Good Friday - Not Quite Grant

I drove tonight from 6-close, 7 hours on the road. This is the longest shift I've worked in a few months! It started off pretty slow, of my first 8 deliveries I only had 1 tip of $3 or more.

But then overe the final 9 deliveries, I had 5 tips of $4 or more! And it was raining more during the first half of the night!

My only stiff of the night was on a delivery to the McDonald's restaurant right across the street!

All together I took 17 deliveries, drove just 51 miles (most of the time listening to the Indians rain delay), and made $48 in tips. I was really hoping to get to $50 (Ulysses S Grant) but I didn't quite make it.

Maybe tomorrow. (Yes, I close again on Saturday night).

Pizza In The News

I found a few pizza articles in the news lately and have a few minutes to write about them.

First, a post on Yahoo!'s Slice America blog about the Best Delivery Pizza. This post compares the "Big 3" of Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, & Dominos. I'll let you read it for yourself, but the knock on Pizza Hut is "slow delivery". Hello? They obviously did not have had me as a driver!

Next, on the same blog, The Commandments of Perfect Pizza. This describes what goes into the "perfect pizza", including the various ingredients and cooking styles.

Third, a news article about Dominos giving away 11,000 free pizzas. Apparently they were preparing for an internet deal based on the word "bailout". Their computer programmers set up the deal in the system, and activated it. Somebody figured it out and then it spread by word-of-mouth for a few days until they figured it out.

Now speaking of the perfect pizza, when you have a family the size of mine, there is 1 word to describe the perfect pizza. FREE! Even these days when I'm only working 1-2 nights each week, I look forward to the mess-ups and crew pies that I munch on throughout the night while I am working.

Well, in May I'm planning to start the P90X Nutrition Plan. As well as the workouts. And I don't think I'll find pizza in the recommended dietary options. In fact, I'm sure of it. During the first phase I will be allowed 1 serving of carbs per day. During phase 2 and phase 3, I will be allowed 3 and 4 carb servings, but that still doesn't leave much room for pizza crust or breadsticks.

Situations Where A Customer Might Tip Extra

Customers should consider tipping a little more than usual when the weather is bad, when they live far away, or when they place a large order.

My first customer tonight was a $54 order, 5 items in 2 hot-bags. They live 6 miles away, almost to the next town. My average trip is 2 miles each way. And it was cold and snowing (in April!)

The woman answerred the door and remarked, "It's pretty nasty outside isn't it?" She gave me 3 $20's, thought a minute, and asked me for $4 back in change. Leaving me with a $2 tip.

I had 2 customers take advantage of a $10 sale on our extra-large sheet pizza. The first one stiffed me. The second one was on the 4th floor of a hotel just outside our delivery area. He tipped $1.50. Both were pretty discouraging.

All in all I drove 4 hours, took 8 deliveries, drove 35 miles, and made $14 in tips.

Pizza For My Sister-In-Law

My sister-in-law Dawn won the NCAA contest, basically by just picking all the favorites. I had a chance to win until Villanova lost to NC on Saturday night. I've known that Dawn won for about a day and a half but couldn't bring myself to admit it.

Anyhow, congratulations and we will work out the details.

Black Market Pizza - Diary of a pizza start-up

I just read the blog for Black Market Pizza. If you don't remember, I mentioned this place a few weeks back when it was on CNN. Well they have been open for a month now and 1 of the owners is posting a weekly (so far) blog, detailing the trials and tribulations of opening a new pizza shop.

I recommend the blog, and I wish them luck!