Singing Bus Driver

On a rare gloomy raining day in Arizona last week I decided it was time to try singing to my passengers. I warned them ahead of time that I was going to do it and as I tuned up my voice on the PA system I watched them intently through the passenger mirror.

I chose "The Silly Worm" song that adequately demonstrates my vocal range and it was only after I began singing that they seemed to believe that this was really happening. In their young lives I guess they had never experienced a bus driver herding a forty foot bus down the road at 45 mph driving with one hand while singing to his students. There are eight speakers mounted in the metal roof of the bus and the acoustical feedback was amazing. It seemed like I was singing in an opera house.

My first group in the afternoon are the 7th and 8th graders. They looked on with amazement and generously gave me a sitting ovation and asked for an encore when I finished.

My second group in the afternoon are junior high students. There were a group of girls sitting mid-bus that were particularly interesting to watch. The look on their faces changed from embarrassing disbelief to studied delight at a singing bus driver. One girl immediately called someone on her cell phone and held it up to share the event. This bus load was much more reserved in there reaction at the end like they were searching for the proper response to a singing bus driver. It might have been easier if I had put a can up front with a sign for "tips".

A surprising personal observance as I was singing I noted how often my voice sounded like my brother Jerry's. I almost wondered if he had dropped in to sing along. EB

Human Sexuality Class

Ashley has been taking a HS class this semester. The text book is very large, costs $90 new, and they change the book every few years. I told her that I don't think HS has changed much in the last six thousand years so I can't see why a new book is needed regularly.

Anyway this week the instructor showed some "ART/PORNOGRAPHY" as part of their education in this area. Before doing so he said that if this was going to be offensive to anyone they could leave. There were 100 students in the class. Ashley was sitting on the front row and she was the only one to get up and walk out while the instructor waited to start the show.

This reminded me of when Rob went to Las Vegas with his working team and Forest gave them all some money to gamble with. Rob was the only one who did not gamble.

Dad

Happy Birthday Rob

Dear Rob,

I hope you got the letter from Mom with $ to go get your favorite lemon pie. I thought I would review some of our thoughts 40 years ago as we recieved our first born son. We had been married for a year and a half before we got the conception thing to work. Apparently washing your cloths together was a misleading information. Elaine started out at 98 # and ended up at delivery at almost 150#. In those days the father was not allowed in the room during examination or delivery. I felt like telling the Doctor " Look I know how this happened and the end results why do I have to miss the best part". Anyway that was just the way it was in those days. As most babies you were not much to look at in the first few hours but that changed real soon and we were among the proudest of new parents at BYU. During the first week we took you out with us for a treat and I was feeding you little spoonfuls of ice cream which you took to right off.

Skipping 20 years ,and seven years after having our last child we got our suprise Ashley. No one told us you didn't have children after 44. Elaine told me the news on April Fools Day. How fortunate as grandparents in our sixties to still have a teenager in the house. Well that changes tomorrow. As her delivery approached it became apparent that she would be born on your birthday. I called your mission president to have him tell you and he said " I think you had better call and tell him yourself ". After not being able to concieve a child in the beginning to timing one to the day 20 years apart I think we showed real improvement.

Best Wishes on Your Birthday.

Love ,

Dad

Sweet Ellsworth to the rescue

Tonight after Elaine and I had left for the temple we could not remember if Berlin was asleep in the basement and we knew tha Leisel was at work. I tried to call Leisel but got no answer. The only person I could think of to call then was Ellsworth.

I asked him to go over and see if he could hear a baby crying in the basement but not to try to go down in the basement as there is no handrail.

He could not hear anything but not satisfied he decided he had to go down and look. The only way he could get down the stairs has to sit down on his seat and slide down, step by step. I'm not sure how he got back up. Anyway, he did not find Berlin as Leisel had her.

Regional Conference

Today we had one of those regional conferences broadcast from SLC. Pres. Packer was the concluding speaker. There are many stories of people meeting Pres. Parker in an airport or other places when he was less than warm and friendly. His remarks today were full of humor, stories from his past, and as warm as a beloved grandfather speaking to his children. He counseled us not to live in fear in these troubled times but to pay our tithing and follow the gospel principles.

He briefly talk about Satan coming to earth with is angels. He said that Satan's angels use the same wavelengths in communicating to us as Heavenly Father's angels do and so we must be very careful that we are not deceived by them. That is all he said on the matter. I drew my own conclusions that if any of our inspirations are going against known doctrine or the brethren then we must know it is not of God.

I found very little difference in the inspiration of a televised conference than if we where being taught from our own pulpits.

Love Dad

The End is Near

We have little hope left but to make our street a gated community. Mervyns is closing. That was the canary in the coal mine for our part of town. The former Wendy's, Burger King, and Long John Silvers are now taco shops. The former Bashas is a Food City. We do still have dollar stores and payday loan centers.

Actually 3rd street is one of the nicest cul-de-sac streets in the whole area. Hold on to that thought.

Errol

Pear Harlequin Jelly and Choke Cherry Syrup

This week I had a nice visit with Julie had John. They were down for Rubys baptism. Julie brought us some home made Pear Harliquin jelly and Choke Cherry syrup.

I decided a handwritten thank you letter was in order. I told Julie how much I appreciated the home made preserves and that it brought back memories of home and Mom.

I went on to say that it does not matter how old you get sometimes you just want to go to your Mom and Dad and tell them you are having some problems. I didn't realize that I was overdo for a good cry but it happened after I wrote that sentence and it was a gusher.

I finished by saying that Mom and Dad probably already know of our challenges and are part of a prayer circle on the other side in our behalf.

I appreciated Elder Wirthlins conference talk about how all of us have or will have challenges but we need to focus on our many blessings and find humor where ever we can.

We do that most of the time.

Love Errol

Why I was "B" student

Why I was "B" Student in High School and for that matter in Collage as well

The reason I was "B" student is because I wasn't an "A" student. I wanted to be an "A" student. My sister Julie was valedictorian of our H.S. My sometimes girlfriend Patty Child was an "A" student. My good friend Lamar Walker was an "A" student. If you were on the honor roll they published your name in the Star Valley Independent. I was determined to make the honor roll but it just didn't happen.

If you were a "B" student and member of the national honor society you got to wear a nice white sash over your robe at graduation. I was determined that I would at least wear the white sash at graduation which I did. I also spoke at graduation as senior class president.

The Call line of our heritage has sporadic genius level members. This has shown up in some of my children. As to economics, our one son who barely graduated from high school for lack of interest now makes more money than any of the rest...

In a non related memory from collage I was required to take one chemistry class for my major. This class was taught in one of the amphitheater classes with ever rising rows of seats. The seats we first sat in became our assigned seats for the semester. Most of the students were nursing students, thus were female. I found myself between two of these BYU coeds. The one on the right was of cover girl variety, with skirts that could have at best barely met BYU standards while she was standing. In sitting position there was a lotta leg showing. I can only guess what the view from the professor’s pit was. On my left was a coed who, to be kind, was of the very plain variety and she had bad breath, as well.

When taking a test we would lean over the 12 square inch pull up desk top and I had my choice of a model’s legs on one side or Miss bad breath on the other. Maybe that is why I was "B" student in collage as well.

Errol

contract driver

A couple of weeks ago I got a 50% raise. Mind you 50% of nothing is not much but in this case it actually is something.

 

My route went over 30 hrs. so I am now intitle to health,dental,vision,life,disablity, insurance as well as 24 paid holidays,sick and personal days off. That is over a month of paid working days off in my  9 month work year.

 

Since I had no health ins. at my age this is really quite a big thing. Although I don't work in the summer the benifits are in force in the summer.

 

That along with getting an A.C. bus within a few week period was quite overwhelming for this semi retired guy. Dad

A.C. Bus

 Well it is mid Sept. in Arizona. The weather has modified and we are once again able to put away suicidal thoughts and remember why we live in this southern desert. Some of my students have even started wearing sweater to school in the morning.

 

Monday I went in to get my bus keys and the dispatcher gave me a new set of keys and told me my bus was parked in a different place. I was almost afraid to think what this meant. I boldly went out to see if I had been promoted or demoted. It soon became apparent that I was parked in the newer air conditioned section. My bus was last years model with only 17,000 miles on it and a big white A.C. unit on top. I had arrived.

 

I thought the receiving of an A.C. bus should have been accompanied by a little more fanfare. A group of bus driver forming a path waving their brake sticks over you or some store bought sheet cake or the like. As I thought through that a little more it occurred to me that some of those drivers would have been driving for years without having an A.C. bus and I have only been driving for months so they may be trying to hit me with their brake sticks rather than hail me.

 

I put on my sun glasses turned on the A.C. and drove out of the yard trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

 

I couldn't wait to see the reaction of my students. I had told them we had been promised a new bus because of this high mileage route. I did not tell them it was going to be an A.C. bus. Most were properly impressed with the newer style bus and they were really impressed as they noticed the cold air coming out of the holes in the ceiling.

 

After I got them all on board I asked them what they thought. I got a resounding approval. I then said there is only one problem that I see with this bus. As they could see and feel there was cold air leaking out of the holes in the ceiling and I would try to have that fixed by the afternoon run. That brought a resounding disapproval.

 

I wonder if I will miss seeing their red sweaty faces in the passanger mirror..........

School Bus on Fire----sort of

My bus has sort of been on fire ever since school started on the 10th. It has been over 100 degrees each day and high humidity. I am driving 95 miles a day now and I have come home each day dehydrated and exhausted.

 

This Wednesday I was on my first afternoon run with just eight students still on board when I noticed in one of the seven mirrors that I can look backwards in that brown smoke was coming up from the engine outside the rear window.

 

Seeking an expert second opinion I turned to the nearest student and asked if he saw the smoke. He did. That was good enough for me. I put the air park brake on,turned off the engine, and said "Everyone out." They didn't have to be told twice. They were out and orderly went  down the sidewalk 200 ft. and stood in a group. They had had evacuation training. I have not yet.

 

At this point I went on the dispatch radio gave my location and announced that I had evacuated my bus because of smoke coming out of the engine and I was now leaving. I was supposed to throw the mic out the drivers window so I could continue talking to dispatch without reboarding the bus but I forgot that part.

 

I went now to my cell phone to call dispatch. Connie calmly asked me if I had put the reflectors out in front and behind the bus. Hadn't got to that either. I'm thinking if the bus catches on fire I'm sure people will not run into it.

 

Soon the director of transportation arrives in a van. Next the head mechanic arrives in a truck and within 15 minutes a replacement bus had arrived for me to continue on with my route.

 

It turns out that the fan had come off the radiatior and the smoke and mist was just the cooling system blowing off steam and smoke.

 

Just another day in the life of a school bus driver.  Mr. B...

Star Valley

Family,

 

In the 27 years that I had a reserved seat on the stand at all church meetings I had the opportunity to give many talks. Many of these talks were laced with stories from my rural Wyoming background on subjects from cowboys to cloths lines and they were supposed to be lead-ins to gospel subjects.

 

I had an enjoyable time doing this and it seems that my audiences took a liking them also. I fear that many of the cowboy and cloths line stories were remembered long after the gospel subjects that I tried to tie them to were remembered. I would always include a testimony so the members might recall that I was at least a cowboy with a testimony.

 

This last week I got to take two of the brethren that I have worked with for many years to the place where most of those stories originated [Star Valley] This was a man trip and only lasted for 24 hours. Both of these men, Dion Morris and Steve Rogers were perhaps born in the wrong time or at least live in the wrong place. Circumstances and employment opportunities have conspired against these men as they both should have lived in Star Valley.

 

We began our trip by traveling though Cache Valley, Logan Canyon, Bear Lake, Montpelier and over the south end. We had a surprise Wyoming breakfast with Dean and Virginia Bagley. By 2:00 P.M. we had been thought most of the small towns, visited two cemeteries, stood on the ruts of the Oregon trail up Stump Creek, visited my boyhood homes and we were standing in the middle of the road in Freedom straddling the Wyoming/ Idaho boundary.

 

I was lecturing them continuously on history and family ties to this beautiful place. I'm not sure how much they were paying attention but it didn't matter as they were blown away by the valley in its full splendor at this time of the year.

 

We made our exit out Tincup Canyon to Soda Springs with a brief stop in the ever changing restoration town of Chesterfield and then back to Salt Lake.

 

Too bad I don't give talks anymore. I still have some stories left.

 

Errol

King of the Road

As some of you know one of my Walter Mitty desires or one of the things on my “Bucket List” has been to drive a big rig at least temporally. I had the opportunity at the beginning of the summer to be a relief driver for a contract mail route between Phoenix and Payson, but I did not have my class A CDL license. Neil Silvey the driver was driving seven days a week an encouraged me to upgrade my license and he would have me drive 2-3days a week.

By the time I got my license upgraded his relief driver had returned from her job in Colorado and Neil felt bad that he had encouraged me to do something that did not work out. I told him I would still like to ride along on the route to see how it went as something might come up later. Neil readily agreed and told me he would even give me some driving time.

On the morning of the forth of July{ the mail must go through} was my first time behind the wheel .Neil met me at the QT where he stops for his morning coffee on the way from Phoenix. Each truck has its own personality which is perhaps most manifest through its gear shift. This Volvo tractor has ten forward gears. After first gear you can shift it with or without the clutch. It is somewhat like learning to play and tune a new musical instrument all at the same time. I made it out of the QT parking lot and up to the first stop light. At this point I mistook forth for ninth gear and stalled the truck part way into the intersection. Not an impressive start. I made it thought the next three lights on green and by the time we are at the Verde River it is open highway to Payson.

At this point Neil tells me to get into it as we have to be in Payson before 8 a.m. Inasmuch as Neil has never even seen me drive a pickup truck and has only heard from me that I can drive a forty foot school bus I thought this was a bit brave of him. This truck is speed controlled at 70 mph and he wanted it moving close to that speed. I had been hopping for a bit more leisurely first run but I obliged Neil and put it down. It was a good thing this was a divided highway as we passed of good number of cars and trucks. I got a quick baptism into 400 hp, a forty-eight foot trailer and 70 mph on a mountain road.

When we got to Payson at 7:45 a.m. I assumed Neil would want to take it into the post office as we had a serious u-turns and a backup into the dock. He merely said, “You remember how I did it”. As the back of the trailer touched the dock I was feeling pretty good about myself.

How did I feel about being” King of the Road”? Actually it was a little disappointing. The expectations were greater than the reality. I guess I had seen too many episodes of Ice Roads Truckers and Trick My Truck. I was expecting a bigger adrenaline rush. Can’t wait to do it again. EB.

FW: The Last Buick ??

---

From: "Errol Bagley" <eebagley@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: eebagley@gmail.com
Subject: The Last Buick ??
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:32:27 -0700

                                                  The Last Buick ??

 

At one time I made a list of all the cars and trucks I have bought in my life. It is in the sixties now and many of these were not for me. When I saw something that seemed like a good deal I bought it and either kept it for a while ar sold it to someone in the family with no mark up. This has been a hobby for me.

 

I have had a weakness for Buicks of the 1985 to 1991 era. This was a the first of the front wheel drive multi-port fuel injected V-6's that except for suspensions GM has hardly improved on since. 29 mpg highway was not unusual for the 3.8 liter engine.

 

We have had at least five of this type of car; Three Buicks.one Pontiac, and one Oldsmobile. The most interesting story probably accompanies the 1989 Olds which I got for Jason. The man I bought it from told me a tree had fell on the roof of it so they cut the roof of from a Buick LeSabre and welded it on the Olds. I paid $2800. Jason took no particular pride in this car which eventually changed to indifference and then to distain. The problem was the car would not die. After driving for almost ten years he decided he would do nothing more for it except add oil and gas when needed. He eventually gave it to a couple in his ward and they are driving it still.

 

That brings me to my latest 1991 LeSabre Limited.I watched this one at a Park and Sell lot until I was able to get it for $2400. It has 97 k miles,ice cold air,and an interior that is almost showroom. It was registered in Minnesota untill April of this year. I presume it belonged to one of our snowbirds.

 

With rumors last week that GM might retire the Buick line I thought I should be the last one on my block to own one of these 17 year old beauties.  EB

gray water update

We have had our gray water collection in place for several weeks now. This week end Melody had a crowd for two days and Elaine and I were there the same time. We drain the tank each week before we leave. This week it took a full 45 min.to pump the water out as I hand watered trees. I completed the piping from our side of the rain gutters to the tank this week end also. If it looks exposed and unfinished it is. I will not be covering and gluing it together until we see how it works. All downspouts are currently connected together and going to the tank in a 4 inch pipe. We need to be up there during a big rain storm to see if one pipe can handle the flow or if we will have to split the system. We are also experimenting with different additives for odor control.

 

With our limited experience so far it seems reasonable to hope that were we to start the season with a full tank of snow melt the gray water/rainwater collection might supply most or all of our outside watering needs.

 

It is rather satisfying to be reusing water in this way.

 

Errol

bread heels

Richard mentioned in his blog that his family does not eat bread heels.
Since I can remember heels especially off hot bread were the most coveted
part. They still are for me. Dad

Hi, We just finished an amazing cruise to Alaska. Great weather and great
port of calls. To top it off we took the train from Seattle to Portland.
This has to be one of the most beautiful train rides in the states. Dad

Random Thoughts of a New Bus Driver

 

                                             By Errol Bagley Seniority # 562 *

 

At the end of 2007 I entered semi retirement. It was kind of interesting for about five weeks and then I abruptly realized I needed something to do each day and someone to report to. For some years I had noticed the signs on school buses parked at schools advertising for new drivers and they even pay you to train.

 

As I looked into it I found that this was a job with low pay, high turnover, and a chance to drive an unairconditioned  forty-foot bus full of kids twice a day in rush hour traffic.  I'm thinking, this could be the job for me . I began training. Had I known all the things you would be expected to know and how long the training was I might have reconsidered? I thought several times that I should have tried being an airline pilot instead. They after all don't even have to sit with their passengers and they get in-flight meals.

 

As I began ride alongs at the "Broadway yard" it was still dark in the mornings. It was quite a revelation to see all the red and amber lights flashing in the dark as the drivers were pre-checking dozens of buses at a time. At the time I didn't even know what the strange "woofing" sound the brake test was. The sound of big diesel engines has always been music to my ears. It was even cold outside. This is something I will try to remember this August as school starts again.

 

A "drivers lounge" might bring to mind images that would be different than what one sees at the Broadway yard. This lounge I can only guess began its life as a doublewide classroom. Perhaps after it was deemed unsafe for children or otherwise condemned it was turned into a bus driver's lounge. I try to time my check-ins and outs as to spend the minimum amount of time there.  I have  enjoyed getting to know more of the drivers each week and that is the only thing that persuades me to linger in this place.

 

The "dispatchers" are amazing. They sit barely visible inside two small windows like friendly pit bosses that know everything. They seem to know all the drivers, all the buses, all the schools and all the roads. During the day they choreograph a delicate dance of drivers moving thousands of students on hundreds of buses through out the city never knowing what challenge is just seconds away on the radio.

 

"The Start Up". In days of yesterfar* the bringing to life of a big diesel engine in the morning used to be a well-guarded male ritual so powerful it has been known to raise testosterone levels right on the spot. It meant that you were about to ascend to your seat behind a twenty-inch steering wheel. You will look down on most other drivers. They will not harm you in this forty-foot fortress. You will stop traffic in both directions with the flip of a switch. You will protect your young passengers against all comers . No one will enter your bus without your permission. You are the captain of your yellow and black ship. You are…………… Suddenly this male fantasy is interrupted as you notice the captain of the ship next to you has just boarded her vessel. She is a twenty two year old who took time to do her make up before reporting to her battle station this morning. O the bastions of male superiority. How many more will fall??

 

* Mr. "B" is a 64  year old mostly retired painting contractor , father of five sons, three daughters, grandfather of twenty two grandchildren and married to his dear wife Elaine for  forty  two years. 
* Yesterfar is a word invented by a local boy Randy LeSueur to be used in a national advertising campaign for Old Spice featuring Will Ferrell and produced by my son Jason Bagley.

Re: locked cuboards

The vending machine is a brilliant concept. The money you give your kids would come back to the family instead of whoever else has a vending machine.  Reuse, recycle.  Really I am not a big fan of vending machines.  I think it is a crime to have them in schools, especially filled with caffeinated sodas.  But I am certainly not opposed to bribes for children.  Despite the abundance of unhealthy foods readily available in our pantry, we do have a stash of candy kept high in my closet for bribing purposes.  The old "you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" really works.  Going to Eugene's must have been like when Camrey goes to Jessie's house.  She raids their pantry for pop tarts, lipton soup and ego waffles.  Why in the world would you like that when you can have delicious homemade treats?  Oh well, there was a time in my young life when I would have traded a dozen homemade cookies for a bite of a twinkie.

Jean

On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 10:04 PM, Errol Bagley <eebagley@hotmail.com> wrote:

There is a long history of locked cuboards in our family. Mom told me that her mother had one and the kids learned to take the hinges off when she was gone and get into the treats without unlocking it. "Treats "were real special in those days as they were scarce.

 

My cousin Eugene was an only child. In their home there were candy dishes out with candy in them all the time. This was amazing to me when I went to visit.

 

I think the answer is a home vending machine where the kids could put in there allowance money to get treats. Extra money could be earned for extra chores to get more treats. The kids might then start a new business by puting vending machines into their friends houses and servicing them.  Dad

RE: locked cuboards

so i've been thinking about this dilemma and at first thought i sided with Jarom, but then Heidi brought up a valid point. I was then at a loss...thankfully we have in ingenious father who, i must say, hit the nail on the head. Not only is it cool to have a vending machine, but it also solves all the problems you and all your hoodlum children seem to be encountering. At Sam's club you can get a gatorade/water/pop vending machine for less than $3,000, and a snack/candy machine for a little less than $2,000. Think of the future, it's worth it.
best of luck to you all. i'm not having children,
ashley

Heidi-if you're about to write me and tell me that your kids would only learn to break into the machine, then it's probably time to bring back the arabian nights style of government...tell them that you love them, but you're going to have to cut off their hands.

________________________________
> From: eebagley@hotmail.com
> To: andrewtbagley@gmail.com; ashleybagley@hotmail.com; beckycbagley@gmail.com; reachelbagley@gmail.com; richbag@gmail.com; robbagley@gmail.com; eebagley.starvalleycowboy@blogger.com; jhd3978@yahoo.com; jane.heidi@gmail.com; jarombagley@gmail.com; jasonbagley@mac.com; jeanbagley@gmail.com; jillbagley@mac.com; karabagley@gmail.com
> Subject: locked cuboards
> Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 21:04:48 -0700
>
> There is a long history of locked cuboards in our family. Mom told me that her mother had one and the kids learned to take the hinges off when she was gone and get into the treats without unlocking it. "Treats "were real special in those days as they were scarce.
>
> My cousin Eugene was an only child. In their home there were candy dishes out with candy in them all the time. This was amazing to me when I went to visit.
>
> I think the answer is a home vending machine where the kids could put in there allowance money to get treats. Extra money could be earned for extra chores to get more treats. The kids might then start a new business by puting vending machines into their friends houses and servicing them. Dad

_________________________________________________________________
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Mr B......

All buses are yellow and black right? My bus has been down for repairs for a week so I have been relgated to the oldest buses in the fleet. These are Blue Birds with michanical door openers. There are two of them that sit next to each other among 84 other buses at this yard. One morning I went to my bus put my newspaper in it and then got out to start my pre-check of all the lights tires brakes etc. During this estensive pre-check I took my jacket off and put it on the back of seat. At some point I realized there wasn't any paper towels or a window washing spray bottle so I wound my way though a dozen buses to get some from the shop.

 

Having completed all this I fired up this 40 ft. diesel pusher and drove out to a church parking lot where I usually have a 10 min. wait before my route starts. At this point I reached down for my newspaper and it was not there. Strange I thought as no-one else had been around my bus. For some reason I decided to check the number on the key with the number on the outside of the bus.They did not match. These ignitions are so old that I think you could start most of the old buses with a pocket knife so matching keys isn"t a prequsite for starting the right bus. Now I get to radio in to dispatch to tell them I have the wrong bus. This has to be impressive.They had already figured it out and told me to finish the route.

 

When I got back to the matching bus I found my newspaper and the spray bottle were in one bus and my jacket and the paper towels were in the other bus. I am not sure which bus I pre-checked.

 

I'm sure glad there was only one bus present when I took my four and one half hour CDL bus driving test. Who knows what could have happened..........

Mr. B......

This week was my birthday so I had a little game with my students. I passed them out a questioner with these questions on it:   How old I'm I-----How long have I been married---How many children---How many grandchildren.     They were pumping me with questions trying to get clues.  I told them I would give them one clue that was worthless.   I was born in Wyoming and I was a cowboy when I was young.   One of the boys said  "You don't look like a cowboy.  You just look like a busdriver".

 

I gave the boy who came the closest an uncirculated metal dollar.

 

All but one of them guessed me to be younger that I really am.

 

I should have given them all a dollar for that.    Mr. B....

Adventues in bus driving by Mr. B..........

I love this job.  It fulfills three of the major food groups.

 

You are needed by someone.

You are doing service.

You get to see  bright young students on your big yellow bus twice a day.

 

My biggest mistake of the week: At each student stop you are supposed to put the park brake on, put the transmission in neutral, and keep your foot on the service brake. This is so if something happened to the driver during a stop the bus doesn't go rolling down the road with a load of students. I haven't been following this procedure at every stop. On one of the stops that I did do it this week instead of putting the transmission in neutral I put in in reverse. The transmission gear selectors are three push buttons next to each other on the dash. As I released the park brake the bus started going backwards. Not impressive to anyone who is watching........Mr. B......

FW: Job Market 2009

You have to see this one.  Dad

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From: sidney madsen <sidneymadsen@hotmail.com>
To: Candice Madsen <cmadsen@ksl.com>, Dave Weed <dweed@azmesalaw.com>, Errol and Elaine Bagley <eebagley@hotmail.com>, "jasonbagley@mac.com"<jasonbagley@mac.com>, Joanne and Paul Fillmore <pandjfillmore@cox.net>,lynnette Richter <gizmorichter@cox.net>, Marjean Archibald<m.archibald@comcast.net>, Melody Stapley <stanker@cox.net>, Rachel Waite<rachwaite@hotmail.com>, Ralph Spilsbury <rspilsbury@cox.net>, Robert Ray<robertray_2000@yahoo.com>, Roman madsen <romanmadsen@gmail.com>
Subject: FW: Job Market 2009
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:19:26 +0000


Honestly I try not to forward to many of these but this one just caught me, Perhaps because it cuts so close to home!

Sidney

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Subject: FW: Job Market 2009
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:57:13 -0700
From: bmadsen@amerifirstloan.com
To: sidneymadsen@hotmail.com

Sid, thought you might enjoy. bk

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Willis, Judy
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 9:54 AM
To: Bowlby, Garrett; Bowlby, Eric; Bowlby, Ken; Wetch, Pepper; Peters, Mary Lou; Parks, Ann; Peterson, Shad; Bowman, Todd; Bogle, Mike; Madsen, Bryan; Bowlby, Shane; Bolster, Rita; Caplette, Kim; King, Tonia; Bolster, Rita; Ashby, Sherry; Tavares, Stefanie; Schreur, Hunter; Willis, Craig; carrie fulghum; Cash, Debbie; Conger, Shelba
Subject: Job Market 2009

 

Funny!!!

 

 

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Test your Star IQ Play now!

Mr. B the Bus Driver

Dear Friends,

Back in Dec. when I was released from the stake presidency the Arizona housing boom bottomed out at the same time. I thought this would be a good time to take a sabadical from the construction field and just wait for it to come back. It always has in the past. We had our homes and vehicles paid for and my social security and rental incomes in theory would sustain us.

I began semi-filling my days with semi-important things and without two or three nights at the stake center life took on a whole different tone. This worked out for about five weeks when I soon discovered that I seriously needed something each day to do and someone to report to.

My life has had plenty of service to the church but very little to the community. I started looking. The school system is always searching for bus drivers so I looked into that. Low pay,high turn over, and a chance to drive a 40 ft. bus twice a day in rush hour traffic. I'm thinking "This is the job for me".

The rest is history, Errol

Re: FW: bus pictures

Dad, I see that the district does not have a problem with you taking the bus on personal trips.  Do you think you can get it for the family reunion?  The per person miles per gallon will be better than a minivan.

Jarom

On Sat, Mar 15, 2008 at 8:44 AM, Errol Bagley <eebagley@hotmail.com> wrote:

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From: Ashley Bagley <ashleybagley@hotmail.com>
To: Elaine Bagley <eebagley@hotmail.com>
Subject: bus pictures
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2008 07:12:31 -0700

 

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Re: Adventures in bus driving ------ by Mr. "B"

Leave it to the gifted kids to tell you they are uncomfortable.  If it had been one of the bus routes from hell, they would have said "DUDE!"  Have fun!

Jean

On Fri, Mar 14, 2008 at 10:51 PM, Errol Bagley <eebagley@hotmail.com> wrote:

Well it finally happened. After weeks of safety and first aid classes--sexual harrasment and student management classes---- learning every part of a 40 ft. bus as if you were looking at it with an ex-ray machine----  learning to drive this bohemoth in rush hour traffic two times a day---traffic law and all the things that you could be held accountable for in a lawsuit--- learning to deal with angry parents, angry principals, and angry students---- I have job for $12.50 an Hr.

 

They gave me a route the first day. There are lots for routes that are called the routes from hell to the schools of last chance. Being the lowest on the senerority list your fear is that you will get one of these to start with. I did not. My route, at least for now is the gifted children to the high performers academy.

 

The current driver was with me for the first trip. As the students got on the bus they ask me who I was. Standing near the drivers seat I thought should have been a clue.------- I told them that  I was a driver in training and that was why the training wheels were on the bus---Hadn't they noticed? I then added that I didn't know too much but I did know how to get to Flaggstaff and I thought that I could get the bus though the drive though at Jack-In-The-Box if they wanted to stop. One of the boys looked at me and said "I am not feeling too comforable about all this". They did take their seats and I got them home allright.

 

The next morning was a bit of a panic as I was on my own. I had covered the first four stops and there weren't  students at any of them. I  was starting to wondered how I was going to explain to dispatch that there weren't and kids on my route and maybe I was in Flaggstaff. Finally at the fifth stop there were three students. I asked anxiously "Where was everyone at the the first four stops"? They told me that there usually is no-one at those stops. I'm starting to feel  better .

 

The former driver introduced me as Mr. "B" so I guess that will be my bus name. Sorry to bother you with all these facts but this is all pretty new to this 64 year old.

 

Love, Dad