Well, the DVLA came up trumps!!!!

Yes, hear the shock in my voice. Licence sent 1st class on Wednesday 13th, returned to me on Friday 22nd.............with everything correct.


So I have to take it all back, my skepticism was undeserved, they came up trumps.


Though if I am going to moan, my old licence expired at the end of August, but as we will be in the Southern Hemisphere then, I did the renewal when the reminder came through. My new licence is valid from the day they issued it, for one day less than ten years............so in effect I have lost a month. Now as the passport people can give you up to nine months credit if you renew your passport early, I don't see why the DVLA can't do the same. Now I know my entitlement to drive has not changed, but if you have to pay £20 every ten years for a new licence, and you renew slightly early, then you aren't getting 10 years are you...............if you see what I mean.????

Let's just give it all away

Yeap, the government are at it again, giving away money that we can ill afford. £23m to the relief effort in Somalia. The US has given half that and countries like Germany, just £3m. Some bloke from the International Development Agency has said that the UK is leading the way, and other countries are not doing enough.


While you cannot blame anyone for the drought, let's just look at Somalia shall we.................civil war for god knows how long, religious extremists (well, probably a gang or tribe using religion as an excuse) trying to take over, no effective government since the year dot..............I am not saying that we shouldn't help people, but why do we have to be giving so much, and should we not be doing more to prevent the drought having such a devastating effect.

No choice.

When DVD's first came out, I remember saying to hubby that we would be forced to watch things by the DVD producers, and how right I was. In the old days of VHS tapes (remember those?) we could fast forward through the boring bits, but now no more. How often have you pressed the skip / fast forward button on the DVD remote only to be told that 'operation prohibited by disc', usually the legal stuff, telling you that it is illegal in most most of the know world to make unauthorised copies.


I was watching an old DVD today (Monsters' Ball if you are interested) and you get the legal stuff scrolling up the screen. No one reads it. If you are like me you resort to angrily pressing the fast forward button, or DVD menu button, before swearing at the TV when you get the dreaded message 'operation prohibited by disc'. More modern discs show you a little film with a jazzy soundtrack, telling you that you wouldn't steal and handbag, or a car, so why steal a movie.


Of course you would if you thought you wouldn't get caught. Most of us know right from wrong, and it is the fear of getting caught and the possible punishments that you prevent you from breaking the law!!!

A change from the usual!

Today I have a day off, as did hubby. Shock I hear you say, but since we got a life, it does happen much more frequently than in the inhospitable industry. I also had yesterday off, but was doing overtime at Cowley. To be honest, most of my time I was bored out of my mind as the good people of Cowley only seem to be able to visit the station in packs ie: see no-one for two hours, then six people all come in together!!!


Now, most of you will know from previous blogs, my days off are usually spent in domestic drudgery, you know, the washing, cleaning and ironing etc. But today we............or rather I, decided to have a change from the usual. For part of my birthday pressie (that'll be back in December), hubby bought me the box set of the Twilight Saga on blue ray. Now we have seen the first one many times..............about four, in an effort to start watching the rest, but for some reason have never got much further. We did start watching the second one, New Moon, but we both fell asleep. As the weather was crap, hubby suggested a lazy day in front of the TV, and that we finally watch the Twilight Saga.


So this is what we did. I resisted the call of the full dirty washing basket, and the bathroom that needs cleaning, or the kitchen floor that needs washing. Guess they can wait until tomorrow, but I can now report that we have now watched the entire saga, back to back, and I really enjoyed them.

Back to waiting on the DVLA

About this time last year, hubby entered into the waiting game with the DVLA as he waited for them to approve his medical info and let him have a provisional licence to drive a bus. As per my previous post, it has reached the time for me to renew my photo card licence, so I now am playing the waiting game with the DVLA.


When I went onto work yesterday, I photocopied my licence in colour, so should the DVLA make a mistake, I have a copy of what I used to have. Not that I am saying they will make a mistake, but the data in putters at the DVLA are payed by the keystroke - ie, the faster they type, the more they get paid.........call my cynical, but could this lead to mistakes??? I also have to say, as due to the day job, I do have access to the DVLA records via the PNC, I have seen the odd mistake.


Anyway, that aside, licence was posted first class yesterday, so they should have got it today. Now they say that they aim to return licences within three weeks, so hopefully it will be back long before we go on hols for the last two weeks of August. So.........back to the waiting game!!!

New Driving Licence

Had a letter from the DVLA the other day, I have to renew my driving licence, so fill in the form and send money. You see, in the UK, if you have a photo card licence (and these are the only ones that you can now get), although your entitlement to drive is until you are 70, your photo is only valid for 10 years, so every 10 years you have to update your photo, and pay the DVLA £20 for the privilege of doing so. Now nothing, I repeat nothing, has changed on my licence, and to be honest, while I am of course 10 years older in my photo, I haven't changed that much. So, why do we have to do this at all, and how come it costs them £20 to scan a new photo and print me out a new card? After all I have to put a stamp on the envelope to get to them, and I bet they send it back 2nd class!


So, off I go into Wycombe to get the photo's done, bit like having your passport ones done..........no covered head (unless for religious or medical reasons), look straight ahead, no covered face, no glasses and NO SMILING. God forbid you want to look happy in your passport photo, or driving licence photo. I have a few other bits to do, collect package from post office, buy, write and post mother-in-law's birthday card, as her son has forgotten it is her birthday tomorrow (even though it is on the calender that rules our lives, and I put a weeks warning on the calender too), order hubby more contact lenses, book him a contact lens appointment, buy some jacket spuds for tea (from Tesco - this is important) and then off to Sainsburys to use the photo machine to get photos for the driving licence.


On the way to Sainsburys, I meet a friend who I haven't seen for a couple of months so we go and get a coffee and catch up. She then needs to rescue her car from the car park and I head off the Sainsburys. Of course when I get there, the machine is in bits, and an engineer is there. 'Is it broken' I ask. Engineer says it will be about half and hour. He then asks if I am in a rush 'Well not a rush as such, but I can't wait half an hour'. So he then says the a lots of photo machines in Wycombe. I look skeptical at this, for the only two I know are Morrisions (a bit of a trek on foot from the town centre) and Sainsburys, which is conveniently opposite the bus station. I have now discovered that both Boots and Tesco have them. Remember that I said I had gone into Tesco to get the jacket spuds for tea!!!! So back I go. It then took me three goes to get a photo that was ok, though I am still not too happy with it, but you only get three goes.


Anyway, off to the bus station to get the bus home, and what do I discover when I get home.......I already had photo's, as I had to get new photo's done for the magic pass. Bugger, and they cost me £5 quid too!!!!

I sometimes feel like I am living in a different world!

Yesterday, a rather stroppy character came into the station to get some property back. Policy is (and it was reiterated on our white board where the property details go), that ID must be shown in order for someone to claim their stuff back...............don't want to be giving it to the wrong person do we know? Anyway, after claiming that his ID was with his stuff (which it was), he then started telling me what items of clothing should be in his property. Chappy said there should be a black pair of trainers and a pair of jogging trousers. Only he did not use the words trainers or jogging bottoms/trousers, he used words that I now cannot remember, (though I think the word he used for trainers was kicks) and had no idea what they meant, so I had to ask him what they were in English!!!!!!


Then today, watching an old episode of Stargate SG-1 on Sky 2, up came an advert for 'The Glee Project' Now, I know that Glee is some American TV program that is rather popular, but other than that, I was in the dark. I asked hubby what is was about and he failed as he was unable to tell me. So I have now googled Glee and wonderful Wikipedia tells me that it is an American TV show about a Glee Club in an American High School. Wikipedia then tells me that Glee Clubs are basically singing clubs and the first one was at Harrow School in 1787, and that they were very popular in England until the 1850's when they were replaced by choral societies, but that the term remains in use in the US and Japan for what we call choirs. So, the TV program is about a school choir............I fail to understand the hype!!

What is a suitable time to cold call people??

I had a cold call at 21.15 this evening. I pointed out that it was 9.15 on a Friday night and not a suitable time to be calling people, but what is a suitable time?


I know these people are just doing a job, and I try to be polite, and if I am not interested I just say so, I don't subscribe to all this just leaving them talking to thin air, or blowing a whistle down the phone. It does irritate me slightly when I saw 'it's not convenient right now' and they respond it will only take 5 minutes. That may be so, but not convenient means not convenient if it is 1, 5 or 50 minutes!!!


I think before 9am and after 7pm is not suitable, and never on a Sunday, though I guess Saturday is ok.

Thing I read!

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9126740.Bus_driver_facing_disciplinary_procedures_after_incident_with_elderly_passenger/?ref=rss


I came across this on the Internet the other day, and it concerns hubby's company (though not his operating division), I read it with interest. I also then read the comments and just a few things sprung to mind. Now, it would appear that the bus driver does appear to have behaved inappropriately, but then we get to the comments, and of course it degenerates into a 'let's slag off bus drivers session'.


1. So, the timings of the concession pass (the thing that allows OAP's to travel free a bus) are set by the government (after 09.30 I believe). Local councils then have the discretion to extend this time if they wish (for example Oxford lets their OAP's travel after 09.00). Now the bus companies claim back the cost (at a flat rate) from the council. Bus drivers have this thingy (called a module) that they plug into the ticket machine and it watches their every move (well records all the tickets they sell, etc, including how many concession passes get on). When they sign off at the end of the day, the bus company then downloads all the info and this tells them what they should claim from the council.


So, bus driver lets OAP travel before time. If he presses the 'concession pass' button on the ticket machine (before the relevant time), do you think the bus company can claim the money??? No, I think not, council will say, to early! So, in effect, bus driver has let OAP travel for free. What does free travel then equal?? Basically the driver is giving away company money.............which amounts to theft. Most companies consider theft gross misconduct for which the penalty is instant dismissal. So, bus driver sacked. I wonder how many OAP's consider that when they say to the driver 'well it's only a few minutes'. Hubby has had an OAP say to him, 'well I'm not going to get off the bus and I am going to stand here in the door until it is time'................so it is ok to delay all the other passengers (who have paid for their tickets) then??


2. Then person who gripes about drivers not having enough change. Hubby has a £10 float provided by the company. So person gets on the first bus of the day (about 03.30) and wants a £3.60 ticket and hands over a £20 note.................driver has £10 worth of change................were is additional £6.40 going to come from then???? Now they have these things called 'unpaid fare vouchers' which involve much writing of details of person, who is supposed to provide some type of ID. Driver then then hands this over and the company will then write to the person and ask for payment. Hmmmm, more cost and doesn't then equal price rises. And strangely enough, hubby says most people suddenly find they have change after all.

Selfish or mad?

When I was coming home today, it was rush hour, so the roads were a touch busy. Now the route my bus takes out of Oxford, back to Thornhill Park & Ride, goes along one of the main routes in and out of the city. Now for big chunks of it there are bus lanes (the red tarmac), but someone in their wisdom decided that cyclists should also use the bus lanes - hmmm, lets just put the smallest vehicles on the road in the same place as the biggest, stunning idea that one. But anyway, that is the way it is and most of the time it works ok. But as well as bus lanes, Oxford also has cycle lanes, and where the pavement is wide enough, they are also the cycle lanes, though they are clearly divided. (Click on the link below, to view the stretch of road in question, with bus lane and cycle lane)


So my bus stops at the lights on the junction with Headley Way. After the junction, by the White Horse pub (the building with the large car park in link below), the bus lane begins, and the cycle lane begins on the pavement. There were several cyclists who once they crossed the junction got onto the cycle lane. But one, after going through a red light (he turned left out of Headley Way), decides he is going to ride in the bus lane. Now normally the bus will just overtake, but because it was rush hour, the traffic was all backed up, so no overtaking. Then he proceeds to cycle along, without a care in the world, occasionally slowing down so he could look at his watch, wipe his face, fiddle with something on his bike........ and the fact that he is holding the bus up; well he seemed oblivious.


Now I suppose you could argue he had a right to be there. But unfortunately the bus can't use the cycle lane, and it does make you wonder why he wanted to cycle with a massive double decker up his arse............mad or just selfish!



http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=London+road,Headington,+Oxford&hl=en&ll=51.757773,-1.218821&spn=0.000387,0.001711&sll=51.754662,-1.229118&sspn=0.01238,0.038409&t=h&z=20

Don't go to war in the wet!!!

During the latest spell of bad weather, the thunder and heavy rain played havoc with Sky, so no decent TV. As it would appear with most things in this country, satellite TV is affected by weather, something to do with the rain, the thunder, the snow or what ever getting in the way of the signal between Eurosat1 (or whatever the thing is called) and the dish attached to my house, just above my dining room window.


Now we have had Sky for a fair few years now, and we have become used to the picture breaking up, or the dreaded 'no satellite signal being received' massage appearing on the blue screen of death! Usually it is thunder (and lightning), very heavy rain or snow that effects it.........I wonder if BSkyB is also trading as Railtrack????


Anyway, the first time it happened I was home alone (this was still in the hospitality phase of our lives, so hubby was at work), and the picture kept breaking up. As hubby had arranged for the installation of said Sky, I called him at work (remember, he wasn't driving a bus then, so could answer the phone at work. If he did it now it would be P45 time!) and said it ain't working. So then hubby educated me into the fact that the satellite signal is affected by the weather.


Now I had a little think about this, and when he came home I was forced to ask..............what the hell do the armed forces do then, as all their communications etc are done by satellite..............not go to war when it rains? So...............maybe this global warming lark will not be so good for world harmony.