Monday's bussing adventure came after school when my daughter and I bussed into Hamilton East shopping centre to look for some clothing items she needed. The bus took us door to door in a jiffy - mainly due to the speed of the driver which seemed excessive and slightly dangerous. It was certainly a rocky ride, but we made it. We did some of our shopping and then caught the return bus (with the same driver) to the Hillcrest Warehouse to buy the other necessities. One thing I love about the Hamilton bus service is that you can use the same ticket if it's within two hours. Great savings had by all.
However, I vowed to never let my children ride their bikes to Hamilton East shops after seeing this erratic driver nearly bowl over an innocent woman cyclist. The driver was heading for his bus stop and nothing was going to stop him. Fortunately, the woman dodged the monster and escaped certain death. The return ride was just as rocky but I neglected to get the bus driver's details to alert the authorities. Next time.
We managed to get all the items we needed at the Warehouse but, while there, I received a text from my husband who was meant to be picking up our son from cricket practice after work. His new motorbike had a seized brake and he wouldn't be able to make the rendezvous. I was so glad that I was already out of the house because, if I had been at home when the text arrived, I would have panicked and used the van to go and pick up our son. Instead, I remained relatively calm and texted him to catch the Orbiter bus to where we were shopping, telling him we would all then take the other bus home together. Thank goodness for modern texting technology! Where would I be without it? It is quite simply the paranoid mother's dream!
He followed instructions and we were united more quickly than if I'd gone home to get the van and driven to get him. So it all worked out happily in the end - and my husband's guardian angel turned up in the guise of a fellow worker to help him with the motorbike. It was temporarily sorted and he's using the van to take it to the fixit shop today to figure out the problem.
In a discussion in the evening about sports practices this week after school - and the relevant transport ramifications - my husband asked for a reminder about why I wasn't using a vehicle and making life easier. I explained the situation and felt really clear on what my experiment was finding out. Could we do it? How hard is it really? Which journeys actually need to be done by car? Does it waste precious time? Etc. The family is in agreement with the experiment continuing and everyone sees the inherent value. I'm glad about that. My son said he would ride a bike if "everyone in the world" did. I explained that "everyone in the world" starts with "some people in the world" and grows from there!
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