Growing out the beard…
6 minute read
February 25, 2015, 2:44 AM
This past Sunday, I really came to realize that I have, as TV Tropes would say, started “growing the beard” when it comes to driving a bus. It’s about getting past all of the newness and figuring out how it all really works, and starting to, you know, become proficient at what you’re doing. When it comes to jobs, if a person is a good fit with the organization, they grow out their beard within the first few months after whatever training period ends. If the beard doesn’t grow, then it’s possible that they’re not a good fit, and that often ends with a parting of ways.
Me, I’ve grown my (figurative) beard out quite nicely. I have a run of my own, meaning that my assignment does not change much from week to week. I do the same thing every weekday, and I do the same Saturday and Sunday schedules every week. When the transit agency that I work for cut me loose to work my own assignment for the first time, I was a bit overwhelmed. I was at a different bus garage than the one that I had trained at after having been unexpectedly reassigned at the end of training (about half the class was also moved from where they had trained), and I had never done a street relief in the middle of a route before.
For those not familiar, a street relief is how some bus routes work. The buses are out on the street all day, and the operators just cycle on and off of them. One guy takes a bus out of the garage, and then at a designated location, he hands the bus off to another operator. That next guy takes the bus for however long, and then gives the bus to someone else. That keeps going until the last guy gets the bus, and he brings it back to the garage.
Continue reading…This year, I want to slim back down to where I was in 2012…
4 minute read
February 19, 2015, 3:28 AM
While I was between jobs, I put on a bit of weight, most likely due to reduced activity due to my being out of work, and out of a routine. My current job, where I operate a bus, is not exactly conducive to physical activity, considering that I sit strapped to a seat for nine hours a day. Pushing pedals and turning steering wheels does not count as physical activity, though I was getting nighttime leg cramps from it for a while. I also was a bit lazy when it came to exercise once I finished training and got my own assignment. I work late afternoon into the wee hours of the morning, and initially would tend to sleep in a bit. The only exercise I got was just under two miles on Sundays, going to and from a street relief that was just a shade under a mile away from the bus garage. I also now drive to work in my car, which means that I don’t get any activity related to my own commute.
However, now that the bus has finally become routine and I’m really starting to get the hang of things (and – heaven forbid – having fun at work), I can start getting serious about fitness again. After all, one of my more recent splash photos shows me looking like this:
Categories: Bicycle, Myself, Swimming, Weight loss, Work