This Is Not A
BLOG!
Date: 04/05/06
Better To Travel Hopefully...?
I had an...interesting...journey home today.
It had been a particularly hectic day at work, not helped by the
fact that it was very warm, so I wanted to get home even more than
usual.
Caught the bus across the road from the office. About a third of
the way up, we met another bus coming down, whose driver motioned ours
to stop. We saw the other driver gesticulating extravagantly, and then
our driver pulled in to the kerb and switched the engine off.
Our driver (a young bloke, one of those from the Greater Europe who
have come here to steal our jobs - you know, the jobs that fine,
upstanding, hard-working master-race Brits can't be arsed to get of bed
to do) climbed out of the cab. "I'm on fire!", he said, quite
calmly. It turned out that the smoke was coming out of the back of the bus
rather than himself.
So we trooped off the bus while he activated the fire extinguisher
in the engine compartment, then opened the...erm...can you still call
it a 'bonnet' if it's where the 'boot' should be? A lot of water on the
road at this point, as we stood waiting for the next bus, which would
be due in about ten minutes. Much grumbling from the assorted Nathans
and Kellys, but after
a few minutes a relief bus turned up and we piled on. Our driver sorted
out his ticket machine and the destination board, and off we went
(having just been passed by the next scheduled bus, which we then
overtook at the next bus stop).
Another mile or so further on, and we stopped unexpectedly in a
narrow lane. "Oh, no!", said the driver. "This one's the
same! Can anyone smell smoke?"
"No", we said.
"Better check, anyway", he said, clambered out of the cab
and went round the back of the bus. This held up the later bus, which
was now right behind us.
Our driver got back on. "Looks OK", he said, "But I'll
keep the doors open."
Anyway, I got off the bus at my usual stop and walked the hundred
yards home.
About fifteen minutes later, I happened to come into the living
room for something and saw the replacement bus going past...
...attached to the business end of a tow-truck.
Some people do have bad days, don't they?
Footnote (05/05/06): I came out of the house this morning to
catch the 07:30 bus as usual. We saw it go up the road into the estate,
and waited...and waited...and after a while saw another bus going up. A
few minutes later, a bus reached us. Someone asked, "Are you
late?", to which the driver replied,"No, I'm on time. The bus
before me broke down..."
