Bus drivers, dogs and mobility scooters

20 September 2012

So, we have just said goodbye to an occupational therapist who came out to assess us for new mobility scooters.  Jan's gave up the ghost a few ago and it won't be long before mine gives up as well.  Lyn was the ladies name and she is recommending we have different scooters because of our different needs.  I tried one that she had in her van but the foot rest was far too small, even for a shorty like me.  That gives her reason for recommending the one for me.  Whatever, we can now look forward to having new scooters in a couple of months time.

What do you think of Rottweiler dogs?  I like them; they look very smart dogs to me.  However, they are far too big for me to try to handle and in any case, I have an allergy to dogs who lose their hair.  Some else fairly local also likes them, or at least did do.  They took their dog and left it at the RSPCA re-homing centre in Coventry in the middle of the night.  The poor animal was suffering from bone cancer.  Instead of having the dog treated or perhaps having put down, they decided to dump it!  That really does annoy me!  We love dogs but can't have one now.  Not only do I have an allergy there is a ban on dogs in these ground floor flats.  If we had one when we moved in we could keep it but not replace it at time.  So when we see cases like this one we both get angry about it!

As I said we love dogs.  Here is Sally-pup ... 

enjoying a day at the sea side.  We bought her for our son but she ended as my dog.  What a cracker she was.  We had to re-home her when the GP warned me to decided on dog or my eyes and my general health.  We were devastated!

And here is Cindy-pup, the Yorkie terrier ... 

She died one Saturday evening sitting with Jan.  And we were devastated.  

In the past I've complained about how bus and lorry drivers get away with speeding tickets.  Well, one local bus company is having problems with recruiting new bus drivers because of the new stiffer driver training that all bus drivers now have to go through.  At one time you only needed a PSV license to drive a bus; but since 2088 you now also need a Driver Certificate of Professional Competence as well.  The result is that the bus company can't fill 14 full time jobs that they currently have.  Even older drivers are leaving the industry because of the added training they need to undergo - no matter how long they've been bus drivers.  I suppose it Health and Safety on the war path again!  I wonder how much safer our roads will be because of it?  Bus crash numbers are fairly low anyway, but even a stiffer qualification won't actually guarantee higher safety standards.  What it does do of course is add even more to bus company expenses; and all for a dubious reason, or so that someone can justify their own lttle jobs by making life difficult for others!

And for a funny I offer ...

A young family moved into a house next door to a vacant building plot. One day Willie Brunsden and a gang of building workers turned up to start building a house on the empty plot.
The young family's 5-year-old daughter naturally took an interest in all the activity going on next door and started talking with the workers.  She hung around and eventually the big hairy builders (but all with hearts of gold) more or less adopted the little girl as a sort of project mascot.
They chatted with her, let her sit with them while they had tea and lunch breaks, and gave her little jobs to do here and there to make her feel important.
At the end of the first week they even presented her With a pay envelope containing two pounds in 10p coins.  The little girl took her pay home to her mother who suggested that they take the money she had received to the bank the next day to start a savings account.
When they got to the bank the cashier was tickled pink listening to the little girl telling her about her work on the building site and the fact she had a pay packet.
"You must have worked very hard to earn all this" said the bank cashier. The little girl proudly replied, "I worked all last week With the men building a big house."
"My goodness gracious," said the cashier, "Will you be working on the house again this week, as well?"
The little girl thought for a moment and said, "I Think so, provided those w*nkers at Jewson deliver the f*cking bricks on time."