Vehicular Sightings

Before I get to my recent vehicular sighting I want to talk about how very excited I was yesterday to receive my fixed-gear bike in the mail after Mom had it packed up and sent off last week. It was almost like Christmas morning, opening that big box, removing all the parts and laying them out on the floor, finding the necessary tools for assembly, etc... Of course, I have owned this bike for some time now and I knew it was coming in the mail, so there wasn't that same Christmas-morning element of surprise. Anyhow, I am so happy to have this bike back, I missed it! Last night after I finished putting it back together I was so excited about getting to ride it around DC today, but naturally it is wet and drizzly today. I guess it is supposed to be windy too. Not the best bike-riding weather.

Ok, now for the cool vehicular sighting. I knew these existed because I had seen them in TV shows or movies or whatnot, but until a few weeks ago I had never actually seen one in real life and I must say that I was in awe. This awe-inspiring vehicular entity was what I would probably call (perhaps wrongly) a "hook-n-ladder" firetruck. After doing a little bit of internet research I have learned that they are actually called "tiller" trucks. These are the long fire trucks that tow a ladder trailer-style and have a separate cab at the rear end for another driver to steer the rear wheels independently of the front, allowing the truck to better negotiate crowded and narrow city streets. Now, I've seen plenty of firetrucks in my lifetime, even plenty of big firetrucks, but when I saw this "tiller" truck approaching I knew there was something different about it. As it went past me and around the corner I could not help but be amazed by the grace and beauty of the whole thing. I then thought of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer drives the rear end of one of these fire trucks. I think it might be one of those life-altering experiences. I think it would be strange to be responsible for making sure that the rear end doesn't run over anything but not really be able to control the speed or the front end in any way. Anyhow, since my first sighting I have seen these trucks at least two other times and each time I have to stop walking to sit and watch in awe as it goes by, gliding around the corner like a truck half its length.

My second major vehicular sighting was a hybrid taxi cab (it was a hybrid Camry), the only one I've seen here in DC. Since moving here I've been wondering why taxi companies still use big gas-guzzling American V8 sedans like Ford Crown Vic's for their fleets. It seems to me like they would have a lot of incentive to phase those out in favor of more efficient cars like the Prius or something. I'm sure that the Prius costs more initially, but with all of the time spent sitting around idling and with the stop-and-go, high-mileage nature of Taxi cab driving patterns, I have a suspicion that the huge gasoline savings alone would pay for the difference pretty quickly. Plus I would be that the Prius is equally (if not more) spacious than the big Crown Vics, and it is probably a lot easier to maneuver through city traffic as well. I suspect that it is just a culture of resistance to change that keeps the Prius out of taxi fleets, which is unfortunate. Maybe one of these days I'll run some numbers to see how the Prius actually stacks up economically to a Crown Victoria...

Those are the two biggest vehicular sightings of late, although I did also see two Bentley's and a stunningly beautiful Maserati yesterday in swanky Georgetown. OH! And I also saw a beautiful, huge, brand-new bus perform one of the most expertly-executed turns I have ever seen. Like the "tiller" trucks, it was an awe-inspiring sight to behold. I'm sure you wish you were there.

As much as I was hoping I wouldn't, I have actually found myself missing being a bus driver the past few days. Only two months away from it and I already look back fondly on that job. I really did like driving those buses. I wonder if I could get a very part-time job driving one of the fancy double-decker tourist sight-seeing buses around DC. That would probably be fun! hahaha

Here is a short video of a "tiller" truck rounding a corner. Beautiful, isn't it?

Haha, Oops!

The other day I was driving the Intown bus through the pedestrian area in Vail. I was going about 10 mph (maybe 12, max) and a skateboarder was approaching me from ahead coming the opposite direction. Just as we were about to pass each other, he suddenly looses control of his skateboard and it whips out from underneath him and flies directly under the bus. I slam on the brakes hoping to avoid running it over. After I stop he runs behind the bus, presumably to try to recover his board. Then I see him come around the other side where he discovers that the board is lodged securely under the rear tires and so he motions for me to keep going, so I do. As I start pulling away I hear the crunch of cracking wood, he picks up his board and starts running the other way and I continued on my merry way. I felt a little bit bad that I had probably ruined his board, but at the same time I had done my best and it wasn't my fault at all. But really it wasn't entirely his fault either. I mean, people fall sometimes, it happens. It was just bad luck for him that his board chose that particular trajectory...

Anyway, that evening after I got off work instead of going straight home like I usually do, my gimpy sister and my mom and I decided to go have dinner at a nice place in Vail right by the creek (we rarely go out to dinner together, and almost never to nice places in Vail by the creek). I told them this story about the broken skateboard while we were at dinner. Then towards the end of dinner, Mom looks out the window of the restaurant towards the creek and sees a skateboard sticking out of this strangely-placed trashcan. As we left we went to investigate this skateboard, and we determined that it was almost surely the same broken skateboard. This was kind of Twilight-Zone-y because the incident happened about two blocks away from this trashcan, and because the chances of us ever seeing this trashcan located in such a strange place is almost zero. It was strange. But I sure did get some satisfaction out of seeing my handiwork. That guy must have been pretty pissed, but really he could only be mad at himself.

In other news, for some reason I didn't get that Middlebury scholarship that I had applied for, and I haven't made any contingency summer plans, so if anyone has any good ideas for how I should spend my summer, I'd love to hear them. I AM going to Europe with my dad (Germany, Czech Republic, and Hungary most likely) from April 23 to May 23, but from May 23 until around Octoberish I don't know what I'm going to do. Maybe I'll just stay here in Edwards and drive the bus sort of pseudo-full-time and ride my bike a lot and go camping and hiking and stuff (you know, try not to be a lazy turd). The biking and camping and hiking sound fun, but honestly I think that I have had enough of living in Edwards already (again), and another four friendless months here doesn't sound that appealing. I've also thought about going back to Chinese Summer Camp in Minnesota again, but I'm pretty sure that job doesn't even pay minimum wage (but I do get all the rice porridge I can stomach every single morning!).

Today's video is "Princesa" by Sacha Nairobi. She doesn't even have a page about her on Wikipedia (not even on Spanish Wikipedia), so she must be kind of a nobody, but I think she's from Venezuela. This song is basically about how she used to be a rich princess with no love, but now she's poor and in love and she prefers it that way and such. It's a strange video though that provoked some questions in my mind. Why does she have a white dove on her head? Why is she riding a large pink wooden horse on wheels? Why is she rolling in the mud with pigs? Why is she milking goats? I get that she's poor and all, but even poor people don't go roll around in the mud with pigs just because they are poor. I suspect she's kind of into bestiality.


I'm also adding a bonus video because I feel like it. This Starburst commercial makes me laugh every time I see it:

The Rules

So here are some rules to follow when using public transportation.

1. Use Body Language Wisely - This rule has many applications. The bus driver is a visual creature that uses primarily the sense of sight to determine when people wish to get on/off the bus, etc. If you are standing near a bus stop and wish to get on an approaching bus, then you need to stand up and look expectantly at the bus driver and make it look like you want to get on the bus, because if you don't look like you want to get on the bus then the bus driver might assume that you don't want to get on the bus and might decide not to stop for you. Do not, however wave at the bus in an attempt to wave the bus down to stop for you unless you are absolutely sure that the following three criteria are met: A) you are actually standing at a designated bus stop, B) you are absolutely sure that the bus you are waving at is SUPPOSED to stop at the bus stop at which you are standing, AND C) you are fairly confident that the bus isn't stopping because the bus driver has for some reason forgotten that he/she needs to stop there. If any of the three previous conditions are not met, then you should not, under any circumstances try to wave a bus down because the bus driver will hate you until the very moment that you get off the bus.
   
   If you happen to be standing at a bus stop and do NOT wish to board the approaching bus, then you need to make it clear to the bus driver through your body language that you do not wish to board that bus. The best way to do this is with a simple "no" shake of the head. If for some reason this does not seem to be enough body language, then a large, exaggerated "keep going" motion of the arms is appropriate. You should NOT, however, try to wave at the bus driver in a manner that might be confused with the "stop, I want to get on" wave which was previously discussed and which should only be used under very strict conditions. You must also realize, however, that many times the bus driver will still have to stop at the bus stop to let people off and so you should not be offended if despite your attempts to wave him/her past he/she still stops anyway. Know in our heart that the bus driver still appreciates your valiant effort to save him/her from the agony of making an unwarranted stop.
   
   If you are already ON the bus, your body language is still very important. First of all, you should never stand near either of the exit doors (ESPECIALLY not in the rear stairwell) unless you wish to de-board at the following stop because the driver may assume that people standing by the door wish to get off the bus and will stop and be severely annoyed if after bringing the bus to a stop those people do not get off the bus. If you DO wish to get off the bus at the following stop, you should always pull the Stop Request cord. If you have some aversion to the cord, then you should stand up and walk towards the exit door approximately 10 seconds before the bus arrives at the stop. If you move there too early, the bus driver will think you are an idiot who doesn't know where the stop is located. If you go there too late, the driver will think you are an idiot who doesn't know where the stop is located AND he might just pass up your stop completely and feel no remorse for you. If you fail to pull the cord AND fail to get up and make it obvious that you would like to get off the bus and the driver drives past your stop, he/she will be laughing on the inside at your incompetence as a user of public transportation.
   
   
2. Be On Time - First of all, know when the bus arrives at the bus stop and be there EARLY. Nothing gives a bus driver greater joy than seeing someone running to a bus stop, arms flailing in exacerbation, as the driver pulls away slowly from the stop already a minute or two late. If you happen to find yourself trying to catch a bus at the last possible second, follow these rules to increase your chances of catching said bus. A) Run, don't saunter. Bus drivers don't like waiting for people running late to catch a bus, but they REALLY HATE waiting for people who are sauntering slowly to catch a waiting bus. If the bus is already at the stop and is stopped waiting for you, RUN! If the bus is already pulling away, but you think you have a chance of running and maybe catching it, don't ever flip it off because the driver might see you just at that second and decide that instead of waiting for your late ass to catch up that he/she will just keep going instead and ponder joyfully how much trouble you will be in when you get to work 30 minutes late. Also, if you happen to be running/walking directly in the path of the bus that you are trying to catch, don't wave at it to wait for you because it can't go anywhere with you standing in it's way anyway and the bus driver will automatically know then that you are an idiot and he/she will hate you for the duration of your ride. This brings me to the next rule.
   
   
3. Get Out of the Way - Basically, if a 25000 lb. bus is moving in your general direction, get out of the way. If it is pulling into a stop, stand back from the curb because the driver probably wants to get as close to the curb as possible to facilitate easy loading and unloading, but when people are standing too close to the edge of the curb there is a risk of hitting them with the mirror or the corner of the bus and so he/she can't get as close and he/she is annoyed. If you are in the direct path of a bus, stop and/or move in the other direction. It's really pretty simple. The driver obviously doesn't want to run people over, but in the battle of bus v. human, bus wins.
   
   
4. Don't Be Annoying - Firstly, don't make small-talk with the driver unless A) you are abnormally good-looking, B) you have something genuinely interesting or funny to say, C) the driver initiates the conversation, or D) you know the bus driver and it would be socially awkward and uncomfortable to sit there in silence. The bus driver has to keep track of a lot of things when he/she is driving (like not running over people, missing stops, staying on schedule, etc), so small-talk can be really distracting and unsafe.
   
   Also, don't ask stupid questions if you can avoid it. If your question can be answered by simply looking at the bus schedule for a few minutes, then don't ask the driver.
   
   If you are drunk and on a bus, the same rules apply. Don't ask stupid questions. Don't be a jerk. Don't be an asshole. Don't be loud/obnoxious or sing stupid songs. Don't ask to honk the horn. Don't ask to turn up the music. Don't ask where to find easy women. Don't ask where to find marijuana. Don't bring your preferred substance onto the bus. Don't miss your stop. Don't vomit. Don't pound on any of the windows or doors. When the bus stops, either get on or get off, but don't stand in the door trying to get girls to come home with you. And finally, MOST IMPORTANTLY (whether you are drunk or not), never ask the driver to take you to anywhere that is not a designated stop on the designated route. If you wanted to go there, you should have taken a taxi instead. This includes asking the driver to drop you off somewhere that isn't really a stop. It is against the law for them to do so and they risk getting in big trouble if they let you off there, so don't even ask them to.
   
   
5. Learn the System - Know where the bus stops and where it does not stop. Know which direction the bus goes in (also, if you have to guess, the direction that the bus is facing is also often the same direction that the bus will be traveling in). Read the signs on the bus. If a bus says "Out of Service," then that does not mean that it is some other bus that you wish it is. If a bus has gone to the same place at the same time the past 3 weeks that you have ridden it, then you don't need to keep asking.

So basically, the best bus riders are the ones who can figure out a schedule by themselves, are on time to the stops, have good overall body language, and know when and where and how to appropriately get off the bus. Unfortunately these are also the riders that the drivers are least likely to notice and so they never get the praise that they deserve because the drivers are busy hating the riders who suck. But from a real-life bus driver I commend all those who follow these rules and do their part to ensure a smooth public transportation experience for all the others. And for those who break these rules, shame on you, and please read and follow these rules carefully in the future for the sake of all humanity. I might have missed a few rules, but I think these are at least the most important ones. If anyone else would like to contribute some rules that I may have overlooked, please do so.

Don't be like this guy:

Calling All Units

Tonight, for the first time in my short career as a bus driver, I had to call the cops to take some people off of my bus. I've been lucky to have almost zero passenger-related problems that required police assistance. Really tonight wasn't even that bad. On Wednesday nights I drive the last bus home for a bunch of people who are out in West Vail at the Sandbar for White Trash Wednesdays. It tends to be a pretty rowdy bunch at 2:00 AM, but luckily most of them get off the bus after only a few stops. The rest of them usually ride all the way back to the transportation center where I leave to do the last run of a different route. I don't mind when they are all rowdy and rambunctious for the few stops from the bar to where most of them get off, but tonight the really rowdy ones stayed on. I tried turning the lights back on to quiet them down, but it didn't work. I tried asking them to turn it down a notch because they were really distracting me, but it didn't work. They started getting belligerent and I asked more firmly for them to be quiet. They were very rude and instead got louder. I threatened to kick them off the bus which seemed to help a little. By this time I had already left for the last run and so I figured they weren't much more than a few minutes away from home. I mean I usually have obnoxious drunks on this last run, it's no big deal, just that these guys were ruder than usual. But then from what they started saying to each other, I got the vibe that maybe they were on the wrong bus and would possibly not be getting off the bus at the last stop. Great, here I was faced with the possibility of arriving at my last stop and having three drunk lost jerks. So I decided to call for some police backup. It turned out my hunch was right. When everyone else got off two stops before the end and it was just them left, they asked me about the stop that they were looking for, which wasn't anywhere near where we were or where we were going. At this point one of them knew that I had called the cops and they suddenly became much more quiet. I arrived at the last stop before the cops did and it was pretty uncomfortable just sitting there with these three jerks waiting for the cops to come deal with them. They kept offering to pay me cash to take them to their destination (some 5 miles away in the wrong direction). I was pretty irked and not very polite with them and I told them there was no way that I would do that, especially not after they were such jerks earlier. I also told them that this wasn't a taxi and that it's not my fault they didn't get on the right bus. I had no sympathy for them whatsoever. Heck, it wasn't even very cold out, I told them they could just walk home from there for all I cared.

When the cops came they just took them off the bus, asked what was going on and I told them that the three guys were being rude and that they need to get a cab to where they were going. That was it, and then I was free to drive back to the barn and finish my shift. It wasn't really a huge deal, but I'm really glad the cops were around and got there so quickly to deal with them so I could get back to the barn and finish my shift.

This reminded me of another police/bus incident a few weeks ago. I was not really involved in this incident, but I wish I had been. The dispatch guy comes on the radio addressing all of the bus drivers asking us to keep an eye out for the Sandbar Bus which had allegedly been stolen from the parking lot. Unfortunately I was on the Intown route at the time which is nowhere near the Sandbar, so I knew that my chances of spotting the joyriders was slim. I started thinking about kicking all of my passengers off the bus and leaving the route to go drive around Vail like a vigilante in my bus looking for the stolen Sandbar Bus. I imagined how it must feel to be the lucky bus driver who spots the target and calls in its coordinates to dispatch, saving the day and watching the Vail Police swoop in for the arrest, sirens blazing. In the end I think it was Ed driving the West Vail route who spotted the bus and called it in, but I'm not sure because I was busy answering some dumb tourist question when he came on the radio and I only caught the tail end of it. That darn Ed, he has all the fun. Every week I hope for more drama like that. Hopefully some week I will actually get to play a central role in some unfolding drama.

Sometimes when I see a near-accident or a close-call, I think to myself, "dang, I wish they had actually hit each other so I could call it in to dispatch." I would be like the star witness. Surely the cops would lend more credibility to my version of the events; after all I am practically a professional driver. Anyway, I'll keep hoping that I eventually see some carnage or something. Nothing too bloody, but just a nice little accident that does some decent damage would be nice.

The other day a woman almost got hit by a car after she got off my bus. She was talking on her cell phone and crossed in front of the bus and didn't look to see the car coming from behind on the side of the bus. I don't really want any carnage like THAT.

That's really the extent of the excitement I've had in this job; lots of close-calls, near-misses, missed opportunities, and a few drunk jerks. I think chances are pretty good that I'll get some real excitement before the season is over though. Keep your fingers crossed.

For today's YouTube video, Message In A Bottle by The Police seemed appropriate. This song was released in 1979 according to Wikipedia. That's practically the 1980s, and I generally dislike most things that came out of the 1980s, but I actually really like this song, still.

The Wave

There are many aspects to being a good bus driver, but perhaps one of the more important of those is the bus-driver wave. You've all seen it; when two bus drivers pass each other on the road they almost invariably wave at each other. Back in my pre-bus-driver days I always wondered about all the intricacies of this mysterious part of bus-driver sub-culture. How many times a day do they wave at each other? Do they wave every time they pass each other or just the first one or two times? Do they all wave at all the others, or is the wave reserved only for specific co-drivers? How much effort should go into waving at another driver and how much is too much? I had a suspicion that there was more than met the eye with these bus-driver waves, and now after being a bus driver myself for about a month and a half I have gained some insight on them.

Before I started this bus driving gig I wasn't sure if I was going to become a waver or if I would instead become one of those stoic non-wavers. It turns out that I'm a waver. Yup, I wave at every other bus driver I pass. Not only do I wave at all the other bus drivers that I work with, but I even wave at some of the guys that drive other buses and shuttles that I see around the valley a lot. In fact, I've found that the "bus-driver wave" is not limited to just bus drivers but can be extended to lots of other people including all other people driving Town of Vail vehicles, cops, trash truck drivers, snowplow drivers, shuttle drivers, etc. There are also some people who are not privy to the wave though. These include taxi drivers, CME drivers, and certain shuttle drivers. These people don't get the wave because they are discourteous drivers and we don't like them.

As for some of the other questions I had, I wave at the other drivers no matter how many times I see them. Sometimes I will see and wave at the same person probably 20 times in a day, but I wave every time. It's kind of like Pringles, once you start you can't stop. What kind of mixed messages would I send people if I was waving in the morning and then not waving in the afternoon? So I always wave.

Not all waves are created equal though. Some guys try to act all nonchalant about waving, like they are too cool to really be waving but they know that they have to anyway. Some give a nice firm, confident sort of "hey, what's up?" two finger salute. A few give a simple forward-facing up and down palm. Some are a little more creative though. There's one guy who sort of flashes gang signs, often with both hands. One guy seems to have a new crazy motion every time I drive past him. Today his repertoire included a "whipping" motion, a "mummy" gesture, a "chopper bike rider" one, and a "woman with nice curves" signal. Some give peace signs, and some salute military style. Then there are a few guys who are so focused on the task at hand that they just can't be bothered with waving. Sometimes they just give a blank stare. Almost every driver has their own distinct wave, but I personally prefer to just copy the wave of whoever it is I am waving to. When I'm passing the creative guy, I try to think of something creative myself. To the gang sign flasher, I try to respond similarly. To the stoic starer, I just stare back.

If I had to describe my own wave though, I would call it a flick of a peace sign plus the thumb, usually with the right hand. I think one of my favorites, though, is when it's dark out and the drivers can't see each other most of us either flick on one of the interior lights, or click the left-hand turn signal one time. Some drivers go a little overboard with the light flicking though...


Today's video is another 1997 video, "How Bizarre" by OMC. My fondest memory of this video was one day in the summer when I was at the Berthoud pool and I ran into my former best friend's former "girlfriend" and she was wondering where I had disappeared to (because that was after I started homeschooling). Then this song came on and she said, "Oh, like, this is so, like, my song!" I bet this guy would have a pretty good wave if he were a bus driver.

Bus Chronicles

I've really been slacking on this blog thing. I know that at least one person has been particularly anxious to hear about my life as a bus driver, and I have been anxious to write about it too, but I just haven't had the time/energy. Then after I was already a few weeks into it I felt like I had so much to summarize that I felt overwhelmed and just haven't written about it.

Basically bus driving has been going well. Driving a bus is as fun as I had always imagined it would be. The first few days were the hardest because before that point I had always driven with a trainer, but now I was out on my own. If I made a mistake there was no one else to blame. I was constantly and nervously checking my schedule sheets making sure I was on time and in the right place. No matter how many times I checked the schedule and my watch I still had this uneasy feeling that somehow I was still doing something wrong.

As far as I know, however, I didn't really mess anything up. Actually, my first day was the roughest. After picking a bus out of the barn in the morning to take out on my route, I realized that the radio wasn't working and so I had to go get a new bus which caused be to be 15 minutes late on my very first loop of my very first route of my very first day. Luckily it wasn't really my fault but rather a simple mechanical mishap. Then on that same day, on my very last loop before clocking out, the bus I was driving broke down. I was able to get it started back up and get it back to the transportation center, and again, it wasn't my fault.

After that first day things went pretty smoothly. I work Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the morning/day, and then on Wednesday I have a night shift that goes to 3:00 AM, so I get lots of drunks on that shift. I drive several different routes. I drive the "Intown" route that goes between Golden Peak and Lionshead for about half of each of my shifts, and then the other half is either West Vail, or the Golf Course/Lionsridge Loop/Ford Park. The only route that I never drive is East Vail. I'm guessing that East Vail must be the best one to drive because it seems like all of the more seasoned drivers who get first pick of their shifts drive East Vail while a lot of the drivers that I tend to see driving Intown and West Vail are the newer drivers like me who got the dregs shifts. I don't mind though. I like my shifts and I get a lot of diversity with my routes. There are some drivers who drive the same route all day every day, but I can't imagine how boring that would be. I would much prefer the mixture of my shifts.

Just physically driving the bus is pretty fun, and really that's the whole reason I wanted to be a bus driver. While it took a little bit of getting used to driving something that big, I'm already pretty used to it. I love using that big steering wheel to steer the thing around curves and stuff. I love all the sounds like the air brakes and the diesel engine and stuff. I even enjoy opening and closing the doors.

There's more to being a bus driver than simply being able to operate the thing. You have to know the routes and the stop names and be able to answer the myriad of dumb questions that people ask you about how to get here there or the other place. You have to pay close attention to the time to make sure you are on schedule. This is the hardest part, I think. Even almost a month in I still have to be careful not to get ahead of schedule. When I do get ahead of schedule I just have to stop and wait at a stop for a few minutes to get back on schedule, but I think that's probably just as annoying for all the people on the bus as it is for me. I wish they would just adjust the schedule so that I had to speed around everywhere really fast to stay on schedule, but as it is I have to poke along below the speed limit sometimes just to eat up some time. Now I realize that busses don't always drive slow just because the are big and cumbersome, but rather because they are just trying to stay on schedule!

I don't really have any good stories yet, but I do have lots of thoughts and impressions about bus driving that I hope to write about in the coming months, but for now I need to go to bed. It's almost 8:00 and I had to get up at 4:00 this morning, and I need to get up almost that early again tomorrow morning. Maybe on Wednesday I'll sleep in really late, 'til like 6 or something, haha.

The next Circa 1997 video is Macarena. Maybe this was more like 1996, I don't remember, but it was probably still kicking around in 1997 too. When this song was popular I didn't know that those two guys were speaking Spanish. I thought it was just some strange made up jibberish or something.

Curbcheck

So I've finished two days of bus-driver training and basically it's pretty freaking sweet. The first few hours yesterday were kind of boring, but then after lunch I finally got to get behind the wheel of a real-life bus and do some maneuvers through several different road-cone obstacle courses. I pretty much aced every single maneuver on my first try and my supervisor was pretty surprised at how well I did on them. He was like, "are you sure you have never done this before?" As a result I am progressing rather quickly through the training which is good news because I don't have a lot of time to devote to it. Actually I wish we were going even faster. Over the past two days we have probably lost at least 3 hours to sitting around while my supervisor drinks coffee, bullshits with other drivers, or tells/repeats various irrelevant stories.

Today I actually got to drive on a route and pick up real live people and it was kind of scary. Driving on the road and stopping at stops and picking up and dropping off people is pretty different from backing through cones at the bus barn. Luckily I only closed the door on one lady, and I only ran over one curb and luckily I didn't have any passengers at that point. Also, I haven't hit anything, I didn't even knock over any cones!

Learning how to physically maneuver the bus is kind of a small portion of the training though. A lot of time is spent to learning about various procedural kinds of things. I have to learn virtually word-for-word the extensive pre-trip vehicle inspection and brake test procedure that I will have to do for my big CDL test. There are also lots of check-in/out procedures to remember; learning what forms I need to fill out when and where I need to sign and when I need to take odometer readings and such. I haven't even started to learn how to use the radios or the satellite bus-tracking system yet. I also still have to learn all of the routes and the stop names and stuff.

So overal the training is going excellently and I am really loving it. Driving a bus is a little bit harder than I had always imagined it would be, but it's also just as much fun as I thought it would be. Try not to be too jealous of me, ok?

Also, I haven't made any big mistakes like this guy did: