Sitting at Heathrow

1545 from Bath today so sign on at 1500. As I walked through the door the Leading Driver was coming out. We had to go to Bristol to get a coach as mine had broken down on the M4, again!! Finally left Bath at 1615 which should have been Ok as at that time you miss the traffic.Reported accident at J12 had cleared so thought should arrive on time. However just before J7 the traffic came to a complete halt and it then took 30 mins to get to J6 where an accident was being cleared. I still was hopeful of getting to VCS until J4. It was obvious we were not going to get to VCS so call made and a coach was waiting at Heathrow for my Victoria passengers. I am now at Hethrow until 2145 when my my passengers will arrive on an 032.

Never done that before

Had this week all sorted. Frome up today, first up tomorrow, last up Friday and lieu day Saturday. Alarm set for 0430, all sorted. Up early 0420 so thought I might as well get ready. picked up my mobile, one missed call and a message. Message along the lines' Chris where are you you are on first up!!' It would appear I had got this weeks rota completely wrong!! I was not happy as I lost a days pay and also caused a lot of problems for a lot of people. Anyway Fiona saw the good points and we got many of the little jobs done. And, the shed is built!!! I have now double checked this weeks duties!!

Changes

Meeting tonight. Found out what is happening to the coach operations. It will be coming back under Bath operations, so back to where we started!! So what does it mean? Well not much really, different boss and back to driving buses on 'spare' days and after the 'overnight'. Does of course mean potential to work more 'rest days' and I never had any problems driving the odd bus around Bath. Also found out we are getting 'new' coaches. Scania PB's, from a depot that unfortunately lost their National Express contract. This seams to mean' reading between the lines' that we will keep the 403/402 contract for a few years at least.

A paddle in the sea

Birthday Friday so had a week away. Spent three days in Plymouth and the weekend in Torquay. Really relaxing and the weather was pretty good. Made good use of our bus passes and was also good to enjoy a few beers without driving. Torquay was great and even managed a paddle in the sea! You can see some pictures of our travels here.

New Bus Station

Well tomorrow is the last time I will be using the Avon Street Bus Station. Sunday see's us moving to the new bus station next to the railway station.Hopefully this will see the end of the nightmare traffic situation in Bath that has seen it taking over an hour to go one mile. You can find some good pictures here. If you need more information the local council has a handy leaflet.

A very close call

Shed is not up yet, need some help to hold the walls. Nice trip up this morning though still very hot but strangely got cooler as we got closer to London. Way back was a bit eventful. Just left j16 when a lady (girl) decided to leave the A417 with me still in the way!! She appeared completely unaware of my small vehicle!! Further up the road things got very dangerous, just left Coate Water when a vehicle came from the left. An emergency stop was needed to avoid a serious accident. As I was recovering noticed the driver was not only on his hand held mobile but writing notes at the same time!! The driver was so erratic I did something I have only ever done once before and dialed 999. Hands free of course, the lady was very helpful took all the details. She said the driver if seen would be talked to and if local a visit possibly to his house. I sea this thing all the time but had the road been wet it would have been a completly different story.