June 2013 – Page 2 – Bus Driver Jim

Betty’s Birthday

Mark Twain once said Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. So be your own light. Find your own way. It should be easy with all those candles. :-)

Happy Birthday Betty!

Or play the song from this Link…

Your Birthdate: June 17, 1944. Here is what you need to know:

1944 was a leap year
Sign of the Zodiac: Gemini
Birth Flower: Rose
Symbolization of Flower: Love, gratitude, appreciation
Chinese Year of the Monkey
Birthstone: Pearl

Estimated population growth in the world in your lifetime: More than 4.5 billion people

Academy Award nominees for Best Picture in 1944
The winner was: Going My Way

Other nominees for Best Picture were:

Double Indemnity
Gaslight
Since You Went Away
Wilson

Winner of the Nobel Peace Price in 1944: Comité international de la Croix Rouge (International Committee of the Red Cross)

Time Magazine’s Man of the Year for 1944: Dwight David Eisenhower

Best Selling NonFiction Book in the U.S. in 1944: I Never Left Home by Bob Hope

Some world leaders at the end of 1944:

United States – President: Franklin D. Roosevelt – Democrat
Britain – Prime Minister: Winston Churchill – Conservative (Coalition Government)
Canada – Prime Minister: Mackenzie King
Australia – Prime Minister: John Curtin – Labor
Mexico – President: Manuel Ávila Camacho

Betty is my most prolific Commenter!

Lookout Point

This morning I drove up to a place I call Lookout Point. It’s only a few miles from the house and smack dab in the middle of bear country. As I walked up the hill I kept looking behind me to insure I wasn’t getting cut off. I carried my head banger in the same hand as my skinny tripod so I’m sure they were intimidated.

b.t.w. You know you can click any photo to see it in full browser mode, right?

Here’s a weird little video I shot coming back to the truck:

SlideShow (Lookout Point)

Valley Clips

I had a few shots sitting on my desktop that I’ve decided to share before archiving them. Here’s a cropped shot of the outhouses, the Teton River off S Bates and a typical Valley ranch entry. It’s a beautiful day here, Steph is in the South and my truck’s waiting…

SlideShow (Valley Clips)

Piper Update

As the weekend approaches and it’s just me and the cat hanging out I figured I better issue a Piper Update for her many fans. Nothings really changed much, still yawning and sleeping. She has taken to hanging out on my favorite rocking chair, that’s new!

Hottub bathing suits are still a prefered blanket…

…and her shaved area is growing new hair back!

Just hanging out in meditative bliss.

SlideShow (Piper Update)

His & Hers

I took this photo of authentic old outhouses last week off of South Bates Road and converted it to a painting. Note the hitching post in front. In the old days couples could chat while taking care of business, and their horses could graze.

Bad Lunch

I ate the Mexican girls lunch yesterday, and she watched me do it!

Here’s what went down. I ended up in the Wendy’s in Rexburg for lunch after failing to find a place that serves a decent fish sandwich. This town is really a fast food loving place and around noon all hell breaks loose. They must have had new people on the line because the orders were stacking up and as soon as I paid my money, I wanted it back.

I ordered a flatbread chicken sandwich medium combo with an unsweetened iced tea and no clue what the with-it was. I assumed fries… After standing off to the side for a while I texted “Never eat at Wendy’s” to Steph and was considering my exit options when the lady shoved a tray at me.

It had something wrapped in paper, a very tall drink and a baked potato. I liked the potato side so I took it. I found a table next to a young Mexican guy with his baby in a high-chair and dug into the potato. The sandwich was what I ordered, but with different sauce. The tall drink turned out to be Dr Pepper.

I knew then I’d gotten the wrong order but it was too late, so I just ate the food. The young guys wife arrived at their table and when I glanced over at them she was staring at my baked potato, and my Dr Pepper, with a strange look on her face.

Suddenly I remembered that she was directly in front of me in line and I recall her ordering a large Dr Pepper. Oh shit! Not only was I eating her lunch I was within smacking distance if she wanted.

I hope she liked my iced tea and fries :-)

Tornado Warning

I was just leaving Rexburg this afternoon when I got a tornado alert on my phone. We don’t get tornadoes here but this was the real deal. My co-worker Karen called saying it was heading to Victor. Gee, so was I for my last drop of the day.

I notified dispatch and they had my back as I headed back to the valley. Apparently the thing broke up as it ran into Teton Pass and I have to say, it was a storm like I haven’t seen here before. The photo I grabbed back at base doesn’t do justice to it compared to being up close and personal to it in Victor.

SlideShow (Tornado Warning)

Another Notch

Nine months ago I came back to work for TRPTA driving the local bus here in Teton Valley, ID. I had left the company for the summer to realize a bucket list item called Take a summer vacation! Had a great time…

TRPTA hired me back in the slightly diminished capacity of part time. Turns out I’ve been putting in full weeks all winter with just a few hours shy of 40.

So here we are again at the brink of summer. Work began to wind down early in June as the local school system started their vacation and the Victor school ended today.

My co-worker Karen and I are now running alternating daily inter-city trips down to Rexburg where one of us stays there for the day, performs a few rides, and then come back. It allows us to flesh out how one person can manage Teton Valley for the summer.

June 28 will be my last day of regular employment as I’m turning the Valley operations over to Karen. She will run the show until I return in September.

During these last nine months we have had no accidents, no incidents, never got stuck in the snow, flawless on-time performance and worked through illnesses without calling off. We’ve kept our vehicles maintained locally and have not required a single visit from a company supervisor.

You’re welcome TRPTA!

Now I enter a two month phase where I’m free to travel the country at will yet still be available if I need to jump in and drive the bus if the situation arises. In other words I’m still on the payroll, just not driving unless I’m needed.

Thank you TRPTA!

Karen and I have just put another notch in our well worn high-country winter driving belts, and we’re damned proud of it…

Farm Land

I keep taking these pictures, hoping to convince folks that have never been here, that they need to come and visit. You out of towners know who you are!

SlideShow (Farm Land)

Tree Creek

I’ve been transporting Lottie to Rexburg lately and the road that leads over to Hwy 33 has a photo-op I’ve been wanting to grab. This afternoon I was cruising slowly down her dusty road (keeping the dust level low for the neighbors) when I approached the spot.

I glanced in my rear-view mirror and noticed Lottie was asleep. Nobody in front or behind of me for miles so I slowed to a stop on top of the little bridge this creek flows under on it’s way to the Teton River, rolled down my window, and took this shot.

Peticure

I gave Piper her peticure yesterday as she napped by the hottub. I’m sure she enjoyed it as the tail was wagging while she pretended to be asleep.

Coffee Table

A classy new coffee table made it’s appearance in our living room today.

Toy Tied

Piper’s not aware that I’ve tied one of her toys to her belly! It’s Saturday morning fun :-)

Little Red Tractor

I know there’s still snow in the mountains, but Summer’s here, finally. The forecast is for 80° by Sunday! The farmers have done their Spring planting and the Valley is coming alive again.

There are so many photo-ops around me that all I need to do is shoot, and give them a title. Today was a prolific day and I’ll be rolling out more like these in the next few posts.

SlideShow (Little Red Tractor)

Lotties Place

I did an inter-city run down to Rexburg today, picking up our regular Lottie out on her family farm in Tetonia and taking her to Rexburg for the day. I stuck around, did some local pickups and then brought her home in the afternoon.

This is their working farm. No pretense here, just the vehicles they need to get the job done. They even had a bad-ass barking farm dog that threatened my ability to load her.

SlideShow (Lotties Place)