What a good battery

Pretty quite last few days. Kids still off so most of the time been running on time. 2956 Sunday, had a passenger in the front seat (as you do) who was on the phone, no problem with that and as they we no , as a lot of people do, going in to the 'I'm on the bus routine' gave it no thought. What was amazing was that they were still on the phone when we arrived at Victoria, three hours latter! I and another passenger wondered. a. how the battery lasted that long and, b. What did they have to talk about!
Still each to their own.

Back from meeting

Meeting went well and as far as I could see nothing is going to change (much). The coaches remain in Bath, Drivers remain in Bath, only thing is we loose the bus work we used to do. So, on street up and overnight we will be standing spare. So will make sure I have a good book! They have created a job of leading driver so will fill the application form and see how we go. They have a plan for training so will be able to complete the new CPC and we also get the opportunity to drive different vehicles and routes. Time will tell and there is always the option of transfering back to Bath buses.

Meeting Tomorrow

Back at work feeling much better. There is a meeting to discuss the up and coming transfer to First Coaches. The transfer has now been brought forward to 14th September so at least we will get it over and done with soon. Will post Friday and let you know what the outcome is.

Off Sick

Been fending off a cold all week, but last on the way home it finally got me. Made it back to the depot but knew that I would not be able to drive today. Let traffic know but still felt bad letting them down. Still driving with your eyes and nose streaming is not conducive to a safe journey. There is a company policy which states you must let the company know by 1200 if you are not going to be in the next day. Therefore I will be off tomorrow as well.

Charity Bus Journey

Had this sent to me and is for a cause close to my heart. Please have a look and spread the word to help these guys out.

New Wine Finsihed

Well New Wine has finished for another year. We are both feeling a little sad. We look forward to it all year, it can be very tiring and hard work but we get an immense amount of satisfaction from it. Being at such an event really has recharged my spiritual battery. I just pray I can keep it charged up and that it will show in through my everyday encounters with people.
Helping out today by doing the 'Overnight'. No bus work though. So start at 1730 today and finish at 1120 tomorrow.

Transfer to First Coaches

Postman brought an interesting letter yesterday. The National Express operation in Bath is being transferred from First Somerset and Avon to First Coaches on the 28th September. Not really sure the full implications at the moment but they say the coaches will stay at Bath. The worst case I can see is that I will have to work out of the Bristol depot. All my T & C's will stay the same (at the moment) but I will not be able to do rest day bus work which I have to say I do enjoy once in a while. Any way I am viewing this as an opportunity and will at least try it for a while and see how things go. There is the usual rumour mill running but I will be keeping my head down and wait for the dust to clear. I assume that I, and the other drivers will (and have) been watched over the last few months.

It can be hard not to appear rude!

First day back after a weeks holiday and it was 'Frome Up'. I like this one, plenty of time and usually nice passengers. Today was busy, nearly full in fact. Bit of a problem at Marlborough. Passenger with child turned up with 'Open Dated' ticket. 'So what does that mean?' says the passenger. In short, I will have to see if there are any seats. Passenger looks worried and goes in to I have a plane to catch etc. etc.. As it was I did have a spare seat and we got on our way. Sunday's are always a bad day and today was no exception with the usual crop of idiots on the roads. Despite their best efforts we arrived at Victoria on time. Even had time for a quick kip.
Had a dupe for the journey back so sent him straight to Bath. Again plenty of time and arrived in Swindon 10 minutes early. The London bound coach is due there at the same time. This results in passengers not using their eyes/brians and trying to get on my coach. After the fifth 'you go London' NO 'but you 403, 403 go to London' but they go both ways!! conversation my patience was running out. Number six nearly got a very sarcastic reply, but I decided on the stock answer. What does it say on the front? 'So you not go London?' I gave up at that point and left for BATH!!

New Wine

Well the last week has been a 'holiday' and I have spent it with Fiona as stewards at New Wine
this is a Christian conference held at the Bath and West show ground in Shepton Mallet. Our role as stewards is to help the 11000+ delegates enjoy the seminars and worship and to hopefully meet with the Lord. The jobs we do are varied. From ensuring safety at the venues to picking up the litter. We try to help delegates with any problems they may have and to ensure things like the traffic free areas are kept traffic free. We both find this a very rewarding experience and come away really excited they we may have enabled someone to come to the Lord and to find what they have been looking for. I am back to work tomorrow but Fiona is returning for a second week.