Bad weather and First Bus equals people stranded on bus stops

When I arrived in the city at 5.40pm the rain was pouring heavily. At the bus stop I spotted a guy in purple shirt with weird black and blond hair who uses No.9 so I reckoned the bus hasn't come. I checked the time in the monitor. It was 5:44 and No. 9 would be coming at 5:48. Knowing there's another trip at around 6:08 pm I went Chapelfield to check out the cameras. Before it turned 6 o'clock I headed back to the bus stop. To my surprise the guy was was still there and I was kinda glad I didn't wait for the 5.48 bus or I would have been stood up like him.

Hoping No.9 would come in a few minutes I stood there with the rest of the stranded crowd. The rain was pouring more gratuitously. My feet were getting sore but I couldn't sit because the shed wasn't covered enough and everybody was standing by the shops, away from the torrential rain. But as always, when the weather is bad, First buses don't turn up. They've got this "bad reputation" of leaving passengers in the rain, in the snow. It's so annoying. The bus schedule had been overdue. All of us were hopelessly anticipating for no.9 and our necks were extending beyond but no No. 9 in sight. Finally at around 6:14 we saw the no 9 but to our dismay it said "SORRY NOT IN SERVICE"!!! How insolent! Five minutes later it came and the driver kindly told us that no.9 is finished but he would take us to Vulcan Road--the terminal. Inside, a baby in a pram was soaking wet. His mother and sister were also wet. Poor thing, they must have been standing in an open bus stop while it was raining cats and dogs.

I really don't understand why First Bus drivers do this to the public. Every six months they raise the fare but their service customer service is loathsome! They need to be boycotted. The public must do something to give them a lesson. However, I must also voice out my appreciation to a few drivers who give good customer service.

see related news article here

New pile of snow

It's midnight and I'm still up. I went to bed at around 5 pm and forced myself to doze off a bit and when I got up at ten pm I had a blinding headache. I had to shake it off so I dusted the house and brushed the carpet with cold water to get rid of some mud that have built up.

It's mid-February and I am not done moaning and whining about the snow. In fact we got another one this week and more on the way. Last Wednesday I waited at the bus stop for 45 minutes and even with my snow coat I could feel the chill in my bones and I regret doing overtime at work. I should have finished at half past three pm but there was so much work so I decided to stay a bit longer which was a wrong decision. Luckily I wasn't alone at the bus stop. There was another woman who came just a couple of minutes after me and the bus was supposed to come at around that time but it didn't turn up. There should be another one in 20 minutes but it too didn't turn up. My toes were getting numb and my fingertips felt like exploding -- it was almost unbearable.

When the snow started at lunch time I told my colleagues who were sharing the table with me that I have decided to change my attitude towards it. I have to love it or hate it. And since we might get more in the next couple of month I thought it best to love it--at least I would get excited when it comes again.

Last Wednesday's snow wasn't the dendrite snow but tiny balls like styrofoam and it looked as if a child played with an old ice chest breaking it into and pieces threw them up in the air. This is the type of snow that causes avalanche and it is icy unlike dendrites. It was fun to watch but when my toes and fingertips started to hurt I just shook my head--in disdain. Still there was no sign of the bus.

While the cars, vans, and lorries were taking turn going around the round-about a fire-truck emerged sounding its siren until it came to its exit road. Bored and anxious over my not-turning-up bus I tried to ignore this fire-truck that's coming on my side of the road and fixed my eyes around the corner where the bus is supposed to come anxiously anticipating that the next vehicle coming out is my bus. Bloody fire-truck it sounded its siren  right in front of my face and startled the hell out of me. Embarrassed, I looked at the other woman behind me and we both raised our eyebrows and pursed our lips suppressing a smile. Then we talked to each other. She asked me when the bus was supposed to come and I said around ten past, thirty past and fifty past each hour which means 2 buses hadn't turn up. Well, First buses have a bad reputation of not turning up when you need them most. All the while there were already 2 buses from the other side of the road but not on ours. Another raising of the eyebrows and pursing of lips.

After several minutes longer it started to snow again and the wind was blowing from the west. I was starting to panic as the night was getting darker. Finally at six o'clock in my phone clock a bus came. Whew!