As you can see from the section of running board I went into Brixham at 18:00 and then ran back dead to the depot to finish. About a mile out of Brixham I drove through the traffic lights at Monks Bridge and I noticed that they were not working, well you do tend to notice things like that when you are driving a bus. Anyway I got on the radio to let the over drivers know that the lights weren't working and got severely castigated by an other driver who pointed out that that message had gone outearlier. So. I had been on my break and hadn't heard it.
5 minutes later an other driver broadcast to the world that the lights in Brixham weren't working. Some one told him he was the 297th driver to put that message out. After a slight pause the first driver said, "Not Monks Bridge. The lights at Bolton Cross."
Now there is a big difference between Monks Bridge when you can move out slowly and stop and let oncoming traffic go if need be and Bolton Cross. There if you move out slowly and there is something coming the whole junction is instantly and completely grid locked. Which is what happened. I got to the garage 30 mins later and buses were still stuck in Brixham and nothing was moving. Had I been if Brixham 5 mins later than I was I would have been very late home and my dinner would have been burnt. Lucky end to the day.
11 comments:
A dead service? Can I be really ignorant and ask 'what's that?'? I'm sure it's not where you have loads of coffins on board...or is it? Vampires and zombies?
Sorry,Roses, nothing so exciting. Dead just means Out Of Service in bus talk. Buses usually run dead first thing in the morning going from the depot to outlying Termini to start and around 6 pm when in our case about half the buses come of the road. A few run dead last thing at night from outlying termini back to the depot. Some of the late ones are driven by zombies.
So you're on Trapeze duty boards too!
Interesting that you call your working schedule a running board. I have so many complaints about our scheduling department. This is one of the sillier ones. Our working schedule was always called a paddle. This is an old fashioned term that goes back to the days of horse drawn trolleys. I have seen photos and paddles were literally paddle shaped boards with the the schedule chalked onto them. The handle fit into a slot in the driver's area. Of course, we no longer had actual paddles, but the paper with our schedule was still called a paddle. One day, out of the blue, the college boy who runs the scheduling department sent out a memo announcing that we should no longer refer to our paddles as paddles but as running boards.
At AC Transit, across the bay from my job, they used to refer to the driver's break room as the gilley room. Apparently that's another reference to horse drawn days. A gilley room was a room where coachmen and drivers could rest and store their personal possessions when they were not working.
I'm all for computers and modern technology, especially air conditioning in the summer, but I see no harm in hanging on to a few old fashioned terms. Oh, I once saw a photo of an old fashioned western railroad conductor's ticket punch. It was identical to the transfer punch that I am still using.
Paddle? Yes I've heard it referred to as that - in thirty years of scheduling I've heard it referred to as loads of things, busboards or dutyboards being the mildest...North American twattish terms especially - listen up...North American duty scheduling methods cannot begin to handle UK practise - official - (if you don't believe me speak to Trapeze or Hastus) - So I suggest you go with the experts - if it's your days work it's a "duty" - if it's your weeks work it's a "rota line" - your fate is contained in a "roster" or "rota" - and (by the way)your working week probably consists what we'd give a trainee...sorry....thought you'd like the truth
Yes, in America we've resisted privatization and maintained our unions. That's why we don't work under third world conditions. Sorry, thought you'd like the truth. By the way, are you the same "anonymous" who anonymously suggested I go back to my place and keep quiet? I make it a point to post a link to my webpage. I take no offense at being disagreed with, and very little offense at being insulted, but you strike me as a weasel. -- Oh and by the way, I've had bad jobs, driven dangerous equipment and worked insanely illegal hours. For almost twenty years, it has been my good fortune to work for a professionally run bus company. I have some specific complaints, but my company continues to value safety and service. I'm sure your swaggering and sneering works well at a fly-by-night outfit with a constant turnover of drivers and a string of broken down buses along the road, but I've never seen that sort of thing work at a real transit district. -- Finally , just because Trapeze and Hastus have been adopted by many US districts, don't make the mistake of thinking that they are working any better here than they would over there.
NOT the same one at all I can assure you...but for all his pettiness he HAS got you going hasn't he
That and about 14 drinks on his way home from work are the big accomplishments of his day.
I am glad I have days off now and then.
Me too - personally I think this is a wind up from somebody West Pond or who has worked there - isn't "listen up" an American usage (certainly not UK)...if not, then I cringe to admit it but he sounds like a contemporary of mine (though I've got thirty one years under the belt as opposed to his thirty!)
just a quick message to dave from the allocations officer he knows so well to say thank you for giving up his pussy on monday (16.10.06) to come in to help us out his generosity is truly commendable
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