No, I haven't forgotten...

..about this blog! It's been pretty manic around here lately. I am now on the "All Duties" rota at work. This means that I am covering mainly minibus duties but I only get a couple of days notice of what those duties will be. It also means that (as I was advised at my induction) I'm getting all the "shite"! A week's duties are any 5 days out of 7, Sunday to Saturday and cover early, middle and late shifts. The first early kicks off at 4a.m. and the last late, which I'm down for next Saturday, ends at 1.35a.m. Consequently I don't know whether I'm coming or going at the moment and I need a line on the "proper" rota pretty damned soon. I'll still have crappy hours but at least I'll have a couple of months notice. With Mrs. B on an equally nightmarish pattern of shifts (including splits) we are like ships that pass in the night. One of us may soon have to take action. We've had pretty poor weather around here lately so I thought I'd post this picture, which I took earlier in the year near Maryport, to cheer myself up.

It's All Over Bar The Shouting!

Apologies for the sparseness of updates but I've not had a lot of time! After all the training, the theory, the driving test, the route learning et al, it all kicks off tomorrow. At 04.45 hours I report to the drivers' room at Lillyhall depot to begin life as a bus driver. The day will begin with the staff pickup journey and then I'll be operating some routes in Whitehaven. ON MY OWN!!! No mentor to use as a safety net, it's do or die. I'll let you know how I get on.

Busy Week

As the heading says, it's been a bit hectic. Did some "Type training" this morning. Seven o'clock start!! Spent a couple of hours with a driving instructor and went for some little drives in examples of the different vehicle types which the fleet contains. Single deck Volvo B10 bus, Volvo B10 coach, Volvo double-deck bus, Dennis Dart single-deck bus and Mercedes midi-bus (or "stretched limo" as it's known in the trade!) One of my more varied Sunday mornings. Spent last week route learning. There were a couple of 12 hour days in there, pretty tiring I can tell you. Some days were spent travelling around and making notes whilst others were spent with a mentor. On these days my colleague would drive the route once or twice with me taking over once I'd got the directions in my head. Driving several different vehicles in one day on different routes is quite an undertaking. Even more so when the majority are over ten years old and worn out. No 2 vehicles of the same type drive in a remotely similar manner. Add that to trying to get to grips with the "Wayfarer" ticket machine, attempting to not take any wrong turnings and trying to stay on time and you can see why I'm nigh on worn out! A second week of it begins tomorrow!

I Must Admit...

...that I thought my hair looked alright. Then I was told that I needed to do my roots. Turned out that I'd misunderstood. What was meant was that I needed to do my routes. Consequently I spent the day riding as a passenger on various bus services across West Cumbria in order to learn timings and fare stages. Next week I'll be out driving with a mentor on actual services taking actual fares. Scary, real scary!

Hail To The Bus Driver!

So, after 3 weeks of intensive training I finally have it. "What's that?" I hear you ask. A full driving licence for PCV is what. To the uninitiated that's Passenger Carrying Vehicle. I drove to Carlisle in the training bus this morning and the test commenced at 11am at Stagecoach's depot in the city. The test itself began with a reversing manouver inside the garage. This was followed by an emergency braking excercise in the yard. The test drive proper then began. It consisted of a 50 minute drive through Carlisle and the surrounding areas and then a return to the depot where I received the good news. Hopefully the fact that I have learned to drive in the fleet's largest vehicle will equip me well for the future. However, for the next 12 months I will be driving only minibuses. All I need to do now is learn all the routes, the types of tickets, the ticket machine and the accents of the locals!

A Strong End To A Weekend

Well, it's Sunday lunchtime and I've just got time to squeeze in a quick update. Mrs. B. is at work today, she set off from here in her Micra at 6.40 this morning, while I was dead to the world, and finishes at 3pm. At that time our day will begin proper. I will be meeting her from work in my car and we will be taking the Nissan for its M.O.T. One of the disadvantages of having moved 400 miles is not knowing which local tradesmen are the ones to use. Fortunately both my Brother in law and my Stepdaughter use the services of a chap in the nearby village of Little Broughton to keep their cars in tip-top condition. Consequently we are dropping the Micra off at his house on our way to my Father-in-law, Henry's B&B (pictured below) this afternoon. The reason for this trip, apart from the social aspect, is to try and sort out a couple of small problems with his computer. Henry lives at Rosthwaite in the scenic Borrowdale Valley, I never visit without my camera. On our return this evening I will be settling down in front of the box to watch the mighty Torquay United take on York City live on Setanta Sports. Tomorrow it's back to work. I've got a week driving the test routes around Carlisle in order to hone my skills for my upcoming PCV test.

First Step Taken

Well, apologies for the lack of updates this week but I've been busy cramming for my PCV Theory and Hazard Perception Tests. The Stagecoach Training Unit has interactive DVDs to enable the trainee to get a feel of what is expected during a test. The theory test for large vehicles has recently been modified, the number of questions has been increased from a mere 35 to 60. The pass mark is 51. For the uninitiated the hazard perception test is a series of 14 video clips. The road ahead is seen from the viewpoint of a driver and the testee must click the mouse when they first see what is called a "developing hazard". One of the clips has 2 seperate hazards but that particular clip can be anywhere in the sequence so one has to be on ones toes throughout. This means that there are 15 hazards in total at a maximum of 5 points each. The maximum therefore is 75 with the pass mark set at 50. I had to pop into Carlisle this morning to take my test. Thankfully the gods were smiling and I achieved a theory mark of 60 and a hazard perception mark of 66. Now I can concentrate on the driving!