Use this money to max out all tax advantaged accounts available to you (401k, IRA, HSA), and invest the rest in a brokerage account. When in doubt, invest the money in a target date fund at Vanguard or Fidelity that most closely matches the date you plan to start withdrawing from the account. A total world fund/ETF, like VT, is also a fine option.
One would think the price would increase until someone would pick you up.
Uber should add the ability to bid up your route--like when it's taking a long time to match you to a driver, or you want to entice a driver who is nearby so you can get where you're going sooner.
Exactly. I commonly enroll in Coursera classes just to get access to the video lectures for later perusal for information relevant to my work and interests.
While not an interest bearing account, investing in an index fund of global stocks should outpace housing. Investing in a REIT should roughly keep pace with housing costs.