One down..........

Today I had to fire a driver, which is never fun. I gave this driver more chances than I care to admit, however she just didn't get it. She was her own worse enemy. So today, tomorrow and for the next few days, I am going to have to spend my entire day reassuring the other drivers that I am not on a witch hunt. There are so many things the other drivers just don't see so when we have to fire someone, they don't see that it is for a valid reason. Because this is a personnel issue, I can't share any of the details with them, so I have to convince them that I had a valid reason without giving them any information. This is a difficult task and one that I really am not looking forward to. Talk about a waste of time!! I have work to do.

I am totally convinced that if we had the money to put a psychologist on retainer that we could keep him busy all day. There would be a revolving door in his office. So many drivers with so many issues and I'm not trained to solve these kinds of problems.

Stress, stress and more stress. I am so looking forward to the end of school. For us it is about the 3rd week in June. However, starting now, I have to begin the process of pushing one school year off of my desk and start the next. I am already working on bus routes, etc. for the 08-09 school year. While everyone is enjoying their summer vacation, I will be getting ready for September. We are the only business that I know of that has to totally reinvent themselves every 10 months. Bus runs totally change because the school population totally changes. What a pain in the neck. Every time I think about it I remember to thank my husband for picking this business. It was his choice, not mine. We should have chosen to haul dirt instead of kids!!!!!

Fuel.............

Here is something I don't understand. Why is it that Americans are not screaming about the cost of fuel? I realize that this effects my business greatly, however this effects each and every one of us! Every single thing that we purchase in our lives is going to increase as a result of higher fuel costs. Why are Americans just laying down and allowing this to happen? I just don't understand. Why did the government feel the need to bail out Bear Sterns and help only a select few, but they are ignoring the masses by allowing this to continue. People are making huge adjustments in their lives actually having to think about where they drive. Parents are having to eliminate after school activities for their kids, summer camp enrollment is down, food is going through the roof, and restaurants are empty. You are going to see so many business go out of business because of the cost of fuel. Forget the luxury business, they are done for! Restaurants, florists, spas, gift stores, etc are all going to be hurting.

Here is my plea - help me find some way to get the attention of the government. What can we do? Any ideas?

Short Lived Peace

I just spent 4 wonderful days in Orlando with my daughter Kim and my three grandsons. We really had a great time even though it was quite exhausting. It was wonderful but very short lived peace............

The moment our plane hit the tarmac, I recieved an email from the Superintendent of Schools stating that he saw one of my employees, two days in a row, using her cell phone while driving students. In Connecticut it is illegal to use a cell phone while driving and also illegal for any school bus driver to even a hands free devise. This law is not new. This bus driver knows better. My blood pressure instantly went up. I could feel it. All the peace I had while away instantly went out the window.

Needless to say, I wasn't overjoyed to return to work this morning. I had to deal with the cell phone issue, too many voice mails to count, and then got a message from one of the principals telling me that one of my employees was selling candy bars to the kids on the bus!! Please, tell me it isn't so!!!! Do you know how difficult it is to try and explain that your employees just don't have any common sense? Both these issues should have never happened if the drivers just used their heads. Is that too much to ask?? So incredibly frustrating.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.................

The Dentist

Today one of our bus drivers took my mom to the dentist. My mom is 83 years old and can't drive herself. Actually there isn't much she can do by herself so one of our bus drivers doubles as a home health aide for her. Well today mom had a dentist appointment at 11:00 a.m. The driver had a minimum day at her school, a 1:30 p.m. dismissal. Now you wouldn't think this would be a problem, however it was. At 1:10 p.m. the driver calls the office to say that my mother is still sitting in the dentist's chair. The first thing that I thought was what the heck could they possibly be doing to an 83 year old mouth that could take over 2 hours!!! As of this moment, I still don't have that answer. The frustration with this entire story is this: If you were the driver wouldn't you have thought to call the office just a wee bit earlier than 1:10 p.m.? The second thing is this - if I have to sit in the dentist's chair for over two hours at the age of 83, please just take me out to pasture and shoot me!!

Each day when a bus driver has a run to do they must perform what is called a pre-trip inspection on the bus. This is a "run-through" of the bus, checking 217 items on the bus each time it leaves the yard and completing a DVIR (Daily Vehicle Inspection Report). This is what was written on a DVIR this morning.........
"occasionaly my bus makes a loud noise like an unevenly loaded washing machine during the spin cycle, but when I let my foot off the accelerator it stops." We have all male mechanics and they don't know what an unevenly loaded washing machine sounds like!!!!

Tidbits

Thank you so much to everyone who has posted comments on this blog. I truly hope you will enjoy reading my stories.

I don't have much to share today but I do have some information I would like to give to you, especailly to those of you that are parents and may be using school bus transportation currently or may use it in the future.

Connecticut has been rainy for the past two days. Whenever we have an extended period of rain, parents always break out the rain slickers. The most common color for these slickers is yellow. From a bus driver's point of view, yellow is extremely dangerous. When children are dressed in yellow slickers, they blend in with the side of the bus which makes it difficult for oncoming traffic to distinguish between the child and the bus. In addition, when bus drivers look in the mirrors on the side of the bus, children in yellow slickers blend in with the sea of yellow they see. If a child is dressed in something other than yellow, they will stand out against the bus.

That is my tidbit for the day. If you need to purchase a rain slicker for your child, please choose another color. It may be the "safest" purchase you ever make!

Have a great day!

Rainy Days and Mondays

Yesterday was Monday which is always the most interesting day of the week here at our wonderful place of employment. Monday morning when we arrive at the office, there are always a few messages on the answering machine that resemble this...........

"Can't come in today. My husband got arrested over the weekend, I have to bail him out and I have to find the money."

"Can't come in today. One of my kids got arrested over the weekend, I have to bail him out and I have to find the money."

"My car got repossessed over the weekend and I need to find the money to get it back."

I could waste my entire blog space with a lengthy list of excuses that seem to "develop" over the weekend. The amazing part is that almost every excuse involves money, or lack there of. How do you make money? Yes, by coming to work. However that seems to be a difficult concept for some of our employees. So, they take another day off and then come payday, I am going to have to listen to the saga of how they can't afford to pay their bills because they don't get enough hours each week!!

As I said, Mondays are always interesting. We got a call from one of our drivers who called to say that she wouldn't be coming to work in the afternoon. She had to go to the doctor because she couldn't walk. This was after she spent 10 minutes telling me about her very active weekend but then decided she couldn't walk. I asked, foolishly, is it your legs, hips, feet that hurt? "No", was the answer, "I think I'm consitpated and it is effecting my walking, so I really can't drive." Now what should I have said to that? My initial reaction was "how does constipation effect your driving?" I guess maybe that was heartless but I still don't get it. Maybe we should put an Exlax dispenser in the vestibule instead of the soda machine!

Thanks to everyone that wrote a comment welcoming me to bloggerland. I'm very excited! As I said in my first post, this is going to be theraputic for me!!

A Bit of History

I told my business partner about my idea to blog. He thinks I'm nuts and that blogging is for a younger generation. However, after he got used to the idea, he suggested I give you some background. So, here it goes.............. My husband and I started this business almost 20 years ago. We began with one bus contract. It was supposed to supplement our income. Since then we've grown a bit, to about 75 buses and 70 or so employees. With all these employees and buses comes many stories that I will be sharing on this blog. I will change the names to protect the innocent and the guilty!! I hope you enjoy reading the trials and tribulations of an everyday business owner.

Please be patient with me while I design the blog. Right now it is pretty boring but I am going to customize my "look". Stay tuned...........