Let me describe today’s short bus ride across town. Bus driver was agressively driving and jerking us all around on the bus saying Fuk this and Fuk that about other drivers. I mean he had one bad case of Road Rage! I was nearly jerked right out of my seat 4 or 5 times which I reeeaaally appreciated given my recent neck surgery where I had 5 discs replaced. 3 minutes in, a young girl runs to make her stop and the driver, who did have his signal on, but had not begun to pull away from the curb GRACIOUSLY lets her on. When the girl took her seat the driver turned around, looked at the girl and said ” YOU COULD HAVE THANKED ME!” I am not kidding. More muttering of Fuk, jerky agressive driving during a busy time of day when you SHOULD be more careful! @#&$#@ — Fearful passenger
This article appears in Feb 13-19, 2014.
Name, Bus number, Route and time of day – all easily reportable. Nothing will come of it, but still better than posting here.
Must be the Troll bus.
Quelle surprise…another bus bitch…over to you SHITMFD, TT Fonebone, TJ902, WHATACROCK, et al. Feel free to pile on!
I haven’t used transit for over 20 years. The Hillbilly Hollow Village Council cancelled our connector bus service due to budgetary restrains – in other words, the council drank next year’s budget last Friday night at the Pig Wig Tavern and Grill.
Besides, you just can’t make 128 scuttling lobsters pulling a flatbed trailer go any faster than 20 km an hour. We were always missing our MT connection at Exhibition Park. The lobsters are now working independently on a cash only basis but have you ever ridden one of those little fuckers for more than a kilometre?
I totally know which driver this is…
YOU COULD HAVE THANKED ME” gave it away.
One morning I was 5 seconds late to the stop, he let me on, I said “good mornin'”, and as I found a seat he bellowed “YOU’RE WELCOME”.
fucking asshat.
So you had to wait a whole extra breath before getting stuck in the every-day-morning traffic jam just up the street. Fucking hell.
Now he pulls away without me so I just walk up to the next stop
(again, every day traffic jam so it’s quite easy to beat him there) and get on anyways just for spite.
And did the OB report this to MT? Probably not.
ZED that happened to me about six months ago. He was actually early getting to my stop, but it’s not a time point, so whatever, but he SAW ME RUNNING ACROSS THE STREET (and any bitchers who know which street I live on know it’s hard to miss someone running from one side to the other to get to a stop). I got to the stop before he was leaving and I got to the door and he started to fuck off, so I banged on the door and he stopped and started yelling at me “YOU’RE WELCOME!”after I got on the bus and i’m all “why would I thank you? You were early and you saw me running in front of your bus to the stop and I got to the door before you left, so no, I’m not thanking you.”
I don’t know if he said anything back to me because I turned my ipod back on.
Next time… just step on the bus and immediately tell him to “Fuck Off” before he has a chance to say anything. “Good morning!” “Fuck off.”
I guess this driver failed the customer service skills course.
Actually OP the passenger could have said thank you to the driver, if you aren’t at the stop at the time the bus is you’re running late, the number of times I have waited when I saw someone running for my bus and they just get on take forever digging fare out etc and just go take a seat no thanks nothing. If someone is running for the bus now and the door is closed and my left blinker is on all bets are off the table I won’t let them on. Riders guide states for you to be at your stop 5 min before the bus is due to depart, so if the bus is 4 min late you should have been at the stop 9 min ago!
Why did he keep saying “seal” in French? Is this guy a relative of the seal clubbing bus driver?
The seal clubbing bus driver is deceased… Bravo!
did this bus event happen in the 1970’s?
I mean, BEFORE the entire population had smart phones with video that they whip out at the slightest photo opportunity to get youtube fame?
Too soon?
It was about 5 or so years ago. The driver jumped off the bus at an anti seal hunt protest on Spring Garden Road and started clubbing a stuffed seal.
He was suspended and then the city decided to fire him. The day he was fired, he killed himself.
He was mentally ill and on medication. Instead of working with this individual who had an illness, he was basically just thrown away. It was a very sad situation.
” if you aren’t at the stop at the time the bus is you’re running late”
Uh huh, and the number of times I’ve seen buses leave early is appalling. It doesn’t matter if you only leave a minute early, you’re still leaving early!
So no, if the bus is there early, the passengers are not, in fact, late, if they aren’t at the stop when said bus is.
I remember reading about that driver who jumped off the bus. weird.
lol, my camera phone comment was for OP. I usually make a salutation. my bad.
The toy seal killing bus driver had a brain tumor that was inoperable.All the the strange occurrences by that bus driver was because of the tumor, I would guess.
I had a couple run ins with with in the weeks before his suicide.I ended up contacting my city councilor about his bazaar behavior,
My question at the time was After this man offed himself ,We all learned the truth about his inoperable brain tumor but the city still allowed him to drive a Metro Transit Bus with passengers.
Obviously this mans bosses knew he was a ticking time bomb treaty to blow or snap at any time….Back to my question ;How Could Metro Transit in good faith allow the driver with a brain tumor transport humans all day??
You should probably get your facts straight ^^
The man had a clogged artery in his brain, but he never mentioned that or his mental illness to his employer because he was worried about losing his job, which is a very real fear. Despite having days where large cell phone companies give money to mental illness campaigns, and despite all the ads out there, mental illness is still very much stigmatized in the workplace. It’s sad, but it’s smarter to keep your mouth shut than tell your employers about your mental illness.
Mental illness. It can be (usually) a huge hiccup in employment. It seems when most people find out about mental illness… you are treated differently. “You are an “Unstable” person.” Very sad… regardless of the mental illness.
Ah, ignorance is bliss is it not? I would love to see how long it would take for anyone who loves to bash MT drivers if they became MT drivers themselves to start acting the same way as the poor stressed out driver you are talking about was. There is a reason we go off the deep end at times. But how could you ever know that while sitting in the passenger seat? You are sitting in the wrong seat. I think it takes anywhere from a few days to a few years, but sooner or later we all have a breaking point. Come find out for yourselves what it is really like to be a MT slave for this ungrateful, unthankful, self-absorbed, disrespectful city we call home.
Yours truly.
I’ve heard of bus drivers pulling into a terminal with a bus load of people on the bus at rush hour and shutting the bus down, getting off, and going home, or another poor soul was driving the Eastern Passage bus and pulled the bus over at the Nova Scotia Hospital, got off the bus and checked himself in. You find this amusing? If you do you are stupid fucks, and need to wake up and smell your own ungrateful, ignorant fucking stink.
Yours truly.
P.S. I love bus bitches
Well, now we know who the erratic, foul-mouthed, needy, approval seeking driver was.
Hella Kule stories, Bru.
Ah Ivan, you are as ignorant as the rest of this city is. No difference. So Ivan when are you going to try your hand at driving your ignorant, ungrateful fellow asses around this wonderfully ignorant city of ours. Do I hear chicken clucking coming from the post above mine? YES I DO!!!! Put your money where your ignorant mouth is asswipe.
Yours truly.
P.S. Ivan, I only drive empty buses. They are the happiest ones.
Yours truly:)
Tell you what I do know , Sport. I’ve read enough spy fiction to recognize a classic False Flag Op. when I see one. You’re pretending to be a Christer and a Union Slug to put stink on both, not that they need it. Trouble is, the caricature can’t be too grotesque or it loses all credibility. You’re over-salting the soup, Sunshine. Back to kitchen with you.
Cluck cluck.
English please Ivan. You make no sense at all. Your ignorance truly is bliss isn’t it chicken shit? 🙂
Yours truly.
Ivan, so am I to believe that you read your definition in 2 Timothy? Do you even own a Bible? Not the satanic kind sweetie.
Yours truly.
P.S. an empty bus is a..well you know:)
Well, your lack of familiarity with written English certainly bolsters your union and religious credibility, but we both know, appearing in the Blandford Community Theatre production of “A Streetcar Named Perspire” is the closest you’ve ever gotten to driving a bus. Right, Sweaty Palms?
Blah, blah, fucking blah….
Yours truly.
The bus drivers are right ,it’s the rest of the population of HRM whose wrong…BULSHIT.
Absofuckinglutely. An empty bus is a happy one.
Yours truly.
“Blah, blah, fucking blah….”
Yeah. I thought so. Happy Trails, ya Douche >: )
See, here’s the thing, Wheels: I know a bunch of bus drivers, personally, and every one of them are the exact opposite of you and the drivers you go on about. And you know what the running thread between all of these drivers I know is? They are PLEASANT to everyone who gets on their bus and give everyone respect. Some of these drivers have been driving for decades. The ones who seem very miserable are the ones who treat everyone getting on their bus as garbage. I’ve been on buses with people pulling the same crap and the ones who were persnickety to me when I get on the bus (which, there is no excuse: I always greet the drivers with a cheery ‘hello’ and always have my fare/pass ready, so there’s really no reason for them to be bitchy at me) seem to have a lot more trouble with passengers and attitude. If you’re miserable to someone, there’s no reason for that person to be overly pleasant to you. When I get on a bus and the driver is an asshole to me for absolutely no reason, I always do a ‘well fuck you too, asshole’ in my head. I’m sure I’m not the only one. I can forgive a lot of crap that passengers have to go through (late buses, traffic tie ups, etc…) when the driver is pleasant. It’s easy to blame the driver and be bitchy at them when they’re bitchy at YOU from the get go with no provocation.
So, perhaps, Wheels, the issue here is YOUR stinky attitude, not the general public. YES there are arseholes in the general public, but I think a lot of your perception that everyone sucks is your own doing.
Maybe if you had a better attitude and weren’t such a miserable person in general, your job would be a lot easier for you.
1. holy shit, I didn’t know he offed himself… damn.
2. how many drivers are on this board?!?!?! doubledown makes the 4th I’m aware of… though I haven’t seen much of diver hobo lately.
3. Wheels is really losing it.
PK I thought you were smarter than that. If you know so many bus drivers personally then you honestly can’t tell me you have not heard many horror stories, and you should also know that even if you are a nice respectful driver people still get on your bus and disrespect you for no good reason either. How do you know I am not one of the nice drivers? Because of the way I like to yank ya’lls chains by telling you the honest truth about our fucked up transit management, city council, and all ya’ll who love to bitch about transit drivers? Come on pussycat, think for a minute before you meow. Ask you driver friends if they have ever been disrespected for “no good reason” as you put it, and see what they say.
Yours truly
No reply Pussycat? Still thinking? Good pussy.
Yours truly.
Actually, Wheels, I was making some hand cut french fries for a late lunch. I don’t live on this board 😉
Anyway, yes, I know there are drivers who get shat on for no good reason, BUT, I also notice that when I’m on a bus with a pleasant driver, there tends to be a lot less shit being flung. It’s like a self fulfilling prophecy with some of these drivers who have a perma shitty attitude — I see way more shit on a bus with a crank driving it. Maybe the drivers I know let the shit roll off their backs a bit more and don’t take it personally? I’m not saying there won’t ever be shit flung on a bus towards a driver, but when you go to work expecting to have shit flung at you, you’re probably going to have shit flung at you.
Why should we have to take ANY disrespect from ANYone? Why can’t people get on the bus, with a valid transfer, pass, fare, a smile, and go sit the fuck down and leave us the fuck alone? Nooooooooooooo!! You have to try and pull the wool over our eyes, thinking we’re stupid, blind and or can’t count. First of all we are none of these. We are exactly like you. Second of all, like I said, you’re sitting in the wrong seat pussycat. You haven’t got a flying fuck of a clue as to what really goes on on a daily basis. Your so fucking ignorant it’s a shame really. How can you go through life so narrow-mindedly.
So tell me this pussycat. You get on my bus and you somewhat quickly show me a short transfer and it’s 3:30 in the afternoon and I ask you to see it. When I have the transfer in my hand I look at it and see it expired at 10:30 am. I tell you the transfer is no longer valid and you are trying to gain the transfer back as I am crumpling it to throw it away and tell you the fare must be paid. You angrily throw in the money and call me a fucking prick while you snatch the transfer you ordered from me. All because I did my job? Oh yeah forgot to mention, when you got on the bus pussycat I greeted you with a ” hi how ya doin?” and a big fucking smile. So you see pussycat, this is the fucking crap we put up with on a fucking daily basis, along with all the other crap we put up with on a daily basis. Like assholes who love to cut us off, won’t give us the right of way when we are pulling out of a stop, etc, etc. I could go on and on.
So dear pussyminou , like I said, ask your bus driver friends to tell you what it has really been like for them over the decades and think before you meow about something you know nothing about. No wonder we get nasty at times, so are you. How many bus drivers do you encounter in your day? 1,2,3? How many people do we encounter on a daily basis? 1,2,3 hundred? How many of your bus drivers were rude in your day? 1,2, or all three? I doubt it. How many rude people do you think we have to drive around everyday? Could be anywhere from none to dozens. That’s why an empty bus is a fucking happy one.
Yours truly.
P.S. zed, I’ve never been better, I haven’t lost a thing.
Oh Moses Smell the Roses! Mel Gibson presenst “The Passion of the Wheels” It must be awfully difficult steering with two big spikes through your palms. Since you’re so fond of fapping the Old Book here’s one for you – you sow the wind and you shall reap the whirlwind.
Not bus drivers – just you Wheels, ya pitiful douche.
Now dare me to do your job.
The day a Metro Transit driver claims PTSD, we’ll all know it’s you. And we’ll know that you got your shop steward to help you with the big words. Hang in there ya big baby
http://reducethepanic.com/files/2011/12/Je…
Blah, blah, blaaaah.
Yours truly.
P.S. An empty bus is a happy one
Shop steward helped you with those big words too, didn’t he >; )
Oh, it’s really bad when they don’t even realize it themselves that they’re losing it…
what a tool.
I wish you were driving in a plexiglass cage…
’cause if they kept the mental patients away from the populace, Taavel would still be here bettering the world.
Ivan, do you always make up your own Bible verses? You must be like that guy in Wako Texas, a delusional, full of himself, creep who preys on the weak and gullible. You would probably be very dangerous for those who do not know the Word. Please tell me where you found this verse, if you can, and tell me what God is talking about. Our first Bible study together Ivan. I’m so excited, I just can’t hide it, I’m about to…..squash you like the bug you are!
Yours truly.
Hosea 8:7 “they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind”
As for the meaning – make up your own. That’s what Christers do, isn’t it.
Where did you learn “Blah, blah, blaaaah.” Chapter, verse and meaning please. This will be on the mid-term.
Also – it’s spelled Waco. Tell us more about the bliss, that is ignorance.
Holy people…when I said to pile on I was sort kidding. Wheels…relax. I hope it’s your day off. If you are between pieces, you don’t want go back to work this angry. Ivan and Hyde, go get an enema…then go ride on a bus and reflect on what you have done. Just kidding…Cheers, everyone.
Like the back door Macleod, it’s exit only, so I’ll pass on the colonic.
Love your moniker , by the way.
You don’t really think Wheels is a driver do you? He probably threw a pissyfit because he couldn’t bring his double-double on the 52 and now he’s created a troll account to make all drivers look like jagoffs. Most people are smart enough to see through such an unsubtle pose, but on the off chance that he is legit, – is this really the kind of sluggard you want representing you. I know certain unions exist to protect the mediocre, but they really shouldn’t be nurturing them, now should they?
Waco, Wako, potato, potato, however you spell it the guy was a nut job. A dangerous one. All because people never questioned his teaching. You quote passages but have no idea what they mean. You could become the next David Koresh, or whatever his name was. You guys keep talking about us drivers like you know what it’s like for us. Ha, ha, ha. You’re so funny. All of you.
It sure is easy to talk stupidity when you know nothing of what your talking about. Ivan did you not know that it’s better to let people think you are stupid than opening your mouth and leaving no doubt? Jealousy does not become you friend. We are worth way more than 24$ an hour. For the amount of needless bullshit we put up with we should be paid at least 50$ an hour. I got an idea. We keep the 24$ an hour but the city has to charge anyone and everyone who causes ANY kind of disturbance, aggression, assault, fraud, on a bus or against a driver, with fines and/or jail time. A city that backs it’s drivers has a better transit system, happier drivers, and passengers.
Yours truly.
LOL – the Passion Play continues.
“Hey, Ivan I can see your house from up here”
http://spacemancentral.com/wp-content/uplo…
“Yours truly, Wheels”
You aren’t the only one who loves Bus Bitches, Spanky. We all do >: )
Interesting angle Ivan, you are even more sophisticated than I gave you credit for. No…Wheels is not representative…I believe. If so…he/she maybe in a bit a rough patch. I can’t speak for all, but we do our level best to deliver good service. That extends to interacting on the road. What can be a kick in the tender parts is to have your entire working life…your efforts…demeaned in a few throw away sentences. At the risk of offending, I’m the first to subscribe to “Get off the cross…somebody else needs the wood!” But, some of the comments sting.
As I have said before, I cannot and will not defend a coworker who doesn’t measure up. Wheels, I subscribe due to my very short career as a life insurance agent cold calling dead people, to a certain philosophy. Similar to selling insurance, you have to categorize in thirds. To bastardize the analogy, a third will buy with little selling and appreciate the purchase. Another third will buy with some hard sell, but will remain skeptical and the last third…won’t buy in…no matter what. So what? A third of the riders will pass through the bus without any maintenance and appreciate the service, another third will be indifferent and the last third wouldn’t notice if you fell off the face of the earth, or be outright hostile…for their own reasons, real or imagined. The key word is acceptance. It isn’t the world as we would like to have it, it’s the way it is. Getting to that point will make for a more rewarding career.
As a parting thought. Before Transit, in another life, I happened by a bus stop with a man lying on the sidewalk. Of those around, and there were many, no one had offered assistance. I stopped to perform CPR. A bus pulled up and the driver offered to call for help, I indicated the call had been made and to head on as the ambulance would need his space (mercifully, a VON nurse also stopped by this time). A memory that has stayed with me is a number of riders stepping over this man’s dying legs to get on the bus. As Haligonians, we have a better image of ourselves than is sometimes deserved.
As the saying goes: people in outhouses should not stow thrones. Or is it…
I know, aren’t they grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat.
Yours truly.
P.S. Your chain is so easy to yank.:) I love it.
Indeed MacLeod. In 30 years of riding I can probably count the number of truly obnoxious drivers I’ve encountered on one hand and still have enough fingers left to deliver to Wheels a rude gexture in the British tradition.
Simple law of averages suggests that you guys will encounter more deadshits in a week than most of us (at least, those who aren’t bar bouncers) will meet in an entire year.
Being an army brat, I also understand the sting that comes with having a life of experiences dismissed by the bigoted and ignorant. It hurts. I spent most of the mid-90’s angry, angry, angry – at anyone and anything. I hated the media. Despised the politicians. Loathed this country. I’m not saying it was correct. It just was. And, I’m also guilty of sometimes defending the indefensible, just because I refuse to give those same bigots an easy win. So…stones and outhouses, indeed.
Drive safely.
I know I’m late on this but MT drivers aren’t the only ones who have stressful jobs and have to deal with the ignorant public. Why should they get a pass to be rude and disrespectful to their customers? Huh wheels?
MY TIME WITH ACADIAN LINES
Did I ever mention that I had a summer job driving with Acadian Lines? My most interesting experience was hauling a load of nuns back to Halifax from their seaside resort somewhere, I think, down the Purcell’s Cove road. Anyway, we were descending this steep hill which ended in a turn to the left. I tried to slow the bus down and hit the air brakes but the it kept on moving fast. In fact, it gained speed. At the bottom of the hill was a McCullough’s Lumber truck. It was backing up the hill in the same lane I was! I blew the air horn – a real blast – repeatedly but with no effect! I knew I had to go around him which meant going blind toward the turn at the bottom of the hill. At that moment a little car came around the curve! Both lanes were heading my way! To the left was the sheer rock face of a cliff, to the right a sharp embankment leading down to the Atlantic Ocean! I took a chance. I rolled the bus over the shoulder of the embankment. Fortunately the bus hung there and didn’t roll down into the water. However, the angle of tilt was so great I couldn’t open the door. I got up, turned, and said to the nuns: “I’ve never been in this situation before. I’ll climb out the driver’s side window and you open the emergency door right there in the middle of the left side of the bus and get out one by one.” I did and they did. We all survived. An extra bus from Acadian Lines appeared to take us all back to Halifax. The McCullough Lumber truck driver was a fat, red-faced lout. As our bus was being winched out of the shoulder of the embankment he viewed the proceedings, hooked his thumbs in his braces, and bellowed, “It weren’t my fault.” What a knob.
I’d post an avatar photo of the scene but I don’t have one.
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
RSVP
:MontrealMan (02/19, 3.38, PM)
It is intetesting
RSVP
:MontrealMan(02/19, 3.38PM)
As I started to say, it is interesting to know that you drove for Acadian Lines. Do you remember what year that was? Reason being is that when I was a kid I used to take pictures of GM humpbacks and Flexibles. I loved the style of the humpbacks. Whenever I’m on the bike and drive by Brookfield there sits a humpback…#915. Still love that style.
Thanks for being a class act Ivan. Remember: six months ago I couldn’t spell Sub Driver…now I are one! Cheers Mate.
RSVP
: Klyde (02/19, 4:55PM)
Yes, it was a Flexible with the motor in the back and only a thin sheet of metal in the front. That is what made the impending collision with the McCullough’s Lumber truck so interesting.
I can’t remember the exact year. I believe it was shortly after Edward Cornwallis founded Halifax.
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
Ooooh , do I see a brusque, manly hug in our future >: )
This is what us Tom Clancy wannabes think of when we hear “Sub Driver”.
http://forum.sub-driver.com/images/logo.jp…
Have a good one.
RSVP
:Montrealman (02/20, 8.16AM)
I remember the Flexibles as my mode of transport every summer when I went to visit my grandparents. You must have teleported a Flexible back in time to the founding of Halifax….sort of “Back to the Future” style. I can only imagine the people and sailors of that time with a look of bewilderment seeing Montrealman having drag races with horse and carriages as he manhandles his Flexible on cobblestone streets, lol.
RSVP
: Klyde (02/20, 11:59AM)
You’re right, Klyde. Some of those drag races were a near-run thing.
New Avatar Alert! My Old Coins (7)
A pleasure as always!
Cheerio!
I googled “flexible” because I figured you guys weren’t talking about artics. What an elegant design ♥
Klyde, is this what you mean by “humpback”?
http://alexwaterhousehayward.com/blog/uplo…
summit bus
I’m thinking another summit is called for, soon. The February miasma can only be flensed from our tormented souls with lashings of Caesars and good fellowship. Howzaboutit , Oh Fearless Leader?
RSVP
:Col. Ivan Sonofabitch-95th Rifles (02/20, 2.37PM)
You are absolutely correct that that is what they called “humpbacks”, although the picture that you showed was a variation of the ones Acadian Lines had used. The ones that A.L. used and that I have pictures of when I was a kid, the design of the hump was more to the front, approx. 10ft. from front of bus. The seats inside were like inside a movie theater with 3 rows, first row was floor level a little higher than driver, second row of seats about 1.5 ft. higher and last row, one could see out the hump’s window if indeed, wasn’t smoky colored. I believe it was designed that way more for protection from the sun. Now off to fly my 737.
By Odin’s beard, that’s a capital idea, Ivan. I, too could use a respite from the snore/bore fest that is Yeastfink television. One more viewing of ‘Day After Tomorrow’ will have me throttling the garden gnomes in the basement.
If this summit becomes a reality, the olive toss will promptly begin at noon.
RSVPS
: Col. Ivan Sonofabitch (02/20, 2:27PM)
No, no no! The bus you posted was a top-of-the-line touring number which, as a matter of fact, I have never seen to say nothing of ever having driven. I think it points up the maddingly superficiality of commercial photo-bucket sites generally similar to youtube videos which I equally disdain on similar grounds. Although I must say I once did a tour of American tourists to Hubbards where we dined on freshly boiled lobster in respect to which, of course, I objected to for humanitarian reasons. We eyed each other warily with barely concealed contempt. I can tell you other tales of the accommodations of Acadian Line drivers in Sydney and Yarmouth which elicit images of Japanese concentration camps. Let my people go!
: 6:34PM
By “Fearless Leader” are you referring to Klyde or me? I suppose it’s Klyde, to whom I respectfully defer.
: Klyde (6:54PM)
Well Klyde, I don’t know what you’re talking about when you say that “the hump was more to the front, approx 10 feet from the front of the bus.” As I previously pointed out, there was NO hump on the front of the bus, just the steel sheet separating the driver from the road. The rest of your post – the movie theatre with three rows, the smoky coloured mirror, and all the rest – is utter fantasy. And “protection from the sun?” You must be joking. No, Klyde, we were indentured slaves toiling without complaint for our masters at Acadian Lines.
Did I mention I also did the Sackville Downs run to watch the sulky racing? Of course I objected to the cruelty to the horses. What a bunch of dicks. That blind guitarist on “Sing-a-Long Jubilee” had the foulest mouth I ever heard. What a wanker.
Did I mention that I had a beer with Don Tremaine in the Lord Nelson Tavern? Wait a minute, that had nothing to do with Acadian Lines.
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
Fearless Leader is a reference to Pretty Kitty who organized the first Summit, then known as the ‘Halgonquin Square Table’, and still continues to do so with much style and grace. We are in our third year. Our most popular collective wish: to have Montreal Man make an appearance at one of our weekend gatherings.
I’d even give you first dibs on the olives, MM.
RSVP
:Montrealman (02/20, 7.49PM)
I suppose one could say it’s all in perception and interpretation.
Hmmm, you could very well have been my driver during my travels. If you are referring to Flxible’s, I understand where the confusion lies.
Sackville Downs…That certainly wasn’t yesterday. Don’t forget Sackville Drive-In.
That blind guitarist was so plastered on the set, he’d piss his pants, according to some people I knew who were connected with the production of ‘Sling-A-Thong Jubilee’.
So you had a beer with ‘Trigger’ – was it at the Victory Lounge? A very nice man, did some voice word for my partner.
I agree with you MM, about the inadequacies of google, especially when one is venturing into terra incognita, as was. Unless they are adorned in Olive Drab or Panzer DunkelGelb my knowledge is somewhat limited. I can appreciate the aesthetic grace of these vintage beauties:
http://m1.i.pbase.com/u35/staggerwing/larg…
http://www.nymtmuseum.org/headends/05fall/…
http://g-s.smugmug.com/Other/Buses/i-csHPz…
http://www.bargainbusnews.com/Buses/6135-1…
….but I must defer to the knowledge of experts like you and Klyde,
I too met Mr. Tremain once, in studio. I even made him laugh into his mic by comparing the antics of students living in residential neighborhoods to a “platoon of Soviet infantry”. And he was once rude to my mother-in-law for which he has verily earned a place at the oaken table in Valhalla and the right to fill his boots with good German Pilsener.
I don’t know about Stink-a-Long Jubilee but Me Old Dad tells a good story of when the cast of the Tommy Cunter Show visited Canadian peacekeepers in the Gaza strip in 1965. Gordie Crapp, Al Czeezy and ole pineapple face himself – big fucking drunks. They sopped up a month’s ration of Heineken in a night and then had to settle for the locally brewed Stella which reeked of formaldehyde. And the Rhythm Pals? – Poo Pals, more like. Yup, the short fat guy and one of the other two. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, except perhaps aesthetically. BLEEECCCCCH >: 0
I’d like to see an appearance from Mr Meaty at the next roundtable.
I second that emotion. Hoist and SHITD, also. And Basil should put in a return appearance. TT’s Bro, as well.
Chief Brody “You’re gonna need a bigger boat”
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:Col. Ivan Sonofabitch (02/21, 6.25AM)
The Flxibles that Acadian Lines had were elegant in their time. As a kid going to visit my g’parents, I was first in line getting on. When they introduced the GMC Motor Coach(drivers referred them to humpbacks) my eyes just bugged out, I definitely was the first in line. I’m reminiscing now, have to go and find my pictures.
http://www.bargainbusnews.com/Buses/3265-1…
That picture of a bus was the best representation of buses that A.L. acquired although paint scheme was of white/blue style.
Ivan, have you perchance had the luxury of imbibing the nectar of Kenya….Tusker beer, a very smooth brew. I believe they sell that at specialty liquor stores. When I was there, I felt safer drinking that as opposed to the water they had, lol.
Never tried Tusker, but thanks for the heads up. I’ll be looking for it. I like Jamaican Red Stripe, which they carry at the jar store in the mall.
While we’re all here reminiscing about Stink-a-long jubilee, anyone remember Stacy’s Country Jamboree? A perfect Saturday night consisted of imbibing brew, a few joints, then down to business watching Monty Python’s Flying Circus, followed by Stacy’s, one couldn’t help but pee their pants off. A perfect Saturday night. AHHH, those were the days.
LOL – I had friends in uni – that was their regular ritual. Get nicely toasted and watch Jenny Shantelle(?) sing “Wings of a Dove”. And long before Red Green, Steve Smith had a cheapjack variety show with his wife – “Smith & Smith”. That too, allegedly got better with smoke.
Ah, Tommy Hunter in the Gaza, pops liked/disliked to tell the story of a drunk TH wrecking the deuce and a half. Or maybe that happened later, Canada side back at the regiments home base. In any case, whatever happened to Up Home Tonight? And WHY didn’t &smith follow smith to that shitty tv show? oh wait just answered my own question.
: T.T. Fonebone (02/20, 8:53PM)
“Our most popular collective wish: to have Montreal Man (sic) make an appearance at one of our collective gatherings.”
Well, thanks for the invite but I don’t know. I’ve always felt that anonymity added a certain “frisson” to our respective outpourings. I mean, how could I call Great Value “a shit-eating cretin” if I actually had personal contact with him? Would I have a chance to meet More, Hugo Phurst, Zedman, Stephen Harper and all the others? God, what a thought. Then there is the psychology. As with Shakespeare’s Cassius, I tend to have “a lean and hungry look” which some, accurately, might take for a posture of criticality. Then, in the absence of posted bitches, what would we talk about? Should I bring my coin collection, do you think? Thanks, but I’ll pass on the olives.
: Klyde (8:59PM)
My ears prick up when I see phrases like “perception and interpretation” thinking a spot of philosophy is on offer but it does seem difficult to grasp how one could philosophize about an Acadian Line bus itself. But it is reality of a sort, I suppose, in respect to which an ontological position might be advanced although I’m not clear just how or just what. But you are right in respect to their being no “e” in Flxible – the bus must have been named by an illiterate – but I am confused about your assertion, “where the confusion lies.” When one is confused about confusion one knows the path must lead downward. My drive-in of choice was always the Chickenburger on Highway #2 on Bedford Basin. Garish but great sexual tension in the air. I did not engage there, of course, but managed a bit at evening interludes in the old Chevrolet at Black Rock, then the home of the RNSYS. The windows always became steamed up but we weren’t looking out and it did interfere with the peepers.
: Col. Ivan Sonofabitch – 95th. Rifles (02/21, 6:25AM)
I have always felt that if someone had something to say, then say it. If someone actually owned an artifact, then post it. As a result I have always felt that posting attachments or videos amounted to a territorial move which placed the recipient in a passive, receptive position, one I do not cheerfully adopt. However your bus attachments, particularly the first one from the Blue Bus Line evoked memories of my Acadian Lines number including the spelling of “Flxible.”
Yes, Don Tremaine was part of the evening show on CBC Halifax featuring Max Ferguson and Rub Hornstein who did the weather on a blackboard with a piece of chalk the size of a sausage which he threw up in the air when he was finished. Max was by far the more arty and intelligent of the three and soon Toronto gobbled him up. Don Tremaine used to be a member of the RCMP, smoked cigars, and had a self-assured air about him. My only meeting was at the Lord – not the present one but where the bank is now. Ah, the Lord!
Tommy Hunter and Gordie Tapp (old pineapple face?) were also out of Toronto but the blind guitarist on Sing-A-Long Jubilee could have more than held his own in the booze department. (Hello, what’s this? Have I spotted an error in Ivan’s account? “Stella” (Artois) was a Flemish beer brewed in Leuven, Belgium and not in Gaza. I indulged while on a conference there so I know whereof I speak. Pull your socks up, Ivan!) Speaking of Jubilee, did I ever mention the weekend dances at the Jubilee Boat Club at the bottom of Jubilee Road? A lot of sexual tension but … Wait a minute, that’s not about Acadian Bus Lines.
Gaza Strip, eh? Did I ever mention that I was an Air Force trainee – summer job only again – stationed at Anderson Square at the corner of University and Summer? We wore brown summer uniforms, heavy black boots and blue canoe caps. The idea was to crush the caps down as much as possible to resemble the American flyboys we saw on TV. For lunch we paraded from Anderson Square to the RCAF base at Gorsebrook on South Street. After we finished lunch, we paraded back again for more dreary classes in electronics. I was one of the very few who declined a “flip” over Halifax. I mean, my God! I was terrified of flying.
: Klyde (7:00AM)
I see what you mean by “humpback” – the bump on top of the bus. I never drove a humpback. It was above my station, I guess. They sure as hell were not on the Sackville Downs run as we pulled out of the depot on Dresden Row. They were not on the Rainbow Haven run either when I drove the kids out to, yes you guessed it, Rainbow Haven! No vibrations on Stacey’s Country Jamboree. No vibrations on Monty Python either, at least not in Halifax. I mean, my God.
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
“Our most popular collective wish: to have Montreal Man make an appearance… “
? seriously ?
Is it to swarm him?
He’s sitting at the other end of the table. I’m not dealing with that smarmy fuck.
I don’t know MM. It may have been Stella Artois brewed under license. Or , perhaps after cocking his snook at France and Great Britain, Nasser decided to take on mighty Belgium.
Or it may have been a grandiose name bestowed upon the local swill. I seem to recall reading somewhere that breweries in hot countries used formaldehyde as a preservative. The Vietnames Ba Mi Ba – loathed by a generation of G.I.s – also supposedly tasted like something from a biology lab.
RSVPS
: The Dribbling Half-Wit (02/21, 10:09AM)
Swarming me is the only was you’d work up the courage, Dribbles. By the way, I’m dedicating this New Avatar Alert to you. Try not to move your lips when reading it.
: Col. Ivan Sonofabitch – 95th. Rifles (10:09AM)
Just having some fun after your low blow in respect to the number of steps per minute executed by the French Foreign Legion on parade. At least I didn’t write, after a little throat clearing, “I feel constrained to point out that Stella Artois etc. etc.” I always wait my turn.
NEW AVATAR ALERT! HISTORICALLY INTERESTING PAPER MONEY (7)
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
RSVP
:Montrealman (02/21, 3.42PM)
In hindsight I should have written “Misinterpretation of Identities” instead of “I understand where the confusion lies. I have you all confused over the confusion. You were typing about Flxible’s and I was typing about GM’s.
I’m just as guilty of adding an “e” when I first wrote about Flxibles.
I used the term “perception and interpretation” as it applied from a teenager’s point of view, much like a teenage boy ogling rare cars or labia and the interpretation that would arise from that observation. Even though I’m ready to grade into the next stage of life, the fossil age, I recalled from memory about the GM humpback from a teenager’s perspective as at that time I was agog over them. Would that be somehow considered true reflection? Is there now a philosophical or ontological dimension to this?
“Low Blow” ??? – My dear MM. I thought I was quite tactful. I praised your Legionnaires and clarified a fact upon which I had some knowledge for the general benefit of all concerned. It’s like with your Star Weekly covers. I point out factual errors , not as a personal rebuke which would be absurd, but as part of the general exchange of knowledge, which is surely the noblest of crusades.
A “flip” over Halifax would have been the greatest of fun. If you ever do attend a summit ask me to tell you about the time I did it, in the right hand seat of a Canadair CT-114 Tutor.
MM, many of the names you posted in the above reply don’t attend the Summits. Ivan, Hugo, Kitty, Paingirl, Klyde, Orgasmatron and my good self are regular attendees while other monikers attend from time to time. Great Value, More, SHITZ, Cranky, Bro Tim and GDM have never attended a Summit so you could count them out.
Bring the coin collection, by all means. I’ll bring my lovely collection of vintage stamps & postcards. Ivan will continue as recipient of my olives. Hopefully, Hugo will bring dessert as he has in the past.
I like your avatars, MM, be damned those who don’t.
RSVPS
: Klyde (02/21 4:16PM)
Well it’s difficult to say whether or not a teenager’s perspective would have been a “true reflection” of the GM humpback as you put it. It all depends, of course, on how “true” is to be interpreted – whether in an eternal Platonic sense or in a contingent Post-Modernist sense. We must discuss this later.
: Col. Ivan Sonofabitch – 95th Rifles (5:26PM)
Well of course, it all depends on just how a “low blow” is to be defined. My view is that beyond a certain level of triviality – the number of steps taken by the French Legionnaires while on parade and the Palestinian brewing of Stella Artois – the object of our joint efforts must be, as you say, to advance the general exchange of knowledge, that “noblest of crusades.” We must never lose sight of this. However, in respect to your adventures over Halifax in the right hand seat of a Canadair CT-114 Tutor I prefer to pass over in silence.
The instructor at Anderson Square had a good laugh about how the door of the Expediter – the plane we were to have our “flip” in – had on other occasions had fallen off on take-off. I didn’t join in the laughter.
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
Not my handiwork – far above my meager talents by a factor of 1000 – , but could that be Cadet Cato riding his fixie out of the hangar:
http://www.400squadron.ca/_/rsrc/133093590…
Yes, that looks about right. But look Yanukovych, we must avoid proper names on this site.
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: T.T. Fonebone (02/21, 7:18PM)
Thanks for your thoughts regarding the Summit but I think the best idea, at least for me, is to remain anonymous. Hugo bringing dessert was the clincher. I doubt I’d leave there alive.
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
Lashings of apologies – you are quite correct about protecting anonymity.
And it’s eerie how similar my actual surname is to that of Putin’s sock puppet in Kyiv.
What do you think. 12 hours after the Olympic closing ceremonies, will the Russian tanks roll?
All in the name of “fraternal solidarity in the face of the reactionary forces of chaos and NATO aggression” It’s going to be like’56 and ’68 all over again.
Maybe, but Ukraine appears to be more deeply divided that Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. At least they weren’t kicking each other’s ass like the Ukrainians are currently doing. If the Russians come I see them claiming to rescue Ukraine from its current devolution into chaos and disorder. Don’t expect NATO or the European Union to chance their arm.
I second TT’s sentiment for your avatars MM, be damned to those who don’t like them. I would have liked the pleasure of knowing who you are in reality MM, but I understand and respect your need for anonymity but consider that you have many people (bitchers) on this site that think highly of you as an online friend, starting with me, damn those who don’t feel that way.
Speaking of damned, I now need to find a cohort to fill in for upcoming CTC commercials, won’t be easy finding a replacement.
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: Klyde (02/22, 10:54AM)
Why thank you Klyde, that was very nice particularly after hearing from the small smelly More, the shit-eating cretin Great Value and the dribbling half-wit Zedman.
I was sorry to hear that you will have to find a replacement for the upcoming CTC commercials. Perhaps if I knew what they were I could ghost-write some material. Let me know.
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!