The first day of school, or hell if you prefer
I really and truly have mixed emotions about this day. It is Ashley’s first day of 1st grade which is really great. It is also the first day back on the bus, which is chaos and tries to suck the joy out of this great day. Ashley and I got up at 5 a.m. this morning and Ashley got dressed in a pretty navy jumper with a new crisp white oxford underneath. She wore new white tights, and new pink shoes. She ate breakfast at home and off to the bus we went. We were having a great morning, picking up the kids and getting everyone to school.
Ashley started to make new friends from the elementary portion of the route, and it was a long route. Some of you might understand the frustration of trying to turn across heavy traffic at uncontrolled intersections. I get to do it in a school bus 5 times every morning. It took forever this morning since there were no crossing guards out this morning. When we finally reached the elementary school 15 minutes later then we were supposed to be, but still before classes started. Ashley and I parked the bus, which was not easy, and walked to school to meet her new teacher. So far the morning is going very well, it is once I leave Ashley at school that the day turns bad.
I take the bus back to base to write up the multitude of defects I have noticed while driving the bus, including but not limited to the fact that the steering wheel shakes badly when you drive more then about 41 mph, which indicates tire problems. I go into base take care of paperwork issues and talk to my Supervisor. My A.M. only schedule is a go for the year and everything looked good so I had Paul come pick me up. I get home and start reading the paper, I get to the Opinion page and there is an opinion article titled “Union isn’t answer” and this article says the union vote is today. I immediately start making phone calls to confirm because I was understanding that the union vote was next Tuesday. I finally get someone to answer the phone at the office and I am told that they have nothing to do with the union vote so they have no idea when the vote is. I guess we will see, and I will know tomorrow if I was right or wrong. Let you guys know tomorrow.