done did pay decently ($1-$1.50 per mile), and had only 2-5 small items in total per order. However, none of those 6 orders were within 10 miles of the store. ALL of them had me driving past 2-3 other Jewel Osco locations to drop off. ALL of them took at least 45-90 minutes to deliver, either due to rush hour traffic, construction, trains, or the mere fact that it was literally 30 miles for $40 pay...

My concern is both for the customers who are expecting speedy delivery and for the drivers who are being offered such long drives.

The key red flag for me was when I picked up a person's coffee creamer and tylenol. 2 items. The drive was 28 miles, with $35 pay. As I was waiting at the receiving door for the Flash items, the customer texted me "Are you here yet?"

tl;dr: The customer was fuming angry when I arrived 2 HOURS after they placed the order. Apparently, it had been in the order system for almost an hour before I received the offer.

-----------------------------

So... any other drivers seeing these?

https://www.jewelosco.com/fast-grocery-delivery.html

https://preview.redd.it/3vvzpojhpg4h1.png?width=2572&format=png&auto=webp&s=f2e929851bd21df2c244ec0b11106a05848cc0e2

I've had 6 deliveries for Jewel Osco Flash in the past 2 weeks... It's supposedly (according to the very upset customers when I deliver) a "30 min or less" delivery option for individual items from Jewel Osco...

As seen in this screenshot photo, there is one on Wabash Ave, Chicago. Pretty much any of the Jewel Osco stores with grocery pickup have this feature.

However, the only one actively shown as a pickup location for all Jewel Osco Flash orders is at Foster and Harlem, in the suburbs of Chicago.

ALL 6 of the deliveries I have done did pay decently ($1-$1.50 per mile), and had only 2-5 small items in total per order. However, none of those 6 orders were within 10 miles of the store. ALL of them had me driving past 2-3 other Jewel Osco locations to drop off. ALL of them took at least 45-90 minutes to deliver, either due to rush hour traffic, construction, trains, or the mere fact that it was literally 30 miles for $40 pay...

My concern is both for the customers who are expecting speedy delivery and for the drivers who are being offered such long drives.

The key red flag for me was when I picked up a person's coffee creamer and tylenol. 2 items. The drive was 28 miles, with $35 pay. As I was waiting at the receiving door for the Flash items, the customer texted me "Are you here yet?"

tl;dr: The customer was fuming angry when I arrived 2 HOURS after they placed the order. Apparently, it had been in the order system for almost an hour before I received the offer.

-----------------------------

So... any other drivers seeing these?

Has any other driver stood and watched as someone with criminally unsanitary hands prepares food or drinks without any consideration for cross-contamination, germs, etc?

There are some restaurants I go to on a regular basis where I am shaking my head while a manager or employee grabs fried chicken or assembles sandwiches with their bare hands, which are sweaty, have just put down an unclean cell phone, or literally reached into their underwear to pull it up because they're wearing rap video fashion (their butt crack is out and proud for all to see)...

I was at a Jersey Mike's sub place a week ago and not a single one of the 6 employees had belts, shirts tucked in, nor were they using gloves to make sandwiches... Their LOOOOONG hair was shaggy, unbrushed, and draping into the condiments they were placing on top of the sub roll... ... I wrote a scathing review on Google for that location and yesterday I stopped in to pick up a delivery to see that same exact crew with hats, hair up, pants around their waist (instead of draping loosely off their thighs), shirts tucked in... wearing gloves!

The worst was a KFC where the manager wiped sweat off his brown, started to assemble a KFC chicken sandwich, got mayo on his UNGLOVED index finger and thumb, LICKED the mayo off, and continued to assemble the sandwich with that licked hand.

Any other "horror stories" where you just wanna walk out, cancel, and warn the customer not to eat that food?