Wednesday, March 11, 2015

School Bus Stuck In Our Drive

There is a Wilmington school bus stuck in our drive this morning.  We've had inches of the rain the past week and I bet he cut it too short and miss the gravel.  He did that in the snow but this morning it is so foggy it isn't safe to be out there in places.  Daylight Savings Time is working against us already.

The district used this barnyard for a cutoff turn around for years before we moved here.  They finally talked me into using it again a couple of years ago and its not working out well.  One driver did the same thing as today's driver did so long I asked the district to come fix it.  They put down two tiny loads of ugly brown gravel from Melvin and today I think the driver must have missed that patch too.  All of our gravel is gray to white from other quarries.  We spread four semi loads the first year we moved here just to catch up.

In the snow I watched him slowly go around the drive, cut too close to the barn and hit my roof drain tile again and left a big mess.  He got stuck that day too but worked himself out of it.  You know what kind of mess that left.  I guess that isn't working this morning.  That's too bad because the big transit bus is hanging out on Martinsville Road far enough traffic can barely pass.  It's a dangerous situation but it's so foggy everyone is creeping down the road anyhow.

He hasn't knocked on the door and Sable hasn't barked so I guess he is OK with his cellphone and FM two way radio talking to his supervisor.  My tractor would pull him right out but I am in no condition to go do that anyway.  He is waiting for the tow truck or whoever is going to pull him out of our drive.

I think I am going to have to back out of our agreement because this isn't working out for either of us.  Whether I've been saving them 5 minutes or 5 miles, this is not worth the hassle.  Farmers or their wives used to drive the local school buses to pick up a little cash but mainly to get their health care benefits.  Farming is so specialized now there aren't that many farmers or wives left driving.  Their time is too valuable.

On paper, the big city transit buses haul more kids per mile but in reality the old conventional school buses are easy to access and repair.  The transit buses are a bear to work on because the engine and transmission is under the bus.  These are so long, they can't make as short a turn as you would think because the dual wheels are way behind the front wheels.

Oh well, I tried to be nice but it didn't work out.

I hope he gets out safely and on his way but some children are late for school this morning.

Ed Winkle

3 comments:

  1. Sounds like quite the ordeal. Our school cancelled today. I would suggest to be very specific in how you want your drive fixed. For instance x amount of stone from y quary. Driveways aren't a school administrator's forte.

    Maybe you could get them to widen your driveway for their continued use?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great ideas but I've tried all of that. It's not in the budget they say. I think Ed better think about what's best for him, too. After 33 years practically living in school buildings, you comment on administrators is almost too appropriate.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great ideas but I've tried all of that. It's not in the budget they say. I think Ed better think about what's best for him, too. After 33 years practically living in school buildings, you comment on administrators is almost too appropriate.

    ReplyDelete