A last trip?

 Now this blog started in 2013 and was mostly about my journey to work and back on public transport. In the majority of trips that was the bus. I had started making those journeys in early 2007.  Although part of the journey was familiar as I had worked at an office at the new halfway point for three years.

If you have visited here before, (and with one exception going off the comments and the visitor numbers it is quite likely you have not so look at prior posts please) , then you will be aware various factors changed the travel situation.

My mothers health, COVID 19, work on the offices I attended, the available space and indeed offices closing and locations changing.

There were less bus journeys, less regularity to travel, and the occasional unrelated to work trip being mentioned.

My father having his own health issues whilst my mothers remain means that for work travel has now well officially stopped. 

A last trip into the "new" office which was also an "old" office, I worked there from 2006 till the change over in 2007 and which will itself be closing and the staff moving "over the way a bit" to a new office in 2027.

So my last trip into work, well I had thought it would be on the bus, with my little red trolly. But my boss had other ideas and a lift in and back with her instead. My goodness, cars have changed so much and all updated integrated tech, for finding your way either from place to place or reversing into a space.

I still think the GPS took an odd route to the office. A prebooked space in the underground car park brought back memories from 2006/7 and lifts in with a former boss and parking there, the double parking arrangements with numbers to call to let people you were blocking in know when you were leaving and giving them your number to call if they wanted to go at an earlier time. 

Up in the lift, sign in and to a balloon festooned desk  on the ground floor. That means I have worked on every floor in that building even if it has been for just one day.

I did get some work done in amongst the farewells and that was it. Journey home in a car and my work journeys are over.

So what now going forward for me and the blog?

well I expect there will still be journeys, but at the moment few and short. I will add to the blog as it feels appropriate, its not been that prolific of late anyways. 

It will stay open of course for the occasional visitor and at times for me to refresh my memory.

Taxi, bus ,metro and car

 I was invited to a retirement "do" for a former manager, I have mentioned him on this blog before. 

The event was in a city an hour away by bus (and the express bus at that) but for which the return journey was likely to be less easy. 

My friend who had also worked with this particular gentleman offered to meet me there and to give me a lift home.

I got a taxi to the bus station, I know usually I walk but the weather has been somewhat capricious recently and I did not want to chance getting wet on the outbound journey.

Taxi was on time and fast so there was a bit of a wait at the bus station. I had forgotten just how cold those seats are when first you sit on them, they warm slightly as you sit.   Indeed temperature is going to be something of a theme I think.

Bus arrived, contactless payment, a window seat (not my preferred side but still OK) electronic reader and all set. I had started a short story and with the waiting time at the bus station I was finished it with some journey to go but did not feel like starting another. So I was just settling down to nap when my legs were freezing! Someone had opened a window, a stop later that someone got off and another person closed it. Warmth restored and nap time. It was reasonably safe, this a journey made before and my stop the termination of the route.

I woke up as the bus pulled in and my friend was waiting for me. Chilly walk to the venue which when we arrived was comfortably warm.

Familiar faces and lots of unknowns, some I had not seen for ten years or more. Its an odd thing the passage of time.

Event over for us (it did continue without us for some time) and off we went to get the metro to where my friend was parked, happily the ticket machine is no stranger to her and she navigated it on my behalf. I was somewhat befuddled from the more interactions with many many chatting people than I have had for months so I think I would have struggled to figure it out at any speed.

We sat on the platform, more cold seats and cold drafts from the wind through the tunnels. Then onto the metro and we were seated and chatting and a strange reciprocal warmth on our backs from the seats reflecting our body heat back.

A slight delay two stops from our destination then we were arriving and with reluctance stood, we had just got nicely warm.

Quick walk to the car and yes the seats were cold (no heated seats, I have encountered such delights before, although it can be somewhat startling having your posterior heat up if you do not know that is going to happen). Once more things had just warmed up cosy comfort when it was time for me to get out and go home.

My friend still had a distance to drive so had a bit longer to appreciate the warmth but that was a bit six and two threes as I am sure she would have been just as happy to be home sooner.

In cost from most expensive to cheapest for the public transport it was metro, taxi, bus. For distance longest to shortest it was bus, metro, taxi.

The most enjoyable well that was metro and car because I had the company of my friend, although the nap was nice I sort of miss bus napping.

A different sort of journey

 and disparate community by shared location.

A trip by ambulance and the various encounters of A&E departments.

Something that I was initially introduced to ten years and six or maybe seven months ago. (well the original theme of this blog was encapsulating many journeys and adding in some specific anecdotes ).

Now thus far none of the trips I have made in this mode of transport have been for my personal medical needs. They have mostly been for my mothers but my father is trying to even that out recently .  The most recent with my father having prompted this post.

Like my bus journeys to work, things start before the actual journey.  In this case with a medical or health issue and the phone call. with various levels of panic and control, or lack thereof.

Point  one, in the call it is hard to remember that the call handler has to ask their questions in their order and at their speed. It is no good trying to second guess them, pre-empt them because you remember this from last time or indeed get overly frustrated if you had gone through 111 first then been transferred to 999 and have to start all over again. Less haste more speed with this, hard I know and I can slip up here.

Managing to take it steady and not get panic themed annoyed is something I have struggled with even whilst the inner logical medical drama watching me is trying to point out the error of that to my "I am not adulty enough for this daughter with am ill parent" side.  

So after they assess condition, assess urgency, categorise and slot into the order of calls already being handled you get the estimated time for the ambulance or paramedics to arrive.  It does not matter how quickly they say they hope to be there it will never feel fast enough.  However, when it is going to be more than an hour then the wait feels interminable and also with the underlying dread, for both the other person concerned but mainly for your own loved one, that another more medically urgent call will gazump your position.

Or if you went via 111 you may be told to expect a follow up call from the Ambulance Service.

Waiting is awful, balancing the polite remember how busy they are, that they are coming, against the clock watching have they forgotten us, should I just maybe call again to see if the timing has changed, I should call "shy bairns get no sweets" is the local saying. Speak up or miss out, make the call and feel bad for talking that time or don't and feel bad for not actively "doing". They have a new method to try and ease you to the former and away from the latter. a TEXT message confirming you have called, they are sending someone and asking not to call 999 again unless there has been a change in the person's condition or to cancel it if needed. It sort of worked this last two times. Even getting the call from the Ambulance service at the time you were told you might expect the Ambulance with a change to the potential timings feels like being remembered, reassured.

This overlaps with the odd dance of getting ready to go to hospital, in case you need to because well you called an ambulance.  List of medication, phone numbers you might need, or I guess more recently your phone, is it fully charged (I am going to come back to that one later) do you have money for things in the hospital, do you take things in anticipation of a longer stay, or do you leave that in the hope it can be addressed by the medical professional coming. You would much rather be a bit stupid in making the call than there be something bad happening.

This process is better  with two as one can stay with the patient to be whilst the other prepares. In the past that was how it worked when my mother was the patient and my father and I were the worry filled trying to be organised people. Back in the days when my dad drove (as you can tell from the original purpose of this blog I don't drive, can't drive) and off I would go, in with mam and he would follow in the car. All focus on getting there, getting treatment.  Quite often being rushed through as an emergency.

Then the hard drive home with just two of us, if she had to stay in. More recently as my dad's health deteriorated and he could no longer drive, he has had to wait at home and as we found out during covid when neither of us could go with her, waiting is harder at home than when you are with the person.

Once there , the same questions, over and over, trying not to answer for my parent and let them answer as that is part of the assessment process, how they are able to respond. To balance out where I need to answer as they can't always do so as we go through the various levels of triage depending on those original assessments added to by the paramedics then reviewed and refined at the hospital.

Or, a quick hand over and find a space in the waiting room, waiting for a name to be called.  Gradually, whilst waiting, surreptitiously taking in the others waiting, counting, gauging. The shudder of  how long when the tannoy says it is a 5.5 hour  wait, shudder even more as those already waiting chuckle painfully at the optimism of that timescale. Conversations start in bits and pieces, fits and starts somewhat like bus conversations, the weather the wait, the draft of cold air each time the doors to the outside open and close, the addition to those waiting as chilling as the drop in temperature they bring in with them. Or perhaps comparisons in facilities and waiting times at different hospitals. Sometimes speculation over the patient waiting with a police escort, victim or perpetrator..ah  handcuffs, the latter then in this instance. Passing on hard gleaned information, just how the vending machine works differently for card or cash, where the toilets are, which button to push to open the various doors, 

There was a set of signs that made me give a weary smile. On the doors it said push the Big Green Button to open doors.  On the wall over the Big Green button was a sign with an arrow that said This is the Big Green Button!

Called for a triage, an assessment, a blood test and x-ray, out and back, sometimes to the same seat sometimes not. Each time seeing who is still waiting, who has gone.  

There is, as with the bus a strange warping of time here, well if you are not in an area with the TV on keeping pace with the time. A strange fugue of stillness so that hours blur.

Now in the winter and if you ask nicely you can get a heated blanket for the patient to deal with the cold. Or perhaps off set the shock of the vending machine prices after you negotiate how to use them. 

There is also the worry of if we had to go to the toilet will that be the point we get called, if we are not there will they think we left, will we then be waiting in this strange limbo, uncalled forever?

So you leave your name, well the name you expect to be called, with someone and off you go. Check in with them when you come back and settle down to waiting once more.

Now, I had my phone, but it was on very low and I had not thought to grab my charger. I was only using it to text updates to my BFF who was then calling my mother. I watched the charge fade away bit by bit as the night wore on. In this instance after being seen by the doctor and with a few more checks 4 in the morning he was discharged. The hospital transport (of which I have also recently become more familiar) stops running a 1 a.m. so at 4 it was up to us to figure out getting home. My BFF and her husband came to get us, quite a journey for them. They called me to say they had arrived with just the tiniest amount of charge left on my phone.

I returned home with a mental list, of just in case which included taking my charger even if the phone was fully charged. (My phone is apparently not one popular with the hospital staff or other patients so I could not borrow one) Notes about the times various transport options ran or where available, those sorts of things. A book to pass the time even.

Within days I needed the list, and we were back again, less waiting time in the waiting area, more time in the little room, then well an overnight in the hospital for my Dad. And whilst that decision was taken before the 1a.m cut off point for the patient transport the operative word there is patient, and that was not me. Another friend living closer to the hospital was kind enough to get me home.

And on the other side of things, well once my father was in hospital, overnight stays that were not anticipated, there was getting him home. Waiting for calls that he had set off.

I much prefer the normal bus journey, indeed I do.

Lending my body to medical science.

 For the third time, and each time has required a journey. I can't actually recall how long ago the first time was, it might have been 2010 or 11. I received an invitation  through the post. A new medical endeavour supported by the NHS to obtain medical data and samples to be a resource for  scientist around the world. It would hold the biological information of hundreds of thousands of volunteers securely but available anonymised  to those showing they were doing ethical research. Would I participate. Obviously I said yes and off I went on the bus to a city not too far away, just the one bus ride and duly took various tests, hearing and memory and cognitive stuff, blood and blood pressure weight and circulation, it didn't take long at all.

That was followed up by the occasional questionnaire via e-mail on all sorts of things, sleeping habits, or eating and occasionally ones where once I answered the first question it ruled me out answering any more. Its not worth asking me questions about smoking or alcohol consumption when I have never done either of those things.

Time passed and newsletters arrive noting 500,000 had participated, lots of medical research was benefiting and they had a plan for even more information to be collected. This time they were planning on scans.  2MRI scans, 1 DXA scan, neck artery ultrasound, the first sites were going to be quite a distance from me and not practical to attend and anyway it was by invitation only.

Then seven years ago the invite came, expecting a too distant scanning centre I was all ready to decline but no there was a centre near me so I said yes.

Oddly I recall it being a sunny dry day, as had been the weather for the first one. I had a plan, take a bus to the next town over, catch the metro to the central train station and from there call for the prearranged taxi.

Hmm yes well in this instance I can group myself in with mice and men as all did not go to plan. Bus trip number one did, the metro did not , there was an issue on the line with nothing to say when that would be resolved. Plan B get a bus to the city over the river from my destination, one stop on the metro then taxi. Plan B had its own issues, not as familiar with bus routes as I might be the bus I set off on had a somewhat roaming route and took extra long so I arrived late and was not able to do one of the scans.

Shortly after the Covid restrictions were lifted another invite arrived would I go and repeat the scans. Regretfully at that time I could not take up the offer.

This year it was made again, and I could fit it in. New plan, a don't be late plan. Take the express bus to the city this side of the river to my destination city then one metro stop to the train station. Another sunny dry morning, which considering all the rain we have been having this month was a blessing of which I was suspicious so a rain mac travelled with me. 

Out the door the original route down the steps across the road at my favourite lights past the empty
space that was once my childhood school and the retail park that was once my 6th form college and local library to the bus stop. With doors once more not working and I and the bus were on time.

Spotted the son of a friend (and former boss) getting on the same bus but he didn't recognise me (I did not have a Bob the Builder to hand, and that's a different story) and unusually for me I sat on the back right seat at the top of the bus. It came equipped with a USB post, had I brought a device and the relevant lead, indeed I had let charging commence ah or not this port on this seat was not feeling cooperative.

Ah well new rout, enjoy the journey, first stop a local out of town retail park, mental note that was fast so if I want to come here this is the bus to get.

After that I was not taking much detailed notice just admiring the view.

I got to my departure point so early I could have stayed on to the final stop one city over then walked to the pick up point. But as that had not been the plan I had to get off and do the metro thing. Still arrived at the station super early. So I stopped for a bit and watched the trains, and the transport police and sniffer dog, he did come to sniff a hello but happily for me and perhaps disappointingly for him I had nothing of interest. There were gaggles of children, a school trip perhaps and even orange robed monks.

At what felt like a reasonable time I found somewhere a bit quiet and made the call. It feels a bit like being in a spy movie. Call the number provided, give them the code, then the password and finally my name and they will send a taxi.

The taxi takes me to a little industrial site down by the river. From outside it is indistinguishable from other units with little businesses, but once inside, actually it is very Bond villains lair. Welcoming people in uniforms, they were expecting me Ha! The registration tests then change into our own outfits for the day, trousers and a wrap around  top. 

The number on my locker made me laugh, it fed into my mental musings as did a large map of the world on one wall noting next to it the number of participants and the number of medical papers produced to date (6,000). Four and a half hours later (an hour less than anticipated) and all done time to go home. 

Taxi back to the train station, shared this time with another body loaner, he had come much further than me and by train all the way. He had a very late return ticket and plans for an evening out in the city first. I planned to walk to the bus station to enjoy the pretty weather, a look at a local landmark and just one mode of transport home.

I had intended to get the express bus home however, by the time I got to the stop it was not due for over twenty mins, another bus which would at its halfway point be following my old journey home from work (before that changed) would arrive sooner but take longer. Hmm decisions, well thinks I a bum on a bus seat is better than a wait for one that might not arrive as intended.  Additionally the extra wait would eat into the shorter time and I can not deny there was a teeny bit of nostalgia at the thought of doing that journey again and seeing what was the same what different. 

Bus arrives and is surprisingly a single, on I get oh look UBS port, its lit up ahah charging...pleased.

Get my book out (yea had one of those as well) and read till we get to the stop which in days past would have been where I got on to go home. Put book away with the intent of seeing what was what with the world passing the windows. 

I had not accounted for the conditioned response, it may have been years due firstly Covid then the office closing and our relocating, since I made this trip but my body remembers and like a dog to a bell as the bus pulls away conditioning turns on. I go to sleep, oh the delights of a bus nap, and  I nap / dose all the way home just like old times, so what has or hasn't changed buildings or shops along the route I don't know, the delights of a successful bus nap were the only things getting a revisit.

Back at my starting point bus stop, the pleasant weather has held, the rain coat has stayed in the bag the whole way, just the walk home and my adventure is done.

In case you were wondering, I don't get to see the scans or any specific results from any research my data contributes to.

However, on 27 January 2026 there was an item on the news about research done into the impact on female brains by the menopause. And that research was completed using the cognitive information and the brain scans from the Bio Bank.  So being female and having had those scans done twice and those cognitive tests I can be fairly sure I participated.

Which on the one hand feels good and on the other, well they did say that areas of the brain deteriorate a bit like Alzheimer's in menopausal brains. !

 

Back and there Again

 yes you are right that's not the title of  Bilbo Baggins book, but it is an accurate description of todays bus interactions.

You see I went there by car, came back home by bus then had to go there again on the bus and back by car.

Sound convoluted, oh it felt that way. The car was going in for a service (not my car) and the garage had moved, so I was navigator there and bus facilitator back.

on the little purple bus with its leatherette seats.

My Dad was less than impressed with those as he slipped and slid on them around the corners, I was amused. He wondered how I ever managed to sleep on the bus, I wondered how I was managing to stay awake , on a bus.

Walk with the Trolly

 on my way home from work on Thursday on a nice sunny day I was walking up the incline pulling my little red trolly behind me.

Approaching from the opposite direction was a woman pushing a black trolly.

As we got closer we made eye contact and smiled in trolly sisterhood.

As we met and a half step past we each without any prompting but in perfect synchronisation stopped half turned to each other and had a happy little conversation about the merits of the trolly. 

Her black trolly was new and sans the annoying Velcro of her old one, and could be pushed as well as pulled so she was trying out pushing.

I noted I had added buttons and a loop to mine to stop the flap flapping in the way. 

We both grinned, said gotta love a trolly, wished each other a nice day and parted ways.

Made me smile all the way home, whilst not quite on a level with the bus friends of old it was nice to connect with someone on my work journey.

I got a letter

 from someone I used to work with. From someone who used to travel in on the bus but from the opposite direction. He would arrive on the bus going in the direction I would get to go home and visa versa.

Some mornings we would arrive at a similar time and share the escalator ride and last little bit of a walk into work and the lift up to our floor.

He tells me he misses those travel related chats, misses the blog, I did not realise he read it! But then not everyone leaves comments even if they visit on purpose and not due to a search engine accident.

I had thought there might have been the occasional bus trip into the new  official office, but then it has been undergoing refurbishment and no one has been allowed in during that.

So still most of my travel simply consists of walking down the stairs and quite often my mug is telling the truth.

The rest of time it is the walk down to and past the bus station to the more local secondary office accompanied by my red trolly.  I have been prompted by that letter to look anew at this somewhat neglected blog and think of all those other people who have featured here. Starting with Peter and Paul and the Blind Man, The purple Coated ladies, the Shop Girls and in particular the shoe lady. The Author,The commuting baby with her bunny that I saw no more once day care became nursery school. Matilda / Madeline her dad and then little brother. My workmate John, with his magic bus calling cigarettes, sadly no longer with us..  All moments shared, and past and gone.  

Coming down the stairs is so much easier and convenient, but its not making memories and certainly not  providing much fodder for this blog.

Travels with my Trolly

 My little red trolly to be exact. And a journey that is both old and new. 

Since last I posted my base office has changed and I am now officially based back at the office I left in 2007.

So today was the first day back there, a single bus journey (once I have walked to the bus stop of course, no change there) on what I used to call the little bus. Ah what a delight it would have been if it still ran on the old route and served the stop just outside my door. 

Here is my trolly squeezed in on the bus.

And the view of the bus station from the bus, we got to get on and have a nice sit before the journey started (exactly on time I should point out).

It was dark on the journey in and some of the pretty views on the way were not visible, it was nicely light by the time I arrived at the destination bus station.

And with a little time to explore and see all the changes that have occurred since last I visited this city.

There are little scooters...

Buildings I was familiar with have gone, others have appeared, some streets are pedestrianised.

It was both interesting and disorientating.

The same can be said of being back in the office, it was to repeat the title of a previous post, the same yet different.

Taking a slightly different route back to the bus station I noticed that in some of the buildings that were unchanged the occupancy had. 

Back at the Bus Station (or more properly interchange) 

Bum perches rather than seats, and the wind blows through with glee. 

And still with the red trolly and off home in daylight so I could see the sea, quite choppy and grey but still nice to see.

and past a light house (hard to see)

and a famous sculpture, equally hard to see here.

And then more road, and yes the intense desire for a nap..and home in the twilight.

Today I remembered

 a lead so I could take advantage of the charge points on the bus.

Here I am all plugged in. I was in a contemplative mood this sunny morning as I made the journey to work. I was looking back on those early days back in 2007, days the bus was full of people off to work and at the later parts of the journey on their way to school  Today there were few on the bus, even as I reached my destination and only I alighted rather than the days of squeezed on like sardines.

There was a sense of sadness tinging those recollections.

The Same but Different

 so back on the bus...

Out of the door and the same route to the bus stop however after a few days of sunshine this morning was different dark and misty however it was full of bird song and totally uplifting.

Down to the bus stop and sitting on the seat taking the lockdown weight off my feet.

New time table new bus..

This one with an eco label and red seats and set into them those so important (apparently) charging points and WiFi (well they might be useful if I could remember to take a lead.

But that is not the utter delight of the new bus. It goes from my starting point ALL the way to my destination. No getting off half way to change bus, no worry about connections or standing and waiting.

So relaxing, and makes the travel time shorter.

So same route as before but different, trees and fences blown down by the wind, new fences where they have replaced, new houses, new shop signage..but the field with horses and the puddle for ducks  are still there.

The bus station is still there however my first choice of lift is relegated and I go with the escalator  as being less enclosed.

Up to the building and swish the pass and in I go.

Day over and the return journey, up the stairs on the double decker bus to discover

Tables and yet more connection points...so today was an interesting thing. But there were no familiar faces on the journey, no bus friends and no opportunities for new friends as all kept a safe non conversable distance.

Its been a year!

 since I posted on this blog..a whole year where did it go...well mostly we know the answer to that one CV19 that's were it went.

For me 2020 started with the same cold 2019 had ended with, time off work for that which developed into time off work in case it was THAT, followed by move to the in walking distance office to avoid the extra contact on the bus that then evolved to working from home.

That latter evolution of work location considerably reduced the commute from three hours a day to the few minuets it takes to get down the stairs and into the dinning room.

That rather restricts a blog about traveling interactions.

I did have a post drafted that never got posted, maybe I will visit that at some point.

When this home working and in and out of lockdown started it was strange and surreal like I had slipped into one of those disaster movies and at some point  I would come back to reality when the adverts came on and a hot drink would restore the equilibrium.

But this has been my reality for so long now and the finishing line appears to be on wheels forever moving ahead and just out of reach that travel anywhere feels like something that perhaps I imagined, a fiction dreamt up just for this blog.

So I will be reading it over for myself, from that first entry all that time ago and trying to get the two realities to connect.

And maybe I will come back and do something about the strange wibbly wobbly time warp that has come out of this current situation.

A matter of perspective

so earlier this week as I watched the news over breakfast they mentioned an item from the papers, that the CEO's of the top 100 companies would have earned the average  annual wage for their workers in the first three days of the year.

They worked it out at about £911 and odd sum pence an hour.

Now I know how averages are worked out and I add some of the lower figures to that average, not the higher ones so I am not on that average.

A dark go back to work January morning is gloomy enough I thought without having that to think about.

Arriving at the bus stop to see a person sleeping across one of the seats with a cardboard box as a cover..well that put the whole thing into perspective.

I may not (well do not) have a massive wage but I do have a job that provides me with sufficient to my needs.  No mansion but a home that keeps me safe dry and warm.

I made the rest of my journey in a more contemplative frame of mind, less jealousy, more gratitude .

Oh and no pictures, that would not have been either polite or kind.

Surprised, amazed

and utterly delighted.

A change to the zones and a change to the fares

AND my ticket is cheaper.

Really it is cheaper...

AND

not just pennies cheaper.

££££££££££  well perhaps not quite that many but still in the multiple

and that is on each ticket.

WOW!

Oh no!

the dreaded timetable change announcement form the bus company.

Click on the details and open it up

Scan down for the numbers of the buses I use.

What have they changed will it mess up my commute?

Oh and the first familiar number comes up..only a change in the stand it departs from, that OK

And the next number, a change in the route and the route name but only on the part of the journey I do not use OK that fine for me at least..

No changes to the red bus for the other main part of the journey..and

Oh no, the little bus, the lovely little bus I can get on the way home for one whole stop that saves me 15 minutes walk uphill (the one with the increased gradient going up to coming down) the bus that Santa drives quite often, that elderly ladies ride with for and then with their shopping as it loops through the houses and back to the town centre...ah they have changed it.

No more loop, it will just go to the town centre bus station, turn around and go back to the other town it serves...oh no it will add in a shopping park  no use to me.

Whilst the weather is improving and perhaps I could well do with the extra exercise I shall mourn its passing alongside those for whom it is more necessity that guilty delight.

Come the winter when it is cold and wet and dark I shall be even less pleased with its absence I am sure.

Well for the couple of weeks left to the little bus I shall have to savour the ride.

I am sure there will be many others who have found similar or worse disappointments in the route and schedule changes.  I suppose there may even be a few in addition to the money saving bus company that have found changes they approve of.

Still effected by the industrial action

even though it is not the bus company I use that has non driving drivers.

There are some routes of the company I use that overlap so there are more people getting on and off.

Indeed my first (and last) bus has been upgraded to a double decker.

So the timetable once again becomes less of a guide and more like wishful thinking.

But at least there is a bus.

Some routes have no overlap and people are struggling.

I heard a rather disturbing report that some taxi drivers working on the supply and demand principal...they being in short supply are demanding double time on fares!

Not sure that is at all reasonable.

When the Key

card stops being the key to savings and convenience it is time to move on.

When I traveled every day the pre loaded monthly key card was most helpful. Had a slight discount and was convenient. Well except if holidays were mistimed or I was sick.

When the occasional day travel became the norm, the pre loaded card was still good, I could but ten days at a time, with a small discount and the card was convenient to use.

It all changed when the day preloading had to be done one day at a time, no discount same price as on the day on the bus.  And now it was not convenient, indeed sometimes it was downright embarrassing.

Withe the day tickets I encountered a problem with the preloading I never had with the month or the multi.  The ticket loaded the night before not being on the system for travel in the morning.

So, with the advent of contactless payments, the credit card is now the go to choice for on the bus daily travel.

Yes the resultant paper ticket needs more looking after so it is in good shape for the return journey but I can live with that.

Fret

Hot days by the coast oft result in a sea fret.

This does not give the appearance of becoming one of the hotter days of the year.

but it was

Please state your destination

is the request made on the bus.

This is because many would state a fare amount which causes problems if the fare changes and the requested amount is no longer correct.

I have to get a ticket that covers all the zones, so wherever I am going the fare is correct and paid.  Therefore I have got out of the habit of saying where I want to go and the drivers don't ask because there is no question the fare is paid.

So what is the problem, you know something has come up to make me post about it.

SO early morning I get to the bus station, there is a bus pulled in to the correct alphabetical slot to be the bus I need.  However, it does not say on the front which bus it is, what route it covers.

So, having a tongue in my head I step on and ask the driver. I ask is this the X5 to (the final destination city in the direction of travel) yes it is he replies, and fiddling with the technology nods that he has now put the route up on the front of the bus.

In retrospect perhaps I should have a) then stepped off the bus and checked the now being displayed route information or b) rather than asking the route designation number and final destination I should have stated my intended destination.

Why...well, I took my seat, yes my favorite place, and settled down to read. I have mentioned before the motion of the bus tells me where I am to a large extent.  So when there were not the sways and stops I was expecting I looked up.

This is not where I expected to be, we are on a main road and not traveling through the village.  At first, briefly, I wonder if there is a disruption to the usual route and this is a diversion.

But no, that hopeful reason for the change is quickly quashed. This I recognise is the route for the X6. Same final destination different route, so it does not give me a connection to my next bus to work.

Oh dear, now as we approach the sea, this route going along the coast I try to apply the reframing technique taught as part of the emotional resilience training at work.  This is not me on the wrong bus, this is not me going to have to figure out what bus to get from the city out to my job, this is not me going to be late getting there.

No, this is me looking a beautiful views out to sea, this is me looking at a new local land mark. Enjoying a change!

Nah!

That wore thin, wore out waiting for a second bus, and on that bus which was of the meandering ilk.  It went so many places, unfamiliar places, turns and twisting places that I began to wonder if I had the wrong bus!

I had figured out one to get me to work, I got there. I was late to my usual start time, by over half an hour.

No one noticed! I changed team six months ago, the old team used to my timekeeping they would have noticed. The new team not so much used to me yet.

So in future I will try ina keep in mind there is a good reason to say where you want to go, after all the driver may hear X and the city name and not be concentrating enough to hear five not six!

Miss focused effort.

As I stood, early morning at the mid point bus change heading to work I was looking around, passing the time when something caught my eye.

I looked at it, contemplated the options for an alternate action, took this picture and shook my head.

Can you see it, can you see what caught my eye?  There is a double pun hint in that question...on top of the sign (which is not working big surprise) that is supposed to say what bus is due next, do you see that bit of red.  Yes it is a can of pop, well I expect an empty can that once contained a famous brand of pop.

So it was obviously too much effort to take the can and pop (the puns just keep on coming) it into the bin, which you can also see in this picture.  No far easier to make the effort to stretch up (even a tell person would need to stretch) and balance the can on the top of the sign!

Oh dear!

The Beast from the East

that is what the weather front has been dubbed.

Daft in a hat, that is what I was this morning.

Why when I went out to this

and this

did I think it was a good idea to try and get the bus to work at my usual time?

Although in my defence there was movement on the road and I arrived at the bus station in good time.

My hat somewhat snow encrusted where it was not covered by my hood.

There was no sign of Parker Man and the bus I was waiting for was late, however one that would do (that started from a closer depo) arrived so I thought it would be OK.  Even saw the original bus a bit later.

Perhaps I should have taken it as a sign, my being the only one, other than the driver of course, mad enough to be on the bus.

I arrived at the stop I had to change buses at just as the next bus I needed pulled away.  I was not the only one to just say miss it.  I commiserate with the other lady that at least it should be only ten mins before the next one.  Mind the snow was still falling and the wind howling and blowing around.

The next bus did indeed come.  On we got, off the driver got to wipe down his wing mirrors. In the snow blew.

The white you can see on the floor of the bus is snow.

You can just make out the drivers footprints when he came back on.

So on the second bus, not making bad time all things considered, sit back and relax?

Well not really.

There were several slow spots

Tight can we get past the parked car spots.

The bus shimmied and slid as it hit ruts in the snow, the drifting snow obscured the view and the bus was often moving at a crawl. 

A second lady joined us at the Church stop.

She knew the first lady, both worked  at a nursing home and were endeavouring to get in and already late.  Out came the mobile phones to advise of lateness and where they were.

Shortly after I get a text, about not going in , too late I am on my way.

Well I was, we are now at the bottom of a fairly steep bank. The traffic is still ahead. I can just about make out another red double decker in front...yes the one I missed.  It appears to be stuck going up the bank.

The traffic coming down is also stuck.

A bit of shuffling at a side road got the blockage of the traffic coming towards us freed if they turn, the ones past the turn are still stuck so behind the bus the road both ways is blocked and in front our direction of travel is blocked. The cars in front  u-turned slowly and also managed to go down the side street. No room to be doing anything with the double decker.

After thirty mins, the nursing home ladies are calling into work to update, they are told someone has a four wheel drive and if they get off the buss (into the freezing cold) and wait and he will come and get them.  They frustratedly ask how he will manage that given the road is blocked...and suggest it will only work if he has a helicopter!

After an hour, and some more cars resorting to the U-turn we edge up, and I can see a little further up the road and there are three stuck red double deckers ahead and one of the smaller busses is just behind them.  Small bus thinks "I can" and tries to get up the bank and past the other buses.  Nope he can't, just manages to get slid in between two of the reds and not block the road further.

We edge and edge, still some distance to the other buses and our driver notes he thinks he can, with a clear run up the wrong side of the road and if nothing is coming, get up the bank.

He goes for it, past red bus one, little bus, red bus two and horn blaring just in case of oncoming traffic past red bus three and on he goes.  Not daring to stop incase he can't get started again all to the top of the hill.

Hmm glad now that I missed that first red bus as it is still stuck!

We congratulate our driver and he points out he is very motivated..he rather needs the toilet.  Now that he has mentioned it his passengers note they are similarly inclined.

So moving again, so what shall I do , get off at the first stop I can and work my way back?  Stay on till the destination bus station, pop into work and take it from there?

Well at least the bus station offers shelter and it is still blowing cold out there so I stay on.

We get to the main road and are back to a crawl, stuck cars , delays at roundabouts and there the slip road off is approaching.  Another crawl down the slip road, round  the island here is the turn to the bus station 

and

 it is blocked off by the police.

Back up a slip road half back the way we came and then through a housing estate, pick up a grandmother whose grandchildren have insisted she needs to go to the shop to get a birthday cake for their dad and she is going!

Finally there. Over three hours after I set off.

I get into the office, they are surprised to see me. I say how long it took, they look out the window at the weather and say...go home!

So I do, back to the bus station, chat with someone who took two hours to get to work with the same result as I did and we wait for a bus.

Oh a red double decker.  We get on and things are moving so easily I start thinking perhaps I should have stayed at work, the roads are improving, things are going better. 

Silly thought, daft even not in the hat, which is still a bit damp from the snow!

We slow, we stop.....why have we stopped? The engine stops and we sit and sit, the engine starts and we sit and we sit.

Ah there is a lorry just shy of being jackknifed.

Some cars move, the bus engine is off, is on, is off and our driver finally decides that unless he takes a hand nothing is going to get sorted.  Out he gets, high vis jacket on  and managed to direct the lorry to reverse and pull back next to our bus...verry close to the bus. and back and back. 

Ok moving again and finally reach  midway point for the return journey and time to change to another bus.

I look at my watch, nothing would be due for at least twenty  mins brrrr. 

There is a man at the stop and we note that perhaps timetables are not a thing to dwell on today and we will get what we can whenever it comes.  He is in my opinion dafter than me, he is heading out simply because it would be boring to stay home look at the walls and dust.  I may not delight in dusting but it is better then freezing.

A bus approaches.

Good it is one that I would normally get , although usually it goes to my hometown then on to two other villages and the next town along the coast. 

This time the sign on the front indicates it is just going to my end destination.  So the route has been shortened, there must be issues with the roads between that and the next town.

Each passenger getting on the bus is asked for their destination to make sure they are not trying to go further than the bus will take them.

Fourth bus of the day and nearly almost back where I started.

I should stop having thoughts like that.

There is a small hill then quite a dip then the pull up.

More snow, even more wind and the powder from the fields and the world turned white.  Slow and steady does it and we get past that bit.

There it is the bus station, now just for the walk back home.

No chance of the little bus today.

The paths were OK, powder is easier to walk on than compressed and frozen.

The wind remained bitter and the snow still coming down with intent.It was a cold walk.  Mind a cold walk home is still better than a cold walk away from home.

These are the last set of steps on the way home. 

 Honest there are steps there.

It takes some shoving to get the garden gate open.

Brush the snow off the door so it does not all get dumped inside when I open it.

And I am home!

Quick text to the boss to let her know (as requested) and time for porridge to warm myself up. 

at last a sensible decision.

(I better note that was not all for me )