Hi! This just happened about 15 minutes ago, a revelation. You know you are a redneck when you use a Shopvac to vacuum your living room. Do you know what a Shopvac is? It’s typically used commercially. Kevin uses these on his construction jobs. We are hosting our family Thanksgiving tomorrow (Saturday). Of course I wait until the very last to do my final cleaning. The weather has been just cold enough at night, we have started using the wood stove. If you burn wood, you probably know just how dirty it can get. Kevin brought the Shopvac in for me to use. It did a fabulous job. Even worked great on collecting the dust from the drapes!
Pulling out the arsenal!
Here’s to a Thanksgiving full of family, friends and many blessings!
Hello. Yes, it’s official; I am a certifiedStudent Delivery Specialist! I am thrilled to be able to pick up and deliver students to and from school 🙂 Today’s post will be rather lengthy, bear with me.
The past 10 weeks has been a bit fearful and wonderful. That’s right. You may wonder how it can be both at the same time. Let me explain.
I honestly thought career wise I was working where I would retire. My husband plans on retiring a second time in 3 years and I would like to retire as well. I, on the other hand, will need to wait 5 years. Insurance is a huge consideration. Sixty five is the magic number for me to be able to receive/qualify for Medicare. Working from home for a company that contracted with the state for childcare is not an easy job, very stressful. I kept saying I wish I could work part time. One day while driving past the school there was this huge sign posted, bus drivers needed.
That’s all it took. I called and inquired. Benefits included: Part-time; Major medical premiums paid; Holidays and Summer off; a Pay raise and a Company vehicle. I applied and got the job. All I needed to do was a Dept of Transportation physical and of course get a CDL. If you are interested, here is the online handbook I needed to study and then pass a written test.
First was the physical. One of the questions asked was about sleep. Of course I admitted to having a CPAP machine. Keep in mind I had not been using it. During my exam, the practitioner stated I would need to provide at least a three month report of CPAP usage. From the appointment date, three months would be middle November. A blow to my plans. So I asked the director of transportation (my boss) if I could do something while I worked on the required report. Her answer was absolutely. I actually began working for the school district as a para for the special ed buses. With this information, I provided my two week notice to the childcare employment. This is when the ‘fear’ factor presented itself.
Instead of being paid every other week, it would be once monthly. My first check would only be two weeks. That’s spooky in itself! My husband was very supportive and we worked that through. Then I had to study for the test. At this time I was studying on my own for the permit. The written text consisted of a general test, passenger test and then school bus test. Each test could be taken for a total of 4 times. If you could not pass, then you would need to wait six months to take the test again. It took me four times to pass the general test. The first three was taken at the Lawrence drivers license office. My trainer helped me study and instructed me to go to the Topeka office, requesting a written test. The other times it was done on a computer and I thought if I skipped a question it was an automatic wrong mark. The test was 50 questions and could not miss more than 10. Each time the test was different and I had missed 11. The day came for me to take the test for the fourth time. I was very anxious. Took the general test and passed, only missing two questions. Took the next two and passed them the first time.
The next few weeks I was preparing for the skills test. This included knowing the vehicle under the hood and the inside and outside of the bus, motor parts and light functions. After mastering backing the bus, pulling forward, parallel parking and demonstrating what to do when picking/dropping students off at bus stops, when approaching train tracks and a few other situations, it was time to go for the skills test. Luckily the lady who assisted me the day of my written tests was the one who was my skills examiner.
The day I became an official student delivery specialist!
The wonderful. I work part time. This has been so amazing! I actually felt a bit guilty for not working more. There will be times when I will drive field trips, like the one coming up on Dec 7th. It’s a Saturday, I will be taking the wrestling team to a meet. It will be a full day and the whole day I will get paid 🙂 My boss said end of February, March and April there will be many field trips for all three schools, grade, middle and high school. For now I am wanting to take the extra trips. When Kevin does retire, then I will go back to just the 20 hours. I am a social butterfly and the human interactions is important to me.
This week there is no school Nov 24-29. I have never had this much time off for Thanksgiving! The downside, students have had the cold and pneumonia and I now have the cold. It’s been nice hanging out at home, eating chicken noodle soup and watching movies. Our Thanksgiving with the family will be Saturday. I should be over my cold by then.
After driving the students for the past two weeks, I can tell you stories of what happens on the bus routes. Parents beware, your kid may be a little angel at home but……… 👼
I absolutely love being a Student Delivery Specialist. The kids are angels. Just keep in mind if they come home and tell you a story about the bus driver doing a break check, it’s not a break check! They do not see everything the driver sees. I drive many country gravel roads and it’s deer rutting season. 🙂
Hi, welcome to Gma’sPhoto! I am changing my One Sentence a Day to the month’s Highlights. October is probably my most favorite month of the year. I’m eager to share these moments with you!
Now that I have passed the general Commercial Drivers License (CDL) test and have my CDL permit, I actually get to drive the bus. Sitting in the driver’s seat!
Sharing same no school days with the grand girls. Many of our days off match up and I am so excited. October 17 and 18 were such days! We went to the zoo, picked up Brynlee’s eyeglasses and went rock hunting.
Hi, welcome to My Sunday Snapshot! I am finding more and more things to do now that I am semi retired. Going from 40 hour work week to 20 hours is giving me so much more time to do as I wish and not because I have to. After my morning bus route, I stopped into the public library to work on my site and seen this poster.
Heck, yes. I am so doing this. I chose to paint a rock. This rock!
The evening was an absolute blast. I met new friends. Laughed. Laughed a lot! And best of all, I have the rocks as keep sakes of a fabulous memory. What was even better, it was free!
Are you retired or at the semi stage, same as me? What are some of the things you enjoy the most with your added personal/home time?
Have a wonderful week!
Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
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Pictures can produce so many different emotions and feelings. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words! Share your fun and interesting image from the past week.
Hi, Welcome to Gma’sPhoto! All joking aside, family portraits are important. Autumn is just around the corner. One of the most desired season for family portraits. Then Thanksgiving and Christmas, both holidays the family gathers. What an opportunity for that family photo!
It is recommended while children are young, to have a family portrait taken at minimum, once a year. As children age, every other year. Once the children are adults, every five years. As a retired professional photographer, and as a senior aged grandma, I know how time does not stand still. Having these memories, priceless.
You may be thinking that professional portraits are expensive. Yes, it can be. However, this is not the only option you have. Other choices would include a friend taking the images. Setting up a tripod and using the camera timer. Even a selfie stick works! The important thing is, you have that family picture!
Let’s talk about the ‘professional’ portrait. What is a professional image anyway? They look nice. They can cost more money. The actual image quality is better. What if I can explain how you can achieve these qualities yourself? 🙂 One can create beautiful images on a budget or spend as much as you wish. Remember, it’s taking the shot that is important. I’ll be referencing past posts and images I have taken over the years as an example.
Kevin’s Siblings and Parents.
This image was taken because of the opportunity. Getting the shot was the goal. No planning. No clothing coordination. It was taken just this past Fourth of July. The family does not live close. Aging parents. Next year we may or may not be able to replicate this same shot. I took this photo with my iPhone. It was printed (at Walmart) and added to my family photo book.
Again, this image was taken for the opportunity. Kevin took the image as he is not one to like having his picture taken. It was with the iPhone. Printed at Walmart and put in frame bought at Walmart as well.
This next set of images, I had spent more time and money on the images and presentation.
Top image is of my grand daughter when she was five years old. Planning her clothing was not intentional. She wore her favorite color, purple. I did use my ‘professional’ camera. The image was printed thru Mpix.com. This is a pro-consumer photography lab. For the frame, I had Hobby Lobby make it using oak wood to match my dinning room furniture.
The bottom three images were taken at Kmart years ago. Again, the frame was from Hobby Lobby. Not custom, one already made and was bought at half price. Hobby Lobby has some of the best deals!
The next set of images were again taken with my ‘professional’ camera and lighting. It is the framing I would like to bring your attention to.
It was during Adam’s senior year of high school. The senior session time! His was taken on location. Erika’s image was while we were at my folks house and I was testing my new studio lights. It was taken during the time Erika attended college. Now the surprising fact regarding the frames. These were purchased from a thrift store. Yes, that is right! These were probably the least expensive frames I ever bought.
The next example is the one I did spend more time with planning. Planning the location, clothing, camera settings and time of day. The frame was planned as well. It was printed as a 30×36 wall print then custom framed by Hobby Lobby. The plans for the frame is reusing. Each new family portrait will replace the existing. So even though the frame was an expense, it will be used repeatedly.
It’s time for me to begin planning our next family portrait. It’s been five years since this one was taken!
Hopefully, with these examples, I have shown that no matter the equipment and price involved, nice images can be taken. What the images did not explain is how to plan for the clothing, what to wear. Check out the What to Wear series for inspiration for your next family photo!
Commercial Driver’s License | My Sunday Snapshot #25
Hi, welcome to My Sunday Snapshot 25!
This week my image is more about a change. This change was unexpected. Currently, I work 9 to 5:30 from home. This isn’t too bad one may say. For me, not the best. In no near future will I be able to work the open shift, 7 to 3:30. when I did have this shift, I was able to be in the pool by 4. Get an hour in the late afternoon sun. As it is now, the pool is mostly in the shade. I am 60, my kids are grown and I am only working for the health insurance. Otherwise I would be ‘retired’. Okay, rant over.
One of the local towns I drive thru to get to Lawrence is Tonganoxie. One day in July I had seen a huge sign that the school needs school bus drivers. Ding, ding 🙂 With an inquiring mind, I went to the USD website and looked up the description. Full time is 20 hours a week. One can select either the health insurance or vision/dental insurance premium to be covered 100%. It would be split shift, morning route and an after school route. but I would have 4 hours between the two shifts I can be floating in the water 🙂 There would also be the occasions for extra driving time with school activities. I completed the online application. So we will see. I’ll keep you posted.
One more little rant. After picking up the CDL manual and reading; there is a section on Road Rage. I found this interesting. Many times I wonder if other drivers (especially the ones out of driver’s ed) knows this. On highway’s with more than one lane traveling the same direction, the left lane is for passing, not to just drive in. Did you know this? Don’t drive slow in the left lane.
