Hello and welcome to my Blog, my name is Chris, a bus driver for First West Of England based in Wells, Somerset. I am Chair for the depot branch of Unite the Union. Married to Fiona, we live in Midsomer Norton near Bath, with Boots the cat. My main hobby is Amateur Radio and I hold the call sign G4KVI. I am the repeater keeper for GB3UB and MB7UB. I have a fascination for the weather and all things to do with nature and science. As a Christian I worship at St. Nicholas Church in Radstock. These are my observations on my life, both at work and at home.

29 Jul 2007

Bristol and bump

Worked a rest day yesterday. Good one, 178, X39 and 319. fairly quite passenger wise but Bristol was packed. I only found out latter that it was the Harbour Festival. Had a bit of a problem in Bristol. Stopped in a queue waiting for the traffic to move and saw a local bus coming up the inside. Thought it was going to be tight, and it was , too tight!! Result was mirror through the window and scraps to his and my vehicle. I did feel sorry for the lad, but as they say if you can't do it safely don't do it. Still he will learn from it.
Day off today so have some Avon to deliver and hope to pop and see Fiona.

25 Jul 2007

Ticking along

A nice few days. Been on early shift this week so 0400 starts. It does mean I get home early. Have not seen much in the way of floods, which is good. I feel so sorry for those flooded out, but it still seems there is more to come. Been very busy with regard to passengers this week but with the schools breaking up the roads are getting easier. This does again highlight the need for the law to be changed regarding driver training. It is obvious if you spend as much time on the road as I do that many people are completely unaware of how to drive on motorways. A couple of points I would like to see advertised in public information films are :

  • There is no 'slow' or 'fast' lane. Just one lane and two overtaking lanes.
  • Keep to the left,unless you are overtaking.
  • When joing a motorway YOU DO NOT HAVE RIGHT OF WAY You may have to stop before you join. (would you pull straight onto a main road without first looking and waiting???
  • Fog lights - these are only to used when viability is below 100m. This is VERY rare and they are not to be used in the rain. Also it should not be possible to drive over 40mph with them switched on.
I think the chance of this happening are remote but still we live in hope and try to lead by example and hopefully people will notice.

20 Jul 2007

Day off

Sitting with the rain pouring down I am glad I am off today. Have a few jobs to do but as they are outside, will have to wait. Waiting for the Avon order to arrive so we can start delivering the orders. Just arrived, 9 boxes so a busy day.
Anyway g4kvi-7 seems to be going much better and as the kids seem to have finished school I am looking forward to a few weeks of comparative calm.

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