Saturday, July 24, 2004 Chris Hilditch
Thursday 22nd July 04
I was on paignton bus station waiting to take over a bus when i saw mr hildtich the managing director of stagecoach devon walking along the platform towards me. As he got close i greeted him, saying," good morning mr hilditch."
He returned no greeting and walked past me. As he passed me he turned and said," are you Mr Banks."
I agreed that i was. He said nothing and carried on walking.
I was a little upset by his lack of greeting, but not greatly surprised. He is not known as the nicest of people. I was puzzled by him knowing my name and why he had asked me to confirm it. Maybe i will find out why some day.
Then, partly due to this incident i went and waited for my bus at the wrong stop. I only noticed my mistake just in time and managed to leave only 2 mins late but mr. Hilditch was standing on the platform and must have noticed.
Later on in the day i clipped a temporary road sign and broke the lens on the nearside indicator. Not a good day.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Car door hits bus.
From the Torquay Herald Express 20 July 04
TOWN CENTRE TRAFFIC CHAOS AFTER BUMPA car driver was arrested following a crash involving a bus in Torquay town centre yesterday.The collision between a double decker bus and a parked car in Union Street caused traffic problems as it blocked off Torre for almost one hour. A number 12 Stagecoach bus on route to Newton Abbot collided with the open door of a stationary Ford Orion parked on Union Street by the Memorial Gardens at about midday.Police were called to the scene and the bus was left in the road while details of the collision were recorded.Nobody was injured in the collision.Following the bump, traffic was queued up through Union Street as Torre was completely unaccessible.All vehicles had to be diverted down Trematon Avenue until the bus could be moved, about one hour later.Stagecoach customer service manager Mark Whittle confirmed no passengers were hurt in the accident and said they had to be transferred on to another bus."One of our vehicles was involved in an accident on Union Street," he said."At the driver of the car's request, the police were called to the incident."There were passengers on the bus but nobody was injured. As it is a high frequency service all the passengers were transferred on to another bus. I hope they were not inconvenienced too much."It is an unfortunate incident."Damage was caused to the car door and the side of the bus, which is part the new £3 million fleet launched by Stagecoach earlier this year.
P.S.
What the story did not say was the during the arrest the car driver became so violent that Pepper Spray had to be used which effected students in a nearby park and several passers by.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Change of duty
Sunday 18 July 04
To day I should have been driving a number 12 as usual. Then one of the Newton Abbot drivers rang in sick. There are 3 routes in Newton on a Sunday and the 2 day drivers cover 30 trips between them. If one driver is missing on the 12 it means a 30 min gap. In Newton it can mean an hour and a half gap. we have a spare driver system to cover some one going sick. The trouble is we don't all know all the routes. To day the spare driver did not know Newton and I did. so I was volunteered. I hate local routes. by the time you have done 2 hrs and you have changed gear about 2000 times and there are still 11 trips to do and the day stretches in to infinity and none of the passengers know or care how hard I am working compared to driving a 12.
As long as the bears think they are Catholics and the pope shits in the woods I will never do Newton abbot again.
P.S. most Newton drivers wouldn't drive the number 12 if their life depended on it. they Must be insane.
................................................................
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Trip to Exeter
To day I did an 85 duty, also known as the Coast as you drive up the coast to Exeter. I like going to Exeter now and then as I can see when I go there that no matter how bad Stagecoach Torquay is there is always some where worse.
To day they lost my bus for the 2nd half of my duty. The fitters had it and when it turned up is was of I type that I had not been Type Trained on. I could have refused to drive it but there were 35 passengers waiting to get on the thing and the passengers do put bread on the table and beer in the belly. Good for them. So I drove it and now I am Type Trained on a Volvo B10.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Sick on Duty
SOD stands for Sick on duty.
Not something I do often, in fact to day was only the 2nd time I have SODed in 7 years. I woke up with a migraine, took some pills and the pain and visual effects went away. Now it is 20 years since I have had a migraine and I had forgotten how tired you feel for the rest of the day and I went to work instead of ringing in sick. After 2 hours at work I had had enough and got on the radio and arranged for an other driver to take my bus and I went home. Feel better now but still slightly odd.
Monday, July 12, 2004
Cars parking in bus stops.
Monday 12 July 04
When I first started driving a bus in London one of the things that got on my wick was car drivers parking on bus stops. I used to drive up behind them and flash my lights and blow my horn to get them to move. Usually they did, though some times after a little delay. Then one day an other bus driver, older and wiser, said, "Good. That's one car driver who wont park on a bus stop again. Only 27 million left to persuade." So now I just pull up along side the car, unload, load and be on my way.
Well on my way home last night on the bus there was a car on the Bus stop and the bus driver pulled up behind it and started blowing horn and flashing lights. Little old lady got out and explained to driver she had broken down. The bus now had to reverse out with some difficulty and danger into a stream of traffic. The passengers got on and off the bus which then drove away.
10 Seconds later it was overtaken by said little old lady who had her arm out the window with one finger raised. Result; one pissed off bus driver.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
Breaking Down
Saturday 10 July 04
It is always embarrassing to break down. The passengers have waited for the bus and given Stagecoach's reputation there is always a slight sense of relief that it has turned up. Then just when they think all is well and they will some be at their destination a loud alarm buzzer sounds and the bus stops and the driver turns round and says, "We have a small problem".
Most of my passengers were on the way to Brixham Carnival and the last thing they wanted to do was sit at the side of the road in a broken down bus waiting for the next one. When I broke down the buses were running every 15 mins so the next bus should have picked them up in 15 mins. Unfortunately the next bus was being driven by a new driver. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. He was also running 25 mins late and I had 50 passengers who were saying," Don't worry driver, it's not your fault the bus broke down". Finally a spare bus arrived, driven by a driver who had heard me on the radio and had given up part of his meal break to help out and my passengers went on there way.
I hate it when a bus breaks down, especially when said bus is 4 months old and has only done 18 000 miles
Thursday, July 08, 2004
More events than usual.
My normal day is usually spent driving up and down between Brixham and Newton Abbot, picking people up and drooping them of and collecting some money.
But today I also had ago at a controller because a 31 bus driver had parked his bus on the Strand (which the 31 and 34 bus drivers shouldn't do) and blocked the whole of Torquay town up. Which is why they shouldn't park there.
Then I took over a bus and the was a lady in a wheel chair on the bus and when she came to get of she started moaning the none of the drivers would get the ramp out so she could get off the bus. As I was just getting the ramp out I was not very pleased and told her that next time she needed my help it would be nicer if she was a little more pleasant in her method of asking for assistance other wise she may find herself stuck on the bus like some ancient bus passenger domed to travel between Brixham and Newton Abbot for ever.
5 mins later a bus driver going the other way informed me over the radio that some lads upstairs on my bus were up to no good. I pulled over and went upstairs and there were 4 young men spreading sandwiches all over the front windows and seats of the bus. I asked them to leave the bus and they refused so I got on the radio and asked for police assistance. Actually that was foolish of me. Last time a bus driver asked for police assistance he waited an hour for them to turn up and them gave up and drove on. However these four weren't to know this and got off and walked. One of them actually cleaned up some of the mess before he got off.
Next when I got into Newton there was an accident just in front of me involving a motorcycle. This was the forth motorcycle accident I have heard about in the last week. This blocked the road for 20 minutes. I don't suppose it did the motorcyclist any good.Later when I got to Brixham A man and a young woman got on the bus and she tried to use a school pass but she was going the wrong way, you don't go to school at 6:30pm. He, her father, then asked for a "Two pound single ticket to Paignton". When we got to Paignton he told me I had overcharged him as his daughter was only 13. He asked for the adult ticket and that is what he got. I said if he wanted a refund he should write to Stagecoach.The rest of the duty passed without incident.
Monday, July 05, 2004
British Telecom and their Telegraph Poles
A note went up in the pay-in room at work over the weekend. It seems that BT have come up with a way of increasing their profits without putting up the cost of phone calls.
They have noticed that bus companies have been attaching Bus Stop signs to some of their Telegraph Poles and NOT paying any rent. This has got to stop said a senior executive.
£100.00 per sign per year was the figure decided on by BT; or take them down. Well Stagecoach decided to take them down and get the council the put up posts for the Bus Stop Flags. Believe it or not Bus Stops and Shelters are the Local Council's problem not the bus companies. You dear council tax payer are the ones that will have to pay for posts to be erected after BT's brilliant fiscal plan fell flat. Please don't ring them and complain, send them a letter instead, leave off the stamp.
Anyway, an other note went up to day asking us (the drivers) to report any bus stop flags on BT poles so they can be removed before BT send in The bailiffs. As if we didn't have enought to do.
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Police message and bus crash.
At about 12:30 to day control sent out this police message to all the buses; Following a shop lifting incident in Teignmouth the police are looking for a young man (a discription followed). He was last seem carrying a large black bag containing stolen alcohol, whiskey, gin etc and belived to be on a bus heading for Torquay or Paignton. Please report any sightings to control. End of Message.The problem I have with this kind of broadcast is that the passengers on the bus can hear what is being said on the radio. What would happen if the person in question was on the bus and had a weapon of some sort and did not want the driver of the bus to report his presence to control?The other thing that happened to day was that there was a crash involving a bus. Buses have minor scrapes from time to time. I myself have taken 2 wing mirrors off cars in the last 3 years, I even hit a car side on last Febuary. (It did a U Turn just in front of me).In today's incident it appeared that the bus ran into the back of a car, and pushed it into the car in front of that one and into the next in line as well.I got to the scene 20 mins after the incident and there was a large dent in the front of the bus. I don't know the exact details, was anyone hurt or who's fault it was. I will report if I find out. Suprizingly we don't always get to know exactly what happened in such incidents.
Saturday, 31 July 2004
Wednesday, 30 June 2004
June 2004
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Torbay Half Marathon
27 June 04 SundayToday was the Torbay Half Marathon. The race starts on Paignton Sea Front and goes along the coast road to Torquay Harbour and back again.Half the road is closed and in order to get from Torquay to Paignton we had to divert from the Grand Hotel via back roads to Preston Bus Shelter.As the route is narrow and twisted the police try to make most people go over the ring road which is twice as far. This involves turning right off the sea front at Belgrave Rd and out of town for about two miles. The bus were to take the short diversion but problems cropped up.First the lights at Belgrave road normally only let 3 or 4 cars turn right at a time but there were 200 hundred cars trying to turn right and the lights should have been turned off and police should have directed traffic. But they didn't even think off doing that. It took 15 minutes to cover what normally takes 2 minutes.Next the policeman on duty at Belgrave Rd took it on himself to direct the buses over the Ring Rd. When I got there I told him that I was going the short route. He first said that the Ring Rd route had been agreed with Peter Lacy the Operations Manager at Stagecoach Torquay. The OM Torquay is John Lacy not Peter.I told him this was not so as I had been given a map, which I showed him, when I signed on showing the short route.He then said that we (the police) didn't want the buses to go the short route. I said that I was going the short route as it was the one agreed by the Senior Police Officer in charge of the event. He repeated his statement that 'We dont want buses going that way.'I asked contol and they said take the short route. So I took the short route.All went well till I got to the end of the diversion at Preston Bus Shelter. Even though there was only traffic coming off the diversion route the traffic lights were still on and only letting 3 cars through at a time so we soon had a massive tail back of traffic.The Police round here have a reputation for being lazy and lacking in all the normal policing skills and to day they went a long way to continuing that reputation.I don't know who won the race.
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Urban Foxes
A couple of weeks ago I was driving a 85 up to Exeter from Torquay and a fox ran across the road in front of me. Now I have been here in Torquay for 6 years now and this is the first fox I have seen.In London, where I lived for 10 years I saw quiet a few foxes, espectially on early or late turns. I don't go out of my way to look for wild life but if it turns up it nice to see. One night in London I was last bus, from Chiswick to Greenford at about 12:30 in the morning and I spent 20 minutes feeding my last sandwich to a passing fox and got back late to the depot and missed the staff bus home. It only took 45 minutes to walk home so I didn't mind. On Saturday I again drove an 85 from Torquay to Exeter and at the same place I again saw a fox. I am not sure if it was the same fox but this fox I will not see again as it was lying dead at the side of the road.
Some years ago in about the same area I saw a dead badger at the side of the road and seagulls flattened in the middle of the road are not unusual in Torbay. It used to be just cats in London. Seems that country wide life gets run down just like urban wide life. Sad.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Junk in the Road
I came home from work on Sunday and the heater was still there but it had been joined by a chair. The heater has been there for 4 weeks now, left out by someone at 67. The chair came from 71( I think). I had also seen a bed and matress that had been thrown over the back garden wall by some one in 71. I know that because no one else could have dumped it there.So I rang the Council Environmental Services and they came and collected the bed, matress, chair and heater 20 mins later. Good on Torbay Environmental Services. Bad on the dumpers.we live in a nice part of the world but some people don't want it to stay that way
From the Herald Express
Here is a story taken from the Torbay Herald Express.
DOGGED DRIVER SEES OFF BOY RACER 11:00 - 07 June 2004
Imagine the scene .... a Stagecoach bus and a "boy racer" locked in a dispute in a narrow Torquay road and neither willing to give way. They meet in the middle of Sherwell Lane in Chelston.The bus driver isn't for reversing and nor is the young car driver.He decides to sit it out and lights up a cigarette in defiance.The bus driver pulls out a flask and pours himself a cup of coffee.The passengers on board are a little bemused as the traffic starts to stack up.Boy racer is joined by two mates who pull up behind. Bus driver is still non-plussed and carries on sipping.Things are in danger of turning nasty as the youngsters begin to lose patience.Astonishment turns to panic on board the bus with one woman claiming she is getting claustrophobic.Eventually, the racers give way and the bus moves on.It is almost 30 minutes since the impasse first began.Good on the bus driver.
I wasn't the driver but some times it can be fun driving a bus.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Democracy at work.
Does democracy work?Is it important to cast your vote?
On Thursday we had European and local elections. Labour and Tories got stuffed in the European Elections. Tories don't like Europe but know we are in for good and should move forward slowly and give up as little power to Europe as possible, Labour really don't care but Tony Blair sees him self as a world leader and wants to get the UK in no matter what, so long as he does not loose power doing it and so he can play a central role in Europe. That's Tony playing the cental role, not the UK. Tony does not care about the UK, Tony only cares about Tony. The 2 parties that made gains were the LibDems (a small gain 2%) and the UKIP, 18%.These two parties have compleatly different views about Europe. The LibDems want to move to The United States of Europe with all speed and can not understand why every one else does not have this view. The UKIP want to leave Europe as soon as posible. Next week would be a good time.Not all the people that voted for the UKIP would want to leave Europe but they are using this vote to say to Tony and to Europe that the idea of 1956 and a Common Market may not have been a bad idea but lets not get to close to the US of E.In the local elections 20% of existing Labour councillors lost their right to call themselves Councillor because Tony took the country to war. A protest vote. This means in both Local and European elections people have got MEPs and councillors representing them that they did not want just because the only time they can make them selves heard is by the protest vote.Well, does democracy work?
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Well the pay deal has been finalised. We are to get 3.5% this year and 3.5% or RPI plus 0.5% next year and sick pay will be at 93% of pay. The Union are going round saying that is a good deal so I guess it must be. It will mean about £7.50 increase a week (net).
Torbay Half Marathon
27 June 04 SundayToday was the Torbay Half Marathon. The race starts on Paignton Sea Front and goes along the coast road to Torquay Harbour and back again.Half the road is closed and in order to get from Torquay to Paignton we had to divert from the Grand Hotel via back roads to Preston Bus Shelter.As the route is narrow and twisted the police try to make most people go over the ring road which is twice as far. This involves turning right off the sea front at Belgrave Rd and out of town for about two miles. The bus were to take the short diversion but problems cropped up.First the lights at Belgrave road normally only let 3 or 4 cars turn right at a time but there were 200 hundred cars trying to turn right and the lights should have been turned off and police should have directed traffic. But they didn't even think off doing that. It took 15 minutes to cover what normally takes 2 minutes.Next the policeman on duty at Belgrave Rd took it on himself to direct the buses over the Ring Rd. When I got there I told him that I was going the short route. He first said that the Ring Rd route had been agreed with Peter Lacy the Operations Manager at Stagecoach Torquay. The OM Torquay is John Lacy not Peter.I told him this was not so as I had been given a map, which I showed him, when I signed on showing the short route.He then said that we (the police) didn't want the buses to go the short route. I said that I was going the short route as it was the one agreed by the Senior Police Officer in charge of the event. He repeated his statement that 'We dont want buses going that way.'I asked contol and they said take the short route. So I took the short route.All went well till I got to the end of the diversion at Preston Bus Shelter. Even though there was only traffic coming off the diversion route the traffic lights were still on and only letting 3 cars through at a time so we soon had a massive tail back of traffic.The Police round here have a reputation for being lazy and lacking in all the normal policing skills and to day they went a long way to continuing that reputation.I don't know who won the race.
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Urban Foxes
A couple of weeks ago I was driving a 85 up to Exeter from Torquay and a fox ran across the road in front of me. Now I have been here in Torquay for 6 years now and this is the first fox I have seen.In London, where I lived for 10 years I saw quiet a few foxes, espectially on early or late turns. I don't go out of my way to look for wild life but if it turns up it nice to see. One night in London I was last bus, from Chiswick to Greenford at about 12:30 in the morning and I spent 20 minutes feeding my last sandwich to a passing fox and got back late to the depot and missed the staff bus home. It only took 45 minutes to walk home so I didn't mind. On Saturday I again drove an 85 from Torquay to Exeter and at the same place I again saw a fox. I am not sure if it was the same fox but this fox I will not see again as it was lying dead at the side of the road.
Some years ago in about the same area I saw a dead badger at the side of the road and seagulls flattened in the middle of the road are not unusual in Torbay. It used to be just cats in London. Seems that country wide life gets run down just like urban wide life. Sad.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Junk in the Road
I came home from work on Sunday and the heater was still there but it had been joined by a chair. The heater has been there for 4 weeks now, left out by someone at 67. The chair came from 71( I think). I had also seen a bed and matress that had been thrown over the back garden wall by some one in 71. I know that because no one else could have dumped it there.So I rang the Council Environmental Services and they came and collected the bed, matress, chair and heater 20 mins later. Good on Torbay Environmental Services. Bad on the dumpers.we live in a nice part of the world but some people don't want it to stay that way
From the Herald Express
Here is a story taken from the Torbay Herald Express.
DOGGED DRIVER SEES OFF BOY RACER 11:00 - 07 June 2004
Imagine the scene .... a Stagecoach bus and a "boy racer" locked in a dispute in a narrow Torquay road and neither willing to give way. They meet in the middle of Sherwell Lane in Chelston.The bus driver isn't for reversing and nor is the young car driver.He decides to sit it out and lights up a cigarette in defiance.The bus driver pulls out a flask and pours himself a cup of coffee.The passengers on board are a little bemused as the traffic starts to stack up.Boy racer is joined by two mates who pull up behind. Bus driver is still non-plussed and carries on sipping.Things are in danger of turning nasty as the youngsters begin to lose patience.Astonishment turns to panic on board the bus with one woman claiming she is getting claustrophobic.Eventually, the racers give way and the bus moves on.It is almost 30 minutes since the impasse first began.Good on the bus driver.
I wasn't the driver but some times it can be fun driving a bus.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Democracy at work.
Does democracy work?Is it important to cast your vote?
On Thursday we had European and local elections. Labour and Tories got stuffed in the European Elections. Tories don't like Europe but know we are in for good and should move forward slowly and give up as little power to Europe as possible, Labour really don't care but Tony Blair sees him self as a world leader and wants to get the UK in no matter what, so long as he does not loose power doing it and so he can play a central role in Europe. That's Tony playing the cental role, not the UK. Tony does not care about the UK, Tony only cares about Tony. The 2 parties that made gains were the LibDems (a small gain 2%) and the UKIP, 18%.These two parties have compleatly different views about Europe. The LibDems want to move to The United States of Europe with all speed and can not understand why every one else does not have this view. The UKIP want to leave Europe as soon as posible. Next week would be a good time.Not all the people that voted for the UKIP would want to leave Europe but they are using this vote to say to Tony and to Europe that the idea of 1956 and a Common Market may not have been a bad idea but lets not get to close to the US of E.In the local elections 20% of existing Labour councillors lost their right to call themselves Councillor because Tony took the country to war. A protest vote. This means in both Local and European elections people have got MEPs and councillors representing them that they did not want just because the only time they can make them selves heard is by the protest vote.Well, does democracy work?
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Well the pay deal has been finalised. We are to get 3.5% this year and 3.5% or RPI plus 0.5% next year and sick pay will be at 93% of pay. The Union are going round saying that is a good deal so I guess it must be. It will mean about £7.50 increase a week (net).
Sunday, 30 May 2004
May 2004
Sunday, May 30, 2004
Looking for Nessie.
I watched Globetreker this evening on Discovery TV. It was fron Scotland and one of the people on the show was some guy who had moved up to Loch Ness and was living there in an old van. He made some money selling Nessie models he makes and spent his time scaning the loch for the monster. He was on a TV program 9 years ago when he first moved up there.Now he is asked 60 times a day if he has seen the monster. "No." he anwsers. Easy to just say no,easier than saying yes and have to tell 60 people a day what it looked like and all the atttendent details. He admitted that even if he had seen Nessie he would probably still say no.So he's been there at the side of the Loch in an old van for 9 years following his ambition to find the Loch Ness Monster. And if he sees it, what then? Will he go home? Will he just carry on watching and carry on denying that he has seen the beast. Maybe his real ambition was to just drop out and he used poor Nessie as an excuse.Does he really want to see her?
Thursday, May 27, 2004
Bus Drivers are Human
I went into Brixham this morning. I had come down from Newton Abbot which is 12 miles or so from Brixham. It takes 92 mins to drive a bus along the route and I will have stopped 30 or more times to pick up and drop of about 60 to 80 passengers. I will have been involved in may be 10 queues of slow moving traffic and at least 3 car drivers will have done something to try and upset me and several pedestrians will have walked out in front of me with out looking.When I got to Brixham the bus in front of me was just about to leave. He, or she, runs 10 mins ahead of me so I now have 10 mins Stand Time. Time for a short rest. Not a chance. Some old guy tries to get on the bus even though I tell him I am going to the toilet and will be 5 mins. He wants to go to Paignton and can not see why he can't go now. he gets nasty saying I was being rude. I explain that the bus does not go for 10 mins and I am having 5 mins away from the bus if you don't mind. The sun is shining and its warm and dry. It's not as if it is cold and wet.When I get back to the bus I hear him say to his wife that all bus drivers are lazy bastards. He then asks me for 2 singles to Paignton. £4.00.Now he was over 60 and a holiday maker. I usually explain to over sixties holiday makers about our £3.00 explorer ticket for the over sixties. Did he get this example of my charm? What do you think?When we got to Paignton he asked, without any grace, where to bus to Babbacombe went from. Hopefully he will get singles again for £2.00 each and his day out will cost £16.00 in bus fares for himself and wife instead of what it should have cost. £6.00 for two Explorers.Being nice pays; usually.
Change over day.
Sunday 23 May 04
Today at work was change over day. We changed from the winter time table to summer. What this means is there are more buses out there for the holiday makers and the foreign language students who come to Torquay every summer to learn English. The services that need more buses are the number 12 and the open top buses.
The problem to day was with the open tops. They go from St Marychurch by Meatfoot Beach, Torquay Harbour, Paignton and then either to Brixham or the Zoo. Good Zoo at Paignton, been seen on BBC TV.
Last year they did not go by Meatfoot Beach for some reason best known to the Boss. Well no one bothered to cut the trees down. Not the whole tree, just the bit sticking in the road that threatened to rip the passengers faces to pieces. So we could not go that way and it is the nicest part of the route since that nice Mr Hilditch took the part down to Kingswear out. That was the best part. Mr Hilditch found out that because of problems with the time table drivers had 20 minutes rest time in Kingswear and he soon put a stop to that. We don't go there any more and Mr Hilditch is happy and it is always a good idea to keep the boss happy even if the passengers don't get to Kingswear and Dartmouth.
Saturday, May 22, 2004
Good Day.
Yesterday I went in the canteen at Paignton for my break and the news was on the TV. Most news these days and for as far back as I can remember is either bad or depressing.However there were 2 items which cheered me up no end. The first discribed how Dictator Blair, sorry Prime Minister Blair is coming under increasing pressure from all sides concerning his starting a war. You know the one in Iraq. He has been told to get British troops out of Ireland, sorry Iraq as soon as posible and to stop seeing his American Lover(That nice Mr. Bush).Tony should have tried to make him self in to a great Prime Minister of the Uk, working hard to improve the future of the people he was elected to rule. But what did he do? He became a war lord.Are the problems of Law and Order, Education, the National Health Service and Public Transport so hard to solve that he had to have a war to distract us from the fact that his government isn't even trying to find solutions to these problem. Did Iraq presented a problem more important than pensioners unable to pay their council tax bills or what people would say about his U Turn on a European Union Referemdem. Maggie had a war. It came at a good time for her and got her elected for a 3rd term. But that war was forced on her. Anthony Eden had his war, unforced. and look what happened to him. North Korea has WMD. Are we going to goto war with them?Take the Q from the end of IRAQ and you get IRA. We had the IRA for 40 years, will I be celabrating my 100th birthday and saying"Thank God we are finally out of Iraq"? Second item of news was that the Basking Sharks are back.Second biggest fish in the world and they swim just of the coast here in Torquay. Isn't that nice of them?
10 facts about basking sharks
The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second largest fish in the world, after the Indo-Pacific whale shark (Rhincodon typus).
They may reach 12m in length, and weigh up to 7 tonnes.
They may take 12-20 years to reach sexual maturity.
Gestation may take 18 months - 3 years.
Females give birth to 5-6 live young (pups) at a time.
Pups are believed to be 1.5m at birth.
They feed only on tiny zooplankton.
Basking sharks are found in most temperate waters of the world.
Basking sharks appear in the waters around the western coasts of Britain each spring from May onwards.
The basking shark is the biggest wild animal to regularly visit Britain.
Sunday, May 16, 2004
Not a good day
Sunday 16 May 04
I started in Paignton to day. I knew the day was going to be one of those days. I got on my bus, loaded the passengers, had a look round for any one running up at the last minute, no, closed the doors and started to reverse.
I don't know where they came from but suddenly two people were banging on the door. Now once we have started reverse we can not stop and pick them up. Company rules for everyone's safety.
In Brixham I left 2 minutes late and the same thing happened while I was at the lights. Still can not pick them up.
Further down the road at Windy Corner some one was standing behind the bus shelter and only appeared with her arm out as I was driving past. I had only been out 30 minutes and I had upset 5 people. Now I don't like upsetting people like this but I am not going to put myself and others at risk by stopping when it is not safe.
The rest of the day went on like this. In one incident a car ( Reg Number VW04FUN just in case you are reading this) over took me just after a two lane road had narrowed to one lane, forcing him self between me and oncoming traffic, missing both by inches. After the car got past me it spent the next 2 miles travelling in front of me in a queue of traffic at 15 mph. In the car the drivers wife and child. Testerone makes potential killers of some people.
Later a passenger boarded the bus in Torquay, complained I was late and asked for a single to Windy Corner. I issued the ticket and asked for the fare, £2.05. She said "Oh no it's only a pound. I have an OAP pass." See then spent almost 2 minutes finding it.
The frustration of a day like this tends to make me forget the first two rules of stress free bus driving.
1 Be nice to the passengers
2 Never worry about what other road users do.
Friday, May 14, 2004
Summer Rotas.
At this time of year we start getting ready for the summer season and an increase in the number of holiday makers, Grokels as they are known locally.This means changes in the 12 service and the start of the Open Top bus service between St Marychurch in the north of the bay and Brixham in the south. The new rotas came out to day and were awaited with some trepidation by the drivers.One good thing from my point of view is that I don't have any Torquay Locals to do this summer.I dislike Torquay Locals. Not the people but the routes,some of the go up and down 12 times a day driving manual gear box buses that are well past their 'trip to the scrap yard date.'The 12 service has new automatic buses and 3 trips a day max. Much easier. Some drivers like Torquay Locals but I don't.
Monday, May 10, 2004
Torquay Locals
To day was one of those days which I dislike. I usually enjoy my job but for some unknown reason 3 times every 4 weeks I have to drive Torquay locals instead of the 12 I normally drive.Sometimes I can swop but today I couldn't and drove 31 s and 32 s.I hate Torquay Locals.
Saturday, May 08, 2004
New Route; 12D
To day I drove the 12D which is a new route for me.It runs from Paignton Bus Station through Torquay and up to St Marychurch. Very quiet route,I carried only 87 people compared with 300 on my usual route (12). I would not like to do 12D s all the time, the bordom would drive me bonkers. It is one of the Managing Director's ideas and I can not understand why it has lasted so long carrying so few people. Routes that attract this small amount of revenue usually only last if there are no other buses along the route but this one has the 12 and the 32 covering the route. Maybe the boss does not like to admit that one of his ideas isn't working even if it is costing the company money.I did not take enough today to cover my wages.
85A Drivers
I placed the following notice on the staff notice board to day.The company had changed the fare but had not bothered to tell the drivers and they were having problems as they had no idea why the fare had changed. No one looks after the small detail at our place.Mind you they somethimes don't look after anything at our place.
85A DRIVERS
Please note:
The correct Devon County Wide return fare between
Teignmouth Triangle (54)
and
Newton Abbot (16)
is £1.75.
It had been coming up £1.65 but this was a mistake and has been corrected.
Please apologise for any inconvenience caused.
If anyone complains tell them
to write to that nice Mr Hilditch.
This notice is not a union notice and in no way represents company policy but it is factually correct.
Friday, May 07, 2004
Mass meeting re pay talks.
Well on Tuesday the MD Mr Hilditch agreed to the union demands re 3.5% plus an upgrading of our sick pay but then, after consultation with head officechanged his mind about the sick pay.
The amount of money involve here is about £30 000.
So next time you get on a bus and the driver snarls at you it may be that he works for some one like our Boss.
It may be that the driver just hates you. Who Knows?
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
The Union and Proxy Voting.
Thursday evening there will be a mass union meeting to discuss and vote on the latest pay offer. Some drivers will be unable to attend as they will be working. The Union have very kindly decided to allow them a proxy vote at the meeting. However the have not said what the pay offer is. How can you decide to accept or reject something is you don't know what you are voting to accept or reject? Well it seems that if you have a proxy vote, it will be added to the majority vote of those drivers attending.
Is this the RMT's idea of how democracy works or is it the RMT's idea of fooling all the people all the time into thinking they have a say in what the Union does?
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Pay Talks
The day after tomorrow, Thursday, is pay talks day. They have been going on since March already. A day here, a day there but as we should start on our new pay rates from the first complete week in May this should be the final pay talk.
Last year we went on strike over pay. Chris Hilditch the MD wanted us to give up our paid meal breaks. This would have meant that we could start work at 7am and end at 7pm with an unpaid break of 4 hours in the middle and so only be paid for 8 hrs. This is the way for a bus company to use the least number of drivers to cover the busy times in the morning and early evening but it would mean going out at 6:30 am and getting home at 7:30 pm for less than £200.00 per week. No Chance.
We were on strike for 9 days over a five week period and kept our paid breaks and got an average rise of 40p per hour. There is still bitterness and resentment amoung the drivers towards the Managing Drirector.
Anyway this year he offered us 20p and hour with several strings; give up our meal breaks for one. We, the Union that is said give us 25p per hour no strings. He said he would do some working out and see if the company could offord it. Two week ago he still had not worked out what 700 drivers times by 25p/hr times by 40hr/week times 52 weeks per year is. Well after 30 seconds on my calculator I could tell him the increase in the wage bill would come to £364 000. The offer he made would cost £291 200 a difference of £72 800. I expect he will come up with the money.
PS The owners of the company just gave themselves a bonus of £250 000 000. (In case you think I
mis-counted the zeros I will write that in words.
One Quarter of A Billion Pounds.
Looking for Nessie.
I watched Globetreker this evening on Discovery TV. It was fron Scotland and one of the people on the show was some guy who had moved up to Loch Ness and was living there in an old van. He made some money selling Nessie models he makes and spent his time scaning the loch for the monster. He was on a TV program 9 years ago when he first moved up there.Now he is asked 60 times a day if he has seen the monster. "No." he anwsers. Easy to just say no,easier than saying yes and have to tell 60 people a day what it looked like and all the atttendent details. He admitted that even if he had seen Nessie he would probably still say no.So he's been there at the side of the Loch in an old van for 9 years following his ambition to find the Loch Ness Monster. And if he sees it, what then? Will he go home? Will he just carry on watching and carry on denying that he has seen the beast. Maybe his real ambition was to just drop out and he used poor Nessie as an excuse.Does he really want to see her?
Thursday, May 27, 2004
Bus Drivers are Human
I went into Brixham this morning. I had come down from Newton Abbot which is 12 miles or so from Brixham. It takes 92 mins to drive a bus along the route and I will have stopped 30 or more times to pick up and drop of about 60 to 80 passengers. I will have been involved in may be 10 queues of slow moving traffic and at least 3 car drivers will have done something to try and upset me and several pedestrians will have walked out in front of me with out looking.When I got to Brixham the bus in front of me was just about to leave. He, or she, runs 10 mins ahead of me so I now have 10 mins Stand Time. Time for a short rest. Not a chance. Some old guy tries to get on the bus even though I tell him I am going to the toilet and will be 5 mins. He wants to go to Paignton and can not see why he can't go now. he gets nasty saying I was being rude. I explain that the bus does not go for 10 mins and I am having 5 mins away from the bus if you don't mind. The sun is shining and its warm and dry. It's not as if it is cold and wet.When I get back to the bus I hear him say to his wife that all bus drivers are lazy bastards. He then asks me for 2 singles to Paignton. £4.00.Now he was over 60 and a holiday maker. I usually explain to over sixties holiday makers about our £3.00 explorer ticket for the over sixties. Did he get this example of my charm? What do you think?When we got to Paignton he asked, without any grace, where to bus to Babbacombe went from. Hopefully he will get singles again for £2.00 each and his day out will cost £16.00 in bus fares for himself and wife instead of what it should have cost. £6.00 for two Explorers.Being nice pays; usually.
Change over day.
Sunday 23 May 04
Today at work was change over day. We changed from the winter time table to summer. What this means is there are more buses out there for the holiday makers and the foreign language students who come to Torquay every summer to learn English. The services that need more buses are the number 12 and the open top buses.
The problem to day was with the open tops. They go from St Marychurch by Meatfoot Beach, Torquay Harbour, Paignton and then either to Brixham or the Zoo. Good Zoo at Paignton, been seen on BBC TV.
Last year they did not go by Meatfoot Beach for some reason best known to the Boss. Well no one bothered to cut the trees down. Not the whole tree, just the bit sticking in the road that threatened to rip the passengers faces to pieces. So we could not go that way and it is the nicest part of the route since that nice Mr Hilditch took the part down to Kingswear out. That was the best part. Mr Hilditch found out that because of problems with the time table drivers had 20 minutes rest time in Kingswear and he soon put a stop to that. We don't go there any more and Mr Hilditch is happy and it is always a good idea to keep the boss happy even if the passengers don't get to Kingswear and Dartmouth.
Saturday, May 22, 2004
Good Day.
Yesterday I went in the canteen at Paignton for my break and the news was on the TV. Most news these days and for as far back as I can remember is either bad or depressing.However there were 2 items which cheered me up no end. The first discribed how Dictator Blair, sorry Prime Minister Blair is coming under increasing pressure from all sides concerning his starting a war. You know the one in Iraq. He has been told to get British troops out of Ireland, sorry Iraq as soon as posible and to stop seeing his American Lover(That nice Mr. Bush).Tony should have tried to make him self in to a great Prime Minister of the Uk, working hard to improve the future of the people he was elected to rule. But what did he do? He became a war lord.Are the problems of Law and Order, Education, the National Health Service and Public Transport so hard to solve that he had to have a war to distract us from the fact that his government isn't even trying to find solutions to these problem. Did Iraq presented a problem more important than pensioners unable to pay their council tax bills or what people would say about his U Turn on a European Union Referemdem. Maggie had a war. It came at a good time for her and got her elected for a 3rd term. But that war was forced on her. Anthony Eden had his war, unforced. and look what happened to him. North Korea has WMD. Are we going to goto war with them?Take the Q from the end of IRAQ and you get IRA. We had the IRA for 40 years, will I be celabrating my 100th birthday and saying"Thank God we are finally out of Iraq"? Second item of news was that the Basking Sharks are back.Second biggest fish in the world and they swim just of the coast here in Torquay. Isn't that nice of them?
10 facts about basking sharks
The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second largest fish in the world, after the Indo-Pacific whale shark (Rhincodon typus).
They may reach 12m in length, and weigh up to 7 tonnes.
They may take 12-20 years to reach sexual maturity.
Gestation may take 18 months - 3 years.
Females give birth to 5-6 live young (pups) at a time.
Pups are believed to be 1.5m at birth.
They feed only on tiny zooplankton.
Basking sharks are found in most temperate waters of the world.
Basking sharks appear in the waters around the western coasts of Britain each spring from May onwards.
The basking shark is the biggest wild animal to regularly visit Britain.
Sunday, May 16, 2004
Not a good day
Sunday 16 May 04
I started in Paignton to day. I knew the day was going to be one of those days. I got on my bus, loaded the passengers, had a look round for any one running up at the last minute, no, closed the doors and started to reverse.
I don't know where they came from but suddenly two people were banging on the door. Now once we have started reverse we can not stop and pick them up. Company rules for everyone's safety.
In Brixham I left 2 minutes late and the same thing happened while I was at the lights. Still can not pick them up.
Further down the road at Windy Corner some one was standing behind the bus shelter and only appeared with her arm out as I was driving past. I had only been out 30 minutes and I had upset 5 people. Now I don't like upsetting people like this but I am not going to put myself and others at risk by stopping when it is not safe.
The rest of the day went on like this. In one incident a car ( Reg Number VW04FUN just in case you are reading this) over took me just after a two lane road had narrowed to one lane, forcing him self between me and oncoming traffic, missing both by inches. After the car got past me it spent the next 2 miles travelling in front of me in a queue of traffic at 15 mph. In the car the drivers wife and child. Testerone makes potential killers of some people.
Later a passenger boarded the bus in Torquay, complained I was late and asked for a single to Windy Corner. I issued the ticket and asked for the fare, £2.05. She said "Oh no it's only a pound. I have an OAP pass." See then spent almost 2 minutes finding it.
The frustration of a day like this tends to make me forget the first two rules of stress free bus driving.
1 Be nice to the passengers
2 Never worry about what other road users do.
Friday, May 14, 2004
Summer Rotas.
At this time of year we start getting ready for the summer season and an increase in the number of holiday makers, Grokels as they are known locally.This means changes in the 12 service and the start of the Open Top bus service between St Marychurch in the north of the bay and Brixham in the south. The new rotas came out to day and were awaited with some trepidation by the drivers.One good thing from my point of view is that I don't have any Torquay Locals to do this summer.I dislike Torquay Locals. Not the people but the routes,some of the go up and down 12 times a day driving manual gear box buses that are well past their 'trip to the scrap yard date.'The 12 service has new automatic buses and 3 trips a day max. Much easier. Some drivers like Torquay Locals but I don't.
Monday, May 10, 2004
Torquay Locals
To day was one of those days which I dislike. I usually enjoy my job but for some unknown reason 3 times every 4 weeks I have to drive Torquay locals instead of the 12 I normally drive.Sometimes I can swop but today I couldn't and drove 31 s and 32 s.I hate Torquay Locals.
Saturday, May 08, 2004
New Route; 12D
To day I drove the 12D which is a new route for me.It runs from Paignton Bus Station through Torquay and up to St Marychurch. Very quiet route,I carried only 87 people compared with 300 on my usual route (12). I would not like to do 12D s all the time, the bordom would drive me bonkers. It is one of the Managing Director's ideas and I can not understand why it has lasted so long carrying so few people. Routes that attract this small amount of revenue usually only last if there are no other buses along the route but this one has the 12 and the 32 covering the route. Maybe the boss does not like to admit that one of his ideas isn't working even if it is costing the company money.I did not take enough today to cover my wages.
85A Drivers
I placed the following notice on the staff notice board to day.The company had changed the fare but had not bothered to tell the drivers and they were having problems as they had no idea why the fare had changed. No one looks after the small detail at our place.Mind you they somethimes don't look after anything at our place.
85A DRIVERS
Please note:
The correct Devon County Wide return fare between
Teignmouth Triangle (54)
and
Newton Abbot (16)
is £1.75.
It had been coming up £1.65 but this was a mistake and has been corrected.
Please apologise for any inconvenience caused.
If anyone complains tell them
to write to that nice Mr Hilditch.
This notice is not a union notice and in no way represents company policy but it is factually correct.
Friday, May 07, 2004
Mass meeting re pay talks.
Well on Tuesday the MD Mr Hilditch agreed to the union demands re 3.5% plus an upgrading of our sick pay but then, after consultation with head officechanged his mind about the sick pay.
The amount of money involve here is about £30 000.
So next time you get on a bus and the driver snarls at you it may be that he works for some one like our Boss.
It may be that the driver just hates you. Who Knows?
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
The Union and Proxy Voting.
Thursday evening there will be a mass union meeting to discuss and vote on the latest pay offer. Some drivers will be unable to attend as they will be working. The Union have very kindly decided to allow them a proxy vote at the meeting. However the have not said what the pay offer is. How can you decide to accept or reject something is you don't know what you are voting to accept or reject? Well it seems that if you have a proxy vote, it will be added to the majority vote of those drivers attending.
Is this the RMT's idea of how democracy works or is it the RMT's idea of fooling all the people all the time into thinking they have a say in what the Union does?
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Pay Talks
The day after tomorrow, Thursday, is pay talks day. They have been going on since March already. A day here, a day there but as we should start on our new pay rates from the first complete week in May this should be the final pay talk.
Last year we went on strike over pay. Chris Hilditch the MD wanted us to give up our paid meal breaks. This would have meant that we could start work at 7am and end at 7pm with an unpaid break of 4 hours in the middle and so only be paid for 8 hrs. This is the way for a bus company to use the least number of drivers to cover the busy times in the morning and early evening but it would mean going out at 6:30 am and getting home at 7:30 pm for less than £200.00 per week. No Chance.
We were on strike for 9 days over a five week period and kept our paid breaks and got an average rise of 40p per hour. There is still bitterness and resentment amoung the drivers towards the Managing Drirector.
Anyway this year he offered us 20p and hour with several strings; give up our meal breaks for one. We, the Union that is said give us 25p per hour no strings. He said he would do some working out and see if the company could offord it. Two week ago he still had not worked out what 700 drivers times by 25p/hr times by 40hr/week times 52 weeks per year is. Well after 30 seconds on my calculator I could tell him the increase in the wage bill would come to £364 000. The offer he made would cost £291 200 a difference of £72 800. I expect he will come up with the money.
PS The owners of the company just gave themselves a bonus of £250 000 000. (In case you think I
mis-counted the zeros I will write that in words.
One Quarter of A Billion Pounds.
Saturday, 1 May 2004
April 2004
Thursday, April 29, 2004
In the Papers
In the News (a few days ago)
At work to day while on my lunch break I came across a copy of The Times. Now I don't usually read newspapers as they are always full of depressing news like War, Plague, Terrorism and George Bush. Even stories about Global Warming depress me. I seems the world is going to come to an end in 2050. As it is unlikely that I will live to be 107 years old it would appear that I am going to miss the second most important event in the world's history. I missed the first by 4.5 billion years and now I am going to miss the 2nd by 25 years. It's not fair.
Any way the first story I read was about the Archbishop of Canterbury having a go at Dictator Blair and that cheered me up no end. Go for it Bish, but try not to end up like one of your predecessors.
The 2nd story was the one about the woman who managed to steal £4 million from her dead rich bosses. They were so rich that they didn't even miss it. What depressed me so much about this story is here was some one who found a way of turning her job into a complete gold mine but instead of hiding it in a garden gnome (Swiss veriarty), then going into work one day and telling everyone she had been diagnosed a Manic Depressive and were moving to Manchester (so her surroundings could match her mood) she all but told every one. Talk about Spend! Spend! Spend! It's no good doing something bold, imaginative and illegal and forgetting the 11th commandment. Don't wait about to get caught; move to some Central American country and then live in luxury for the rest of your life. Not in jail for the next 10 years.
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Stopping a bus from the outside.
IF YOU WANT ME TO STOP:- PUT YOU HAND OUT.
No, not you dear reader, the person at the bus stop.
I don't want to stop, I want to keep going so I can get to the terminus and have a smoke. Stopping means I face the probability of being asked hard to answer questions like 'How much is it to Brixham?' or 'What time is the last bus?'or 'Where were the last 3 buses?' The passengers on the bus don't want me to stop, they just want to get where they are going as quickly as possible without some vastly overweight person who smells getting on the bus and sitting next to them in the only empty seat on the bus. The car drivers behind don't want me to stop as they will have to check their mirrors, slow down, signal to the drivers behind and the pull out in the face of car drivers coming the other way who also don't want me to stop. The car drivers half a mile back down the road don't want me to stop as it means the will have to risk life, limb and the nearside of their car trying to get past me as I put on a right turn signal and pull straight out in front of them with total disregard for the fact that they have speeded up to 50 mph in a misguided attempt to get in front of me. Who can blame them, even I don't like travelling behind a bus?
So you are the only person on the face of the planet who wants me to stop. Put some effort into getting me to stop. Lie in the road, take all your clothes off and hold a big sign with 'Please Stop' written on it, or just put your hand out.
PS These methods of getting the bus to stop are not guaranteed. There are some bloody minded bus drivers out there who will find any excuse to stare in the rear view mirror from the moment they see you at the stop until they are well past you. Sorry about that.
In the Papers
In the News (a few days ago)
At work to day while on my lunch break I came across a copy of The Times. Now I don't usually read newspapers as they are always full of depressing news like War, Plague, Terrorism and George Bush. Even stories about Global Warming depress me. I seems the world is going to come to an end in 2050. As it is unlikely that I will live to be 107 years old it would appear that I am going to miss the second most important event in the world's history. I missed the first by 4.5 billion years and now I am going to miss the 2nd by 25 years. It's not fair.
Any way the first story I read was about the Archbishop of Canterbury having a go at Dictator Blair and that cheered me up no end. Go for it Bish, but try not to end up like one of your predecessors.
The 2nd story was the one about the woman who managed to steal £4 million from her dead rich bosses. They were so rich that they didn't even miss it. What depressed me so much about this story is here was some one who found a way of turning her job into a complete gold mine but instead of hiding it in a garden gnome (Swiss veriarty), then going into work one day and telling everyone she had been diagnosed a Manic Depressive and were moving to Manchester (so her surroundings could match her mood) she all but told every one. Talk about Spend! Spend! Spend! It's no good doing something bold, imaginative and illegal and forgetting the 11th commandment. Don't wait about to get caught; move to some Central American country and then live in luxury for the rest of your life. Not in jail for the next 10 years.
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Stopping a bus from the outside.
IF YOU WANT ME TO STOP:- PUT YOU HAND OUT.
No, not you dear reader, the person at the bus stop.
I don't want to stop, I want to keep going so I can get to the terminus and have a smoke. Stopping means I face the probability of being asked hard to answer questions like 'How much is it to Brixham?' or 'What time is the last bus?'or 'Where were the last 3 buses?' The passengers on the bus don't want me to stop, they just want to get where they are going as quickly as possible without some vastly overweight person who smells getting on the bus and sitting next to them in the only empty seat on the bus. The car drivers behind don't want me to stop as they will have to check their mirrors, slow down, signal to the drivers behind and the pull out in the face of car drivers coming the other way who also don't want me to stop. The car drivers half a mile back down the road don't want me to stop as it means the will have to risk life, limb and the nearside of their car trying to get past me as I put on a right turn signal and pull straight out in front of them with total disregard for the fact that they have speeded up to 50 mph in a misguided attempt to get in front of me. Who can blame them, even I don't like travelling behind a bus?
So you are the only person on the face of the planet who wants me to stop. Put some effort into getting me to stop. Lie in the road, take all your clothes off and hold a big sign with 'Please Stop' written on it, or just put your hand out.
PS These methods of getting the bus to stop are not guaranteed. There are some bloody minded bus drivers out there who will find any excuse to stare in the rear view mirror from the moment they see you at the stop until they are well past you. Sorry about that.
Wednesday, 28 April 2004
Stopping a bus from the outside.
Tuesday, 27 April 2004
IF YOU WANT ME TO STOP:- PUT YOU HAND OUT.No, not you dear reader, the person at the bus stop.I don't want to stop, I want to keep going so I can get to the terminus and have a smoke. Stopping means I face the probability of being asked hard to answer questions like 'How much is it to Brixham?' or 'What time is the last bus?'or 'Where were the last 3 buses?' The passengers on the bus don't want me to stop, they just want to get where they are going as quickly as possible without some vastly overweight person who smells getting on the bus and sitting next to them in the only empty seat on the bus. The car drivers behind don't want me to stop as they will have to check their mirrors, slow down, signal to the drivers behind and the pull out in the face of car drivers coming the other way who also don't want me to stop. The car drivers half a mile back down the road don't want me to stop as it means the will have to risk life, limb and the nearside of their car trying to get past me as I put on a right turn signal and pull straight out in front of them with total disregard for the fact that they have speeded up to 50 mph in a misguided attempt to get in front of me. Who can blame them, even I don't like travelling behind a bus?So you are the only person on the face of the planet who wants me to stop. Put some effort into getting me to stop. Lie in the road, take all your clothes off and hold a big sign with 'Please Stop' written on it, or just put your hand out.PS These methods of getting the bus to stop are not guaranteed. There are some bloody minded bus drivers out there who will find any excuse to stare in the rear view mirror from the moment they see you at the stop until they are well past you. Sorry about that.
IF YOU WANT ME TO STOP:- PUT YOU HAND OUT.No, not you dear reader, the person at the bus stop.I don't want to stop, I want to keep going so I can get to the terminus and have a smoke. Stopping means I face the probability of being asked hard to answer questions like 'How much is it to Brixham?' or 'What time is the last bus?'or 'Where were the last 3 buses?' The passengers on the bus don't want me to stop, they just want to get where they are going as quickly as possible without some vastly overweight person who smells getting on the bus and sitting next to them in the only empty seat on the bus. The car drivers behind don't want me to stop as they will have to check their mirrors, slow down, signal to the drivers behind and the pull out in the face of car drivers coming the other way who also don't want me to stop. The car drivers half a mile back down the road don't want me to stop as it means the will have to risk life, limb and the nearside of their car trying to get past me as I put on a right turn signal and pull straight out in front of them with total disregard for the fact that they have speeded up to 50 mph in a misguided attempt to get in front of me. Who can blame them, even I don't like travelling behind a bus?So you are the only person on the face of the planet who wants me to stop. Put some effort into getting me to stop. Lie in the road, take all your clothes off and hold a big sign with 'Please Stop' written on it, or just put your hand out.PS These methods of getting the bus to stop are not guaranteed. There are some bloody minded bus drivers out there who will find any excuse to stare in the rear view mirror from the moment they see you at the stop until they are well past you. Sorry about that.
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