Niggly, frustrating day with lots of little problems - nothing too major, just lots of those "oh for (insert word of choice here) sake" moments.
However, that's not the reason for the title - this isn't some reflective musing on the state of the universe. No, Monday's theme was destinations. All our buses (apart from V384 which has a piece of laminated card - albeit a professionary produced piece!) have electronic destinations. That means we programme the destinations we want on a computer in the office, transfer them to the bus using something called a "Portable Memory Unit" that looks more like a dodgy prop from a 1970's sci-fi movie, and then at the touch of a button the driver can display the destinations on the front.
On the basis that it's really easy to do, I'm surprised that more bus companies don't have a little bit of fun with what they show on the front. When you are running on service, the rules are very very clear. Service number (or letter) and destination. If you don't show those things you stand to get fined, because the lovely Traffic Commissioner (if he/she catches you doing it) deems that failing to show the service number (or letter) and destination effectively means you haven't run the service - because if the public can't see which bus it is and where it's going, how do they know it's their bus.
However, when you have a bus parked up in the bus station for ages, or running out of service then I think you can have a bit of fun!
All our buses are programmed so that each driver can display a screen showing "Black Velvet Travel - (insert name here) says 'hi'". Slightly to my surprise, this has been universally accepted by the drivers (and Taz and me of course) as the normal thing to display if you drive a bus between the yard and the bus station, especially if you are leaving the bus in the bus station for lengthy periods. Numerous passengers and bystanders have commented favourably on this.
We have also done special destination screens for Maria's birthday and Nickie's birthday (see below), and for Taz and Jamie in particular (who have most got into the spirit of this exercise) have developed a number of variations to this theme, such as...
Black Velvet Travel - OMG it's Taz! :-)
and...
Black Velvet Travel - Jamie spreads the love
Now some people will look at these and think we are completely barking (or just not understand them) and we really should have far more important things to concentrate on, but my view is that this kind of fairly simply touch makes a big difference in whether we are seen to passengers as an approachable, friendly organisation or an impersonal, anonymous corporation. The main audience is probably the students of Wildern School, who see one of our double deckers just after 1500 every day, and I *hope* this kind of thing is appreciated by at least a few of them.
The moral of the story is, why don't more bus companies do this kind of thing???
By way of an afterthought, writing this paragraph much later in the week, SBL have an open-top Volvo Olympian on hire from Southern Vectis for the special Docks Tours they are running this weekend, and the destination that has been programmed for that is fabulous, matching the 'Do the Docks' logo complete with outline pictures of ships - but nothing too detailed or fussy - so it can be done!
Wednesday 23 April 2008
Sunday 20 April 2008
Three is the magic number
Finally achieved it on Friday...!
V7 went out on S1, V12 went out on S2 and V14 went out on S3. They all stuck to their lines all day, did their work and came back in the evening!
Amazing that it has been so elusive - especially as we have not had any major mechanical issues - but finally route A was 100% purple and 100% low-floor, the first time we've achieved both those things on the same day!
And we did it again on Saturday!
And now, having proved that it can be done, we can relax a bit, so the sole remaining Dart (V384 - because W558 was collected by Dawson Rentals on Friday) went out on the 8 today by special request of Steve, and it may well creep back on to the scene a little more over the next few days, as we will be less preoccupied with running DAFs for the sake of running DAFs!
V7 went out on S1, V12 went out on S2 and V14 went out on S3. They all stuck to their lines all day, did their work and came back in the evening!
Amazing that it has been so elusive - especially as we have not had any major mechanical issues - but finally route A was 100% purple and 100% low-floor, the first time we've achieved both those things on the same day!
And we did it again on Saturday!
And now, having proved that it can be done, we can relax a bit, so the sole remaining Dart (V384 - because W558 was collected by Dawson Rentals on Friday) went out on the 8 today by special request of Steve, and it may well creep back on to the scene a little more over the next few days, as we will be less preoccupied with running DAFs for the sake of running DAFs!
Thursday: Election Fever
Elections are always held on a Thursday of course, and today I won two that I didn't even know I'd entered!
I don't think it's a secret that there are moves afoot to create a "South Hampshire Bus Operators Association", to provide an effective lobbying voice for the bus industry as a whole in the region. This is particularly important as Transport for South Hampshire, the emerging successor to the local authority consortium Solent Transport, should have a very strong strategic role in determining the future shape of the transport infrastructure in the region, and needs effective input from the bus industry to ensure that our interests and contribution is not overlooked.
The Bus Operators' Association has a Board which will include one representative for all the small operators in the region, and it turns out that's me - by the unanimous vote of all the small operators present at the meeting!
By the same token, George Fair of Uni-link has done an excellent job of representing small operators' interests on the Solent Travelcard Management Committee since its inception, but now that the Uni-link operation is to be swallowed up by the Go-Ahead Group, they won't be a small operator any more so a new representative is needed. Once again, it turns out that's me!
May I take this opportunity to thank my parents, my brother, Taz's pet cat, my election agent (if only I knew who it was).....
Actually Taz's pet cat, Tommy, might start to feature a little more regularly on here from now on, because having my offered my flat as temporary cattery when Taz and his family go on holiday in a week's time, I now find I've won that contest as well and I will therefore have a pet cat from Wednesday 23rd for a week!
In the real world of buses and passengers and roadworks and traffic lights, the lights that have been appearing on and off at Haskins for the last week or so are on this afternoon, and causing big traffic delays.
So once again we can't keep three DAFs out, because delays to inbound journeys mean that V384 eventually has to go out on the 1350 to keep the service running on time (which once again we did, with 100% compliance from Eastleigh Bus Station despite the hold-ups), so the late-running 1335 arrival becomes the 1420 departure, and the similarly late-running 1405 arrival becomes the 1450 departure. By this time the lights have gone and the traffic calms down, so when V14 comes in 20 minutes late at 1455 it becomes spare for the rest of the afternoon, as V384 is well in time for the 1520 and Maria can simply keep going in that.
Thanks to Mikey's hard work in the office, we make a successful end to the day as we finally manage to get the service 8 route map up on the website!
I don't think it's a secret that there are moves afoot to create a "South Hampshire Bus Operators Association", to provide an effective lobbying voice for the bus industry as a whole in the region. This is particularly important as Transport for South Hampshire, the emerging successor to the local authority consortium Solent Transport, should have a very strong strategic role in determining the future shape of the transport infrastructure in the region, and needs effective input from the bus industry to ensure that our interests and contribution is not overlooked.
The Bus Operators' Association has a Board which will include one representative for all the small operators in the region, and it turns out that's me - by the unanimous vote of all the small operators present at the meeting!
By the same token, George Fair of Uni-link has done an excellent job of representing small operators' interests on the Solent Travelcard Management Committee since its inception, but now that the Uni-link operation is to be swallowed up by the Go-Ahead Group, they won't be a small operator any more so a new representative is needed. Once again, it turns out that's me!
May I take this opportunity to thank my parents, my brother, Taz's pet cat, my election agent (if only I knew who it was).....
Actually Taz's pet cat, Tommy, might start to feature a little more regularly on here from now on, because having my offered my flat as temporary cattery when Taz and his family go on holiday in a week's time, I now find I've won that contest as well and I will therefore have a pet cat from Wednesday 23rd for a week!
In the real world of buses and passengers and roadworks and traffic lights, the lights that have been appearing on and off at Haskins for the last week or so are on this afternoon, and causing big traffic delays.
So once again we can't keep three DAFs out, because delays to inbound journeys mean that V384 eventually has to go out on the 1350 to keep the service running on time (which once again we did, with 100% compliance from Eastleigh Bus Station despite the hold-ups), so the late-running 1335 arrival becomes the 1420 departure, and the similarly late-running 1405 arrival becomes the 1450 departure. By this time the lights have gone and the traffic calms down, so when V14 comes in 20 minutes late at 1455 it becomes spare for the rest of the afternoon, as V384 is well in time for the 1520 and Maria can simply keep going in that.
Thanks to Mikey's hard work in the office, we make a successful end to the day as we finally manage to get the service 8 route map up on the website!
Wednesday: Three out, two in
Started with three DAFs again Wednesday morning, and Pete our casual driver doing his first weekday stint for us (Alison is on holiday, so he's on duty 4).
V12 seemed to be running a bit hot though, so as a precaution we took her off at lunchtime to get the radiator cleaned out - the radiators on the DAFs are towards the rear on the nearside so in a prime spot to absorb all the muck and dirt on the road!
That solved the problem, but in the meantime V384 took over from 1420, so we'll have to wait another day to get three DAFs to start, stay out and finish their lines! Touch wood though, they're not showing up any new mechanical problems at the moment!
V12 seemed to be running a bit hot though, so as a precaution we took her off at lunchtime to get the radiator cleaned out - the radiators on the DAFs are towards the rear on the nearside so in a prime spot to absorb all the muck and dirt on the road!
That solved the problem, but in the meantime V384 took over from 1420, so we'll have to wait another day to get three DAFs to start, stay out and finish their lines! Touch wood though, they're not showing up any new mechanical problems at the moment!
Tuesday 15 April 2008
PlusBus? Not us!
Eastleigh was beautifully calm and still (albeit freezing cold) at 0400 this morning. Don't ask me why I got there at that time, I just did, and liked it very much. Might do it again before long!
Had a bit of fun washing the bus windows in the yard at 0630ish. Did V12 and V14, Taz washed and I bladed the windows. Trouble is, we only had cold water available and it was freezing on to the glass so quickly that I couldn't dare let Taz do more than one pane ahead of me at a time - normally the washer gets on with it and the blader catches up in his/her own good time.
Lots of financial stuff to work through today so the morning was office-bound. All good though and very necessary, but was able to sneak away after lunch to Barton Park to check up on progress with the water hose on V7 and to put 303 in for safety service.
The bus service operated entirely uneventfully all day, with no changes required to buses, drivers or anything, and every bus observed on time.
We had an enquiry over the weekend from a gentleman who wants to use a Southampton Plusbus to get from Parkway Station to the Rose Bowl tomorrow afternoon, and wondered if we would accept it. My answer was of course that we are not in the scheme at present, but that I would make enquiries to find out how difficult it would be, thinking that it couldn't be very!
So after talking to everyone else on the planet I ended up speaking to Gordon Frost, good guy and Commercial Manager of First H&D. He said there was no problem joining, it was very easy, he would send me a formal offer letter and we could reply. That's all fine, only trouble is, provided we apply by May we will be admitted in September! Just in time for the end of the cricket season!
V7 emerged from Brenhaul late afternoon complete with new air bag to go with its water hose, so tomorrow we are aiming for the "three DAF trick" for the second time.
For those that care, as I've left it tonight, V12 is on line S1 (0708 B-E etc), V7 is on S2 (0738 B-E etc) and V14 is on S3 (0720 E-B etc) tomorrow.
Had a bit of fun washing the bus windows in the yard at 0630ish. Did V12 and V14, Taz washed and I bladed the windows. Trouble is, we only had cold water available and it was freezing on to the glass so quickly that I couldn't dare let Taz do more than one pane ahead of me at a time - normally the washer gets on with it and the blader catches up in his/her own good time.
Lots of financial stuff to work through today so the morning was office-bound. All good though and very necessary, but was able to sneak away after lunch to Barton Park to check up on progress with the water hose on V7 and to put 303 in for safety service.
The bus service operated entirely uneventfully all day, with no changes required to buses, drivers or anything, and every bus observed on time.
We had an enquiry over the weekend from a gentleman who wants to use a Southampton Plusbus to get from Parkway Station to the Rose Bowl tomorrow afternoon, and wondered if we would accept it. My answer was of course that we are not in the scheme at present, but that I would make enquiries to find out how difficult it would be, thinking that it couldn't be very!
So after talking to everyone else on the planet I ended up speaking to Gordon Frost, good guy and Commercial Manager of First H&D. He said there was no problem joining, it was very easy, he would send me a formal offer letter and we could reply. That's all fine, only trouble is, provided we apply by May we will be admitted in September! Just in time for the end of the cricket season!
V7 emerged from Brenhaul late afternoon complete with new air bag to go with its water hose, so tomorrow we are aiming for the "three DAF trick" for the second time.
For those that care, as I've left it tonight, V12 is on line S1 (0708 B-E etc), V7 is on S2 (0738 B-E etc) and V14 is on S3 (0720 E-B etc) tomorrow.
Monday 14 April 2008
A smooth operation
At last, a quiet day where everything went to plan!
Started with the V- and W-reg Darts out together with DAF V12, 303 on the wall in Eastleigh Bus Station as spare bus.
V14's panel damage was repaired by lunchtime, so it went on for the 1450 to Botley in place of W558. The new hose for V7 is coming tomorrow, after Brenhaul managed to successfully track down the part they required (thanks to Volvo Bus rather than DAF, bizarrely) following a lengthy investigation by Shaun.
Not much traffic around this evening, so everything came home in good time, all fuelled and parked up without incident and nothing much to write about at all!
So all things being equal, tomorrow should see V14 on S1, V384 on S2 and V12 on S3, but then everything could change in the morning!
Started with the V- and W-reg Darts out together with DAF V12, 303 on the wall in Eastleigh Bus Station as spare bus.
V14's panel damage was repaired by lunchtime, so it went on for the 1450 to Botley in place of W558. The new hose for V7 is coming tomorrow, after Brenhaul managed to successfully track down the part they required (thanks to Volvo Bus rather than DAF, bizarrely) following a lengthy investigation by Shaun.
Not much traffic around this evening, so everything came home in good time, all fuelled and parked up without incident and nothing much to write about at all!
So all things being equal, tomorrow should see V14 on S1, V384 on S2 and V12 on S3, but then everything could change in the morning!
Sunday 13 April 2008
Nice comment
Jamie is out doing service 8 today.
He just rung me from Southampton to tell me of his conversation with a woman who boarded at Millbrook Station.
There are about a zillion buses between Millbrook Station and Southampton City Centre on a Sunday, of which we run four - a mere drop in the ocean.
This lady has just told Jamie she always likes to wait for our buses, because we are such a nice company with such nice drivers! Aw bless!!
He just rung me from Southampton to tell me of his conversation with a woman who boarded at Millbrook Station.
There are about a zillion buses between Millbrook Station and Southampton City Centre on a Sunday, of which we run four - a mere drop in the ocean.
This lady has just told Jamie she always likes to wait for our buses, because we are such a nice company with such nice drivers! Aw bless!!
I hate Saturdays
Why are Saturdays so difficult? In most places I've worked, they are quiet, uneventful days where nothing much seems to happen and you can relax a bit. For us, they've been a nightmare. Jamie had the big accident in 303 on a Saturday, we've had two Saturdays where the traffic has been evil (one due to motorway problems, the other due to Southampton Rd roadworks) and we always seem to have lots of niggling problems.
Today started well. V14 started fine and sounds as smooth as silk with its new alternator bracket, so V12 and V14 trundled off out in service with Jamie and Maria in charge.
On Saturday, we have just over an hour between the second and third duties signing on, and that gave us just enough time to fit the ticket machine to V7, so Steve took that one out.
Yes indeed, we have three DAFs out in service for the first time ever, so service A is 100% DAF this morning! It's looking good!
At 1050, Steve goes to set off on his second trip in V7 and finds the bus won't move! He calls us, Taz and I run round from the office to the bus station and find that V7 has a 'halt brake' fitted that the others don't. We don't quite understand how it works, but Taz manages to overcome it so off Steve goes. One problem averted.
At 1250, Alison goes to set off on her second trip on V12 and finds that a warning light has come on that she's never seen before! I run round from the office, Taz says he'll follow me round in a few minutes (he's busy playing with his new phone, bless!) I get round there, don't recognise the light either, better safe than sorry, turf all the passengers off the DAF and into the spare bus (Dart V384) and send Alison off in that.
Meanwhile, while I've been sorting the bus swap, Taz has arrived, recognised the light as something similar to the 'halt brake' on V7, knows it's completely harmless and just disengages and re-engages gear and it goes out! By now we've swapped the passengers over and we can't swap them back again, so our 100% DAF target for the day has just gone by the board, all completely needlessly due to me over-reacting!
Over lunch, we come to the conclusion that the DAFs have various warning systems to try to avoid drivers either leaving the bus in 'drive' when stopped for lengthy periods, or trying to engage 'drive' without pressing the footbrake first.
At 1445 Alison finishes her break and arrives at the stop to relieve Jamie on V14. Just before getting on, she notices some body damage at the rear. It looks like the back end has grounded on something and slightly buckled a couple of panels. Unfortunately, one of them looks loose and we can't take the risk, so with all the passengers seated ready to go (our policy being for the incoming driver to let them on before they do the changeover) we have to turf the passengers and Alison off again and onto the spare bus (which is once again V384). Jamie and I take V14 round to the yard - it won't do any more work today, so our 100% DAF target is well and truly gone.
I take W558 back round to the bus station as the new spare bus, and at 1720-ish, Maria rings me from Hedge End to say that the low water light has come on in V7. The temperature's ok and there's water in the tank, but it must have a leak. I tell Maria to carry on and I'll meet her on her way back to Eastleigh with the spare bus. Later she rings me to tell me that the temperature is edging in to the red, but I'm almost with her by then. It's clear the situation's getting worse, but I'd really like to get the bus back to Eastleigh if I can!
Eventually we meet in Mansbridge, I start following her back to Eastleigh but with the temperature gauge in V7 now showing 110 degrees, Maria decided to transfer herself and the passengers to W558 at Parkway to be on the safe side, so I pull up behind and we do the swap.
So that's now three busloads of passengers we've made change buses today! Not good! Doesn't look professional at all, although in no case has there been any interruption to the service which is one consolation. I decide to limp V7 back to Barton Park keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge, which hovers around 110 but doesn't go higher.
When I get back, to my amazement I find Rob and Shaun still in at Brenhaul. It's not just us that have frustrating days - it has just taken them 5 hours to change the header tank on a truck!
Despite having washed up and changed ready to go home, they immediately set about V7. We find that the water tank is empty, Rob puts the hose on it and as fast as he's filling it it's emptying out again, with water cascading out underneath the bus. So the bus goes over the pit and we find a split around 5 inches long in one of the main hoses! It's one of those things that just seems to happen from time to time, can't be helped, but it means that I've now got two DAFs off the road for Monday, until Brenhaul can find a piece of hose that will fit!
So, a frustrating day with a very frustrating end. Here's hoping for better this coming week!
About the only good thing is that I finally managed to get the website updated with all the team's photographs!
Today started well. V14 started fine and sounds as smooth as silk with its new alternator bracket, so V12 and V14 trundled off out in service with Jamie and Maria in charge.
On Saturday, we have just over an hour between the second and third duties signing on, and that gave us just enough time to fit the ticket machine to V7, so Steve took that one out.
Yes indeed, we have three DAFs out in service for the first time ever, so service A is 100% DAF this morning! It's looking good!
At 1050, Steve goes to set off on his second trip in V7 and finds the bus won't move! He calls us, Taz and I run round from the office to the bus station and find that V7 has a 'halt brake' fitted that the others don't. We don't quite understand how it works, but Taz manages to overcome it so off Steve goes. One problem averted.
At 1250, Alison goes to set off on her second trip on V12 and finds that a warning light has come on that she's never seen before! I run round from the office, Taz says he'll follow me round in a few minutes (he's busy playing with his new phone, bless!) I get round there, don't recognise the light either, better safe than sorry, turf all the passengers off the DAF and into the spare bus (Dart V384) and send Alison off in that.
Meanwhile, while I've been sorting the bus swap, Taz has arrived, recognised the light as something similar to the 'halt brake' on V7, knows it's completely harmless and just disengages and re-engages gear and it goes out! By now we've swapped the passengers over and we can't swap them back again, so our 100% DAF target for the day has just gone by the board, all completely needlessly due to me over-reacting!
Over lunch, we come to the conclusion that the DAFs have various warning systems to try to avoid drivers either leaving the bus in 'drive' when stopped for lengthy periods, or trying to engage 'drive' without pressing the footbrake first.
At 1445 Alison finishes her break and arrives at the stop to relieve Jamie on V14. Just before getting on, she notices some body damage at the rear. It looks like the back end has grounded on something and slightly buckled a couple of panels. Unfortunately, one of them looks loose and we can't take the risk, so with all the passengers seated ready to go (our policy being for the incoming driver to let them on before they do the changeover) we have to turf the passengers and Alison off again and onto the spare bus (which is once again V384). Jamie and I take V14 round to the yard - it won't do any more work today, so our 100% DAF target is well and truly gone.
I take W558 back round to the bus station as the new spare bus, and at 1720-ish, Maria rings me from Hedge End to say that the low water light has come on in V7. The temperature's ok and there's water in the tank, but it must have a leak. I tell Maria to carry on and I'll meet her on her way back to Eastleigh with the spare bus. Later she rings me to tell me that the temperature is edging in to the red, but I'm almost with her by then. It's clear the situation's getting worse, but I'd really like to get the bus back to Eastleigh if I can!
Eventually we meet in Mansbridge, I start following her back to Eastleigh but with the temperature gauge in V7 now showing 110 degrees, Maria decided to transfer herself and the passengers to W558 at Parkway to be on the safe side, so I pull up behind and we do the swap.
So that's now three busloads of passengers we've made change buses today! Not good! Doesn't look professional at all, although in no case has there been any interruption to the service which is one consolation. I decide to limp V7 back to Barton Park keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge, which hovers around 110 but doesn't go higher.
When I get back, to my amazement I find Rob and Shaun still in at Brenhaul. It's not just us that have frustrating days - it has just taken them 5 hours to change the header tank on a truck!
Despite having washed up and changed ready to go home, they immediately set about V7. We find that the water tank is empty, Rob puts the hose on it and as fast as he's filling it it's emptying out again, with water cascading out underneath the bus. So the bus goes over the pit and we find a split around 5 inches long in one of the main hoses! It's one of those things that just seems to happen from time to time, can't be helped, but it means that I've now got two DAFs off the road for Monday, until Brenhaul can find a piece of hose that will fit!
So, a frustrating day with a very frustrating end. Here's hoping for better this coming week!
About the only good thing is that I finally managed to get the website updated with all the team's photographs!
Friday: Losing it at the end
Ok, I'm a couple of days late with this but didn't feel like writing much Friday or Saturday evening so here's a bit about Friday.
How is it possible for a day that proceeds pretty smoothly throughout, to result in one of the most chaotic and badly organised returns to the depot that I have presided over?
The normal script goes:
1750 Phil waves off last departure to Botley in Eastleigh Bus Station, then takes spare bus to yard, fuelling en route if necessary. Spare bus is in bed around 1800.
1800 Phil walks down to petrol station ready to meet first two buses
1810ish First two buses in from service arrive at petrol station from opposite directions, usually around the same time
1840ish Last bus runs in to petrol station having come back dead from Botley. Phil fuels and hitches a lift back to the yard
By 1900ish all buses fuelled, swept and tucked up in bed
All day Friday the operation proceeded without hitch. All the buses stick to their lines, all drivers complete their duties without problems. Taz is doing the first part of duty 4 because Maria has the day off, and Matt is finishing it as overtime, but that all happens on auto-pilot and everyone knows what they are doing and just gets on with it.
Meanwhile in the office, our newest team member Mikey is in for the day to help us out (he's a Wildern School student who's interested in buses and what we are doing and how it all works, and we're happy to give him the odd day's work while he's on school holiday). It's his first proper day with us and he ploughs through the work I ask him to do, in a fraction of the time I was expecting, so it's all good!
The only slight hitch is that the power keeps going off, which is a bit of a pain but not a show-stopper, although it is for some shops in the High Street that have to close completely due to power failure (even though Southern Electric deny all knowledge of any failure)
So having waved off the 1750 with Matt driving, I head over to the yard in 303 (the spare bus) and make the fatal mistake of showing an interest in V14 which has just had its new alternator bracket fitted, but needs charging up. Quick conference with the electrician and Rob and Shaun from Brenhaul resolves that the best way forward is to bury V14 at the back of the yard and leave it ticking over for a few hours to build up the charge. I'm out for a meal in Bishopstoke tonight so can easily pop into the yard on the way back through to switch it off.
Unfortunately, someone's left a van parked in such an awkward spot in the yard that although we've got two parking lanes, everything has to squeeze in through a gap one bus wide, so that means V14 has to go in first so that it doesn't end up blocking anything else in. Unfortunately we can't move it yet, as there are vans parked all around it and tools all over the ground. Also, V7 had its pre-service inspection earlier and is now parked in the spot at the back of the yard where V14 needs to go. Also, the time it has taken to sort this out means that the first two buses are now waiting at the petrol station and I'm not there!
So I run down to the petrol station and fuel them - the two white Darts - and come back up the road with them. They can't go in the yard yet because I have to get V7 out and put V14 in, and V14's still surrounded, so we put the two white Darts temporarily in two of the truck spaces which happen to be empty, and hope the trucks don't come home in the next half hour or so.
Meanwhile Matt had warned me before going out on the 1750 that some of the interior lights are out on V12, and I'd forgotton to mention this to Rob, Shaun and the electrician, so I wander back over to Brenhaul to mention this. They then decide to start taking apart the light fittings on V14 to see what bulbs they are (we think they are common or garden flourescent strips that you can buy in any good hardware store) and needless to say we can't see how to get the light covers off.
I then realise that Matt is about to arrive at the petrol station with V12 so I send Jamie off down to meet him with the fuel card, and go back to V14. Eventually we decide that we can't work it out and that it would be easier to do the whole exercise on V12 since that's the one with the problem. So the vans get moved, the tools get scooped up and V14 is free. I decide there's not a lot of point getting V7 out after all as it's not ready for the road until we fit the ticket machine anyway, so put V14 in the yard and park up the two Darts around it.
All that's left now is for V12 to roll in having been fuelled, we'll put that on the front of the line and it's all done!
Sure enough 5 minutes later V12 rolls up, so I tell Matt where I want him to park it, it's a bit of a tight squeeze so it takes a bit of shunting but eventually it's in. Matt assembles his gear and heads off to get the broom. At that moment, Jamie rings up from the petrol station and asks whether Matt is going to come in to get fuel at any point!
Turns out Matt hadn't seen me at the petrol station (which I wasn't), didn't spot Jamie so carried on up to the yard, then when I told him where to park assumed I wasn't planning to fuel him so didn't say anything! Nobody's fault, just a misunderstanding all round, but grrrrr!
So I leap in V12, dig it out of its parking space, head back down to the petrol station, meet Jamie, fuel up, take V12 back to the yard following Jamie in his car and begin the painstaking process of parking it up again. Being in a bit of a huffy mood and quite impatient by now, I misjudge all the angles (not like me, one thing I'm pretty good at in a bus is going backwards!) and nearly demolish Jamie's car, V384 and Steve himself in one single manoeuvre. Luckily I don't, and much shouting and hand waving later V12 is finally in bed and I can go!
At about this point, we learn that the guy who owns the van that has screwed up our parking, had left the keys in it all along in case we needed to move it!
Now of all the nights for it to descend into chaos, it would be the one where me, Jamie, Louise, Steve and Nickie are all going out for a meal so having kept everyone waiting (although to be fair Jamie and Steve mucked in as always to help out) we're finally eating a bit later than planned. Very enjoyable and convivial, but we don't finish late because Steve and Nickie have to go to Winchester to pick up one of their other daughters, so Jamie and Louise head off and I go back to the yard to switch off V14, which you will recall we left running to charge up the battery.
It has gone dark while I've been away, and I now discover that we'd left all the interior lights on on V14 so while it's still running ok I wonder how much charge it will have built up! Will it have enough to start again? Find out in the morning I suppose!
How is it possible for a day that proceeds pretty smoothly throughout, to result in one of the most chaotic and badly organised returns to the depot that I have presided over?
The normal script goes:
1750 Phil waves off last departure to Botley in Eastleigh Bus Station, then takes spare bus to yard, fuelling en route if necessary. Spare bus is in bed around 1800.
1800 Phil walks down to petrol station ready to meet first two buses
1810ish First two buses in from service arrive at petrol station from opposite directions, usually around the same time
1840ish Last bus runs in to petrol station having come back dead from Botley. Phil fuels and hitches a lift back to the yard
By 1900ish all buses fuelled, swept and tucked up in bed
All day Friday the operation proceeded without hitch. All the buses stick to their lines, all drivers complete their duties without problems. Taz is doing the first part of duty 4 because Maria has the day off, and Matt is finishing it as overtime, but that all happens on auto-pilot and everyone knows what they are doing and just gets on with it.
Meanwhile in the office, our newest team member Mikey is in for the day to help us out (he's a Wildern School student who's interested in buses and what we are doing and how it all works, and we're happy to give him the odd day's work while he's on school holiday). It's his first proper day with us and he ploughs through the work I ask him to do, in a fraction of the time I was expecting, so it's all good!
The only slight hitch is that the power keeps going off, which is a bit of a pain but not a show-stopper, although it is for some shops in the High Street that have to close completely due to power failure (even though Southern Electric deny all knowledge of any failure)
So having waved off the 1750 with Matt driving, I head over to the yard in 303 (the spare bus) and make the fatal mistake of showing an interest in V14 which has just had its new alternator bracket fitted, but needs charging up. Quick conference with the electrician and Rob and Shaun from Brenhaul resolves that the best way forward is to bury V14 at the back of the yard and leave it ticking over for a few hours to build up the charge. I'm out for a meal in Bishopstoke tonight so can easily pop into the yard on the way back through to switch it off.
Unfortunately, someone's left a van parked in such an awkward spot in the yard that although we've got two parking lanes, everything has to squeeze in through a gap one bus wide, so that means V14 has to go in first so that it doesn't end up blocking anything else in. Unfortunately we can't move it yet, as there are vans parked all around it and tools all over the ground. Also, V7 had its pre-service inspection earlier and is now parked in the spot at the back of the yard where V14 needs to go. Also, the time it has taken to sort this out means that the first two buses are now waiting at the petrol station and I'm not there!
So I run down to the petrol station and fuel them - the two white Darts - and come back up the road with them. They can't go in the yard yet because I have to get V7 out and put V14 in, and V14's still surrounded, so we put the two white Darts temporarily in two of the truck spaces which happen to be empty, and hope the trucks don't come home in the next half hour or so.
Meanwhile Matt had warned me before going out on the 1750 that some of the interior lights are out on V12, and I'd forgotton to mention this to Rob, Shaun and the electrician, so I wander back over to Brenhaul to mention this. They then decide to start taking apart the light fittings on V14 to see what bulbs they are (we think they are common or garden flourescent strips that you can buy in any good hardware store) and needless to say we can't see how to get the light covers off.
I then realise that Matt is about to arrive at the petrol station with V12 so I send Jamie off down to meet him with the fuel card, and go back to V14. Eventually we decide that we can't work it out and that it would be easier to do the whole exercise on V12 since that's the one with the problem. So the vans get moved, the tools get scooped up and V14 is free. I decide there's not a lot of point getting V7 out after all as it's not ready for the road until we fit the ticket machine anyway, so put V14 in the yard and park up the two Darts around it.
All that's left now is for V12 to roll in having been fuelled, we'll put that on the front of the line and it's all done!
Sure enough 5 minutes later V12 rolls up, so I tell Matt where I want him to park it, it's a bit of a tight squeeze so it takes a bit of shunting but eventually it's in. Matt assembles his gear and heads off to get the broom. At that moment, Jamie rings up from the petrol station and asks whether Matt is going to come in to get fuel at any point!
Turns out Matt hadn't seen me at the petrol station (which I wasn't), didn't spot Jamie so carried on up to the yard, then when I told him where to park assumed I wasn't planning to fuel him so didn't say anything! Nobody's fault, just a misunderstanding all round, but grrrrr!
So I leap in V12, dig it out of its parking space, head back down to the petrol station, meet Jamie, fuel up, take V12 back to the yard following Jamie in his car and begin the painstaking process of parking it up again. Being in a bit of a huffy mood and quite impatient by now, I misjudge all the angles (not like me, one thing I'm pretty good at in a bus is going backwards!) and nearly demolish Jamie's car, V384 and Steve himself in one single manoeuvre. Luckily I don't, and much shouting and hand waving later V12 is finally in bed and I can go!
At about this point, we learn that the guy who owns the van that has screwed up our parking, had left the keys in it all along in case we needed to move it!
Now of all the nights for it to descend into chaos, it would be the one where me, Jamie, Louise, Steve and Nickie are all going out for a meal so having kept everyone waiting (although to be fair Jamie and Steve mucked in as always to help out) we're finally eating a bit later than planned. Very enjoyable and convivial, but we don't finish late because Steve and Nickie have to go to Winchester to pick up one of their other daughters, so Jamie and Louise head off and I go back to the yard to switch off V14, which you will recall we left running to charge up the battery.
It has gone dark while I've been away, and I now discover that we'd left all the interior lights on on V14 so while it's still running ok I wonder how much charge it will have built up! Will it have enough to start again? Find out in the morning I suppose!
Thursday 10 April 2008
The atmosphere is electric
At last, a normal day in the office for the first time since Thursday last week, and it was all about the vehicles today.
Only V14 has decided to throw a strop and have alternator trouble. After the 'no charge' light came on at around 1700 last night and the electrician arrived within the hour and thought he'd put it right, V14 went back into service on the 1120 from Eastleigh this morning (was kept off before that for a photoshoot) and within 25 minutes the 'no charge' light was back on, so it got swapped for W558 and went back to stand in the naughty corner at Barton Park.
The electrician now thinks he has diagnosed the real problem so it's off tomorrow for a new alternator bracket (or something like that) to be fitted.
Meanwhile V7 GMT went in for inspection today prior to entering revenue service, so my guess is early next week to see that one on the road.
Finally, F303 MYJ came home from Salvador Caetano having had its accident damage repaired and also an interior retrim. It looks stunning, having been transformed from this...
to this...
Jamie brought it home, which I was pleased about given that he was driving it when it had the accident, an experience that was understandably very traumatic.
Turns out it wasn't only V14 that was having electrical trouble as the whole of Eastleigh High Street was without electricity when I got back from meeting 303. Perhaps Eastleigh needs a new alternator belt.
Jamie and I then took off into the countryside and spent an enjoyable evening posting the remaining bus stop timetables for service 8 on the Waterside around Hythe and Marchwood.
All of which meant that we weren't around to fuel the buses so we've only just done that now, causing some surprise in the sleepy petrol station when the entire Velvet fleet descended in a ten minute period at around 11pm.
Off home now at 2350, plenty of time for beauty sleep before the 0445 alarm!
Only V14 has decided to throw a strop and have alternator trouble. After the 'no charge' light came on at around 1700 last night and the electrician arrived within the hour and thought he'd put it right, V14 went back into service on the 1120 from Eastleigh this morning (was kept off before that for a photoshoot) and within 25 minutes the 'no charge' light was back on, so it got swapped for W558 and went back to stand in the naughty corner at Barton Park.
The electrician now thinks he has diagnosed the real problem so it's off tomorrow for a new alternator bracket (or something like that) to be fitted.
Meanwhile V7 GMT went in for inspection today prior to entering revenue service, so my guess is early next week to see that one on the road.
Finally, F303 MYJ came home from Salvador Caetano having had its accident damage repaired and also an interior retrim. It looks stunning, having been transformed from this...
to this...
Jamie brought it home, which I was pleased about given that he was driving it when it had the accident, an experience that was understandably very traumatic.Turns out it wasn't only V14 that was having electrical trouble as the whole of Eastleigh High Street was without electricity when I got back from meeting 303. Perhaps Eastleigh needs a new alternator belt.
Jamie and I then took off into the countryside and spent an enjoyable evening posting the remaining bus stop timetables for service 8 on the Waterside around Hythe and Marchwood.
All of which meant that we weren't around to fuel the buses so we've only just done that now, causing some surprise in the sleepy petrol station when the entire Velvet fleet descended in a ten minute period at around 11pm.
Off home now at 2350, plenty of time for beauty sleep before the 0445 alarm!
Wednesday 9 April 2008
I'm still here!
Hi. I haven't been around much the last few days, because I was up in the Lake District at the weekend (in a hotel with no internet access but one or two other interesting features, of which more anon) and was then out of the office yesterday and today.
So I just thought I'd reassure you that the blog is still very much in progress, but there is so much to write about from the last few days I just haven't had enough time to get fingers to keyboard, so stay posted!
So I just thought I'd reassure you that the blog is still very much in progress, but there is so much to write about from the last few days I just haven't had enough time to get fingers to keyboard, so stay posted!
Thursday 3 April 2008
I've lost my gear!
I'm off to the Lake District tomorrow with my brother for a weekend of walking. Right now I'm trying to pack. Only trouble is it's ages (years in fact) since I last did any serious walking, and I'm struggling to locate my stuff! So far I have found one sock and one glove, neither particularly useful in their own right!
Most annoyingly, I have not found the waterproof jacket that cost me over £100 last year, and I have not found my walking boots although I have a pair of walking shoes that will probably do just as well.
I can see a morning raid on one of the outdoor equipment shops becoming a necessity!
Meanwhile, back in the land of buses, today was a bit hectic but went mostly to plan.
V12 did the 0708 Botley - Eastleigh then came off for a professional valet, along with V14.
V12 went back on for the 1220 E-B-E, 384 then dropped back a trip so that W558 could come off for its replacement windscreen.
Various bits of work were done on V14 so that now the only outstanding problem is that the rear number blind doesn't work, but this will be enough to keep it off on Friday as we're not sure exactly when the electrician is coming to fix that!
Luckily the petrol station was working again so we managed to fuel all the buses tonight! KU02 was fuelled for probably the last time before going off hire and I may well take it on a farewell tour of Botley and Hedge End on the 0708 tomorrow morning.
We're doing this special offer over the next two weeks of a flat 50p child fare for the school holidays, so my late evening task this evening was to programme that on to the ticket machines.
All a bit mundane I'm afraid, but it goes like that sometimes!
Back to the packing!
Most annoyingly, I have not found the waterproof jacket that cost me over £100 last year, and I have not found my walking boots although I have a pair of walking shoes that will probably do just as well.
I can see a morning raid on one of the outdoor equipment shops becoming a necessity!
Meanwhile, back in the land of buses, today was a bit hectic but went mostly to plan.
V12 did the 0708 Botley - Eastleigh then came off for a professional valet, along with V14.
V12 went back on for the 1220 E-B-E, 384 then dropped back a trip so that W558 could come off for its replacement windscreen.
Various bits of work were done on V14 so that now the only outstanding problem is that the rear number blind doesn't work, but this will be enough to keep it off on Friday as we're not sure exactly when the electrician is coming to fix that!
Luckily the petrol station was working again so we managed to fuel all the buses tonight! KU02 was fuelled for probably the last time before going off hire and I may well take it on a farewell tour of Botley and Hedge End on the 0708 tomorrow morning.
We're doing this special offer over the next two weeks of a flat 50p child fare for the school holidays, so my late evening task this evening was to programme that on to the ticket machines.
All a bit mundane I'm afraid, but it goes like that sometimes!
Back to the packing!
Wednesday 2 April 2008
My petrol station jinx
It turns out I'm not a good person to be around if you want to buy petrol.
It took me 40 minutes to get from home to Eastleigh at around 6am this morning. Normally 20-25 minutes.
The problem? I pulled in for diesel (for my car that is) at the Shell station in Thomas Lewis Way and the till promptly broke down. So, having obtained the diesel, I then stood in a long queue for an age while the friendly but technologically challenged guy behind the counter pressed every button on every machine in the building in the hope that one would magically un-freeze the till (guess what, it didn't) then set off on a mission to find his colleague who shuffles round the forecourt with a yellow jacket on, so that he could put the cones out across the entrance to close the site. He then wrote down all our credit card numbers longhand on a piece of paper to process them later, which means one of two things...
i) It won't happen because he didn't make a note of our names or the card expiry dates or anything like that
ii) My card number is, even now, being used for all kinds of nefarious purposes
While stood in the queue, I watched a van and two cars weave through the cones, which clearly didn't apply to them, to get into the garage and pull up optimistically at the now-switched-off pumps.
This evening, I toddled off to my usual haunt on the corner of Bishopstoke Road and Chickenhall Lane in Eastleigh to greet the Velvet armada as it sailed in from a successful day's hunting, and while I was fuelling the buses, the till broke.
When I went in to fuel bus number two (Jamie, in V12) the situation was only moderately serious - the cashier couldn't dispense card receipts, which didn't bother me too much as our snazzy new fuel cards have an internet information facility that tells us precisely how much fuel we have put in which fictitious vehicle (because, curiously, the cashiers always mistype the registration numbers) so we don't really need the receipts.
By the time it came to bus number three (Maria, in 384 - her adopted second home!) the cashier had realised he couldn't open the till either so had a small mountain of cash gradually building up on his desk. Finding himself unable to reach his boss on the phone, he made the decision to close the site.
Only thing is, Esso don't seem to bother with someone shuffling round the forecourt with a yellow jacket on, so quite how he was going to close it with a queue of ten people and more cars arriving by the second was a bit beyond me. With hindsight, he's a nice enough guy, I should have offered to put the cones out for him, but you don't think of these things at the time.
So bus four, Alison in W558, went straight to the yard and will now have to be fuelled in the morning.
A few weeks ago, we had the rare honour of running the petrol station dry, halfway through fuelling W558, so I'm surprised they haven't barred me yet.
In between times, we kind of blundered our way through the day really, more by luck than judgment. Certainly this morning's ragtag army wasn't a pretty sight...
- One of us (me) about 20 minutes later than planned having cast my spell on the Shell garage, not that that mattered, still got out in plenty of time to meet my public on the 0708
- One of us turned up with a bad stomach
- One of us turned up having not slept all night (didn't quite get why, I must admit)
- One of us didn't turn up at all, having overslept and still being asleep when phoned 12 minutes before supposed departure time on the first trip, so Taz had to get that one started
So that just left one, Steve, who managed to turn up on time, in a good mood, and get the day off to a good start.
Meanwhile, W558 has now sustained a bad crack on the nearside windscreen so that needs replacing, so we a good old discussion about that in the yard and eventually booked it in for a replacement tomorrow afternoon. Bizarrely, the crack is on the inside! V12 and V14 are both off for a deep clean (by a proper cleaning company, don't you know) tomorrow morning so there'll be some juggling there. Still, it means I get to use V12 on the 0708 so that can't be bad really.
V14 finally managed to get its rigorous pre-service maintenance inspection today, and came through with flying colours. The only outstanding issue is with the 'start' button in the cab (which, in simple terms, doesn't) so that and the deep clean are all that stands between V14 and the adoring public!
With all this in mind, KU02 YUH goes off hire on Friday so Dawson Rentals will collect at their leisure. And that's definitely good for the bank balance!
In the middle of all that I managed to press on with some year end financial accounting issues (our financial year ended 31st March), and there'll be plenty more of that to come in the next few days!
Happily, the numbers are looking ok, but to be a bit adventurous we've decided to do a special deal to all young people aged 5-18 of a 50p flat fare for any single journey on route A during the school holidays. Now all we've got to is to promote it!
It took me 40 minutes to get from home to Eastleigh at around 6am this morning. Normally 20-25 minutes.
The problem? I pulled in for diesel (for my car that is) at the Shell station in Thomas Lewis Way and the till promptly broke down. So, having obtained the diesel, I then stood in a long queue for an age while the friendly but technologically challenged guy behind the counter pressed every button on every machine in the building in the hope that one would magically un-freeze the till (guess what, it didn't) then set off on a mission to find his colleague who shuffles round the forecourt with a yellow jacket on, so that he could put the cones out across the entrance to close the site. He then wrote down all our credit card numbers longhand on a piece of paper to process them later, which means one of two things...
i) It won't happen because he didn't make a note of our names or the card expiry dates or anything like that
ii) My card number is, even now, being used for all kinds of nefarious purposes
While stood in the queue, I watched a van and two cars weave through the cones, which clearly didn't apply to them, to get into the garage and pull up optimistically at the now-switched-off pumps.
This evening, I toddled off to my usual haunt on the corner of Bishopstoke Road and Chickenhall Lane in Eastleigh to greet the Velvet armada as it sailed in from a successful day's hunting, and while I was fuelling the buses, the till broke.
When I went in to fuel bus number two (Jamie, in V12) the situation was only moderately serious - the cashier couldn't dispense card receipts, which didn't bother me too much as our snazzy new fuel cards have an internet information facility that tells us precisely how much fuel we have put in which fictitious vehicle (because, curiously, the cashiers always mistype the registration numbers) so we don't really need the receipts.
By the time it came to bus number three (Maria, in 384 - her adopted second home!) the cashier had realised he couldn't open the till either so had a small mountain of cash gradually building up on his desk. Finding himself unable to reach his boss on the phone, he made the decision to close the site.
Only thing is, Esso don't seem to bother with someone shuffling round the forecourt with a yellow jacket on, so quite how he was going to close it with a queue of ten people and more cars arriving by the second was a bit beyond me. With hindsight, he's a nice enough guy, I should have offered to put the cones out for him, but you don't think of these things at the time.
So bus four, Alison in W558, went straight to the yard and will now have to be fuelled in the morning.
A few weeks ago, we had the rare honour of running the petrol station dry, halfway through fuelling W558, so I'm surprised they haven't barred me yet.
In between times, we kind of blundered our way through the day really, more by luck than judgment. Certainly this morning's ragtag army wasn't a pretty sight...
- One of us (me) about 20 minutes later than planned having cast my spell on the Shell garage, not that that mattered, still got out in plenty of time to meet my public on the 0708
- One of us turned up with a bad stomach
- One of us turned up having not slept all night (didn't quite get why, I must admit)
- One of us didn't turn up at all, having overslept and still being asleep when phoned 12 minutes before supposed departure time on the first trip, so Taz had to get that one started
So that just left one, Steve, who managed to turn up on time, in a good mood, and get the day off to a good start.
Meanwhile, W558 has now sustained a bad crack on the nearside windscreen so that needs replacing, so we a good old discussion about that in the yard and eventually booked it in for a replacement tomorrow afternoon. Bizarrely, the crack is on the inside! V12 and V14 are both off for a deep clean (by a proper cleaning company, don't you know) tomorrow morning so there'll be some juggling there. Still, it means I get to use V12 on the 0708 so that can't be bad really.
V14 finally managed to get its rigorous pre-service maintenance inspection today, and came through with flying colours. The only outstanding issue is with the 'start' button in the cab (which, in simple terms, doesn't) so that and the deep clean are all that stands between V14 and the adoring public!
With all this in mind, KU02 YUH goes off hire on Friday so Dawson Rentals will collect at their leisure. And that's definitely good for the bank balance!
In the middle of all that I managed to press on with some year end financial accounting issues (our financial year ended 31st March), and there'll be plenty more of that to come in the next few days!
Happily, the numbers are looking ok, but to be a bit adventurous we've decided to do a special deal to all young people aged 5-18 of a 50p flat fare for any single journey on route A during the school holidays. Now all we've got to is to promote it!
Tuesday 1 April 2008
Alls well that ends well (awwwh!)
Today started with a bit of a ticket machine disaster.
Took 02 out on the 0708 Botley - Eastleigh. I must admit I didn't check the ticket roll, but I knew it had plenty in it yesterday so wouldn't have been top of my mind.
Get to first fare-paying passenger at Hedge End Co-Op - asks for a weekly. Awesome, £12 in the bag and I've hardly started! Press the 'issue' button and nothing comes out! Open up the ticket machine and peer into it from several different directions but no, there's definitely no ticket roll there!!! Check around the cab and there's no spare knocking around either. Obviously I don't carry one myself because I'm not that organised.
Now I'm well cheesed off 'cos I know someone further up the route had a weekly that expired yesterday, so that's another £12 I was looking forward to and can't now collect.
So off I go, selling singles (while apologising for no tickets) and asking return passengers to keep their money and pay when they come home.
I usually meet the 0720 Eastleigh - Botley between Haskins and the Texaco garage. Today I'm in luck - Matt's stopped at Haskins as I pull up opposite. And he's got a spare ticket roll! Only downside is it's in his rucksack. His rucksack is so big the bus practically needs a trailer to carry it! So, with our two buses blocking the traffic in both directions (sorry, traffic!) I run across the road and start rummaging around in his rucksack. Several hours later, success!!!
The two weekly ticket buyers both decide to buy their tickets from me as they get off the bus, so I still get the £24! It's looking up! Turns out to be an ok trip revenue-wise, I just look totally unprofessional!
Taz and I then head off on a secret mission for a bit - more anon perhaps. In our absence, the operation proceeds mostly without hitch.
I managed to do my good deed for the day/week/year on the 1750 trip. Jamie was driving, with Louise riding with him to 'learn the route'. I wave him off on time, a minute later one of our regular customers comes bowling up to the stop, frustrated at just missing him. Luckily, I had 309 spare on the wall. So a quick call to Louise, Jamie pulls up at the third stop down the route, I chase after him with regular passenger and pass her over, so she gets home on the 1750 after all!
Took 02 out on the 0708 Botley - Eastleigh. I must admit I didn't check the ticket roll, but I knew it had plenty in it yesterday so wouldn't have been top of my mind.
Get to first fare-paying passenger at Hedge End Co-Op - asks for a weekly. Awesome, £12 in the bag and I've hardly started! Press the 'issue' button and nothing comes out! Open up the ticket machine and peer into it from several different directions but no, there's definitely no ticket roll there!!! Check around the cab and there's no spare knocking around either. Obviously I don't carry one myself because I'm not that organised.
Now I'm well cheesed off 'cos I know someone further up the route had a weekly that expired yesterday, so that's another £12 I was looking forward to and can't now collect.
So off I go, selling singles (while apologising for no tickets) and asking return passengers to keep their money and pay when they come home.
I usually meet the 0720 Eastleigh - Botley between Haskins and the Texaco garage. Today I'm in luck - Matt's stopped at Haskins as I pull up opposite. And he's got a spare ticket roll! Only downside is it's in his rucksack. His rucksack is so big the bus practically needs a trailer to carry it! So, with our two buses blocking the traffic in both directions (sorry, traffic!) I run across the road and start rummaging around in his rucksack. Several hours later, success!!!
The two weekly ticket buyers both decide to buy their tickets from me as they get off the bus, so I still get the £24! It's looking up! Turns out to be an ok trip revenue-wise, I just look totally unprofessional!
Taz and I then head off on a secret mission for a bit - more anon perhaps. In our absence, the operation proceeds mostly without hitch.
I managed to do my good deed for the day/week/year on the 1750 trip. Jamie was driving, with Louise riding with him to 'learn the route'. I wave him off on time, a minute later one of our regular customers comes bowling up to the stop, frustrated at just missing him. Luckily, I had 309 spare on the wall. So a quick call to Louise, Jamie pulls up at the third stop down the route, I chase after him with regular passenger and pass her over, so she gets home on the 1750 after all!
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