Sunday, April 27, 2008

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..........

Friday, April 11, 2008

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....

Saturday, March 29, 2008

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......

Friday, March 28, 2008

FW: Job Market 2009

You have to see this one.  Dad


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



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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Sunday, March 23, 2008

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

Saturday, March 15, 2008

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:




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