Mountain Nomad Chronicles

School Bus Hell on TV

Well, the local TV station picked up the story and did a 2nd place headline story on the school bus misadventure. 

Global TV Vancouver News Clip

School Bus Hell

To Whom it May Concern,

 

I would like to file a formal complaint against L**** S*****, a bus driver working for L***** bus line. Today I went to pick up my children at their regular bus stop after school. My son (age 7 ) got off the bus, but my daughter(age 5) did not get off the bus. The bus driver closed the doors of the bus and I waved at him to open the door. When he opened the door, I told him that my daughter must still be on the bus because she had not gotten off. He replied that all of the kids had gotten off and that she must not be on the bus. I asked if he could please check, but he did not comply. I double checked with my son who assured me that she had gotten on the bus with him. Since the bus driver denied me access to the bus to look for my daughter and refused to call for her, I quickly asked my son to get back on the bus to look, but before he could, the bus driver had slammed the doors and was driving off. This was completely unacceptable.

I was therefore left on the road with no explanation as to where my daughter was. I desperately tried calling the school…..finally resorting to calling campus security. For one hour I frantically searched campus, calling various numbers in an attempt to locate my daughter. This experience left me shaken and incredibly worried. Finally after 45 minutes I received a call to confirm my daughter was still on the bus. She had fallen asleep. It was nearly one hour from the time I had asked the bus driver to please check if my daughter was still on the bus until I finally saw her. I am incensed that this could happen. If the driver had been responsible and courteous enough to take the extra 30 seconds it takes to double check to see if she was there - even calling her name would have worked - an hour of distress and worry could have been avoided.

Any bus driver who drives young children to and from school should be responsible enough to make sure that students get off the bus at their appropriate stop. The driver was very rude and completely unapologetic. When a parent waits at a bus stop to pick up their 5 year old child, the least that the bus driver can do is make sure that the child gets off the bus – especially if the parent makes a request for him to do so.

I would like to receive an apology as well as a statement from L***** bus lines as to how your company and its drivers will prevent this from happening in the future. No parent or child should have to go through the unnecessary distress that I experienced today. The bus driver’s response to my request was completely unacceptable.

Sincerely,

T***** C******

Review: Blue Rodeo w. Kathleen Edwards 09/25/06

Last Friday, I attended my first Blue Rodeo concert in 11 years.  I wasn't planning on going but then I saw that Kathleen Edwards was opening for them and that sealed the deal.  Ms. Edwards is one of my favorites and I have wanted to see her live for a long time.  The venue was Malkin Bowl in Vancouver's famous Stanley Park.  It's not my ideal place to see a show as I prefer club shows or small theatres, but the outdoor setting was nice enough. 

I showed up an hour early and felt like a knob as I was the first in line for a concert in which I had a reserved seat.  My keenness paid off however as the lovely Ms. Edwards stepped outside the gate about 10 minutes before the gates were open.  There she was, less than 3 feet away from me.  I had a "Have Mercy" moment and all I could do is let out this really lame "whoa".  She seemed not to hear - heck, I would have ignored that kind of greeting as well, but I was on cloud 9 the rest of the evening.

Kathleen Edwards took the stage early and did a set of about 10 songs accompanied by a guitarist and keyboard player.  A full band would have been a better compliment to her sound, but whatever.  The crowd was very laid-back even for Vancouver.  Maybe it was the venue, but they gave the impression of people that were not too into the music.  This low-key feel lasted until Blue Rodeo's encore. (Update: Apparently, Kathleen Edwards railed on Friday night's lame sitting down crowd during her show on Saturday and tried to get the audience to stand up, but every time someone tried, Security would rush over and make them sit down.)

Blue Rodeo's set started magically as a bird dropped "one" on Jim Cuddy's shoulder and ear.  What a beginning!  Whether or not you like Blue Rodeo's country influenced sound, which I love, you have to give props to the band for amazing live performances.  As a band, they are tight and they improv like crazy. Some of their tunes like Diamond Mine lasted well over 15 minutes longer than their recorded version.  The playlist was heavy on their signature tunes from early albums such as Til I Am Myself Again, 5 Days in May, Lost Together, After the Rain, etc.  I wished they had played some more recent tunes and Jim Cuddy had balladeered more, but they didn't consult me before the show.  Highlights of their set were Kathleen Edwards joining in on Bad Timing and the shocker join-in of Barney Bentall on a song from his upcoming album.  Stellar evening.

Tip:  You can see the stage from outside the gates to Malkin Bowl, so if you ever want to see a show from afar, bring a picnic and enjoy the shows for free.  Blue Rodeo, Sarah Harmer, Sam Roberts, and Ben Harper were among this summer's lineup.

Blue Rodeo Radio - all Blue Rodeo, all the time

Kathleen Edwards - great photo section

• If you want to know what the big deal is for me watch these two videos(windows media): Hockey Skates, Back to Me

Web Deals Depository

Check out dealspl.us,  an online social shopping community where users can submit, rank and comment on killer web deals.  A digg site for shoppers, if you will.  Many of the deals are tech related, although household items and clothing pop up as well. 

Dealspl.us

Work Friendly Surfing

Just got back from a marvelous family reunion in Alberta and I feel the lack of posting motivation lately.  Until of course, I came across this link on Boing Boing that is a proxy that reformats any website so that it looks like a word document. 

Work Friendly

Some Recent Photos

Photos from the last couple of weeks...lovely wife, sports day, awards ceremony, drive to Vancouver, and views from our new place. Click on individual pics to get a bigger view...Bubbleshare, the site hosting these photos is free and is constantly adding new features. 

This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

Animated Obesity Map of the U.S.

This map shows the increase of obesity rates in the U.S. from 1985 - 2004.  It is pretty remarkable the rate of obesity over the last twenty years, frightening actually.  What is going on?  Are we living in our cars and in front of our machines? Eating out more? Getting little exercise? 

I'm going to stop now and hit the gym? Yikes!

Obesity in America - MSN Health & Fitness

New Blog: Free of Wheels

I commented awhile back that I was thinking of starting an additional blog chronicling family life without a car. Well I started it...here's the link:

Free of Wheels

It's begun..

The wife and kids have begun their move.  They took the Greyhound (am I jealous? I don't know) to Whitehorse in the middle of night, getting them in at 4:30, then flying out to Vancouver in the evening.  I'm on my own now for a few days.  Man, I hate moving, but we just keep doing it.  I feel abit lonely, but still there's much to do.  About 20 partially filled boxes note the living room.  Night.

Neko Case Performance on Letterman

One of my favorite albums of the last year is Neko Case's Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.  Neko Case has been a prominent artist on the altcountry scene for awhile, but although I have a couple of her previous albums, they were just so-so for me.   Her latest offering, however, really pushes my buttons.  A few weeks back I visited her website and noticed that she was scheduled to appear on Letterman on June 17th.  I made a mental note to watch, which I forgot of course until tonight.  Disappointed, I checked around to find a review of the performance and found the performance itself on YouTube.  Golly Gee, I love the internet.  Check it out.

YouTube - Neko Case - Maybe Sparrow (Letterman)