Posted by admin on Mar 7, 2010 in
Bus / Coach,
Where Am I? The only constant thing in the universe is change. No where is that more apparent than in charter bus jobs.
Was supposed to take the short bus (literally!) to Colby for a run to PWM… got a call about an hour before-hand that I was being redirected… apparently a friendly competitor had gotten tagged by DOT down to Foxwoods and his bus was put out of service… so I was redirected to take the short bus back to the garage (I had brought it home over-night) and grab a big bus and head down to Foxwoods to get his load and bring them back to Dexter, ME.
3.5 hours later, I’m in Ledyard, CT… a.k.a. Foxwoods. We moved everyone’s stuff from his bus to mine, then we loaded up and headed North. The good news was that he had his other bus meet us in Auburn where everyone transferred for the final leg, and I was released… getting back to the shop exactly 12 hours after I started!
Finally got home around 0200hrs with a good full day’s work done… I’m off today and tomorrow at least.
Oh…BTW… for those “in the know”… still no word from that other thing…
Posted by admin on Mar 5, 2010 in
Where Am I? There’s an old adage; ”Before putting your mouth in motion, make sure your brain is in gear”. Well for a bus driver, that saying is a little different; “Before putting your mouth in motion, make sure your bus will go INTO gear!”
Grabbed my bus for the run from PWM to Colby college yesterday… it wasn’t a “short-bus” in the classic sense, but one of the shorter big busses (Setra 215 for those inquisitive minds)… drove it down to Portland, got off the highway at PWM… and the transmission is stuck in first gear, won’t shift!
I was planning on stopping at the near-by Citgo for a soda, and I was running about 15 – 20 minutes early anyways, so I pulled in and shut her off. This has happened to me before with this particular bus, and you just have to shut the bus off.
So I did the usual shut-down routine and go get my soda… come back out. Nut-uh, she won’t go back into gear once started! Try the “reboot” a couple more times with just as much (lack of) success. Call the garage, they send another bus and the trip continued as normal without incident… I even made it back to the garage at the regularly scheduled time!
Today I’m playing the part of a brain surgeon. Well, no, but I AM going to a Holiday Inn Express! Got a Corporate Retreat group I’m picking up in Lewiston and taking down to the Express in Saco for the day, then back. Nice “9 – 5″ run for today!
Got a repeat / reverse run for tomorrow… Colby to PWM. More on that later…
Posted by admin on Mar 4, 2010 in
Bus / Coach,
Where Am I? I’m off to the airport today… PWM to be precise. Have to pick up 13 students and take them up to Colby College. Nice easy, straight-forward run… in da short bus!
Tomorrow I’m doing a run from Lewiston to the Holiday Inn Express in Saco… some corporate retreat thing…then back again. Another pretty easy run (nice 9 to 5 hours, literally!)
Then Saturday I’m back to Colby to take a load BACK to PWM…
So after having four days “off”, it looks like (right now at least) I’ve got a couple three easy runs the next three days…
Posted by admin on Feb 28, 2010 in
Bus / Coach,
Where Am I? So I’m travelling back from Amherst last night (Bowdoin lost btw…) and I”m on I95 North, just past the Kennebunk Service Area. It’s about 2030hrs, traffic is light, bus says outside temp is 35, light mist, I can see from my tires that there’s a ton of spray coming up telling me the roads are just wet, and I can tell by the amount of times I’m having to clean my windshield that they’ve sprayed a shit-ton of Calicium-chloride down.
Now picture this; I’ve got the cruise control set at 69, passing a few, but being passed by ALL the flat-landers from Mass & Connecticut… I come across two locals doing 45 & 46 in the #1 (travel) #2 lanes… traffic is light and I see them up ahead enough that I slide from #1 lane to #2… then about a half mile later I slide to #3 (the “Hammer” lane) to pass both of them. I get around their slow-motion drag-race… slide into #2 lane…then again about a half mile later, well clear of the other two, slide back into lane #1… as I’m checking my mirrors changing lanes nice and slow… I notice a car coming up hot & heavy on my ass… no sooner had I complete my lane change and sure enough… the pretty lights come on, and I don’t mean a K-Mart Special Sale.
Boobscutty!!
Hit the directional, slowly slide into the break-down lane and take my sweet-ass time coming to a stop. Hit the hazards, turn on the drivers’ overhead light and open the door… 30 seconds later, Mr. Saucifer is at my door-stoop giving me the two finger salute to climb my ass out of my comfy-seat and join him in a conversation on the ground.
Here’s the conversation that ensued:
Officer: ”Do you know how fast you were going?”
Me: ”Yessir, my cruise control was set at 65″
O: ”Don’t you think that’s awfully fast and unsafe in this vehicle What were you doing in the passing lane? I clocked you doing 66 in a 65!!” (Note that I can tell by this point he’s PISSED! All tensed up and ready to deliver some swift Statey justice…
M: “Um.. I was cruising along doing the speed limit when I came across those two doing a slow-motion drag race… rather than slam on the brakes and panic everyone behind me, I slowly made my way to a legal passing lane, passed the two slower vehicles and return to the travel lane.”
O: ”And you don’t think that speed is unsafe for these conditions?!?!” (He’s almost shouting now…)
M: ”Um… no, my digital temperature gauge says it’s 35 out, the speed limit on the pike hasn’t been lowered, I can see the vast amount of water-spray coming off my tires which tells me the roads aren’t freezing, I can further tell the roads have been heavily treated with calcium by the amount of times I’m having to clean my windshield, so I’m traveling at the posted speed limit and passing those cars that are traveling slower.”
O: “Gimme your license and registration”
M: (Hands them over… he says nothing and walks away… I proceed to tell my passengers how he’s pulling me over for doing 66 in a 65).
Ten minutes later…
The officer walks up to the door… I meet him at the bottom step… he JAMS, forcefully, the registration and my license into my hand;
O: “You’re all set” and walks away so fast that by the time I walked up the three steps to the drivers’ seat, he had traveled the length of the bus, crossed to his drivers’ side and was just closing his door!
I think he was pissed because I “embarrassed” him sts in front of my passengers’ by knowing the road conditions, paying attention to my surroundings and the fact that even doing only 65… compared to someone going 45 it LOOKS like I was doing 80… why in the hell he bothered to pull me over when his radar only said 66 is beyond me… apparently a slow night on the Turnpike!
Needless to say, after our little delay with Mr. Power-control-freak… we made it back without further incident… oh by-the-way… we DID hit snow (and lots of it!) at the I95/I295 connector and I DID have to back my speed way down because of weather conditions… in fact I295 speed was already lowered to 45 by the time I hit it, but I ended up having to do around 40 most of the way.
I really wish now, in hind-sight, that he HAD given me some kind of ticket…I would have LOVED to embarrass that cop in court as to whom exactly REALLY is the driving / road / conditions expert… he who puts on maybe a few hundred miles a MONTH… or me who puts on a few hundred miles a DAY!! ROFLMAO
Right now not working again today or tomorrow at least…dispatch says probably Thursday through the weekend.
Posted by admin on Feb 27, 2010 in
Bus / Coach,
Where Am I? Well, I’m off an running again… this time I’ve got the Bowdoin Women’s BBall team in Amherst, MA. We came down late yesterday afternoon, evening… right into snow and rain and shit. Meanwhile, back home it’s warm(er) and raining… gotta love having to go SOUTH for winter weather! LOL But’s it’s all good for me, I REALLY don’t mind, they can keep this shit down south as far as I’m concerned!
They’re at practice right now… then we’re heading back to the hotel so they can check out and eat lunch, so we can come back for a 1400hrs game. A game in which if they win, we stay another night… if they lose, then we’re North-bound headed for home.
Speaking of home… my sweetie texted me a little while ago saying we have power back! Whoo Hooo! I despise CMP with every fiber of my guts, but I have to tip my hat to those line-workers and any from out of state that came to help.
I know yesterday (before work) when we all went out breakfast, the major road into town (Route 24) was blocked by this huge-ass tree that had come down across the road (and across the wires) making for a huge mess… apparently they got that cleared / cleaned up overnight and re-ran the lines.
That’s about all for now… we’ll have to wait and see if we head home tonight, or stay for another day until later… it’s a toss-up for me… it’d be nice to be back home with my sweetie (and power!)… but at the same time right now I could use the hours and the per diem ain’t too shabby neither! :D