So, it appears that I have an ear infection. Yesterday, I had a horrible attack of vertigo, that forced me out from behind the wheel of the bus I was driving. Lovely, huh? It was a really nasty one too, like nothing I've ever experienced. Somehow, I managed to crawl the bus into the next zone, one of our major pick up points downtown, near my beloved football stadium. So, I stopped the bus and managed to get the thing stopped, parking break on and the hazard lights flashing. We only use the hazards downtown if there's a problem. Yeah, I had a problem...

So, people get on board even as I'm resting my head against the steering wheel. No nausea, or cold sweats of whatever, just unbearably dizzy. I called dispatch to tell them what's going on, and stumbled down the steps and sat on the curb. Strangely, it helped, being out in the air. The older gentleman who had put his bike on the rack by my feet (above the front bumper) kept me company. He told me that he knew something was wrong by the way I crawled into the zone. He thought it was a stroke, which even then seemed inaccurate, because my head didn't hurt. I heard ear infection, or diabetic attack as well. My super gets there, calls the EMTs. which is a new experience for me. The siren was awful up close.

Eventually, my super finished my run, while I rode along. Dispatch wouldn't let me drive, and drove me home in a company van. So, here I am, losing hours, feeling lousy and my car is at work in Everett. What a pain the the ass, but what can I do?

So, now I need to see a doctor, obviously. The EMTs couldn't find anything wrong, but that was on a noisy downtown street. Getting to a doc on a Sunday gets really expensive. Couple that with the nearest facily being some forty miles away, my driving roomie being gone, and my car in Everett...

Needless to say, I went the doctor today. Got in to see my regular doc, nice lady. Took a look in one ear, the left, no comment. Took a peek in the right and told me there was some collected liquid there, so she peered up my nose and said that the canals were red.

And here I thought my allergies were just acting up...

1. What is your favorite thing to do at work when goofing off? Why?
Since I drive a county bus, there's little I can do to goof off. I day dream sometimes, when I don't really need to think (rare) like not moving in heavy traffic. Sometimes, it's the stories I'm working on, or the horrible things I'd like to do to the most stupid and dangerous things on the road. I'll never DO anything, but I'm only human, and I fantasize that they learn their lesson. Every driver should spend the day behind the wheel of a bus or big rig. There would be fewer idiots out there. Unfortunately, there are some that will never learn.

2. What is your least favorite thing to do at work? Why?
( I answered this wrong! Hahahahaha! Driving the buses is my FAVE)
Drive the 60 foot articulated buses. They are a thrill. Also, since I do commuter work, my customers are very easy. No real weirdos, and virtually none of the crap most bus drivers deal with... at least ON the bus!

Least favorite thing about driving a bus is the loonies out there. Honestly, there are days where I swear they're actively trying to kill me. Or themselves. It's like death by bus.

Seriously! I got down to the south holding lot, went to my bus, not even noting that the door was cracked a bit, and shoved it open. Only to hear a scratch of sound, but before I could panic, there was a CAT on the draiver's seat, hysterically trying to batter its way through the glass.

Well, alrighty then.

So, I shoved the door open all the way, and stepped aside. My furry companion got the hint and took off like a bat from a cannon. Later, there was a different cat, a gray one with a collar, in the narrow lot on the other side of the fence. This was odd, because I've never seen cats in the area, or homeless folk, or anything else that the ridge usually boasts. Oh, and it was a full moon to boot!

There was like NOBODY out there tonight. With a big load of passengers, we whizzed through what is normally heavy traffic, and nearly made the ferry we never even SEE. It was wild. Beautiful day, rain headed our way, but thankfully from the south this time, so it probably won't be nasty like it has been. 

Is it weird that I actually prefer to drive in heavy traffic now? People are moving slowly, so I can anticipate what they will do much more easily. The worst driving conditions for a bus is moderately heavy traffic moving at freeway speeds. 'Why' you ask? See, I must maintain enormous following distances (up to 500 feet) in order to have the time I need to react to an emergency. Like my personal favorite, the freakin' idiots who suddenly decide that they can't sit in traffic one second longer and dive into the HOV lane right in front of me. DON'T EVER DO THIS!!! This is a sure dance with death, please believe me. Not to mention scaring the crap out of your neighborhood bus driver and all the innocent people on board.

End rant.

** Happy Snoopy Dance **

Yay, oh yay, the rain is back! The icy temps have flown, hopefully for good this season, and spring may finally be on her way. There are cherry trees blooming downtown (SO gorgeous) and there's that lovely damp on the breeze that normally heralds spring. YAY!

So, my new run at night was an interesting experience... See, I did it on Monday, but due to the holiday, it was very empty and traffic was non-existent. Yesterday, dispatch forgot about me, and I did a simpler run. Downtown to the local park and ride, no brainer. So, today back to my new run (a 417, if anyone keeps track) which is a bit complicated, I hit downtown (duh) and head north to the 525 freeway. the 525 narrows to a 'highway', which translates to a very, very busy 4 lane road. I trained on this run many moons ago, so thankfully, this isn't a completely new thing to me. So, the 525 narrows again, to a evil, narrow, windy 2-lane country road that eventually leads to the Mukilteo Ferry. This is the northernmost regular ferry service to the Olympic Peninsula. The big trick with this run, isn't the drive, that's a straight shot all the way to the water. It's the insane drivers who would rather die than let me back into traffic. Seriously, people are NUTS on this road. One idiot tonight swerved into the center lane (between the yellow lines) when he had plenty of time to slow and let me in. And this is SOP on this run, so keep your fingers crossed that I stay out of trouble with the nutters out there. Give me the huge, honkin 5 freeway any day. On a lighter note, there's a coffee shack on the road named 'Mochateo' that makes me laugh every time I see it.

Y'know, I gotta say that my weird life has reached another plain. More weirdness has come down the pipes at me today. First! After my one run in the morning, I go to our downtown lot where many of the buses remain during our mid-day break. Saves on fuel, y'know? So, I drive a shuttle back to Everett, with drivers on board. Got all that? Good. So, I'm near home, where two major freeways reconnect at the north end of town (the 5 and 405, ironically). The freeway curves to the left, and I'm in the HOV (carpool) lane.
See where this is going?
Around I come the curve, and there are two cars crunched up in my lane. I believe my words, as I came down on the brakes, was "oh crap!" Bet the guys standing in the lane trying to redirect traffic away from the cars just about pissed himself when he saw me bearing down on him. The amusing twist to this, is, just as I came down on the brakes, my radio crackled to life. Couldn't tell you the exact phrasing, but it started with, "attention all drivers," and proceeded to tell me about the accident I was facing.
Timing, huh?
Now, for part two. My PM shift again. The rain has kicked in, and I'm waiting for the left turn from hell I hate. Not only is it sloooooooow, it occasionally just forgets to change, making us wait for two rounds of lights (or more). So, I'm waiting, and there's a sudden flash and pop at my left shoulder. Sparks came raining down on the people waiting to my left, like a cool special effect. This is the second time in my life I've witnessed a transformer blow out in the rain. The other was years ago when I was living with my buddy Chris, and I was looking right at the explosion. Ouch!
So, the entire intersection goes dark. Thankfully, only for a few seconds, then the lights start blinking red. Oh GREAT, this'll make my turn faster... Lights start flickering to life around the businesses on the intersection, and the traffic lights come back to life. Once again, I've missed my turn arrow! Bet the person driving the SUV that was showered with sparks just about crapped themselves!
Needless to say, I was a little jumpy this PM, in the dark that grows deeper every night.
Until next time...

Yep, the bridge between worlds was indeed thin last night...
Ready for more bus stories? Though shit, here they are. Triaffic in the AM was ridiculous. I mean Los Angeles at rush hour ridiculous. On a run that I normally stay ahead of scedule, I was over 20 minutes late at the end (25 today). No particular reason, except rain. Amazing how quickly people in Western Washington forget how to drive in the rain.
Now, we come to my PM shift. AUGH! This was such a cake run until a couple weeks ago! Getting through downtown was like Christmas (and not in a good way), and I was a little late by the time I got to the part and ride in Edmonds. Then I headed for the waterfront. Darkness is now closing in fast. NOw, I already knew that I was going to have to reroute partway, because of the yearly Halloween shindig. No big, I'd used the same reroute the first week of doing this work, due to construction. Remember that all of this will take place on narrow residential streets packed with cars at the shindig. I pause before the left into the reroute to drop a customer off, because her stop is behind the barriers. That gets me snarked at by a supiervisor about 'letting her off in the middle of the street'. On a narrow road packed with parked cars, where exactly am I SUPPOSED to let her off?!?!?
Oh, and before I dropped her off, there was a cat in the road. Not running for its life the way cats do when something large is bearing down on them. Noooooooo... this beast just saunters by as though it owns the damn asphault. The kicker? Even in the bad light, I'd swear it was black. More funny to me than scary, to be honest.
Anyway... I make the left, no prob. Get to the right, the nasty one I dimly remember from all those weeks ago. Traffic is pretty heavy, esspecially for such narrow roads. Start the turn, what feels nice and wide.
Wrong.
In the middle of the street, my nose against the cars facing INTO me, completely blocking the entire street... I see something glint just inches from the side of my bus, about 50 feet back.
Scared the crap out of the two guys trying to get a ride to the Edmonds-Kingston ferry. Oh boy... parking brake, neutral, door, and I see... an nearly invisible dark red crapmobile in the path of the rear end of my bus.
Mama (or my trainers) said there'd be days like this.
Corner, 90 degree angle, duh. Me? About 45 degrees to the curb, little bend in the middle, blocking the ENTIRE STUPID ROAD.
And absolutely no way out.
So, I remember the snarky supervisor and dive for the radio. Now I have to wait, and be grateful that he's close by, becuase downtown Edmonds is pretty damn far off the beaten track. The silver car a foot from my nose suddenly has owners. Parents and two small kids, grateful I didn't hit them. Nope, their car isn't the problem. They leave, I still don't have room to get around the red car. Now, my bus stretches from curb, to curb, still at close to a 45 degree angle. Did I mention this was a narrow road?
Eventually, the car got moved, thankfully before I had to BACK THE BUS UP in all that traffic.
I was so late to my second run, that I did the entire thing completley empty.
SIGH....
Good news is, that I got lots of neat animal juju yesterday, including a new crow feather!
LATER!

Oh! Two people tried to commit 'suicide by bus' on me this week. ARGH! One guy zipped in front of me on a yellow i didnt; realize was so short, making me hit the brakes pretty hard. A woman fell off her seat, and my regular, a really nice blind lady with a gorgeous service dog got the hell scared out of her. I was so MAD!! That's the kind of driver i would like to catch and take to my passenger and her poor dog. "Explain to HER, why you have to be SUCH a jerk!"

The other was a moron on the freeway that decided to jump on his accelerator, AFTER i had already began merging into his lane. Suddenly, this little two door is a third up my side and I'm shoving him onto the shoulder. Oh, did I mention this was on the freeway? At full speed? Honestly, I was so stunned by what he was doing, that I didnt back off my merge, which is what I was supposed to do. Just because he's stupid and wrong, doesn't matter. I stay out of accidnets by being smarter and more patient with that HUGE projectile weapon I'm driving. My new pal laid on his horn, both getting out of my way finally, AFTER being completely pushed onto the shoulder, and again as he sped by on the left. Scared the daylights out of me...

Oh, and crossing railroad tracks with a train sitting RIGHT THERE. It was stopped, sure, but still. I cross very active tracks with lousy visibilty four times a day. Commuter trains stop near where I cross, and looking at those massive machines as they unload makes me realize that my bus really isn't all that impressive in contrast.

In fact, my second rail crossing, to leave my last stop on my run, was the very spot that is a favorite story among the drivers and trainers. I remember hearing it when i was in class, and found out that it was the very spot I cross just Friday. A new driver, 3 weeks new, got his brand new bus jack-knifed on the tracks. He only had enough time to radio a message and get OUT. The 60 footers can cost up to a quarter million to purchase, and this brand-new unit was reduced to scrap in one swift kick from a train. The story goes that they brought the bus back on a flatbed semi and a dump truck. Luckily, that particular spot is after the final customers are dropped off. Can you IMAGINE?!?!?! The noise alone... The ruined bus sat at the main lot until very recently. I just missed it, and had been there for years in all its respective pieces. And yes, the driver was fired.

Pardon my while I shudder now. It seems to take an awful lot of seconds to get that whole bus off the tracks, y'know? Especially when a pedestrian decides he's just gotta cross right now!

And on hte way back to the yard one morning, a buzzer and red light on teh dash knocked a few years off my life. It was the 'stop engine' light. Never seen THAT before! The 'check engine' next to it, all lit up yellow? Oh sure, see that one all the time. That means the mechanics get the unit, instead of the fuel team. But the red light and buzzer were new. So, here I am, in the fast lane at nearly 70 MPH, wondering if the silly thing is just going to STOP right there. Yes, this happens on a regular basis. These buses take extraordinary amounts of abuse, you have to understand. The damn light flickered on and off several times for the rest of the trip, but we made it with no complications. It's always the first time that's the scariest. At least I won't panic next time.

Traffic is getting heavier and heavier as the weather gets colder. Part of it is the approaching holidays. The other drivers are enjoying telling me how awful downtown gets around Christmas. An hour of two to traverse our downtown lines... all two-odd miles of it. Bleah...

Well, that's all I remmber for now!

Bored now
Current mood: relaxed

Yay! Day off! Whoop! I only get one a week, so *happy dance*. Not much of interest has happened to me except for having my first official brush with death as a bus driver. What's that you say? What happened? I'll TELL you what happened. Some idiot who was too lazy or stupid (or both) to strap down the load of crap he was hauling down the freeway was playing target practice with my bus.
Do people think before they throw a bunch of boards and storage containers in a truck and drive at 65? Obviously, by the quantity of crap on the side of our highways, the answer is obvious. I'm required by my company to maintain an 8 second following distance, and it's a damn good thing too, because I had plenty of time to react. A very long plank of wood stood up in the bed of the pickup ahead of me, helped along by a full sheet of violently vibrating plywood. The board quickly spun out, whipping through the air like a helicopter blade sideways.
Now, hold that thought. The windshield on a bus is HUGE, everybody knows that. All I could envision was that chunk of wood smashing through that glass and taking me out like that guy in Twister. It was a moment of sheer terror.
So, it whips through the air and splinters against the freeway, thankfully smacking flat almost instantly. It was easy to swerve around it, because I had plenty of time to apply some brake without tossing around the nearly 30 people on my bus.
Nearly 30 people. Another thing that idiots don't think of.
I was so focused on the board and what traffic might do, that when the plastic bin exploded against the k-rail not twenty feet ahead of me. (k-rail is that low, angled concrete barriers on roads, often portable. Also known as Jersey rail.) Okay, scare number 2.
Another fact about large commercial vehicles: air brakes. There are lines that carry high-pressure air to the brakes on every axle. Those lines are generally unprotected on the undercarriage. So a splintered plastic box going under my bus... Like I said, scare #2.
So, sever my air lines and my brakes instantly slam on full power. 30 some odd people, 60,000 pounds going at least 50 MPH. No seatbelts except the one across my lap.
Tell me again why the hell I'm doing this?
My 'revenge' was to take a walk along that very busy stretch of freeway (another scary experience, but what the hell) and retrieve that damned board. I will make something useful from it, because I CAN.
By the way, it's 13 feet long, 7 inches wide and an inch and half thick. The bin is still where it fell. I see it every day.

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