I’ve been busy lately at work. Who would have thought that driving a bus would tire someone like me out. Wow! Having to deal with the I-5 traffic 3 to 4 times a day, sometimes more ,depending on what blocks I get, can be really exciting and tiring as well. I’ve now been on my own, driving buses, for 3 weeks and I love it.
2 weeks ago I went to 2nd Stumptown DG bag tag challenge event. I didn’t do as well as I would have liked, but I did find out how to improve my game, watch what better players do and try to implement what they do. Sounds simple enough.
The second installment of the Stumptown Bag Tag Challenges
will be held on Saturday August 4th at Lunchtime Disc Golf Course.
This challenge will be in conjunction with the first of the
Stumptown Disc Golf Work Parties.
WORK PARTY AM – 12:00pm BRING YOUR TRASH BAGS!
LUNCH 12:00pm – 1:30pm BRING YOUR BEST STUFF!
CHALLENGE (24 HOLES!) 2:00pm – 2 rounds are done! BRING YOUR A GAME!
The challenge will be a potluck just like last time with burgers, and brats, provided by Stumptown. and the rest provided by ALL.
so bring your BEST!
Hope to see a lot of you folks out there in the
AM to clean up the TP hole
This is a members only challenge, but not to worry we will be taking new memberships that day if anyone is interested
memberships are $10, tags are $5.
Brain, Steve, and myself were supposed to meet at 8am, Glenwood DGC. I would rather say that I came home with my lower tag, but no, I came home with the higher of the 3 tags. I had bag tag #42, Brian #49, and Steve #50. Over all I found out that I need to practice my putts more. I found out that I putt well when not under compation, or just when I’m practicing.
I kept hitting trees on my drives that could have made the hole a par. I ended the match with a +7 for 18 holes, Steve had +1, and Brain had +2.
I’ve accepted my first challenge of my bag tag. So tomorrow morning, at 8 am I’m disc golfing with Brian Heath and Steve Carson. The tag that I’m currently holding is #42, Brian’s is #49 and I’m not sure what Steve is holding, he was in the 60’s. We are going to play at the Glenwood DGC. It is a 9 hole course, but we will playing 18 holes as per the rules that I reposted earlier from Stumptown DG’s website.
I will update you tomorrow of the out come. If you are interested in an updated listing visit this link. However you will need to scroll through the pages to get to the current info, or just read it all.
Well I have a week left driving with the senior drivers at C-tran. I’m almost done, soon I will be the captain of my bus. It has been a long 2 months, but the end is coming soon. I will be driving the next 6 months on probation. I’ve heard that I can go full time in about a year or more. After next week I will be a part time driver, but thats ok, because most of the drivers are getting plenty of hours. Starting in September, there will be new routes added and routes changing. So all this means that I should get hours I need.
Also, since I will be released to drive on my own, I will also be able to sign up for other than normal driving. For instance I can work the fair, and amphitheater. Well the fair may be not extra work, but just the same, it still means more hours.
I have 8 more days with the Senior Drivers and then I’ll be on my own. I’m getting the itch to get out and drive some of the routes my self. Don’t get me wrong, I like driving with someone that has been driving for a lot longer than me. If it wasn’t for the Senior Drivers that I have been driving with, I would have made more mistakes than I have. For example, today, I turned on the wrong street, and I had to go around the block to get back on route. When you get off route you need to call in to dispatch and let them know.
There is something about driving a bus that is very exciting. When I started learning how to drive a bus, I had a lot of doubts that I could do it. I was afraid that I was going to make mistakes. Well I have, and I’m learning from them. It takes a lot of skill to know the roads, the bumps, turns, corners and how to maneuver the bus to make a safe and smooth ride. The training that I have received the 5 weeks before being released to the seniors was very intense, and made me feel that I have what it takes to get people to their jobs, shopping or in some cases, stay cool from the heat of a 100 degrees.
I’m never really sure if anyone really reads what I have to say and write. If you are reading my blogs, leave me a note that you have.
Today is my first day driving with Senior drivers with C-Tran. On July 3rd my class and I graduated from our 5 week classroom/basic training in driving a 40ft bus. Today I’m going to be driving to Portland on the #134 Salmon Creek Express, and doing a run the #37/71 Mill Plain/Hwy 99. This afternoon I will be returning to Portland on the #164 Fischer’s Landing Express.
This is a big step in the learning process for me. 15 days from now of driving with Senior Operators, I will be on my own. I started my training with 6 other drivers, but graduated with 4 of them. It’s funny, kids and people make fun of bus drivers, but they don’t really understand the stress and pressure we are under. We need to make sure that we are safe, and get our passengers to their stops on time. Which it is hard to do at times, some of the customers are not so friendly and they feel that we are making them late on purpose, but we are actually getting them there on time.
So far I love my job, hopefully I still feel that way in 5 or more years. I feel I will.
