Lost And Found

This is my current Lost and Found box consisting of six little caps, three little sets of mittens and one orphaned pink one.

I really think that Head Start and Pre-School should offer classes to these kids on how to take care of their stuff. When I pull up to each house I don’t get out of my seat to make sure they have everything, and the parents never get on the bus, they just hand me a punch-card and meet their child at the passenger door.

The kids up to this age always have adults taking care of them. When they’re faced with the responsibility of gathering their things up before leaving the bus, well…

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Foothills

I dropped a couple clients off at the Animal Shelter this afternoon and then finally found that nice field to hang out in for a brief thirty minutes before heading back to get them.

This time it was off Stateline Road next to the foothills of the Grand Tetons. Not a bad place to stop but I had to be careful to keep my bus on the East side of the road (Idaho) and walk over to the West side of the road (Wyoming) to take this shot.

For insurance purposes our buses are not allowed in Wyoming…

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Piper II

I transport a bunch of kids during my workweek. Over the years I’ve tried to learn all of their names but this year there just seems to be fewer brain cells left to store them with.

I was hanging out on the bus this afternoon with a couple of kids, waiting for the rest of the bunch to board. I’ve transported the girl before but I didn’t know her name. She was around seven, cute, full of character and poise. She reminded me of a re-incarnated country singer with a slight twang. And then Timmy called her Piper and, as everyone who reads this blog knows, that’s our cat’s name.

When we pulled into Driggs for the drop, my buddy Tori from the Community School was there to pick up her daughter Piper. It all came together in a cosmic splash and made perfect sense. Tori is a teacher and one cool lady, outgoing, boisterous and fun, with a great personality. Piper is just a young Tori! Wow…

When I told her my cats name is Piper she said “Your the one in the valley who has the cat named Piper!” I’m assuming Tori is friends with the folks at the Driggs Vet Clinic…

You gotta love a small town :-) Anyway, just to put things in perspective, I spotted this big lump laying in front of our Rannai heater in the dark after dinner so I flipped on the flash and grabbed this shot of our warm and cuddly Miss Personality.

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Goodies

As another season rolls in, I’m armed and ready, thanks to Steph. One Christmas a few years back I gave the kids brand new five dollar bills. Fortunately, only a couple of my current kids remember that. :-)

btw: Each bag contains a variety of little chocolate candies…

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Frozen Fuji

I left an almost full bottle of water in the cup holder of my bus last night. When I got to work this morning I put my coffee cup in the cup holder and noticed that the water didn’t move when I sat it down.

Never realized it got that cold in the cab!
It was only down to 16°…

SlideShow (Frozen Fuji)

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Cool Monday

I initially named this post Cold Monday but then I realized it’s a balmy 20 degrees this morning so I better save that title for later. Anyway, the snow on my vehicles windshield is deceiving in that there’s a nice layer of ice underneath.

Once things got warmed up a bit I was able to see that the crack has extended quite a ways from the little tape mark on the right!

SlideShow (Cool Monday)

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The Tip

I’ve got a new customer named Donna. She’s a retired art teacher and rides occasionally to therapy. Yesterday as I was taking her home she asked if I could pull up to Brolums so she could grab a free Jackson paper. I said sure, it’s not company policy but it scores points in company karma.

As I pulled into her driveway I realized I had completely forgotten her Brolums request, just drove right on by. She was very gracious but I felt bad. I told her I would make it right somehow during my busy afternoon runs. I was covering both routes yesterday but I managed to pick up a paper and stash it next to my seat.

Later on I was driving the Community School kids to Driggs and was passing her house so I pulled into her subdivision and announced on the loudspeaker “I need a volunteer!” Kalub was the first to raise his hand, with Ann and Quincy right behind him. I handed the paper to Kalub as Donna came out. He delivered the paper and she handed him something. You should have seen the look on the girls faces (eyes wide, jaws dropped) as Kalub got back on the bus with a five dollar bill in his hand. Priceless!

I quickly converted the bill to five ones and each of my five kids got a tip, and they smiled all the way to Driggs. I let the moms know what happened when I arrived and everything was cool. Thanks Donna!

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Driving Shoes

I inadvertently took this shot of my shoes today, as I sat in my bus. The energy given off by my driving foot, versus the foot at rest, is quite distinctive…

DART

I had quite the illustrious transportation career in the Seattle area before moving here, as the lead road supervisor for the largest para-transit company on the West Coast, for several years. I moved on to a non-profit called HopeLink and supervised the terrific free Shopper Shuttle program in Kent, WA.

This E450 was one of our work horses and it’s interesting to compare it to our fleet of Ford chassis buses here in Idaho, seven years later.

The wheelchair lift was in the front…

The seats weren’t anywhere near as comfortable as they are here.

And the cockpit with it’s little Nextel seems pretty plain. (Ours now)
It was, and still is, a great bus service!

SlideShow (DART)

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Spreading Crack

We’ve been doing a lot of bus shuffling lately. My old bus 801 actually has less than 47K miles on it of which I’ve accounted for 99%. The smaller frame vehicles, 844 and 845 are bumping up against 70K. Bus 845 has been my regular ride for a while and I’ve racked up most of those miles. Karen’s bus is 844.

It’s nice to have three vehicles in the rotation up here but they require more work to keep them going since we’re an hour and a half away from the shop.

I’m driving 801 again and it’s great to have this lumbering sixteen passenger rig with the terrible turning radius back on the road again! Unfortunately she’s been sitting around too much and has developed a bottom crack from the middle of the windshield, working upward towards the drivers side. It’s far from impeding my view, but…

I put a little piece of tape on it, exactly covering the tip of the crack, a couple of days ago. As you can see, it’s decided to keep on spreading. Time to let the company know…

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Pimps Gang

I ran into Bobbi the Pimp and three of her gang at Senior Meals today. Quiet Jim was there along with Steady Wes and Smiley Pat. The other four were back at the hangout.



Not sure what The Pimp has in mind for these nefarious rascals…

SlideShow (Pimps Gang)

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Halloween Treats 2

I’ve got a bunch of new kids this year ranging from pre-school through six grade. I also have some veterans who remember last years candy handout.

Steph has whipped up a new batch of treats and I set the box on the floor by my seat this morning. The look on my kids faces as they boarded the bus was priceless. They knew these little bundles had to be for them! They each got one as they left the bus.

Once again, Steph does all the work and I get all the love :-)

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Summer Swag

The day started out this morning with one of my Community School kids, Owen, giving me a homemade pop-tart (delicious). A few minutes later Kalub’s mom Gloria drove up and gave me some homemade peach jam (delicious).

Taylor’s mom Summer asked me yesterday if I liked brownies. After she assured me they were unaltered, I said yes :-) I was thinking they were going to be there today, but maybe tomorrow…

Finally, to end the day, K-Dawg handed me a brown paper bag as I picked up D.J. I could tell by the shape what it was but I wanted to wait until I got home. She couldn’t resist and told me it was from our brand-new Potato Vodka place. I was thrilled, homemade right here in the valley. Thanks guys, much appreciated.


Pinterest…

SlideShow (Summer Swag)

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Humvee Hauler

I was at our 5th Street base today when a military rig arrived and hooked up with the big Emergency Generator that’s been parked next to our backup bus for months.

This powerhouse generator exists for emergencies but there are none that I know of at the moment and the two guys in the Humvee weren’t in a hurry. In fact, they stopped in front of me so I could take this shot :-) I wonder what’s up?

And my little truck is there in the background…

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801 at Rest

Bus 801 and I have a lot of history. I drove her up to Teton Valley from Rexburg a couple of years ago with about 1100 miles on her. We mounted some killer studded tires and a really tough winter was won over. I took some heat for some dinged fiberglass around the wheel wells but I was just knocking off some insane ice.

801 went down South last summer but showed up here again as our backup bus. I have just finished my employment in this young girl. She’s all primped and pretty for service.

SlideShow (801 at Rest)
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