Review Of The Year - Dundee Area Bus Forum Style
This review I originally wrote for the Forum, but I've posted it here for you to all "enjoy". Non-members interested in joining the Forum, take a look here first! My own personal Review Of My Year will follow, probably tomorrow.2006 marked the first complete year of the Forum, and brought many changes to the bus operations in our area.Naturally, following the takeover of the Traction Group, much was expected from Stagecoach during 2006. Vehicle wise, few could be surprised at the end of the MCW Metrobus. The five that were new to Perth depot in 1988 (SM12-16) saw their last this Spring, although the last one managed to stay a bit longer on a school run in Blairgowrie. The Tridents that replaced them were not the start of a mass influx, but only the third part of Stagecoach Scotland to receive brand new Tridents. Elsewhere in Strathtay, further old stock was culled, but there were no major changes to the network - except where dictated by councils and contracts. In that regard, the Forfar area saw the doubling of the Monday-Saturday evening service to Dundee, and the BRDG-funded extension of the daytime service 27 from Arbroath through Forfar to Orchardbank & Kirriemuir. Passengers noticed the new colours, but the fleetname was (at least initially) the biggest surprise. The Arbroath network was relaunched and rebranded as The Round O, and new Day and MegaRider tickets were introduced here. The Dundee area saw the replacement of the rarely spoke of ZoneCards with the Tay MegaRider, and the extension of the existing Super MegaRider meant it could now be used from Marykirk or Northwaterbridge to Glasgow or Edinburgh... but initial purchasers of these picked up driver apathy on the other side of the Tay!Speaking of which, the Fife area of Stagecoach had not been forgotten. No fewer than four separate BRDG schemes were introduced during the course of the year. Services 37, 39 and X1 between Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy were treated to new MAN single deck easy access buses with CCTV. Service 99/99A/99B between Dundee and St Andrews was radically overhauled, with an increase from three to four buses an hour, new evening and a complete Sunday service, replacing the partial one bus shuttle ran until now. New MAN's were delivered here too. Service 78 to High Valleyfield was increased from three to four buses an hour, using new Solo's. The 78 did get a boost to the passenger numbers when First pulled out of their half of the 14/14A, and Stagecoach extended some 78's via Low Valleyfield and Culross to Kincardine, Alloa & Stirling. This meant that the Solo's were quickly outgrown on most journeys, and Darts began to arrive. The final scheme in this selection was the introduction of the second direct service (in recent years) between Edinburgh Airport & Fife - AirDirect 747. The branded Optare Solo's run up to every 30 minutes, providing useful links for RBS Gogarburn, the Airport and surrounding industries, to/from Ferrytoll and Inverkething. Through ticketing was developed to/from Stagecoach Express from day one, and to/from trains soon after. Other service changes at Fife were largely in West Fife. Service D7 has became a series of different destinations after Abbeyview, Service 74 had a two-hourly extension to Falkirk, and Services D3/D4 were increased from four to six buses an hour. Vehicles at Fife were a handful of Solo's and Darts, but the biggest change was the introduction of lift-equipped Volvo/Plaxton Profiles on the X24/X26 routes.Stagecoach Perth saw little change, largely as tendering by P&KC was pushed back, meaning new contracts start in January 2007. The Perth City open top tour came to an end, but an interesting alternative was provided using some vintage vehicles from the company stock, on a Sunday local service around the city. Perth lost its link with the Bluebird administration during the year, but remained on their operator licence. A new commercial summer service 502 provided summer links from Perth/Pitlochry over Glenshee to Ballater/Aberdeen, using minibuses from each end. Up north, the Aberdeen - Stonehaven and Stonehaven - Montrose improvements started, with more new branded MAN's, and a bus to Stonehaven up to every 15 minutes. It did mean buses heading to Montrose would have to do a town circuit of Stoney as well, resulting in two buses following each other during the evenings! Stonehaven's work on the 8/9, 24 and 103 has largely been transferred to Strathtay Montrose, and some of Meffan's work was similarly transferred to Forfar depot.Travel Dundee made little change during the year, following the introduction of the Bus Concordat in the city. In November, Services 9x/10x were doubled to a bus every 15 minutes all day - which contributed to the doubling of the service (in the last four years) between Dundee City Centre and the Technology Park, from four to eight buses an hour off-peak.In terms of infrastructure, the most noticeable issue of 2006 was the cessation of Dew Pitchmastic (sic?) contractor for the Fife Bus Interchanges project, who went belly-up in the Spring. The partially-rebuilt stations at St Andrews, Leven, Kirkcaldy (Glenrothes was almost done) had to lie in situ throughout the summer, until the work was retendered. The new Link Road at the Tech Park is now complete, the local neds have now left the switch box alone, and the drivers now know which angle to drive at to activate the thing... but, the work on the side of Ninewells is ongoing until next year, meaning the full potential of the road is still to be seen.Services between Fife and West Lothian have been a recurring theme this year. Blue Bus of Shotts had registered a commercial service (in time for the school holidays) X58, between Livingston, Ferrytoll, Dunfermline, Glenrothes and St Andrews, but were unable to start because of an issue with the authorities. The idea was then abandoned. The existing peak-time service X90 of E&M Horsburgh between Dunfermline and Livingston was due for retender, but West Lothian Council did not renew the tender, due to low passenger numbers. The reliability had been a bit questionable over the years, but may be worth another shot once the A8000 work is finished. So, at the start of the year, we had one direct bus from Fife to West Lothian, almost had two, then had none - and then, had another one.One of the more interesting set of introductions was a network by Fishers Tours, called Scottish Express. The idea was to provide new links to/from Arbroath, Monifieth, Carnoustie and Dundee, to various points. The new Scottish Executive concession travel scheme allows those who qualify free travel, and as a result, the potential was there. As a result, fortnightly services (one different destination each weekday, changed on alternate weeks) saw services to Aberdeen, Kirkcaldy, Oban, Pitlochry, Jedburgh, Ayr, Fort William, Callander, Inverness, and Largs. These developed into duplicates on some occasions, and the company responded to passenger demand by introducing seat reservations. For the winter, the passengers were consulted once more, which resulted in some Forfar/Brechin pick-ups being introduced. For the winter, destinations included Livingston (see above), Stirling, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Again, these services proved popular, and some of the winter journeys demanded two coaches on some days.Long-distance services by the Citylink/Megabus joint venture were under the watchful eye of the Competition Commission's enquiries for much of the year. One interesting development, however, was the introduction of an east coast Megabus.com service, which took an Inverness - Edinburgh service (adding an extra stop at Ferrytoll, to pick up the Cowdenbeath driver who took the bus on), and extending it to Newcastle, Scotch Corner, Meadowhall (near Sheffield), to London. This then also added to the Newcastle - London and Leeds - London services. The Fife-based drivers didn't seem to take to Newcastle too well, but some have stuck with it, and solidified the service. An interesting development at the end of the year was the introduction of Edinburgh - Dundee "direct" joint venture journeys. These were "unadvertised treats" to the passengers, and even the electronic displays were not so discreet in heralding the arrival of an "M90 Edinburgh/M9 Duplicate Service".School service retendering in Angus brought the expansion of Strathmore Travel and Rowan Travel, to their maximum size. Travel Dundee's "Wisharts" unit also won a double decker for Forfar Academy, and topped this by taking the Arbroath minibus services 37, 46, 49, 50 from Strathtay. JP won a few bits and pieces with school runs, adding the Tuesday 120, 121 services to the Friday ones they already operate, and winning the "best value" contract for a new service from Gowanbank and Restenneth Priory to Forfar, which then extended to Tesco, and provide more buses for Turfbeg. The temptation to number the service 151 was not taken (this time), and it became 114. Further up Strathmore to The Mearns, and Nicoll's operation didn't seem to have their problems to seek. Having surrendered four school runs in the summer (two more in the autumn) and given up a lot of commercial work, the company remained on a handful of tendered services, plus the commercial 8/9 and some 113's between school runs. Towards the end of the year, Laurencekirk station plans passed yet another hurdle, meaning another interchange at the north-east of our area (like Dunblane in the south-west?) will eventually be possible.In Perthshire, 8th January 2007 marks the commencement of the council's new tenders. In brief, new services from Stanley to Bankfoot via Stewart Tower (33) are to start, and there is also to be a Saturday extension of Service 71 (to be operated by Strathtay's Blairgowrie depot) beyond the unnatural terminus at Tarvie Road End, to Pitlochry. Crieff Travel and Pegasus Travel will both expand, the former now taking Service 47 from Crieff to Stirling, and the latter winning most of Service 17 between Perth and Gleneagles via Dunning - amongst others.While the initial fanfair around the introduction of free concession travel has died down, there are more developments to look forward to into 2007. Further tendering, more BRDG schemes, as well as an election or two around the corner, will all add spice to the mix.(and then there was a thank-you bit etc.)
Travel Dundee fare rise
Slightly of more interest to those north of the border, but Travel Dundee are having their annual fare rise a little later this year, on Monday 8th January 2007. This fits in with the start of the new Scottish Executive 16-18 year old concession card scheme. Like the London changes, the scheme is designed to encourage those to purchase prepaid tickets.Adult single cash fares on most services will rise from 50p/75p/95p/£1.20 to 60p/£1.00/£1.00/£1.25. That is correct - the 2 stage fare (currently 75p) and the 3 stage fare (95p) are merged into one, for £1.00. The Daysaver rises from £2.50 to £2.60, and the Evening Saver also goes up 10p from £1.50 to £1.60. The weekly season ticket/bus pass goes down from £10.50 to £10.00, and the 4 Weekly ticket from £38.00 to £37.00, and the 10 week Student ticket is frozen at £69.00. The monthly pay-by-Direct Debit season ticket is unchanged at £33.00 per month.The full details of the increase are now on the Travel Dundee website, and you can get an advance look at the new fares leaflet here, or (currently) by clicking on the link on my Techpark microsite.
More Transport for London musings
OK, so I've been a bit back on reporting on
TfL happenings and paranoia, but it is that time of the year again (almost) - fares increase day, which happens on Tuesday 2nd January for the bus & tube passengers of London. I've already blogged about the changes to train and train/tube fares in Greater London a few months back, but this is the first time I've mentioned
TfL's annual hike. This year, cash passengers will pay more, but those with pre-pay Oyster cards will not. Thus, a cash fare on a London bus increases from £1.50 to £2.00 (any distance). If you use your pre-pay credit on your Oyster card, the price remains unchanged at £1.00. The Oyster card will automatically "cap" the credit deducted at £3.00 per day - 50p less than the paper One Day Bus Pass ("cap" and pass prices unchanged). A tube journey (to/from or within Zone 1 only) increases from £3.00 to £4.00. With Oyster cards, the price is not changed at £1.50-£3.50 (peak) or £1.50-£2.00 (off-peak).
During our training on the Underground, many of us were surprised to learn that the bulk of the income does not come from commuters, but tourists and visitors. Of course, occasional visitors to the city will not go for an Oystercard. Even if they could understand how to get one, and how to get your £3 deposit back when the time came to fly home - what would they do with the £3 anyway?
The reducing of fares for young people continues, with the continuing of free travel on buses for all under 18-year-olds in full-time education, and a new 50p Oyster single fare for all under-16s on the Tube, with a £1.00 per day price "cap". From Easter 2007, free Tube and DLR travel will be offered to all under 11-year-olds at all times. Downloading the
full booklet gives you all the details.
The
BBC have mentioned the rise, and one of the associated stories to this was a link to a story about the
RMT (once again)
objecting to the Public-Private Partnership funding of the tube. "The Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) said Metronet and Tube Lines, the firms responsible for maintaining the network, had "spectacularly failed"."
"RMT general secretary Bob Crow said the move had resulted in "deterioration in service, missed targets, infrastructure failure, engineering overruns, an alarming increase in safety problems and a massive increase in costs." Mr Crow added that the government must "bring the necessary legislation forward to end the PPP and return the Tube's infrastructure to London Underground".
A TfL spokesperson said: "TfL's position on the PPP is clear. It is not the system we would have chosen to finance and manage the renewal of the Tube. But once the government transferred the Underground to TfL under PPP, we have done all we can to make it work. "
That was the interesting bit - back to my time once more! - but the Mayor wanted a bonds issue. Subseuqent press releases show TfL have been using bonds to raise funding, but the government did lumber them with PPP. Metronet have recently been criticised after
another day of exceptionally poor performance last month (one I'd missed out on before this), in which
Mayor Ken said "Unless there is evidence of a marked improvement it is inconceivable that things can carry on... to say to Londoners there will be another 12 years of this is inconceivable,". Bob Crow from the RMT did sum it up brilliantly though - "What's £1m to a firm that makes more than that in profits every week?"
Now you know why we had those strikes, back in the day. That was more than five years ago now...
T-Minus 4 Days, As Sarah Would Say
You may remember a few months ago, I mentioned finding (Aunty) Sarah's livejournal. To refresh your memory, Sarah is going for grs with the same surgeon that I will (later) be seeing. Well, she's been counting down, and yesterday marked T-Minus 5 Days - hence the title. In other words, just four days. She's heading down with Sylvia on the 3rd, and she is going into Sussex Nuffield on the 4th. Following an exchange of emails, she's talking of getting "Class Of 2007" t-shirts printed, as several friends (at least eight others that I can think of) are heading that way at some point of 2007... She does plan to update the LJ from her hospital bed (I'm making no promises, lets see how she manages first!), but I am sure everyone reading this will wish her well.
What was your number one?
This evening I found this site, that allows you to find out what the Number 1 single and/or album was on your birthday, or any other special date. With that in mind....On 16th Jan 1979 ... (my own birthday)The Number 1 single was: The Village People - "Y.M.C.A."The Number 1 album was: Various artist compilation (EMI) - "Don't Walk - Boogie"Born on 16th Jan:1942 - William Francis (keyboard player, vocalist, Dr Hook)1959 - Sade (real name Helen Folasade Adu)1965 - Maxine Jones (En Vogue)1979 - Aaliyah Haughton (Aka Aaliyah. Died August 25th, 2001)On 9th April 2004... (my first day of full-time-transtion-wotsits)he Number 1 single was: McFly - "Five Colours In Her Hair"The Number 1 album was: Anastacia - "Anastacia"Born on 9th Apr:1932 - Carl Perkins (vocalist, guitarist; deceased)1946 - Les Gray (vocalist, Mud; deceased)1948 - Phillip Wright (Paper Lace)1978 - Rachel Stevens (vocalist, formerly with S Club 7)
Another non-stop day
I'd agreed to meet a "friend" in Dundee this morning, before work. I was planning on getting into work a little earlier than a normal Saturday, so I said I'd have to be tight for time. To cut a long story short, I waited for 50 minutes in the bus station for nothing, as he was already in town (I saw him from the corner of my eye later), and he didn't respond to my "where are you?" text until nine hours later, and he was back in Edinburgh! On balance, I could have done without that!
I headed for work, and I had arrived a little bit early (I was due to start at 1300, [edit] was finishing at 1230). In the time between these, two surprises! Firstly, in 2004, I "lost" my old drawer unit, when someone moved it - or so I thought. Someone had found my bottom drawer unit, and noticed some of the things were mine. Oddly enough, the key that I still had no longer worked - so was the drawer really moved all those months ago, or was it just a new lock on it? Anyway, a huge amount of stuff I no longer need - including old timesheets and declined holiday forms in his name amongst others! Second surprise was I've ended the year with yet another new team coach - but I won't see her until the New Year anyway.
Finished at 2200, and made sure I was out on time, for the last time this year. I'd thrown out most of the contents of the drawer, but kept some of the paper and pens, and quite a nice mouse mat too. My last buses for the year were Stagecoach Strathtay 47260 on the 13 to work, and Travel Dundee 167 on the 29 back home.
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Friday's mini adventure
Today was a mini adventure in its own right, and I barely made it out of the Inner Ring Road. I left the house mid-afternoon, went via the Wellgate to the Gallagher Retail Park. For those who have not been to Dundee, the first units were built on part of the bus depot (the new owners reduced the size of their compound to sell part of the site off), but the site has then expanded to cover a former warehouse, garage, and the former light industrial units. It's always expanding, but the last of the units are now there - the retail park now goes from the DCC car park at East Whale Lane, up to the bus depot perimeter fence.
This now includes a new Borders store, amongst others. I liked the Borders stores when in London, and this one is fairly similar. The initial lack of travel books and maps was resolved when I found they were mostly upstairs. There is an extensive collection of magazines and books, but it appeared a fair whack of the stock has been shipped in from the south. There was a rather large - for Dundee, anyway - stack of copies of the new edition of
Time Out's guide to
Gay and Lesbian London, and the transport section was all planes and trains (no buses) - but with quite a wide selection - again, for Dundee - of books on the London Underground speciality subjects, like disused station and terracotta station buildings. There was a small bit of local stock too.
I didn't buy any reading material, did get a few new items of clothing from Matalan before heading back to town, across the city centre for powercards/payments (the Seagate Convenience Store no longer do powercards btw!), and then back to Tesco, and home. It was wet, blustery, windy, the whole lot! Got home and finally updated
Thunderbird with my
new domain email accounts - until now, I had been using mail2web.com for all of those.
So...
[edit]
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How to Respect a Transsexual Person
Most of you don't need any help here - you've been wonderful. But, I do sometimes get asked about these things, so have a look here (thanks to [edit] for finding the link!)
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Another Online Voucher...
... found this one via The Ticket Collector... for a free pint this time...... and don't feel too bad if you are headed for Oakwood or Cockfosters I guess... lol
Anything else that we can squeeze in this year?...
... well, it has been a while since I've done a Transport for London story. Remember I used to work on the tube? Well, here's one, not a million miles away from my place(s) in Southgate.A penny spent at Oakwood and Cockfosters stations is a penny raised for good causesLondon Underground (LU) staff at Cockfosters and Oakwood Tube stations have turned their approach to tackling vandalism into cash for charity.After years of seeing the public restroom vandalised and defaced on a daily basis, staff decided to introduce special locking system on the doors to the public toilets in which 20p must be inserted to gain access to the loo. The new system literally means that passengers wanting to spend a penny actually have to spend a penny. The system has led to a reduction in vandalism and allows LU to raise significant amounts of money for charity.Chris Oduola, Group Station Manager at Arnos Grove said: "This system is very effective in keeping vandals at bay and allows us to raise significant amounts of money for charity. In July 2005 we donated about £4,000 to the London Bombing Fund and then £3,000 in early 2006 to Cancer Research UK. "This month, as we near Christmas we wanted to support a London children's charity to help disadvantaged children by providing them with a present this Christmas. We are delighted to be donating £1,000 to Capital Radio's Help a London Child". Now, I've not seen the locks in question, but as they work, and are of relatively low cost (Stagecoach Bluebird use them at Aberdeen, Ballater etc.), then it might be nice to spread them around the network. Won't be good for the larger stations (where the goings on in there was well known), but might help to allow facilities out of town to be opened up - again. It also might help to cure holes in the TfL budget...
Things Can Only... what???
As I rushed to get out of the door in time for the bus, the ultimate irony was in the take-away, where I went for breakfast/lunch... where the radio was playing "
Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream...
I was surprised, and pleased that I managed most of the day, without any issues! The slightly scary bit is - no-one noticed I was gone yesterday! That might explain the lack of phone calls wondering where I was... turns out I've also got a new team coach (yes, another one!) who was not here today.
In other words, if Riverside House ever goes on fire, I'll be the first one out the door!
If time is a healer, let me have some
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Now I'm tired too
[edit]
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Just the two of us
We had a quiet enough Christmas Day,[edit]
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Not a day to repeat
[edit]
Otherwise - the city centre was very grey and dull looking today, especially as the fog came down faster than the street lights could come up!
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Perth & Kinross Council Area - Local Bus Service Changes from 08 January 2007
The council (yesterday) issued a list of all the changes, and also added complete downloadable copies of each area booklet to the Perthshire.com website. I've also now got the last two of the new Perth & Kinross Council local area transport guides (Kinross & Bridge of Earn, and Highland Perthshire areas) paper copies delivered at work. The council's release says...
Over recent months, the Public Transport Unit has retendered the majority of the Council's local bus service contracts.
The new contracts are to be implemented from Monday, 08 January 2007 and will result in a number of changes being made to local bus services, including: timetable improvements; the introduction of new wheelchair accessible vehicles on certain corridors; adjustments to some journeys to allow more reliable operation; and in several cases a change of operator.
Below is a summary of the changes, in service number order.
Stagecoach Perth Service 11
Route in Perth City Centre altered to serve High Street and George Street.
Stagecoach Perth Service 12
Route altered to serve Viewlands Terrace.
Stagecoach Perth Service 15
The 0725 journey from Crieff and 1745 journey from Perth have been extended to serve St Fillans, Monday to Friday, increasing commuting opportunities to and from Perth. There are also minor timing changes throughout the timetable to improve reliability.
Crieff Travel Service 15B
This is a new schoolday only service between Comrie, Dalginross and Crieff High School.
Stagecoach Perth & Stagecoach Strathtay Service 16
The first Monday to Saturday journey now departs Dundee 20 minutes earlier at 0613 and is extended from Inchture to serve A90 Horn Milk Bar and Errol.
A new Monday to Saturday journey has been introduced from Errol at 0649 to Dundee.
Teatime Monday to Saturday journeys from Invergowrie to Dundee now serve the Technology Park.
A new Sunday timetable is introduced which includes changes to the times of some journeys and one more journey than before in both directions.
Pegasus Travel/Stagecoach Perth Service 17
Daytime journeys are now operated by Pegasus Travel (previously Stagecoach Perth). The 0725 journey from Kintillo has been extended to commence from Dunning at 0704. The 0805 and 1645 journeys from Dunning have been retimed to depart at 0755 and 1725 respectively. The 1605 journey from Perth now departs at 1645.
Crieff Travel Service 18
This service is now operated by Crieff Travel (previously Sweeney's Garage). Journeys have been extended to serve Abbey Road, St Margaret's Health Centre/Hospital and Glenorchill View in Auchterarder, and Victoria Terrace in Crieff. There are also minor timing changes throughout.
Docherty's Midland Coaches Services 19 & 20/First Service 19
There are timing changes throughout the timetable to improve reliability. There are also revised boarding and alighting arrangements in Blackford and a revised route on journeys departing from Stirling Bus Station. Additionally, journeys will operate on a limited stop basis between Dunblane, Queen Victoria School and Stirling Bus Station. First will no longer operate a commercial journey from Stirling at 1805, with the bus commencing its journey to Perth in Blackford at 1842. Sunday journeys are now operated by First (previously Docherty's Midland Coaches).
Stagecoach Perth Service 23
The early morning journey from Dunkeld to Perth, Monday to Saturday, now starts at 0720 and runs 5 minutes earlier prior to Inveralmond.
Stagecoach Perth Services 24 and 27
New Friday evening journeys introduced, including options to travel from Perth at 2240 on Service 23 and connect for Pitlochry at Ballinluig. Service 27 journey at 1845 Pitlochry to Perth is withdrawn
Stagecoach Perth Service 33
A new 3 day a week service from Bankfoot intended to assist medical appointments at Stanley Medical Centre but also serving Stewart Tower farmshop.
Pegasus Travel Service 36/636
Service 636 and several Service 36 journeys are now operated by Pegasus Travel (previously Stagecoach Perth). In addition, the Service 36 journey which operated Monday to Friday on Abernethy Primary School school holidays has been re-timed to depart Kintillo Road at 1540 and now operates Monday to Friday all year round.
Crieff Travel Service 47
This service is now operated by Crieff Travel (previously Stagecoach Perth) using wheelchair accessible vehicles. There are minor timing changes throughout the timetable, with an increase in the number of journeys serving Dunblane Railway Station.
Stagecoach Strathtay Service 51
Service renumbered from 56 to 51. There are no changes to route or timetable.
Pegasus Travel Service 54B
The service is now operated by Pegasus Travel (previously Stagecoach Perth) with the teatime journey now departing Perth South Street 5 minutes later at 1720.
Stagecoach Fife Services 56/A/B
There are minor timing changes throughout the Monday to Saturday timetable to improve reliability. Additionally, on Friday and Saturday evenings, the Service 56A 2130 Perth departure has been re-timed to depart Perth Bus Station at 2250 to provide a later public transport option for homeward travel from leisure/social activities.
Stagecoach Strathtay Service 57
The 0700 journey from Blairgowrie has been extended to start from Alyth at 0642, Monday to Friday increasing commuting opportunities to Blairgowrie and Perth.
The 1500 journey from Perth, Monday to Friday will no longer serve Kinrossie.
The 2055 journey from Perth will now run 10 minutes later to improve train connections.
The daytime journeys now serve the Scone Park & Ride site.
Stagecoach Strathtay Service 59
The 2235 journey from Dundee will now depart at 2250 and operate 15 minutes later through to Blairgowrie.
Stagecoach Strathtay Service 60
The 0733 journey from Blairgowrie to Dunkeld and 0855 returning from Aberfeldy have been retimed to improve connections with Stagecoach Perth Service 23 at Dunkeld.
Stagecoach Strathtay Service 62A
The Wednesday and Saturday journeys will serve Balvidoch and Concraigie areas if requested. Users will need to telephone Stagecoach Strathtay in Blairgowrie (01250 872772) the day before.
Stagecoach Strathtay Service 63
There is an additional journey at 0904 from Carsie to Blairgowrie, as well as new teatime journeys starting from 1716 at Blairgowrie Wellmeadow.
Stagecoach Strathtay Service 71
The service is now operated by Stagecoach Strathtay (previously Smith and Sons) and on Saturdays some journeys will be extended to serve Pitlochry. The midday journey from Blairgowrie to Tarvie road end and return operates on Thursdays as well as Tuesdays. The service has been withdrawn from Coupar Angus.
Broons Buses & Taxis Service 85 and 89
Revised timetable including 1745 journey from Kinloch Rannoch to Rannoch Station now operating each day, Monday to Saturday in summer and schooldays (Mon-Thur), Fridays and Saturdays in winter. On Service 89, a revised timetable and routing introduced, including Ballinluig served at A9 bus stops.
Stagecoach Perth Service 99
Revised timetable intended to improve connections with Service 23 in Dunkeld for visits to Perth as well as maintaining links to Aberfeldy and Dunkeld.
Crieff Travel Service 155
There are minor timing changes throughout the timetable.
Stagecoach Fife Service 201
The 0815 Glenrothes departure which operates on Saturdays and Portmoak Primary School school holidays has been re-timed between Kinnesswood and Kinross in order to improve reliability.
Stagecoach Fife Service 204
There are minor timing changes to the Kinross High School schoolday only journeys in order to improve reliability. Additionally, the afternoon journeys on the Wednesday and Saturday timetable now depart up to 15 minutes later.
Stagecoach Fife Service 205
There are minor timing changes throughout the timetable to improve reliability.
The Council's five Local Public Transport Guides have been updated and are available on buses and from local outlets (such as Libraries and Tourist Information Centres).
PDF versions of the new Auchterarder & Crieff Area (PDF: 893Kb), Blairgowrie Area (PDF: 829Kb), Carse & Scone Area (PDF: 957Kb), Kinross-shire & Bridge of Earn Area (PDF: 398Kb), Highland Perthshire & Stanley Area (PDF: 647Kb) Local Public Transport Guides and the Stagecoach Perth City Bus Timetable (PDF: 475Kb) are available for download.
Saturday before Christmas
Let down by the take-away that I usually visit on Saturdays (it was closed!), I had just enough time to make it to the Nethergate in time for the 76. Two minutes later on Saturdays, and it makes all the difference! I'm sure the driver had a Santa hat on...
... an interesting
story made it to today's Courier, and it was about some of the staff at my place not being paid before Christmas. The article was true, and although I wasn't affected, but [edit] was. What the article did not mention is that the majority of staff who were getting paid on the 19th, ended up getting paid on the 21st instead, and some didn't clear the funds until the next day. I kind of hoped someone would spill the beans to the press - because, some may remember that those on agency contracts, myself included, almost never got paid this time last year too (some got caught up in both of these situations). On that occasion, the agency did respond with a same-day transfer for everyone, and the Contract Manager was not seen of around again (which was a shame, as I liked her!)
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Christmas Wrapping
[edit]Anyway, headed for town, and started the task of Christmas Shopping! (yes, knew this "free time" would be good for something). I was actually in the festive spirit, but cold about it. Defrosted the flat briefly while sending out this year's Christmas card, which was done as a pdf by email, because of the time.I was walking through the Overgate, when a gentleman somewhat short in stature (remember, I'm 5 foot 12 lol) walked straight into the right-hand side of my chest, WHOOM! That woke me up.... And then somehow, it was sore, but a mixture of everything that's happened, and that's kind of stirred me, and woke me up throughout!I think I got 99% of the stuff - one or two last minute things to grab on Sunday, probably. OK, you know what to get for someone when you've known them nearly two months, but not for someone else who you've only known them for less than 48 hours! Think I may need to ask on that one...I met up with Tails Prower 2040 once more this evening, and we discussed a lot of our year so far. He's right, I've not seen him a hell of a lot this year... or several of the others... I think I've met him now four times in the last three months, which isn't a lot, but maybe less than we used to. It was a walk around some parts of town that we used to wander around a lot, but it gave us the chance to catch up on all our news, in both directions, as well as discussing my plans for 2007...... now, THAT was a good Friday... well, shopping and friends, you can't really go wrong, can you?
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Another morning out
[edit] In town, I noticed that the last of the Dundee City Christmas & New Year bus service posters were up on the big shelters in town - that should be them all up now. I'll need to get some pictures of those...
Afterwards, headed for work, and back. [edit]
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A new day, another new person met
[edit]
Later in the day, I get to work, and copies of the three of the new Perth & Kinross Council local area public transport guides have been delivered - Auchterader & Crieff Area, Blairgowrie Area, and Carse & Scone Area. The other two should be here soon, and I will post on a list of changes in due course. The reason for the reissues at this time of year, is down to the previously mentioned retendering.
[edit]
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Day 10 – so far
I am loving every minute of life right now. [edit]
This will continue to be “my” blog, but naturally you can expect the odd mention of [edit] or two. The next few weeks are naturally going to be a busy time all round, but do keep returning! I won’t be blogging every tiny detail, but I promise to keep you lot updated as to how we progress. Thanks to everyone for your kind thoughts and messages so far.
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[edit]’s first day going live...
… and I had the day off work! Headed for town for a variety of things – and went via Tesco Riverside (on Service 72) too. [edit]
A quiet day in…
… kind of says it all really!
At work
I was on my usual 1300-2200 today, quiet enough shift. [edit]
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My Friday
[edit] I’ve got some things I needed in town. After walking to Ninewells Hospital to use the Travel Dundee card vending machine, only for it not to be working, I headed for town. Some things to do at home, but also to collect the Christmas & New Year 2006/7 Dundee area travel guides – printing arranged by DCC, and they arrived today. Look out for them from early next week, in posters and leaflet format.
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Day Five
Today went well [edit]
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Slightly Dizzy
OK, [edit] headed for work early enough, and I was heading for a Speech & Language Therapy at Ninewells Hospital. Then, I realised I needed someone’s mobile number, and it wasn’t in my phone, or the Filofax. Very unusual - but I knew where I could find it at home. So, left [edit]’s place just before 1000, and headed for my place… then headed for the bus stop. There was a 13 due too, which would take me a little closer to where I wanted to go, so I left the 73 go past, and waited for the 13. Headed home, headed to Tesco for “dinner”, headed for the bus, walked to Commercial Street, then ran to Whitehall Street, and caught a 13 back, as the 73A pulled away. This should get me to Ninewells Hospital for just after 1100… convenient for my appointment at 1115… except, it wasn’t until I’d sat down, that I realised my appointment was not until… 1145…
Now, I explained my last week… and this week was about to get even better. Following a brief run-down on trying to go for a “slightly sweeter pitch”, that was it. That was the last of my Speech & Language Therapy appointments that I’ve had over the last few weeks and months – every week until now – and Sally is now letting me practice on my own for three months…
… and then, as I was leaving Ninewells on the 10X (or is it a 9X) - 147 was sitting there, in the rain!, and ready to go.[edit]
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The best laid plans of...
At 0330, we still had lots more to talk about, but we had to call it a night… so we could get some sleep at least….
… and then back home… and back to [edit]'s…
In the end, I’d been away from home for 76 hours – but had one hell of a time. I thanked Steve, who then wished both of us well for the future.
This is the bit I wasn’t quite looking forward to – telling my mother my good news (see Saturday 2nd for an example!). I tried to get her on the phone ten times, and was unable to get hold of her. Then, I saw the phone ringing, with her number on CallerID. This was good!
“Wha’s that?” came the voice from the other side of the phone…
“It’s me”…
“Who’s me?”
“Me, Suzy…”
“Suzy nothing… it’s Andrew…” …she said out loud, to no-one in particular (she was on her own). Given the situation, I overlooked that comment, because about six months ago, she said “You’ll always sound like a man” – and quite clearly, she couldn’t tell it was me who’d phoned (she never looked up the number, just hit 1471).
I told her of our good news, and I got some of the expected reactions, but I also got “as long as you’re happy”. She’s said this before, not meaning a lot. The thing is, I guess it went ok, as it could have been worse! She did ask a variety of questions about the new special one in my life, and I managed to answer them all – get in there! How’s that for a memory?
I then went out for a bit around the City Centre, returned home, and did a bit more on messenger. I then got the washing out, but started to dry, and then packed into two carrier bags to take with me. When I got to the Bus Station, took the bus to the Technology Park that I would normally (on Mondays, Wednesdays & Thursdays) get on coming FROM work! [edit]
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… it’s Steve In The City – Again!…
[edit]
Now, there are things that have happened in the last few days that are still sinking in. Having said all that, I got another call from Steve Parker. You may remember what I dubbed “Steve In The City” from the end of March, where he delivered a Daimler saloon from Dyce to a place near London? Well, they’d given him another job today – to take a BMW from London to Aberdeen Airport, and he was about an hour from Dundee… then he asked “why didn’t you answer your landline?”
SS “Well, I’m in Dundee, but I’m not at home”…
SP “Oh?”
SS “Yes, there’s a new special person in my life…”
SP “Congratulations…”
… so, he started heading towards Dundee, after a rant about roadworks, and he put the postcode into the built-in BMW SatNav. I finished getting ready to go out [edit]
When he arrived, he started complaining about the “stupid American woman”, as well as the wind and the rain, which was on his last visit! The car was a brand new 56 plate, and looked fairly good for the part. His schedule was tighter than the last one (on the last one, he’d flown up and was driving back – this time, he was driving up, and had a flight booked for about six hours later), so we stopped to talk about things over a coffee at Tesco Riverside. I managed to talk nicely so he’d drop me off at my flat, saving a walk back along Riverside Drive in the wet! Pictures here.
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… and guess what?
I forget what time we got to sleep, but it was earlier than last night. [edit]
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This bit was so sweet!
[edit]
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Letter From America
… In case you are wondering, we both still have friends that we like to keep in touch with, and in my case, this includes my long-distance shoulder-to-cry-on called Jay, who I’d known for well over four years. He has not been forgotten, and is actually somewhat supportive – and I quote
“Suzy and [edit], I am so happy for the two of you. Suzy, I have hoped you
would find someone that could love and understand you, the way you desirve.
You are a wonderful lady, and I simply could not be happier. As you know,
you have helped me so much. I have always felt some guilt, as I have my
life, and could not change that. To know that you two have each other now
makes me very, very happy.
Chat soon, hugs and kisses to you both."
[edit]
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I’ve had nights I would never forget…
I then woke up, and got ready to head to work. How was I supposed to concentrate on work? Make no mistake about it – it was even easier than it’s been recently! I made it up in time for Service 13, and took that round to work ([edit] called me a “lazy cow” for doing so, but I did have a MegaRider/weekly… I should point out she did have the car, and it was very windy and rainy!)
[edit] You may wonder where my mind was, but I could get the job done… we were both told throughout the day how happy we looked…
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Keeping Going
[edit]
after that, I went back to bed briefly, and of course, THEN I got some sleep..
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See what you find when you aren’t looking…
Woke up this morning, to the sounds of wind and rain lashing against the side of the buildings… [edit]
A complete “opposite” in the way transpeople are portrayed was Different For Girls , a movie made in the early 1990’s in London, based around a despatch rider and a verse writer, the latter being a post-op m2f ts. This time I could relate to the character, but also to the location and settings. From the ex-Londoner point of view, certain areas of east and south east London looked a lot different to they way they do now.
Afterwards, we started watching The Librarian: Quest For The Spear, which was about the story of a 22-time college student, chosen at random to receive an interview for a librarian’s job, which then lead to an around-the-world adventure.
[edit]
the follow-up of The Librarian, which had the tagline of “Return to King Solomon’s Mines” [edit]
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Around the town & the west
Picked up breakfast/lunch, a new nightie and some underwear, and then also (thanks to some hard working staff in Primark who were clearing the Saturday morning queues well!) had enough time to make it to Boots – enough time there to pick up my repeat prescriptions for another month/two months (delete as applicable, depending on the medication). It all fits into a medium carrier bag this time, as opposed to one of those that you can fit wallpaper into… but it was also all tightly and neatly packed into a paper bag, folded and stapled, then heading to work. This time it was Strathtay Solo 47251 – the one with additional lettering for “The Friendly Bus” - on Service 13.
Work was not too bad, but I couldn’t wait for work to end! Do you remember how you were on Christmas Eve as a kid?
[edit]... Transamerica yet, have you?” The film is based on the exploits of a somewhat unfortunate mtf ts (the character was played by a genetic girl, as opposed to a ts, which made it somewhat more difficult). In it, she is not far from surgery, when she ends up going across the country to find her long-lost son. “Worth a look, just to say you’ve done it” [edit]
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Way home
… We called it a day around 0330… [edit]
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A Friday at work
Shock horror indeed! Today I was making up the hours I lost on Saturday past, but do you lot realise that the last Friday I worked was way back in February – before starting on the hormones? Ha ha, but seriously, it does show how fast time has flown by this year. Anyway, took my usual bus (from Mondays & Wednesdays!) Work went average enough [edit]
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Another day at work
… and then home again…
Another Speech & Language Therapy
Quite a good one this week, as Sally appeared genuinely impressed with my recent progress!
Quiet day
… as it says on the tin!
Straightforward enough day
Straightforward enough day (well, following Saturday!) in the end! I did manage quite well with the voice today, though – I was impressed at how soft I’d managed to make it feel.
Dundee City Bus Services - Christmas 2006 & New Year 2007
For the third season running, I've compiled the Christmas & New Year bus timetable for the City. Look out for the printed paper copies coming soon, as well as the posters around the City Centre - both to be arranged by Dundee City Council again this time.Now, when I was uploading the files, I realised something rather weird. 387 people visited the 2004/2005 page up to the point where I put up the 2005/2006 one, and 387 people visited the 2005/2006 page pages up to the point where I put up the 2006/2007 one! Spooky...
Christmas Advertising
I've not had a huge amount of time to watch the telly of late, so it was only yesterday that I chanced upon this years Christmas Coke advert - and, being 2006 style,
it's already up on YouTube. The video speaks for itself, but shows the same person in four different generations...
.. and then, for something different! IrnBru are currently (in Scotland) airing their first ever
Christmas commercial! The advert takes the format of "The Snowman", who then steals the kids can and lands him in the snow in Glasgow's George Square! Found
the Snowman via
West End Poet...
...Incidentally, the one time I was watching tv at work recently (on my lunch break), I saw an advert for
FurReal friends ...which have now been brought to the UK by
Hasbro! They are an interesting concept - have a look on the website!
Another two I like
Two more blogs I liked - one found via Bus Driving, which lead me onto the next.Pizza Hut Team Member does what it says on the tin, and gives the daily insights from a Pizza Hut staff member, from one of those mall "express" type outlets. I like their "seasoned fries" (not called chips!)Life On A Roll Of Film explains the life and times of a supermarket photo centre assistant, from the south east of England.
E mail from God!!
One day God was looking down at earth and saw all of the rascally behaviour that was going on. So he called one of his angels and sent the angel to earth for a time.
When he returned, he told God, 'Yes, it is bad on Earth; 95% are misbehaving and only 5% are not."
God thought for a moment and said, "Maybe I had better send down a second angel to get another opinion." So God called another angel and sent him to earth for a time, too.
When the angel returned he went to God and said, "Yes, it's true. The earth is in decline; 95% are misbehaving, but 5% are being good."
God was not pleased. So he decided to email the 5% who were good, because he wanted to encourage them, give them a little something to help them keep going.
Do you know what the email said?
No?
Okay, just wondering. I didn't get one either.
The way home
... and finally left to head home at 0425 on Sunday morning... yes we'd both had a wonderful evening, and for me, it was a wonderful way to turn around the day! On the way home, it was VERY windy, VERY wet, and VERY cold - gale force winds right enough! There is a crash barrier currently placed between the bus shelter and the lamp post at Charleston Drive/Spey Drive Shops - any ideas why?
... and back up again!
I headed home, and looked for someone to speak to! There was no point heading into work, especially when I felt like I'd just been verbally mauled, and by this point it was about 1730 anyway. I sent [someone] a message...
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Back down to earth, with a bump!...
I had to meet my mum almost first thing, before I went to work. She mentioned on the phone that the home had to get a doctor in for my dad last night, as he had taken ill, but then said it was fine. This has happened a few times.
I started today in the right frame of mind. I had a couple of things to get in town before I met mum. One shop has a long queue, but this was quickly cut down to size! So, I made it to the Seagate in time to meet her off the 37... which came in a little behind time... and, she wasn't on it! When we'd spoken on the phone, I did tell her I had to be at work for 1300, but I was now a little concerned, given what had happened either. I phoned her landline (as she does not carry a mobile phone, even though I bought her one many years ago! in the days when I could afford such things!), and my brother Timothy answered the phone... saying she'd just got in a taxi. OK, I'd give it another five minutes. Lots of people were picking up their kids in cars (or dropping off) on the other side of the road, at the karate school, so I had to keep an eye out! I could see her getting out the car, and we spoke for a few minutes. I'd gave the birthday cards & gifts for her & Ruth (as ever, I'd not forgotten, but...), and returned something I'd borrowed previously. I asked exactly what had happened to my dad, and she explained that they thought he'd had a fit... but this was ruled out by the doctor, who said he'd had some sort of mild seizure - for the first time ever. She then pointed out that this was nothing to do with his HD, and as she always does, tried pointing out that "everything is fine". She then asked me why I was stood there with mouth wide-open... why do you think...?
This was about 1215 by this point, and I knew she'd be going for the Newtyle bus at 1300 (on the hour, almost every hour, since 1989!). I said I'd come with her, which provoked somewhat of a weird reaction from her, saying she didn't want me to come along - gently pushing me away at one point! I asked her if she remembered how bad I'd felt some Saturdays ago, remember the time I got really upset? and was off work afterwards? and had a headache for the whole of the next week? "No"... so I left her at that, and walked off. I went to think about things, and sat down on the benches in the Murraygate for a bit .I felt really concerned, and not for the first time in my life. When my dad was first admitted up there, I wanted to go up to see how he was... and my mother demanded that I "leave your [blank] at home" (I'm sure you can fill in the blank, lets just say it's a little transphobic!) I decided that if she was going, that was fine. Co-incidentally, I'd be going on my own too, on the same bus! So, got to the bus station... we had one of the Tridents, 18506 I think it was... anyway, she then wanted me to get the next bus! When I pointed out the next bus at 1330 going the same way (i.e. Service 59) does not go via Newtyle, I got a very rude and sarcastic comment back about presuming I'd know about the 1400 57! (57 & 59 both service Blairgowrie & Coupar Angus, via different roads, so only the 57 goes to Newtyle, for said home).
The timetable allows 37 minutes for said journey, and for most of that time, I was made to feel like I was in my own personal hell - especially for the part between the bus station and Camperdown. Firstly, I was accused of using this to take the time off work! (As it happens, I'd probably end up working back the hours, if I can). I was then advised that "you didn't think that much of him, you even took away his name from your own..." Now, there were many reasons for this. (1) Bad times in the past, (2) Something a little bit shorter was nice, (3) Having your dad's middle name is not exactly suitable for a female name, otherwise she'd have given it to my sister, and (4) if I'd been married, I'd have changed it by now anyway. She followed this up with "You've never been worried about him before..." I then advised that every time she'd phoned me, she had always told me that he had been fine, and I had taken her word for it! I pointed out that I had been very busy of late, and I was then accused of not doing anything worthwhile recently! (this is the point where I thought about heading her upstairs and leaving her to her rants, but I stayed where I was). When I pointed out that I'd just had - amongst others - eight medical appointments in less than five weeks - I was advised "that was your choice, I didn't make you do it". It's not a choice... I started defending myself, but was munching on what had became "breakfast" by this point (from the bus stn takeaway!), and she said "wait till you've finished eating before you speak". OK, fair enough, so I did... then started again... "I'm not interested..."
At this point, I looked around, and tried to make sure I wasn't dreaming! This was REALLY happening? In 2006? Afraid to say it was, and by this point we were only at Dudhope Park! i.e. ten minutes down!
Once we got into Angus, she'd went quiet... obviously got that off her chest... When we got to Mundamalla, I noticed the bus still had the school bus sign in the window! At this point, I had to ask to make sure it was really Saturday, and that this hadn't all been some kind of sick dream. We went into the main lounge room first of all, to see my aunt and a few others sitting around watching the tv. My mum doesn't pay so much attention, but starts asking how they are enjoying the football... the one who was half sedated, and furthest away from the tv, was able to point out that they were actually watching rugby! Then, we'd went through to see my dad... and he wasn't too bad. He was a bit quieter than he had been of late. Mum asked him some questions about what had happened last night, and while he moved in acknowledgement, he didn't answer any of them. I found this just a little scary. Mum then complains that I wasn't speaking to him... (1) I was still getting over everything that she'd said on the way up, (2) She always uses this as an excuse to call me "Andrew" or "son" [for the record, my dad recognises me without explanation, but doesn't really speak too much, so there is no problem with that. My aunt speaks to everyone, but cannot remember who she is, or they are...], (3) rather than actually using this as a chance to talk about things, especially since I'm around, she constantly repeated herself about the birds at the window, and what was on the television. This is a sight for the future, as there is a good chance (more than likely) that I will end up this way at some point in my future - that's why sometimes, all I like to do is to see how he is feeling, and pay close attention to what is going on. There was then a point where my dad was trying to explain that he'd got a sore eye last night... I headed out side for a few moments, before I got too upset, and to let them figure it out. Once they'd got him to stand up and explain this, I was back in, and I'd understood what he meant. Maybe communicators just pick up these things...
... I had to pop outside again a few minutes later, but remained in one piece until the bus home at 1615. Same Trident as last time. Once again, I got dug into all the way down the road, and try to come back with some more positive things to say. Then, she starts casting up things from my long gone past i.e. they'd helped me in years gone by to get a flat, but I had to leave Dundee when there was no work... that was the bit that she'd forgotten, but it did remind me she'd been this nasty to me even before transitioning! I sometimes get the feeling that it's not the concept, it's who is doing it. She didn't seem to mind about digging up my past from years gone by, but felt embarrassed when I mentioned my present situation. When we got into town, she even demanded that I got off at a different stop to her. By that point, I'd past caring, so I carried onto the Bus Station, and walked via St Andrew Street and Cowgate to Tesco. As I walked in, my sister was about to get served, and her face lit up when she saw me! She was buying some things for mum, and needed some change! (It comes around I guess)... I asked where Mum was, assuming they'd bumped into each other, and they'd not. I advised what had happened, and she said "Maybe she's just upset". Yes, maybe today.
So, I headed for home, but it was nice to claw back one degree of self-respect! You may be able to choose your friends, but not your family... and I think that was proven today!
(btw, I don't intended to use this as a place to bitch behind hr back... but all of that genuinely happened today... I wasn't that badly upset by the time I got back to Dundee, but I was a bit emotional throughout the day)!
That Was The Month That Was
I've probably made the most progress this year in regards to transition, but this month was something unusual. Initally I thought I'd crammed it all into one end of the month, but was kept busy throughout! I've met around thirty new people (hello to you all), Started on progesterone (one week in and no really bad moods yet! yay!), joined two new groups (source of about two thirds of above new friends), had six medical/hospital appointments (well ok, one was 31st October), crammed in a full compliment of hours at work (minus those fifteen minutes from yesterday!), met current and former colleagues many times over (mostly at a halloween party), and worked away in tbe background on Dundee's Christmas & New Year bus timetable guide (I'll add a copy to the web in due course, currently on fourth - and probably last - draft!). It's just been a much more pleasant and productive month, compared to October when I spent two weeks off work, and one with a headache! Thanks to everyone who has helped during the last week - you are really helping in my plans and future progress!
So today was a similar format to previous rest days. I was talking to
Karl (my friend from Coventry, who has still not managed to sell his place there yet!), and he has a
blog now online - do check it out! I went out for food & powercards around 1900. This was intended to mean I didn't spend any money... but still a good few pennies. I was chatting to some people late night (edit).
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