Thursday, February 3, 2022
School is 2hr-delayed this morning to let driver have a little more time
to navigate the roads. The bus chat was all lit up last night and this
morning about which roads will likely have drifts and which sidewalks
still need to be salted. I think Jenny was secretly hoping to convince
Jim the roads weren't clear enough and we needed one more snow day. It's
a good thing she has connections with the road crews and could send
someone out to specifically clear her area.
There's no AM PreK this morning because of the delay so I won't start my
route until 11:30am or so. Jenny and I are shuttling the 4,5,6th grades
over to the college to watch "The Lyon, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"
this afternoon but we load at 12:30pm and my route wraps up at 12:25pm.
I'm going to go get Balie's bus started and let it run during my route,
then Jenny will pull it up into position for me so I can make a quick
switch. Then, Wendy called to see if I could pick up Collin from her
house at the beginning of my route today so she could run a few errands
before she drives Rayf over for the play. She thought it would be best
to load him on the PreK side, so now I'll just leave the bus there at
the ramp on the West side then walk through the building to the big bus
over on the East Side. Also, Linlee was throwing up last night so Kaci
won't be riding today or tomorrow, so I'm on my own today. It's a lot
out of the ordinary but should all work out alright.
Update:
The bus shuffle this afternoon worked out well. I picked up Collin at Wendy's and he rode the whole PM route with me. I wanted to pull into Evelyn's drive way so she wouldn't have to walk through the snow but I didn't dare. They were a little deeper than I felt comfortable with. When I dropped the kids off at the school, I realized that I didn't have my GS fob with me and that I'd need to go into right into the school along with the kids. I unbuckled Collin and helped him out and up the stairs then followed Ms. Ruth into the school. I left the bus running and the door open. Hopefully Wendy wasn't too far behind me. I was super bundled up today because if the cold: black beanie, mask, scarf, oversized Sterling coat, black and white snow boots. I bet I was quite the sight trudging through the commons area during lunch to get to the buses on the other side of the school.
Our shuttle to the college went alright. Mr. Riffle was a little frustrated that Jim had only sent two buses for the grades but he just had Jenny drop off the 6th graders and come back for 4th grade. Jenny and I parked the buses over on 7th Street by Brownlee's house and went in to enjoy the show which was really good! Jenny didn't get inside until after the light went down so she couldn't find me. She ended up sitting just across the isle but I didn't see her either until intermission. Coming home we split 4th grade up and sent some on each bus, and they fit just fine.
We got back to the school around 3:00pm, about the same time that drivers start gathering for the PM route. I headed home to enjoy a hot chocolate before the kids came home, but when I walked into the kitchen I had a txt from Balie that she was overly emotional about some family issues and was in no condition to drive. I told her I'd be right there and turned around to go cover her route. The other drivers were really confused when I walked in because Balie had been standing there just minutes earlier then she'd just disappeared.
Balie had almost her full crew today with JH basketball winding down: Evelyn, Ashlynn, Justin Bagby, Corvin San Miguel, Kaden Besser (who needs to be glued to his seat!), Anslee Johannsen, Addi Pauli (Gillespie), No Brad (We waited but he never showed), Kimberly Maxwell (could also use some glue), Lakin and Landry Splitter, Jacobus & Aria Dewitt (no Annabel). No Dolds or Hookers today.
Balie told me she had turned around after Gillespie's this morning and taken the black top around because she wasn't sure how Ave R would be. The other roads had been cleared so well I thought I'd chance it. The worst drifts where right there by the co-op and again over by 21st but other vehicles had been through each of them and the bus got through without any troubles. I thought I'd be home free for the rest of the route, but as I came down Ave U somewhere after 20th I saw two vehicles in the middle of the road. They looked like they were just parked there chatting as often happens on country roads, but then the one facing me started moving toward me and the other didn't move. Suddenly I realized the other was stuck in the snow and I'd either have to try maneuvering around it or back myself out. Backing out would mean taking the long way around because Ave V is closed in that area for the construction. I decided to follow the tracks around the vehicle where the snow drifts had been packed down. It made me a little nervous, but I got around without incident.
