Plan B Forum

After six weeks at home, Gob went to his specialist to see how he was going.

The specialist wanted Gob to have another four weeks off work.

Gob whinged like a little whiney thing and the doctor agreed that he could go back to work on "light desk duties" and that he could start driving again.

Hooray! I thought. Until we actually had him behind the wheel of a car and driving. He can't.

So we went to his doctor this morning to get a chit for him to go back to work.

I told her that the specilist wanted him off for another four weeks and that Gob is in pain driving.

She has duly allowed him to go back to work, but in large letters has written "NO DRIVING".

He had thought work might let him take home one of the automatics they have. No longer sunshine. No driving means NO DRIVING.

I'll be picking up his bus pass this afternoon. I have figured out his routes. I will send him off with his pass knotted into a hanky so he doesn't lose it.

He will now join me in being a "Bus Wanker". I do believe it will be good for his soul.

One of my all time favourite moments on The Inbetweeners.

Can I have the t-shirt?

Guess I've been a bus/bike/train wanker for two years, now.



Can I get a T-shirt too?

My second day of being a bus wanker, and I'm rather enjoying it, surprisingly.

I have to take two busses, one into the city and one to my place of work, so my commute times have gone from 13-15 mins on the bike or 20 mins in the car, to 40-45 mins on the bus.

But, I can read a book or magazine on the bus, there's no parking fees, and no wear and tear on the bike/car, and it's cheap as chips.

It's quite a zen experience.

My walking distances are 150 yards to the bus stop, and 50 yards into work from the depot.

I was paying $6.00 parking for the car, and my bus ride is $2.20 each way.

Hen gets off even better, one bus each way, a shorter walk, and parking in the city is $13.00 a day!

I'm enjoying being a bus wanker.

I miss by public transport commute, although it was one of the best anywhere -- a ferry across Boston harbor -- well stocked with coffee in the morning and beer/wine/scotch in the afternoon. 40 minutes each way of reading, doing the crossword, getting in a little extra work reading, or just watching the lovely scenery. No cheap at $14.00 including parking, but parking in downtown Boston ranges from $12.00 to $40.00/day, depending on where you park and how far you want to walk.

I told you it was fine ... and I was right.

Mind you, I don't suggest that you do it when you are back on shift work.

Nightly buses are a hit and miss.

Here is a damn good reason for catching buses!

Gob - you are invited to a Massive Proper Drinking Session to farewll my Manager. We can catch the bus home once we have finished.

Yay. Sorted.

Well, here in our little western Pa. burg our bus system is mostly on time and the drivers are very interesting. The riders are more than just "very interesting" but rather more like Wal Mart interesting. I wish that, when I was in college, the public transportation system would have been running as I could used it for several psychology papers.

Sounds a hoot Miles!!

This morning, one of my busses was crammed packed, so I ended up standing. A very nice Chinese chap offered me his seat, as I was holding my walking stick, I declined but it was very good of him. A couple of stops further on I got a seat in anycase. Restores your faith etc...

Not like the buses I recall in Birmingham... I once spent an interesting journey on a full bus sat beside a large West Indian lady who was sucking her teeth and glaring at me. My crime? I asked her politely and then insisted that she take her fucking handbag off the seat beside her so that I could sit down.

It was also a given that any nutter who got on the bus would make a beeline towards me no matter where I sat...

Bus story:

This wasn't a civilian commuter, but a shuttle I took a few years ago on a Navy base in Philadelphia. To save space, there were no seats and everyone had to stand; neither were there any windows, thus so it was affectionately called 'The Cattle Car'.
On the walls were hand rails, and across the ceiling were grip straps- which at my size, I couldn't reach. So, of course, there came a day when we were herded into the cattle car, and I was pushed into the center, where I couldn't reach neither rail nor strap ...and away the car went. I could have fallen, or did the next instinctive thing: the weather was cold so everyone was wearing their trench and peacoats; and so, I grabbed the flap of the nearest coat and hung on for dear life.
Fortunately, this was the raincoat of a big Black man built like a tree, so he probably wouldn't have noticed me clinging to him, if I hadn't kept apologizing for tugging on his coattails as we rode.
All he kept stoically saying was, it was all right...

It was also a given that any nutter who got on the bus would make a beeline towards me no matter where I sat...

Liked sitting next to his/her own kind?

Absolutely Dales! These people can always spot a kindred spirit.