I’ve had to do some trimming to the ‘Blogs I Read’ bus related list on the left. Deleted, because they are no longer updated, were To the Regiment which is a real shame because it was one of my favourites, Brighton bus driver and I am the Passenger. I am the Passenger was good but didn’t last long and I’ve now replaced it with On Trains and Buses which is also written by a bus user rather than driver.

David’s Bus Driving is still there even though he doesn’t drive a bus anymore. It’s a great blog and one which I shall continue to read, it stays under ‘Bus Related’ because David makes many postings about bus matters.

All the blogs listed under ‘Zimbabwe’ continue to be very active and give a real insight into the enormous difficulty of simply surviving in a country run by a mad man. As an example Cathy Buckle’s latest posting is the entry below this one.

The Freeview digibox in the kitchen gave up the ghost so I bought a replacement along with the groceries in Sainsburys. Once home it was whipped out of the box connected to the TV and switched on, after that everything seemed intuitive and it was up and running in minutes. I’m not one to read the instructions …………. unles all else fails. And then I saw the label on the box “Security Protected – Please remove prior to putting in microwave”. Anyone know how long you have to microwave a digibox?

Yesterday I found a wallet on my bus, it contained credit cards etc and a reasonable amount of cash. When I got to Winchester I handed it in to the office. About 10 minutes later a Leading Driver found me in the canteen and asked if I’d found a wallet on my bus because someone was asking about it at the bus station. I told him what I’d done and since the office was closed for lunch he had to retrieve the wallet himself and give it back to the owner. I guess the owner must have said what bus he was taking back because he was told that the driver who’d handed it in was the driver of his bus back and was given a hint to thank (tip) the driver. He did indeed got on the bus and say ‘Thank you” but that was that.

At the guy’s stop an old lady was also getting off. She looked at me and said that she was looking forward to “getting indoors” and having a cup of tea, adding “Here’s a cup of tea for you” and gave me a pound. I’d done nothing for the lady that I wouldn’t do for any passenger and yet she was was generous and kind to me. The guy I’d reunited with credit cards, bank notes and coins just got off without a ‘Goodbye’ or ‘Cheerio’ :-(

When the Stagecoach depot where I work lost the contract to run Megabus services from our local area I was pretty fed up. I’ve always hated running in small circles in a town environment and that was pretty much all Stagecoach in Winchester did. For four months I’ve been pretty miserable and only stayed working there in the belief that nothing lasts forever. It’s because I had little enthusiasm for the job that I stopped blogging. And now, thanks to Hampshire County Council, things have changed which you can read about here. It was decided that these services would be operated on their own rota system with three full time drivers on the rota, with a few others doing one duty a week each, and I was fortunate enough to get a place on the rota!

I’ve just completed my first full week and feel pleased about doing these runs. It may sound straightforward to run from Winchester to Salisbury but this is a rural service so straight lines are unheard of, it could best be described as meandering from Winchester to Salisbury. The actual meanderings vary almost every journey, the route number remains the same but the places you go vary on the time of day. There seem to be more variations on this route than opening gambits in chess!

Often I’m a little cheeky with my passengers, if they say something like “Do you go past the hospital?” I ask them “How far past do you want to go!”. Or, “Do you stop at the Rail Station?” I reply “Only if someone rings the bell”. This week, unknowingly, one of them got their own back on me. They simply held up a concessionary pass and kept walking past me. “Where are you going I asked?” as my fingers hovered over the ticket machine (despite Concessionary passes giving free travel a ticket, at nil cost, must issued). “I’m going to sit down!” was the answer!

From thisislondon.

A bus spotter has decided to give up his lifelong hobby of photographing
buses because people fear he is a terrorist and even a paedophile.

Rob McCaffrey – who calls himself an omniboligist – has been taking
pictures of buses all over the world for forty years but has only ever
faced problems in Britain.

Over the time the 50-year-old has amassed a collection of 30,000
photos of buses, trams and coaches.

‘

Rob McCaffrey has been forced to hang up his camera after more than
40 years – because he keeps being mistaken for a terrorist and
paedophile

But Rob says that in politically correct Britain he is finding it increasingly
difficult to continue his beloved hobby because of the fear and suspicion
he causes among onlookers.

In the last year he has been questioned twice by the police and had to
give all his personal details after people who saw him innocently
snapping buses on public roads reported him.

Rob, from Robinswood, Gloucester, explains: ‘Since the 9/11 attacks
there has been a crackdown on security and it seems everyone with a
camera is now regarded as a potential criminal.’
Enlarge Rob McCaffrey

Distraught Rob, pictured with wife Jay, has been fascinated by buses,
trams and coaches since he was a schoolboy

“The past two years have absolutely been the worst. I have had the
most appalling abuse from the public, drivers and police over-exercising
their authority.

‘People like me just want to enjoy our hobby without harassment but it is
impossible now.’

Rob says his love affair with buses has taken him all over Europe but
authorities in Britain have treated him the worst.

The credit controller says his first brush with the law was in Pontypridd,
South Wales, last September.

A bus driver took exception to being photographed and called the police,
who demanded to see what Rob had on his camera.

A second incident in Monmouth saw a Police Community Support Officer
approach Rob and run his name and address through police computers
after a member of the public complained he had been acting strangely.

While Rob admits the image of a bespectacled, mac-wearing trainspotter
taking down train numbers does apply to some extreme bus and train
enthusiasts, the vast majority are normal everyday people, like himself.

Rob’s wife Jay, 46, agrees: ‘My brother drives a bus in London, and
says if he had a pound for every time a tourist took a picture, he’d be a
millionaire.’

‘It happens every day. The spotters are just an easy target.’

Under the law, t is not illegal to take photos in a public place, but under
Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, police officers may randomly stop
someone without reasonable suspicion, if the area is a likely target for
an attack.

The issue was brought up in the House of Commons by MP and
amateur snapper Austin Mitchell about photographers’ rights after he
was stopped twice himself.

But Rob is now fed up of the accusations, and says police need to stop
using their authority to the extreme.

‘I can deal with the fact someone might think I’m a terrorist, but when
they start saying you’re a paedophile it really hurts,’ he said.

‘We don’t want to support people doing something illegal, but while the
police are wasting their time with me a terrorist could be planning his
next atrocity.’

A Gloucestershire Police spokeswoman said: ‘If a member of the public
becomes suspicious of an individual taking photos in public and makes a
complaint to a police officer, the officer will first discuss the matter with
the photographer.

‘Normally the individual is more than happy to disperse any suspicion by
showing an officer their photos and one of the benefits of digital
cameras is that this can be done on the spot.

‘However, if the officer remains suspicious as to the content of the
images or the photographers intentions they have the authority, under
the Police and Criminal Evident Act, to seize the camera and arrest the
individual.