Summer is the shortest time of the year

Well here we are, back to the old grind. Summer has flown by as it has done for the past 20 summers (that is how long I have been in this crazy business). It was a good summer, did a little traveling but I'm just not ready to be back at my desk.

Today we had our employee "welcome back" meeting. It went rather well, only a few complaints. However when the meeting was over, I returned to my desk to several voice mails all from parents looking for bus information.............here we go again. All of our bus routes are posted on websites. Is it too much to ask for parents to look on a website for their bus stop? Apparently the answer is yes. Much easier to dial the phone and ask some shmuck like me to get it for them, which I always do. Each year I start by saying that I am not going to let them get away with it this year. I am just going to tell them to look it up themselves but as soon as I get on the phone I just can't force myself to be that nasty. So instead, I lay down like a doormat and let them walk all over me.

Next week we begin school here in CT. Then the complaints will begin. I will have two solid weeks of........ my child has to walk too far, the stop should be at my driveway, I can't see them from my living room, too many cars on my street, no sidewalks (we have none anywhere in my town), construction vehicles going by, my child can't wait alone, etc., etc., etc.

If you are reading this and you are a parent, please check with me before you call your bus company to complain. You may find it enlightening to know that we never expect any child to walk to a bus stop alone. We expect you, the parent, to walk with them. And yes, you may have younger children in the house, but having kids was your choice, not mine so please don't ask me to rearrange my schedule because you have a few extra kids. Get the point!!

OK, I'll stop rambling now............ I'll catch up again in the next few weeks when I come up for air!

TGI Summer

Finally, our last public school ended last Friday! 97 degrees and 80% humidity and these poor kids were in school until June 27th!! It's been a very long school year and now summer has begun. We still have lots of buses heading in many directions like camps, special needs schools, summer school, etc. however our attitude is different at this time of year. We still take our job seriously and know that we are carrying the worlds most precious cargo, however the stress level is a bit lower.

I will now spend my days thinking ahead to September. I think we are one of the only businesses in the world that has to totally reinvent itself every year. Push all the old papers off my desk and begin with new ones........... remove all the graduating students from each school and transfer them out or onto the next school. Bus routes change totally depending on where the population is. Basically I have 6 weeks to redo everything. Schools require the bus information at least two weeks prior to opening so that parents can be notified. That doesn't leave me much time.

So here I sit, inputting kindergarten students into my system, deleting seniors and moving up elementary kids to middle school, middle school to high school, etc. Soon September will be here and when the buses start running again it will take us weeks to work out the bugs, deal with parents complaints (the biggest complaint is "why are you not stopping at my driveway"), and once again, dealing with driver issues. Just when I think it has all calmed down and I just get my brain wrapped around all we have done and changed, it will be June again!!!! Can't wait already!

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!