9/20/2012, JL: Back at it Donna.
SM: lovely photo of you Donna
9/8/2015, KH: Tres cool
me: thanks, that was in Manitoba, where I drove for the French school division. We don't have that, here. We have French Immersion in some schools, but I don't know if they use the French signs on the buses. I've never seen them, here.
KH: Oh. Interesting.Then this an old picture.
me: Yes, it's from June, 2012
SM: lovely photo of you Donna
9/8/2015, KH: Tres cool
me: thanks, that was in Manitoba, where I drove for the French school division. We don't have that, here. We have French Immersion in some schools, but I don't know if they use the French signs on the buses. I've never seen them, here.
KH: Oh. Interesting.Then this an old picture.
me: Yes, it's from June, 2012
August 11/18: a dependency on technology?! LOL, I was on the road, Thursday, for almost all of the time between 4:30 am - 9:30 pm. My phone had not been charging properly and yet, it managed to get me to where I needed to be at 8:20 am, almost. It got me to the right place, but I could not see the Tim Hortons I needed, and then it died. I could not contact the person I was meeting, I could not try any further online searches. I did the old fashioned, walk into the local Subway and ask for directions. She said it's right across the road! She came outside and pointed in the right direction. I could not see Timmies. I could not even see a way across the road! There was a barrier in the middle with trees growing. She said it's across the street, behind the trees. Out of time, I had no choice but to trust her. LOL Amazingly, there was a break in the busy traffic and I had no problems getting around the barrier. Sure enough, there was a Timmies there, and as I pulled into the first parking spot I could find, there was my friend, right across from me!!! wow! From there, I thought I had some spare time, so I went back to Chedoke Radial trail to refresh my enjoyment of my "mountain climbing". Thankfully, I didn't go far, deciding to get on with my next part of the day's adventure. I went to the Hamilton yard for a staff barbecue. It's not there, it's in Dundas. Where's Dundas? LOL The sweet lady covering for our staff, also happened to be from out of town, so she did what she knew best, she printed off the Google Maps instructions. They were so wrong. :/ They started me off in the right direction, but 750 m was more like 7 km. I couldn't find the street, though I'd been in this area a few times before. The 750m was throwing me off. I went a little more than a km, and realized, I'd gone further than the directions were telling me. I turned around, still couldn't find my street,so what to do? I pulled directly in front of the exit doors of a fire/ paramedic station. I have had to stop there before, waiting for emergency vehicles to go flying out those doors, so I am very aware that my choice of parking spot is bad. LOL and then the ambulance left, pulling around me. I tried to make sure either side of me could get out if needed. The fire fighters were just closing up the bay doors on their side, when I begged that they might be able to help me. They reopened the bay doors and we discussed my predicament. I was hopeful that they would know the streets like the back of their hands, and they didn't. LOL :/ One guy consulted his GPS while the other was practically jumping up and down about taking me to "the map". GPS failed. I said I feel like I'm parked in a bad place, so the one guy asked me to move my van and the other was so eager to check the map. I handed the one guy my van key, "are you sure?" he asked me. What's he going to do? Steal my van?! LOL He drives a fire truck, I hope that means he can manage a mini van! He did a fine job, and of course, he knows better than me, where to put the van. Meanwhile, we went to check the map. All of Hamilton, on a very big wall. It was incredibly disturbing how neither of these guys could find their station on the map. That "you are here" marker could not be found. Oh, wait, down around knee level, there it is, a tiny pin. So, it took them a few tries to figure out a way for me to get there. You could try this way... or this way... there really is no good way... :/ Because the map was so big, driving up so close to the ceiling seemed like it would take me a full day to get there. That Google map I had told me that I needed a half hour from the yard, which is on the other side of Hamilton from this particular fire station. I felt like my half hour was way more than expired. I seemed to be about half way between home and where I needed to be. I had to be back in Simcoe to deliver six cases of honey and then back in Windham Ctr to start my farm run. The temptation to give up on the barbecue was very real. This was becoming a very expensive pursuit of a hamburger. Chin up, I decided to go for it. LOL, These guys worked so hard to try to help me, I thanked them for their time and asked if any of them like honey. No, they were fine. :)
I found my street, ah, yes, where my GPS had abandoned me in the bottom of a ravine, earlier this year. But this time, I had some experience and no two-way radio. I had very vivid memories of driving a big yellow bus straight down the mountain, to the corner of Dundas and Dundas (with the GPS lady pronouncing it "Dundis", which does NOT help build any confidence in her abilities). I made it down to Main Street, the instructions from Google Maps were starting to make sense again, but then, not quite. I also had to make a decision to avoid a road closure, which I didn't realize was the road that I needed. I made a couple of quick turns, stopped and asked two more people for directions, and hmmm, the street ends, is this the park? I drove around, there were a couple of buses from our company, parked beside a pavilion of people who looked like they were from a senior's home. Oh, the other side of the pavilion! That's us! I know some of the faces, not many. If I hadn't initially seen one of our dispatch ladies, I would have walked right on past. still searching. The food was good, I chatted with a couple of other people, I tried to resuscitate my phone, I spent some time waiting for a beautiful yellow swallow tail butterfly to let me out of my van, eventually having to scare it away so I wouldn't step on it. I should have repositioned my van but didn't because of the butterfly! LOL Bug keepers, right?! ;) I was just finished a last-minute pit stop, ready to head back to the van and ran into a coworker who had her family here from Europe! She was happy to see me and introduced me to her family. I was thrilled to see her and to meet them. While I was driving around, feeling hopelessly lost, I had thought of her, probably working at her other job, missing the barbecue. Her brother used to be a beekeeper! LOL :D We talked "shop" for a few minutes, and, OH! would you like some Canadian honey?! I have some!!! I ran back to the van and brought a bottle of honey for my coworker and one for her brother's family to take home with them!
I had chatted with the out of town driver who also happened to be the day's grill master, who gave me some helpful advice on how to get back to the 403. :) I was well on my way home! I debated on whether or not I still had time to treat my boys to the Arby's that they were hoping for. I actually didn't have to wait long for the food, nor to get back onto 24, which is a huge big deal! I got everywhere I needed to be, within a reasonable time, or in perfect timing, in some cases. One last, very important thought I had through it all, is even when all else feels like nothing but chaos, God is still in control, and He still has a plan to bless us. He continues to be faithful through it all.
July 22/18: I was going through some old posts today in fb memories. Some responses were from people who have passed on, which makes it more difficult to delete them. Treasure your friends and loved ones today as tomorrow is not promised to any of us. 💖💖💖
April 10/18 · 60% chance of snow today. I'll take it! It feels like it's cooling off and there were snow flakes after my hike, but otherwise, it's an amazing, perfect day!!!
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me: Flying today!!!! 🤓. It's almost Spring!!! LOL. Finally!!! 😎🐝🐝🐝
AC: Good for you Donna With Mountain you was on. in Hamilton. love to here that, 🤗🤗😉
me: Yes, when you go down the mountain on 403, there's a waterfall. I start around that waterfall and actually cross the little stream as it goes from an upper falls to a lower falls. I love it!!!
me: Sadly, I won't be visiting my latest favourite part of the mountain. My parking spot is too wet. I almost got the bus stuck!
April 5, 2018: As I was delivering papers today, I spooked a skunk that was in the ditch. It tried to run away (thankfully, as you know it had other options) and ran along the ditch, right beside my van. Slightly panicked, I just kept hoping and praying that it wouldn't run out in front of me. It didn't, but my next thought, as I approached the next house was, "I really hope I don't throw the paper too close to the poor critter". By the time I got the paper out the window, I could not see nor smell the skunk. Let's call this a "REALLY GOOD DAY!". :D
March 30, 2018: As I was driving to work, yesterday, I was passed by three commercial vehicles, all in a row. I used to work for two of the companies and the other was one of the companies that I work for now! My life literally flashed before my eyes at about 100 kph! LOL
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April 5, 2016 · for those who are still stewing over the buses being out on the roads, yesterday, ... my bus weighs 14 1/2 tons, has "good rubber, good tire, good tread", does pretty well on ice or snow. I have extensive driver training, from a truck driving school and repeatedly through the school bus company, plus subarctic driving experience (six months of continuous winter driving). we are trained with the defensive driving program that is considered to be the world's best, and we are reminded of that program, daily, in our driver safety messages. We have to know how to stay away from those who don't know how to drive, regardless of the weather, too. I also have enough fuel to keep that bus running all day if I need to. I do not do my job for the pay, I do it for the kids. safety is our top concern, every.single.day that we're on the roads. now those who didn't know, do.
me: we're all human, we have all made mistakes, but for the most part, those school bus drivers out there are pretty good and truly do care about their passengers. :D
SB: Colton had to change busses yesterday. ... I think it died tho... lol
me: I'm sure it was an adventure for him! "evacuating" a bus; I've had to do it a few times, already. Kids are good, all safety measures in place, just extremely high-stress for me. The last time I did one was in a school parking lot, and while I was busy trying to count students out loud (very loudly so there was no mistake of what I was doing), some of the kids were trying to ask me questions. 24, 25, 26, "What bus do I ride, tomorrow?" 27, 28, 29, ...
Dec. 24/15: A balmy Canadian Christmas staycation, down at Pt Dover beach! The blue drink is Blue Bubble Gum Jones Soda but I sure got a strange look when I jumped in the van and gulped it down. Drinking and driving would cost me so much more than just my job - there's no intention of ever doing such a thing. Be safe my friends, and no drinking and driving! Be safe for all of us! Merry Christmas!
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CS:That was so funny how many people gawked at us when we ran back to the van and drank down the rest of the drinks. I can understand how it looked to others though.
April 5, 2014 · Only a minute of freezing rain then all smooth sailing. I'm an hour early for missionfest = breakfast and a power nap! Have a great day!
9/5/12: Pisew Falls: on one of my last trips back to Thompson, Mb. Driving a school bus, one of the wipers broke, I had to stop a few times to adjust the broken wiper. One time when I stopped, a three-truck crew of hydro workers slowed down to make sure I was ok. In the land of preditors such as bears, wolves, and lynx, it's nice to
know that we look out for each other! I had to stop again, near the falls, to fix my wiper. I thought it was getting to be too dark for a pic, but the water reflected what light was left, and I got an amazing pic! A guy also noticed me earlier on this 500 mile trek, and
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mentioned it. I thanked him for mentioning it and told him that if he sees me along side the road again, it might be too dark for my comfort level to have to fix my wiper. Thankfully, I did make it home without having to stop again.
MH: Beautiful! I just love falls!
me: It was way too dark to even consider stopping, but I had to fix my wiper blade anyway and it was far too dark to walk down to the falls by myself and far too rainy for anyone to stop by, but all prayers were answered and this photo is the result!!! :)
MH: Beautiful! I just love falls!
me: It was way too dark to even consider stopping, but I had to fix my wiper blade anyway and it was far too dark to walk down to the falls by myself and far too rainy for anyone to stop by, but all prayers were answered and this photo is the result!!! :)