A few things have happened over the last few weeks, let me see. I got an interview with a local bus company and started with them last Monday learning school runs for the upcoming school year. The amount of paperwork that had to be done and the amount of time focused on procedures that to me seemed obvious, but as we all know these days we have to assume the individual is completely stupid and so tell them every crumb of info and then if they break any of those rules down the track you can penalise them because they signed their life away under pages and pages of fine print. After the first day of training I was ready to leave because something did not sit with me very well and my gut was screaming at me to get out before it was too late. I left this morning after one week.

It was good to get to drive a large bus again and there is a sense of pride and achievement being able to navigate such a big beasty through suburbia consisting of tight turns and narrow roads…..I still have the knack.

From the beginning there seems has been pressure to be at the company’s beck and call, stories from the other drivers telling me how they were always under pressure to get between jobs and in doing so some have incurred speeding fines, this is their problem of course because if you are the driver you are in charge. I don’t want pressure.

The horror stories of certain schools where the children should be put in cages bound and gagged rather giving them a bus with actual seats. And it’s up to the bus driver to keep control and as we all know that in this day and age nothing can be done.

I called another company back that contacted me last week offering me an opportunity and made an appointment with them this week. They have a very different operation and the job would initially be on call rather than definite hours. So money is not guaranteed every week; however it is walking distance from the house, I could jump on the bike and be there in 5 mins.  The buses are smaller; usually 22 seaters and you would have someone on the bus with you to keep an eye on the kids which appeals to me. This takes a bit of pressure away from the driver and I think makes the job more appealing. I don’t have a job with them yet but I will go and see them on Thursday morning for a quick interview and test drive and all going well I’ll start there.

I was worrying about what I would say to the Operations manager this morning because I did not want to burn any bridges just in case I need to go back. I told them that I have a friend in a small construction business that needs help for a few months and so it was with regret that I had to leave, however they did say I was welcome to come back in the future.

A sense of relief as I drove from the depot, feeling as if the shackles had been removed from my gut once more. Maybe I’m just allergic to work!

Other things that have taken place; well I got a mole removed from my neck and got some stitches…….I get them out on Friday.

I found a very large Bunya nut in the back garden; it was the size of a rugby ball and weighed about 5 to 6 kg. The Bunya Pine is in the park at the foot of the garden and has a habit of dropping these rather large “Acorns” and they can kill.

I found a couple of chickens in the yard one day, not sure who owns them but I don’t want anything to do with them. They seem happy to come and go as they please.