old bus/new bus

              

This fancy bus is one of our old shorty buses.  It was painted and re-done to take to schools to educate children on bus safety.  It was paid for by generous sponsors.  I think it looks awesome!

                              

 

 

blowing off the dust

Time to blow the dust off the journal and since I have some time this summer I think I will revamp this place.  I had a lot mixed feelings about reporting about my daily adventures, afterall it is my job and as my son who is a Manager at a large home store says you have to be careful about what you put out there on the web.  He is interviewing for a new job and being a typical twentysomething he had to make his myspace journal private for a while.  No need to have your private life effect your job prospects.

I actually could have wrote about his past school year as it was pretty mellow.  I will be back to report on my summer routes soon!

a new school/a new bus!

 

School officially starts Thursday, August 31st.  My old bus 30, was retired this year!  Her replacement is a shiny new 2007 model.  Electric doors and everything!  I did not get my old friend's replacement, and since I am in the middle of the seniority list I knew I would not.  I could have picked a 2006 or even a 2005, the newer type buses with their electric doors and parking brakes.  But I chose bus 60, a 2004 model that was lovingly taken care of by a girl that started when I did.  She quit this year, but I chose her old bus knowing it is the style I am used to and perfer.  It has the manual type service door and emergency brake you set with a long rod type thingy (thingy is that correct??!!). 

I also picked my daily routes, they are sweet too, I will dry run tomorrow and let you all know if my choice was a wise one.  Oh course I won't know for sure until school starts!

On Thursday I will pick my midday routes.  I am hoping to get an Early childhood route again and of course my same monitor as last year.  Working with good people is alway a big plus!

It's good to be back!   Much more to come!

 

2006 --- 2007 will be a great school year!

I drove by our department's shop the other day and saw my old friend bus 30 sitting with the other buses that are going to be retired.  I felt a tug of sadness when I saw the old girl.  Like anyone who drives for a living or owns a vehicle that they depend on you feel a certain bond.  I will miss that bus. 

I subbed the other day and drove a brand new van style bus, with an electric service door.  I really perfer a manual door, but I guess I should progress with the future.  I tend to be an old timer when it comes to change...I don't care for it!

We got our schedules for the upcoming school year.  We start our training the middle of August.  So I have over 3 weeks of freedom!  School doesn't even start until August 31st.  So I am going to enjoy the rest of the nice, hot summer!

buses buses everywhere

I know, I know I swore I wasn't going to work this summer, but I did.  Buses just seem to be following me around too!  I ended up subbing a route which was easy, four hour day.  Then last Monday I moved buses from one school to another.  No children involved easy enough. 

Today was just plain freaky though.  I pop over to my local grocery store to pick up a few things and there's two of our buses on a field trip!  I stopped by long enough to give the drivers a hard time and then on with my summer!

school's out!!!

 

Today is the last day of school!!  I resisted the urge to put my name on a summer route too, it was put up after the rest had been bid on.  NO! NO!  I am NOT working this summer!  I need break!  Here comes summer!  I am ready!

took my drivers test

My driver's license was up for renewal on the 6th of June.  I had to take ALL four tests too!  Including the core knowledge test you take when you are 16!  I just got my permit for driving a school bus 3 years ago too.  Along with the core knowledge test I had to take the CDL, the passenger endorcement and school bus endorcement, 4 test in all.  I was very, very nervous as the test is now computerized and if you miss a question it tells you right away.  I did study and made sure I skipped any questions that I wasn't sure of.  I was able to go back to them, or if I had enough questions correct the computer stopped the test with a passing grade.

AND of course I pass all four the first time!  Now I am good for 8 years!

School is winding down, the high school kids take their finals Monday, the Junior high is going to the pool (I am driving), and the grade school kids only need to be tolerated for 1 and 1/2 more days.

It hailed on me yesterday, but the cooler temperatures have been  welcome.  It gets super hot on a school bus!

3 day weekend!

3 day weekend is here!  School is almost out too! 

 

RAIN!

During my grade school run the skies got dark and lightening began to light the sky.  One of the kids got on the bus and even crossed herself!  The big kids were trying really hard to scare the little ones but they were having none of that.  When we arrived at their school they held them on the buses until the normal let off time, instead of letting them in early so needless to say they got soaked.  

And as for me I left all 3 of my umbrella's in my car!

At least this afternoon the rain is gone!

   7 1/2  more days until summer break!

School is out in 11 more days and boy are the kids getting nutty!  Along with my town ripping up the roads and digging ditches for new sewers (makes my job all the more exciting!) not much else new.  My new junior high route is going fine.  They all stay seated which is a big help.  The old driver had assigned seats which I am not a big fan of.  I told them that I was now their driver and I my goal was to get them home in a safe manner, if they can behave and stay seated we'd all get along great.  So far so good.

After having a few issues with my methods of discipline I will take a look at how my year went and do some things different next school year.  For instance I will NOT give a ton of warnings to kids.  I will let the schools handle this, some kids do not respond to being nice, especially junior high with their raging hormones.  Grade school kids I WILL assign seats, many of these kids use the bus as a gym, they argue with me and assigning seats will help with crowd control!

 

 

Last week was a very rough week for me.  I had some incidents on one of my routes.  It was best thought that I give this one run up and trade with another driver.  I ran the route yesterday and so far so good.  There's only 20 days of school left.  Hopefully things will calm down so we can all get through it in a safe manner!!!

24 more days!

The break room at my base (my work) has a black board (it's green) and on it says 24 more days of school.  The kids sure are acting like it's the last month of school.  I did rearrange my grade school route, and assigned some of the kids seats.  The good kids in the back can sit wherever, the 4th & 5th grade girls the middle of the bus so the "little" kids won't bug them, and the seat jumping kids in the front.  Every single day I get an argument from a 5th grader who is too big for his boots (his parents are going through a divorce), and a 3rd grade who loves to copy the other kids.  It's actually worked as fair as bus management goes.  That and giving them a written referral, let them argue with the assistant principal. 

Everybody has been coming into work too, which means we have extra drivers.  So I have had ride along standby drivers and monitors go with me.  I'd say half of them think that it is their job to tell me how to do mine.  Or they sit and scream at the kids to sit down.  The ones who are good usually just sit and talk to my kids and keep them busy.  Thank God somebody knows how to deal with kids.  Makes mine easier.

This will be the last month with the OLD bus 30.  She's a good old girl who's time has come to retire.  The bus has a side door, which they don't make anymore because kids were opening it and falling out.  Thank God that's never happened to me!!  Hopefully, next school year I'll get the NEW bus 30!!

 

 

 

evacuations

I have been super busy at work with bus evacs.   We have over 20 schools to do which adds up to a lot of kids.  I enjoy it though.  The kids really pay attention, which is great because they really need to be safe and prepared.  The rear door of the bus is really high off the ground so I have to lift the little ones down.  The bigger ones usually can get down by themselves unless they are showing off and try to hop down, then I make them go back inside the bus & redo it.  Basically I tell the high school kids to not dive out or they will smack their heads.  First I have to explain to them that a bus has no Park only a parking brake, and that the new buses have electric doors.  If the driver passes out they need to know how to stop the bus.  AND I tell them to not be dumb and try and smoke on the bus.  These are things they don't think of when they are riding to school.

 

I can tell it's near the end of the year.  The kids are going nuts.  AND some of my co-workers think they are the law and must police the rest of us. 

 

Oh well!

Good Friday

I am off for Good Friday.  This week we started Bus evacuation drills with the school.  I always particapate.  It's a great way to meet the teachers and the kids from the area schools.  This year was the first time I did a High school gym class.  Basically they know the drill, but I did explain how to open some of the doors on the newer buses.  I also reminded them to NOT smoke on the bus.  Most of them did not know how fast a bus can burn.  Plus they tend to try and dive out the back door. 

Spring is here, so is spring sports.  I am bidding on Saturday trips now and I have a soccer game next Saturday.  Extra money is always a GREAT thing.

Otherwise just big time spring fever for the little ones!

 

Have a great Easter Holiday!

Whooo hoo, I am off tomorrow!  Doing the happy dance!  Going out of town tomorrow first thing!

This week was actually a good week.  The junior high kids were their normal loud selves.  My girl who constantly is bad has been scared straight so to speak.  She tries to act like she doesn't understand why I wrote her up so much, but when I tell her my reasons why each time that I did it, she goes...."OOOOOOOOOOOh!".

I did write up two other girls for standing up every single day.  The one I know does it because she thinks I am afraid of her mom, sorry, NOT!  She should be the one who is afraid she has 3 daughters!!! 

My routes are all still under major construction so I have to reroute all over the place.  My sub rode with me yesterday and I told him all my short cut secrets, hopefully they won't be too rough on him.  Although I did have to stop today to break up a girl spat.  And I say spat because girls can be so mean to each other and this is only 4th and 5th graders.  ISH!  I even had a mom sitting on the side of the road waiting for her son, who also can be bad.  I made them wait while I told them all to quit being so mean, and play nice.  That'll last about a day!

A bus behind me today heading out of the Junior High had a goofy kid hit his bus with a rock.  He thought that he broke the window, but it didn't.  The kids on the bus gladly gave this kid up too.  Don't kids know that their classmates will turn on the in a heartbeat??!!???  They can be so naive'!!

I am off to enjoy my mini-vacation!

Thanks for commenting you all!

back to school tomorrow

Back to school tomorrow.  It will be a short week for me as I took Friday off.  Mark and I are going out of town to celebrate our anniversary.

~gotta go enjoy the last few hours of break!

school's out for spring break!!

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SPRING BREAK!!!

 

My grade school route has become a lesson in determination.  Seems the village has decided to tear down the old water tower and they are blocking my path.  Huge cranes and large trucks.  No worries I just re-route.  Then later on down the road I get to try and get around workers building a new house.  This while I turn around in a cul de sac, try and get through a parking lot filled with people going to work out, and then try and turn on to a highway across the street from a convient store at about the time people are buying their beer on the way home from work.  Fun stuff!

big wind

We are having huge winds today.  Makes for interesting driving.  All school buses have a crossover gate in the front of the bus.  It's a long stick that keeps the kids from getting too close to the front of the bus.  It was so windy that a couple of people had theirs blow off their bus.  I made sure I pushed the over ride button so mine stayed in. 

I did have a scary moment though.  I was heading down the highway on top of a hill and my hatch on top of the bus popped open.  Made a HUGE noise, made me jump.

A driver hit a mailbox, another one got stuck in the mud and a third had a parent run into her.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

At least the little darlings haven't thought of doing this yet!!

 

Actually been a nice week.  Grade schoolers are a bit nuts but that's spring fever for you!