The good thing

One of the good things about working as a school bus driver is that I get from 08:15 until 13:15 to myself. That gives me time in the day to do things.

Today I took the mirror that arrived yesterday and installed it. I got the vertical angle wrong but that's just a matter of adjusting the bottom bracket bolt. It was a matter of minutes to install using 1/2 inch and 9/16 inch spanners and a pair of pliers. It also involved an obligatory tumble down the front steps of the bus. I'm going to blame the sand that's built up there over the last few days for that!

The mirror didn't look like it had a 5/16 thread on the eBay photo but it did so I'm happy about that. My next task will be to locate a new orange reflector to put on the outer edge of the mirror.

Subsequent to my eBay purchase, I did find the mirror cheaper elsewhere but only marginally. I must say that the sellers packaging was superb. It arrived undamaged in the post.

Yet to arrive in the post is my solar charge controller. That's coming from Canada. I still have the broken one that arrived from China. I have no idea whether it really works though. As I've probably said, the mounting was broken so I contacted the seller who ignored me. Then I contacted eBay and the seller promised to ship a replacement. That never arrived so after a month, I notified eBay who promptly issued a refund. Subsequent to that, it still didn't arrive so I'm going to declare that Chinese seller doesn't care about honesty. Unless I can't get something from closer to home I'm unlikely to order from China.

Small steps

Yesterday I passed the CDL test and today I picked up my brand new driving license. I now have a license that says I can drive a bus with passengers and can also drive a Schoolbus. It doesn't matter a jot now that my own bus is 1,500lbs heavier than I can drive on a car license because I can drive big, heavy busses now.

As far as the test was concerned, I'd already passed the one test. Yesterday's test was in three parts. The first was whether I could identify and check all the major components of a bus. That involved rolling underneath the bus and touching the air brake cylinder, the push rod and the slack adjuster amongst a great many other things.

The second test involved driving through an alley made of cones then reversing back through that alley. It also involved reversing through an offset cone alley before finally parking in a bay made of cones. That was all pretty easy as long as the mirrors were used.

The third and final test involved driving on public roads. I did left and right turns, crossed railway tracks and junctions and drove on the interstate. I was asked about what the speed limit was and what my speed was. I also had to make safe lane changes. That was all pretty easy stuff to be honest.

Thus I am now a professional driver. I really couldn't care less about the label though. I'd rather be recognized as a safe driver.

In other news, my eBay wing mirror arrived. It's in pristine condition and had it not been fir the rain, I'd have installed it today. That was $25 well spent though it'd have been nice not to have to spend the money!

The mirrors, the mirrors

 Well, that's what happened to my mirror. The problem was the swivels were rusted solid and the body was plastic. Thus when I tried moving the mirror into place, it flexed and the glass didn't with the above result. I had a huge fight to remove the nuts in order to remove the mirror.

The mirror I bought on eBay the other day should fit. I can't see threads on the top and bottom so it might need new brackets. I'll just have to wait and see. It might be possible to make my own though.

As can be seen here, the bolt comes straight out of the bottom of the mirror. It looks to be a 1/4 by 20 bolt. I'd had major problems trying to undo it yesterday but today I bought a set of combination scanners and got it undone.

I had a fancy to put a different mirror system. In the end I decided for reasons of cost to stay with what I have. One of the convex and one cross view mirror do need work. Either replacement or polishing but I'm not sure which yet. The one mirror that was cockeyed, I did manage to straighten. Fortunately the swivels on that weren't rusted solid or I'd be looking at a another new mirror.

For the first time in several months I started my bus. Not just that but I moved it. Having taken bus driving classes, I was much more confident of moving it. Indeed, using the mirrors I did manage to turn the bus around. Even so, I had to get out and look a couple of times. I can't say I did my turnabout in three points because it wasn't. It was more like 9 as the bus is big and the space is not clearly marked.

The rev counter was playing its usual trick of being intermittent. I have a feeling that the problem is the hillbilly wiring. Other than that, everything seemed to work just fine.

What a smashing time!

I finished adjusting the side mirrors today with the aid of my socket set, hammer, adjustable spanner and can of WD40. It went a lot better than yesterday though there was a setback. Having raised the mirrors, one was now out of alignment. This necessitated some wiggling during which the blessed thing cracked. Sadly, it wasn't a mirror that I wanted to replace.

I still have an adjustment to make to my near side long mirror. It's now at the right height but was crooked in its mount in the first place. Sadly two of the bolts are so close together that it's going to be very hard to do anything about it. I'll need to get a 3/4 inch open spanner. If that fails, I'll have to angle grind one of the bolts off.

So, I checked and the mirror I need to replace which measures 7 inches wide by 16 inches high is fairly common. Rosco seems to make them but usefully puts no prices on their website. In the end I found two on eBay. One was heated and the other was not. As the original was not heated and since I never have had a problem with frozen mirrors, I went for the unheated one st $15 with $10 postage. I just hope the postman doesn't try to fold it!

After that I looked at the sun shade I'd taken down. I had no idea what it was when I took it down but kept it in the shed in case I might need it. That is now mounted again and adjusted correctly. It needs a darned good cleaning but I couldn't find my Windex.

Meanwhile, I'd left my 5A solar panel connected to 8AA NiMh cells in an 8AA battery holder all day. It had been sitting on the hood while I worked around things. Testing one with my little battery tester showed a pretty good charge level. Maybe another day in the sun and the batteries will be full.

A few days ago, I contacted eBay. The seller in China who had sold me the charge controller that arrived with a broken mount had sent a message via eBay that they were sending a replacement. I waited a month and no replacement ever arrived. eBay was notified and I was swiftly issued a refund.  Thus I've ordered a new charge controller but this time it's coming from Canada. While the one from China with the broken mount looks as though it might work, I can't really secure it properly it's more of a curio plaything. The new charge controller will go with the lead acid battery I got from Radio Shack and the solar panels and fans at the back of the bus. I have a feeling that might improve the functioning of the system.

Right now, funds are somewhat limited. My job as summer camp counsellor ended on July 21st then I had 3 days work in an after school program before joining the school district transportation department. As they pay two weeks in hand and two weeks in arrears or in other words I had to wait a month for my first check, I'm a little short. Things should be better by November though. By November the fire ants will be asleep and it'll be possible to work underneath the bus without any issues.

Something for the weekend?

Years ago, the classic line from a hooker in Brutain used to be "Simething fir the weekend, sir?" Gentlemen worth their salt would smile and say they didn't want to have to visit the STD clinic on Monday. That's all beside the point though. The weekend is upon us. I do have something for the weekend too but it's not in the form of a short skirted fishnet clad harlot!

Over the past few weeks I've been observing the bus mirrors more closely. As they are all set way too low, I decided to correct this. That was a performance! I pulled out a 3/4 inch socket and a socket driver. Upon attempting to use the socket driver, it just clicked and did nothing. Clearly a broken driver. I pulled out another driver and worked on the mirrors. Using a combination of WD40, an adjustable spanner, a socket driver and a hammer I managed to raise one of the long mirrors and a convex mirror. The convex mirror needs further work. Indeed there is a question, having seen mirrors on the busses at work, whether it might be a good idea to go for a different mirror system. This question is especially pertinent since some of the mirrors need to be replaced due to deteriorated reflective surfaces.

Meanwhile, I looked at the acrylic caulk I put on the newly laid floor board. It seems still to be slightly soft. That's not welcome but I'll wait a bit longer to see if it hardens. These things have a habit of taking forever to harden.

My bus driving course is going well. I passed the basic bus manovering test. I'm now heading toward the CDL test which involves being able to inspect a bus thoroughly for safety. The inspection really is thorough, focusing on essential electrical systems, the passenger and driver environment and the mechanical systems. There is no part of the bus that does nit get inspected thoroughly. I have 45 minutes to speed through my inspection.

As far as driving is concerned, my confidence has rocketed. I have noticed my existing mirrors were poorly aligned. Thus, I've been working today on fixing that. Given the challenge, posed by moving rusty mirror mounts that haven't been moved in 20 years, this might take several days!

Yesterday

Yesterday I put what I believe will be the final lot of caulk on the floor panel. Thus I would have painted today but as normal, after my 12 hour work day, I was too busy doing immediately necessary things.

Speaking of work, I reversed the work Schoolbus today and not just around a corner! I did a straight drive forward between two lines of cones. Then I reversed back through the cones. That went well. The next stage was to drive forward between two lines of cones then to switch lanes while reversing back between a different set of cones. That went well too. Where it all went to pot was when I tried parallel parking between some cones. The first attempt I overhung the side cones with the back end. The second go, I acquired the nickname Coneman the Destroyer because I successfully knocked out a couple of the cones at the back. Third time worked a charm. I'd figured out by repeating what I did the first time, what was going wrong. I'd been reversing a 50 foot bus like a car instead of as a bus. Reversing has to be shallow but with a swift leveling of the front end.

Returning home, having been driving busses, I sat in the driver's seat and looked at my mirrors. They're pretty inadequate. I have the cross view mirrors which show everything they should. My other mirrors are woeful. I have two convex mirrors mounted so low they're hard to see and two flat mirrors that are equally poorly placed. They're also low. I can see I'm going to have to raise the two sets of mirrors as well as possibly adding an extra mirror on each side. Mounted as they are, I cannot see my rear wheels. That's just plain bad!

Meanwhile, I've been putting off driving my bus because it is a totally different configuration from those I drive at work. The work busses are transit busses which have the steering wheels about 6 feet behind the driver. Mine is a conventional bus with the steering wheels 6 feet in front of the driver. Quite a difference for a learning driver!

In other news, some hilarity.
Clerk - did you sign your time sheets yet?
Me - what time Sheets?
Clerk - the ones in your mailbox
Me - what mailbox?
Clerk - mailbox XX
Me - I've got a mailbox?
Clerk - yes!
Me - can I have a key?
The clerk goes away and hunts and announces the key is missing but hands me the time sheets to sign. Incidentally that was at 2pm and the one sheet had to be submitted by 12pm and the other about 2 weeks ago.

Oh well. It should all be fixed now. I'm rather tickled by the fact such a mixup should happen. And to save embarrassment, I'm not mentioning the venue!

Filling the hole

I am now onto the section of my driving course where I have to learn how to inspect a bus for safety. The commentary is rather staid and goes along the lines of: The floor mat is securely attached with no missing nuts, bolts or screws. There are no holes, rips or tears that might cause somebody to trip or fall. There are 9 emergency exits....

The CDL course is very interesting and seems very worthwhile. I'm very lucky to have found a CDL course where I'm paid and learn. Whether the CDL will be useful later on, I don't know.

Today I screwed down the square of plywood that I'd cut beforehand. It seems that I was a little too enthusiastic in one place with my sanding. I got it right in other places though.

I'd neglected to buy caulk on my journeys to and from work. Today I made a trip to Dollar General and bought a tube of caulk. Putting it on with my caulk gun was easy enough and a spare angle bracket served to smooth it into place. When it's dried it might have shrunk. I'll have to look tomorrow.

At the moment, it looks pretty good. The next stage if the caulk hasn't shrunk will be to paint the patch and the caulk white. That will complete this part of the bedroom. While I'm at it with the white paint, I might also patch areas where I wasn't too accurate with my borders.

It goes without saying though that my focus at the moment is my CDL. That might open yet more doors. Having said that, I will be putting plenty work into the bus yet. Had I been to the store then I could have also completed my security bars on the front door.