Silly man

We pick some real odd people up in this job. It's a rule that we do not allow people to travel with a tin of paint. This is because the damage it can cause if spilt can cost thousands to clean and repair the damage it causes. So anyway this morning i'm on the 330 just before Gee Cross when a guy gets on with a tub of paint! After i advised him of our conditions the chap got off and launched the paint onto the footpath then started shouting at me. I'm guessing he was having a bad day lol. After he finished he had the strange idea that he was going to travel on my bus. This idea was soon dismissed by me. Funny old day. That was the first part of my split. I'm hoping the next part on the 347 is just as funny. The picture shows the tub and the mess it made of the path.

Sunny day

Weather is looking very good for today. Just managed to grab a shot before the sun comes up. Not sure how it will look on a computer but it looks nice from here. Busy trip that first one. Although i wish people wouldn't think we carry as much change as a bank especially at 5 in the morning!

Oh! It's early

Just passed through ashton market cycling to work. Can't understand why all these lights are still on. There really isn't any need. Set off at 4am from home. It's nice out so i'm hopini for a nice ride upto dovestones later will see how i feel when i finish. Got 216s first thing which finishes at 840. Bit early for lunch so i brought my cornflakes lol.

St George's Day Parade

Was a bit bored so thought i would have a little ride into Manchester to strech the legs. I came across the St Georges Day Parade. Thought it was a but poor to be honest but it's still nice that some people made the effort. Off today back in at 5am tomorrow which aint fun for a Monday morning but it means i am done for 3. Not all bad.

Busy busy

Piccadilly is very busy today with shoppers and protesters lol. Can't write too much i'm almost about to leave on my 218. Nice easy day today. So different from the rat run that was yesterday.

Unwind time

Not quiet the end of the week yet but i thought i'd cycle upto alexandra park to get some sun. Been a horrible long hard duty today 3 on a 347 then 3 on a 216. It's one of the longer duties we do and it ain't nice on a friday when rush hour comes earlier than usual. I'm in tomorrow at 830am. A full day on the 217 218s, nice! Anyway no beer on this st georges day so i will have to make up for it tomorrow night at the karaoke.

Secrets revealed.

If you ever wondered how the free metro newspaper got on to the bus well this is it. Hardly technical stuff. Just a portacabin and a shopping trolley. It's overtime work for us starting at 4am. I ended up with it today for the first time. Got my own work to do next too which finishes at 1. Good exercise though for first thing in the morning. Yesterday turned fun on the 347 with some guy not wanting to get off my bus with his out of date ticket. The police came and he was removed within a matter of seconds. All good fun though. Especially the cheers off the passengers when he was removed.

Oh it's cold

Am just waiting for my first bus. Two trips on a 347. It's a few minutes late now so i'm guessing crown point is busy. 5 hours on the 7 later too. So not such a bad day although i'm a bit cold today lol.

Still quiet.

Am just sat in stockport waiting to go back to ashton on my 330. This is a 22 which goes to bolton. I have never been on it because it takes forever. Not like the old trans lancs 400 service. This one goes all over the place. It's a shared route with first and stagecoach running it. Off to glossop next from town nice drive upto the hills.

Almost there

Well it's been a pretty tedious week which is almost over. Most schools have been off this week so everything is quiet. Today i'm on the 347 for two trips. Normally not a bad route but anyone who had a school duty is sent out on there instead. Great for the people of haughton green and denton. Not so for me who has times to run too bus noone to pick up because there are so many buses running on there. Later i got 3 trips on a 216 which is completly the opposite on friday and i'm sure by 2pm i will be more than ready for home time. Am off this weekend luckily as the manchester derby hits eastlands so expect huge delays on the new road if you are getting a bus at saturday lunchtime. Not in until monday at 1330 so almost 3 days off. Shame it's going to rain lol

Sneaky

This is burlington street near ashton pool. It's handy to know that if you have to be in ashton early it's a normal street with no parking charges or restrictions. I use when going to the gym. Don't say i didnt tell you lol. It's been a very average week this week. Nothing special happening apart from my 347 having a fuel leak on monday. I found this out when a very panic stricken 219 driver started beeping his horn and waving his hands at me. I'm not in until 1pm today on one of our shorter duties which sees me doing the 1750 glossop bus out of town. Although i'm sure the 3 people who travel through will love stopping at every stop to drop the 216 passengers off. On another move i notice speedwell are running there new s48 service this week free of charge. It's only running for a week and then launches sometime in june i think for a quid like the s50. Good luck to them i say.

Manchester Bike Ride

Maybe Something New!!

I had great plans for this post but it all gone wrong. I use Nokia Sports tracker on my phone which tells me where is am, how many calories i am burning, distance etc etc. It also records every picture you take and places them onto a map so you can see where i was and the time etc that the picture was taken. However for some reason it won't upload so i will have to play some more to see if i can link it up on here.
Anyway yesterday was a very mixed bag. No work so i headed into town via the Rochdale canal which i have never been down to get to Manchester and to be honest is nothing special. If anything i think most of it is pretty crappy. Anyway after that i thought i would do a bit of power cycling to see if i could get to Ashton in the 31 minutes is takes a 216. All was going well was keeping up with a bus until i got to Snipe and i lost 3 spokes on a bump so had to stop and hobble the bike home. Bad day as its glorious outside and i have no bike now. I heard that Wellington Road was closed yesterday following a very severe accident which closed the road outside the bus station for 4 hours. Luckily upto now no one has been killed but someone is in a bad way in hospital so im sure it was chaos around there yesterday, Won't go into the details as i didn't see it. Back in work tomorrow morning at 7 not sure what im on but im sure it will be hard work. I'm not a fan of monday mornings at all. This picture by the way is the new metrolink station at Edge Lane/ Ashton new road in case you wondered. Will try to post more from yesterday when i get chance but there was no great scenery like i have posted before.

Nice try

Got this on the bus this morning on a 330 in hyde. It seems to be pretty common in hyde at the moment. I seem to keep seeing the same idiots trying to get on with altered day riders and now mega riders. This was given away by a number of things including the fact it's valid for 17 days! What great value lol. Only last week there was a lot of 20 quid fines issued to overriders and fare dodgers which is always nice as we have discussed on here before. But it's a case of catching the same people over and over again. what makes my chuckle is the abuse we get when we take there tickets off the idiots as if it's our fault we caught them out lol. Oh well been gym going for dinner then a trip and a half on a 7. Weekend off so bike ride and beer in order.

Very quiet

Just starting my day. I was going to be on the same duty as yesterday but managed to get a swap. I prefer a little variety. Now i'm doing 5 trips on a 345, yes 5! Followed by a single 330. Not too bad. Been a quiet week though with the kids being off too. One more day tomorrow then weekend off.

Great escape

Just on clarence street almost at work. Noticed this hospital wheelchair got so fed up at tameside it has decided to escape lol. There is no escaped patients in sight so i'll carry on to work. Start at 440 this morning. Really is a shame the rail strike was called off would have been nice working out of gillmoss for a change. Instead i have 3 216s for my troubles then a trip on a 330. Nice easy 12pm finish. Had a very relaxing weekend and ready to go now honest lol.

Holidays time

Picture is from a school i did yesterday. I'm just sat in manchester waiting to go to ashton on a 219 which only starts at fairfield road. Been on earlies for the past few days so nothing much happening. Lots going on next week. I'm off after today until tuesday. There was going to be a few of us going on rail replacement in liverpool next week but it's been sorted now so it looks like another weeks fun in ashton lol. Unless the sun comes out and the weather improves dramatically so i can get out on my bike then i won't be posting until tuesday morning very early. Facebookers will catch you over the weekend and all others have a great easter and thanks for reading.