#coach bus repair

[bee-wg]

Year 2:

“Jay! What the Flip?” It’s the ass crack of dawn, and Theo is already trying his best SpongeBob impression.

“Whaaat?” I yelled back with a mouth full of pancakes.

“You put your dirty clothes on my bed again!” He squealed.

”Dude, you asked for it. What are you whining about?”

“Boys, What did I say about yelling in the morning?” She yelled.

“Yewn, bwintow!” I think Dad was telling us to break it off, but he’s too lost in the Cream Cheese Danish.

Can’t blame him. Delicious and high protein? There’s nothing better.

Theo rushed down with a constipated face. 

“Ewww. They’re still wet to the touch. Wait. Is it dripping sweat?”

Okay. I overlooked the wet part, but he asked me to have it. 

I’ve been cleaning out some gym clothes that don't fit anymore, and Theo wanted some. I’ve decided to fully commit on football and my stocky phase, so I gave that shirt one last try yesterday. It was definitely not made for a more rugged build person. As I walked around the house, I unknowingly soaked it. I used to be disgusted with sweating. I would shower and wash the clothes by hand after each morning run. Recently I’ve been sweating a lot easier, but Dad told me to look at the bright side of things, and I do see it. Usually I would only sweat when I get a real good workout. Since it's easier to sweat buckets, that means I’m getting lots of exercise.

That leads back to this. I don’t feel as compelled to wash them anymore. They’re the result of my hard work on the journey back to being shredded. 

“No more pancakes in the morning for the month.” He said.

“What?…But…You can’t do that.” 

His face tells me, “Yes, loser. I can.”

***

“What happened, dude? Your cat died?” Brad asked.

This is supposed to be an easy practice because it’s the last before the summer. I guess Coach woke up and chose violence. 

I’ve been only doing a few yards of Quick Steps and Sumo squats. My lungs are now collapsing.

I’m only 230 pounds; there are players heavier than me doing better. I’m doing something wrong. It must be because I didn’t have protein pancakes for days.

“Dude, you there?” Brad asked.

Trying not to wheeze, I replied.

“Yeah, S’all good. I’m just hungry.” 

It would be an understatement. When you’re used to protein goods pumping your belly full of energy every morning, what does five English muffins and some hash browns even do?”

“Hahaha, classic Jay. You’re the man.” Brad answers with a slap on my back.

“Gosh, you’re getting sweatier than Aiden.” He said in disbelief.

“Oh, by the way. Aiden’s going to Costco to buy a speaker for our dorm. You mind giving him a lift?” Brad asked.

“Bad timing man, my dad broke the old Toyota. It’s taking a long time to repair.”

“No problem. I’ll see you next semester then. Take care!” Brad waved as he sprinted out of the field.

***

I felt like I could eat a horse when the bus arrived. I passed through the usual stops, and finally.

The warm smell of chicken nuggets invites me.

I pull out my phone and check. Ten consecutive days. I can definitely redeem a free meal today.

“Welcome, what can I get you?” The cashier asked.

“Can I have the Double Western Deluxe Combo?” “ I have the loyalty discount.”

“Thank you, here’s your number.”

After what felt like forever, they finally called my number. 

It’s a pretty big meal, but today’s situation calls for it. 

I’ve been doing pretty well sticking to a fries-only diet when I’m here. With some occasional burgers and soda thrown in, I’ve accumulated a few thousand points to have meals like this once in a while. The only downside is the bus here takes way too long. I guess it’s better than the neighbours knowing I’m a regular customer. 

As I finished the fries, I saw a guy wandering outside with my university’s gym bag.

Wait, is he from the team? 

Wait, is that Aiden?

No. Shit, Is Aiden waving to me?

He’s probably waving to someone else.

Then the door’s jingle chimes.

“Yo, I didn’t expect to see you here!” Aiden said.

My alone time is ruined.

“Yeah man, me too. What brought you here?” I asked.

“Just bought the speaker and couldn’t find any restaurants here. I thought Costco had a food court.” He looked down at my plate.

“Whatchu havin’? Oh Damnnn, that’s a chunky burger!” He said in excitement.

“Haven’t had them in years, my mom hates that shit.” 

I just wish to crawl into a hole at this point.

“Yeah, my mom hates them to-” 

“I should have one too.” Aiden interrupted.

”What?”

Then he came back with a smaller combo with a box of salad.

“Oh man, I’ve been wanting to have a taste for so long,” Aiden said with glittering eyes.

He got a few bites of the burger and fries, then moved on to the salad.

“So what are you doing this summer?” I asked.

“Oh, not much. Probably hang out with the guys. My dad wants me to go to a training camp though. It’s not like I will play football after college anyway, so what’s the point?”

Then we talk about dorm drama and who the coach is going to recommend to the NFL scouts.

He is actually quite chill to talk to. 

“You don’t like it?” I point down to his unfinished burger.

“No, it’s the best thing I’ve had in years. Definitely beating celery or carrots. I just have a diet going on, and I kinda impulse bought this.”

“I could finish it for you.” I offered.

“Really? Thank you so much dude!” He said.

“You’re actually pretty fun to hang out with. I always thought you had a stick up your ass.” He added unhelpfully.

By the time the last of his burger and fries disappeared in my stomach, I was ready to sleep it off when I got home. 

My phone rang, waking me up from sleep. It’s 2 AM.

Probably Number Seven. He always calls at an odd hour. 

I picked up the call.

“Duuuuuuude, I didn’t know you go to fast foods. I thought we don’t keep anything from each other.” Instead of number seven, Brad said.

“Jay, knock it off,” Theo grumbled on the other side of the room.

“Keep it down, Brad. What is it?” 

I knew shit would get out of the bag sooner or later. At least I had two weeks of peace.

“Next time let me join too!” Brad said.

What the hell is up with these people? 

“Fine, whatever. Let me go to sleep.”

“Thanks a lot, man. I’ve never had fast food before!”

I have the feeling that this is going to bite me in the ass later.

Brad is calling me. Again.

“Dude, what?” I asked calmly.

“Woah, no need to get so worked up.”

“I asked some of my mates, they all agreed to meet up at the mall’s parking lot,” Brad said.

What is going on? It’s only been five hours since he last called me.

“Don’t forget to bring your laptop and an empty stomach! It’s gonna be an epic summer.” Then he hung up on me.

I should be used to Brad’s bullshit by now. He’s been like this since high school.

The bus on the way there is as tedious as usual. 

Why did he tell me to go with an empty stomach? Didn’t he know that I get really grumpy without any breakfast? It’s worse now without pancakes.

He looks at me eagerly, like a dog finding its treat.

“What is it, man?” I asked as he led me to the back of the restaurant.

Then, no Harry Potter bullshit, he opened the wall.

“What the hell? There was a room back here all this time?”

“Wait, Brad. You rented a party room?”

“It’s sick, right? I thought we could chill here for the summer, and go to the river nearby when we’re bored. Oh, I also brought the guys here. And a projector!”

“How did you afford this? I didn’t know you were rich.” I look at the big ass room with my friends in there already playing video games. Even Aiden the snitch is here.

“Oh, I have a pretty successful OnlyFans account. I thought I could spend it on you guys.”

“…”

“…”

“Good for you, man. Gotta hustle in this economy.”

He ordered a party combo with a bunch of salad. Then we started playing video games. It wasn’t until I was on a losing streak playing Yoshi on Mario Kart, I realized. They were staring at me expectantly.

“What?” I asked.

“So…Can you help us finish?” Aiden said.

Oh no. Not again. I turned to look at Brad.

He responded with a toothy grin.

“Please Jay, you have, like, the biggest appetite out of all of us. Look at all this free food going to waste. I bet you’re still hungry.”

“There are five of you,” I said.

“Marcus can help,” Brad added.

“Wait, me?” Marcus said.

He’s the team’s linebacker. The only guy bigger than me.

“Fine. At least it’s free.” I said reluctantly.

The fact that all of the juicy meat is screaming for my attention might be clouding my judgment.

We continued playing games, watched some movies while I munch

It was pretty fun. I got to talk to the people I wouldn’t usually talk to.

For example, I didn’t know Braxton played piano or Oscar was a hardcore Pokémon card collector.

The rest of the summer continued and the guys would meet up about three times a week.

I should’ve said no the second time Brad asked. But how can I let the food go to waste when the guys need me?

Marcus doesn’t come often because he’s occupied with his boyfriend. So the guys developed a way for me to eat all of their share. I would drink a dubious amount of water to expand my stomach in the morning, giving me more space. 

It was incredibly stupid, but when the guys cheered me up while I devoured the last of the remains, I felt pretty proud of myself.

By the end of the summer, not wanting to waste the last of our freedom. Everyone has been scrambling for things to do.

That’s where Brad’s dad comes in. He organized a BBQ party by the beach and invited all the football Dads from high school who were still in their little group chat. Of course, we are invited too.

“Oh come on, Jay Jay. You have to go, or else I’m gonna be all alone.” Brad whined.

“No Brad. You’re gonna be with twenty people, you won’t be alone.” I replied.

“If you’re worried about not having any swim trunks that fit, you can borrow from my old man, or we could go shopping together.” Shit, he’s awfully insightful.

“Your dad is like, 500 pounds. I’m not that fat, dude.”

Then Theo asked me if he could join cause he had grown out of his swim shorts too. Whatever that means.

That’s how we ended up here with Brad showing me an ugly Hawaii print speedo with a blue Jay on it, and Theo laughing his ass off with him.

“No, I’m not going to wear that,” I said for the final time.

“You’re no fun, Jay,” Theo said.

“Right? This guy gets it.” Brad replied to him.

“So you’re the culprit who made Jay fat,” Brad asked.

”Dude, you don’t know the half of it. I basically sacrificed myself to advance his cooking career.” I added.

“I don’t know. I would think taking care of his laundry, dishes, and meals, just to have him burp in my face and snore at night makes up for it. If anything, I'm doing too much. I should stop doing the protein pancakes agai-“ 

”Theo! You’re literally the best chef in the world. I am honoured to be your Guinea pig for the rest of my life.” I said.

He smiled 

Yes! Crises subverted.

“Hahahahaha you two are so strange.” Brad, who is still listening, said.

The possibility of protein pancakes being taken away from me sends shivers down my spine. I try to refocus on Brad’s shenanigans.

He came out of the fitting room with a professional swimming Jammer.

Why did he even take his shirt off? Goddamn washboard abs.

“Don’t you think it’s too extra for the beach barbecue?” I asked.

“I think it fits him nicely,” Theo said.

“Theo, you get me,” Brad said, then winked at him.

Is he trying to rizz my cousin?

“It’s my turn!” Theo said, grabbing a few trunks he chose.

Then he came out, without a shirt too, wearing a bright orange swim shorts.

“I see you’re putting my gym membership to good use.” Goddamn washboard abs, where did that even come from? Now that I think of it, he’s been fitting my old gym clothes better.

“You look awesome, Theo. The orange fits you nicely.” Brad said.

“I guess it’s my turn,” I said without enthusiasm.

After struggling to pull it up my ass. I walked out with the ugly print forest green trunk that’s wedged between my inner thighs; with a shirt on, thank you very much.

“Woah, look at those hefty thighs,” Brad said.

I’m out of options, and there’s no way I’m walking into another swimwear store again. So we made our way to the counter.

The day for the beach finally arrives, and I can already feel the swim trunks digging into my ass.

What’s more annoying is that Mom and Dad are now angry at me.

I would be angry at myself too.

Now I’m in a car with no AC, listening to how I should make better life choices.

“Jay, I didn’t think you would sneak off for fast food without telling us.” Mom said.

She caught the extra burgers I sneaked in to munch on at night this morning.

“Jacob, don’t you remember what I told you about garbage food?” Dad asked.

He said my full name. He never says my full name.

“If you want fried chicken you could ask mom to make it. You know it’s healthier at home.” Dad said.

“Am I not making enough, Jay?” Mom asked.

“I’m sorry Mom, I know I shouldn’t go,” I said.

“Don’t worry about it, honey. We can get through this together. If you want more fried food, Theo and I will make lots of it at home.”

“I got you, Jay,” Theo said, patting my shoulder.

We finally got to the beachside. After finding a shade to park our car, Dad struggled a bit to get out of the car. It seems like the old Toyota is seeing its last days. We might need to upgrade the car soon.

I know Dad is probably not mad at me, but his disappointment was worse.

Hopefully he can forgive me after getting some barbecue in his stomach.

We started setting up the chairs with Brad’s dad as more of my high school friends and their dads started coming in. I haven’t seen most of them since we graduated.

Dad went to greet them and it looked like he fit right in.

He was the Dad everyone’s dad was jealous of but couldn’t help to like him.

I was pretty shocked when I heard Dad wanted to come because he always declined their barbecue invites. 

He was the fittest of the group, but it looks like he is one of the heavier guys here. Dad told me he’s almost 260 pounds now, so Theo and I will probably lose again this year.

I feel conflicted. I wanted to look like Dad before when he had chiselled abs, but I also want to look like him now when he has a much larger presence with the same amount of confidence. I can’t do either correctly.

“You daydreaming, bro?” Brad said.

“It’s nothing. Let’s get the boxes out,” I replied.

“Just so you know, you can tell me whatever you want, Alright?” He said.

“Thanks man, appreciate it.”

He’s too pure to know about my problem with how my abs or belly doesn’t look right.

We got the tablecloth pinned in place to withstand the wind, then set up some disposable tableware.

“Good job, son,” Dad said as he patted my back.

I smiled for the first time today.

Brad’s dad put us on watch duty for the grill while I fought not to drool on the food. 

I’ll get my share. Old people first.

“Jacob? You’re all grown up! You’re a big boy now, almost as big as me. I bet you made your father proud.” Mr. Lancaster said. 

“Mr. Lancaster, you’re here! I didn’t know you were coming.”

He used to take me to his house with Ms. Lancaster when my mom was busy, or when Dad was substituting for other teachers.

Avery and I used to-

Wait, Avery is here?

I looked around to scan everyone.

“Oh, my boy is having a problem with his car, so he is probably not coming.” Mr. Lancaster said.

“We have the same issue too; it’s been a mess. Say hello to Avery for me, eh?”

“Of course, good to see you, Jay.” He replied.

I sighed in relief. I don’t know what to say to Avery if he comes. I missed him, but I also ignored him a couple times when I spotted him at the fast food place.

We served for an hour and a half. I probably lost the 60weight pounds I’ve gained, and my stomach is definitely deflated now.

Note to self: If I ever need to lose weight again, just stare at tasty barbecues all day just to have none of it.

“Ahem. Woah cool! Look at that shiny thing over there. I’m going to go fetch it!” Brad said suddenly, then ran off.

“Wait, you still have your-“

He ditched me.

I tried to flip over both of our grills to no avail.

“You need help?”

“Ahhhhhh!”I yelped.

Ave laughs with his usual lopsided smile.

“I thought you were,” I said.

“Dead? No. I caught an Uber.” Avery said.

“Right. Long time no see.” I reached out my hand for a shake.

“Seriously, Jay? When did you start doing that shit?” Ave said.

Same old Avery then. I took my hand back and hid a grin.

He looked so different I didn’t know how to react. By the looks of it, he’s almost doubled my weight, maybe around 450s. 

“Haven’t seen you in a while. You look good.” He said.

“You looked good too.” Now that I see him closely, it suits him, makes him look sturdy. His ass is hanging out in the back like a bra though.

“What were you up to this past year?” I asked.

“Well you know, I screwed up the football scholarship. But it’s the best thing that could’ve happened to me.” He said.

“I was pretty depressed for a bit, so I decided to go on one of the self-searching trips to some countries and states...”

Then he told me about the kind people and assholes he met on the way, as we finally sat down with our share of Barbecues.

Ave said that he got to eat food he never imagined existed, learn about cultures that changed his perspective on things.

He said he has never felt freer of any emotional constraints than he is now. I couldn't stop my smile from forming. I’m really happy for him.

He has always been harsh on himself. When school didn’t work, he dedicated his all to sports. On his way there, I felt like I lost a friend.

We talked for hours about the airplane seats being a bitch and how he’s sorry for whoever sat next to him, or about how I am addicted to fast foods and pancakes. He’s probably the only one I know that can relate.

I was lost in the conversation, with Brad interrupting occasionally with strange looks of wiggling eyebrows or smug smiles. I really don’t know what he’s on.

It’s when Dad is folding up the seats, and Brad’s dad cleans up the grill. Ave asked me.

“Wanna do this again sometime? My dad’s coffee shop has a new brownie coming up that he’s really proud of.”

Yes, of course. I wanna learn more about you and be friends again.

“Sorry, men. School is going to be busy. I also need to focus on football more this year, or I will get too fat to play.” I said.

“No problem Jay. You know I’ll always be there for you.” Avery said.

I tried to one arm hug him and he fully embraced me. His body is so warm and unbelievably soft.

For a moment, I wished I was proud like him. But I’m not free like him

Gathering supplies Dad brought, I walked back to the car, forgetting to ask for his number.

The school year started without much fanfare. But the feeling of estrangement grew.

Hanging out with the team was fun, but playing the game just doesn’t bring me the same amount of rush and anticipation anymore, instead, I look forward to the meal after the game that brings me the rush. It’s not like I was playing the game much anyway; I’m a glorified Waterboy now. My job is to refuel the Gatorade or water, then squirt it into the guys’ mouths. After that, I just need to hand them the towel and sit back to finish my hot dog. 

I know the team appreciates me. I would keep doing it for them if not for Coach’s disappointing stares. He probably thought I would be a star player like Dad, but I ended up fatter than the linebacker. I would be disappointed too.

My decision was made following the buzzing call of our defeat.

Chapter 3 ->

[creativepromptsforwriting]

Hi! Could you give meet uglies and cutes that takes place in public transport?

Hi, sure :)

Meet Cutes/Uglies: Public Transport Edition

the only place for their luggage on the train is the overhead bin and they struggle so much that someone gets up to help them

one of them has a ticket that allows another person to ride with them, so they invite a random stranger to use their ticket, requirement for this is that they have to stay together for the whole ride

an engine failure is the reason why a 100 people get stranded at a little train station in the middle of nowhere, all trying to find their way home

sitting next to each other on a long bus/train ride and starting to talk about anything and everything

the train has a two hour delay and they start to bond over their annoyance

it's rush hour, the bus is completely full and the only way to not fall is to cling to the person closest to them

sharing a taxi, because they need to go to the same place

calling the conductor on the train, because the other one is sitting on the seat they booked and doesn’t want to move

there is nothing worse on a train, then when someone close by starts to make really loud phone calls for hours on end, talking about private issues without shame

it's their first time on a ferry, but it's the only way to get to the other city and sorry to the other passengers, but they get incredibly sea sick

almost as bad is when the person next to them starts unpacking their food and it's probably yummy, but it smells a lot and they will tell them that

the rails are being repaired, so they have to use rail replacement buses to get to the next train station, but they have to work together to find out how to get there because there are no signs and nothing makes any kind of sense

when the bus makes a sharp turn they suddenly find themself on the lap of a stranger

their seat neighbour is watching a Netflix show with subtitles, so they start to watch too and get invested

I'm using public transport daily and I have a love/hate relationship with it. I've just come back from a trip where the train was late for 2 hours and there was no AC at over 30 degrees. Still love to have the option to just go anywhere without having to use cars.

- Jana

PS: Schienenersatzverkehrshaltestellen (rail replacement coach stops) in Germany are notorious for being difficult to find and hard to navigate. I definitely met other frustated and lost people like that before.

[em1e]

こづめ // kenma kozume

imagine you’re a new transfer to nekoma in the middle of the semester and you’re still trying to get used to the big halls and even bigger campus and one day, you bump into kenma — he drops his handheld in the commotion and the screen cracks. 

you apologize profusely, try to give him money for it, but he won't let you. 

“your phone screen cracked too, look, it’s fine, we're even.”

“it's not fine! i bumped into you! just take the cash!”

you're interrupted by kuroo, who pats kenma’s back rather aggressively and is like “kenma, we were supposed to be on the bus 5 minutes ago!” 

you apologize again, and bow for making them late, shove the cash into his hands and grab what books you dropped, ignoring the way kenma calls out after you, “hang on a sec!!” 

you leave one book, though, which kenma later returns and when you flip it open it has the money you’d given him. it becomes a back and forth of you two slipping money? to each other? even though you got your phone fixed a few days after it happened and kenma got his handheld repaired as soon as they were back home from the game. 

but it goes on for a few weeks, him slipping it into a pocket in your bag, you tucking it safely in his locker, him returning with somehow putting it into your lunch box? and you sliding it in his gym bag while he’s at practice (thanks to the help of kuroo). 

“hey.” his eyes flit away from the screen of his phone to your form at the sound of your voice, eyes narrowing as he takes in your appearance; where your hands are, where you could be hiding the crumbled bill. 

you hold your hands up defensively, rolling up your sleeves to show you're not hiding anything up them, and sit beside him in the grass with your legs tucked under you. 

“i come in peace,” you promise with a smile, “just wanna talk.” 

he’s interested, now. you can tell by the way one of his brows shoots up in question, “about?” he locks his phone, the music of whatever game he was playing dies as the screen goes black. 

“s’really impressive, giving the money to my homeroom teacher to give to me.” you hum out, “admirable and ballsy.” 

the smallest hint of pink dusts his cheeks, but you can make out a smile forming on his lips as he looks away, “so was giving it to my coach. one of my teammates saw you drop it off and wouldn't stop asking me what it was for.” 

you giggle at that, a small apology falling from your lips, “i had an idea though, figured it’d beat us passing this back and forth for the next few weeks ‘til one of us gives in.” 

his gaze flicks to yours, urging you to continue.  “let’s use this,” you pull the wadded up cash that has certainly seen better days before it met the pettiness between the two of you from your pocket, “to go on a date.”

[jamietarttsnorthernattitude]

Holiday Gift Fic Requests

Now that whumptober is over I can start thinking about gift fics! I had a lot of fun with them last year so if you ever wanted me to write something (or are excited for the next chapter of any of my WIPs and want me to prioritise it) then let me know so I can gift it to you this holiday season!

Send me an ask with what you would like me to write (or update!), and I will do my best! I'll put my WIPs and anything I just don't think is in my writing wheelhouse below the cut.

Published WIPs

thought i wanted love ('til you showed me what it was) - Jamie wakes up in A&E with no recollection to how he got there and his sober father by his side. (Currently chapter 1 out of ? posted)

can't be anyone else - What if Jamie was the one injured when Roy tackled him in the season 1 finale? (Currently 3 out of ? chapters posted)

marked me like a bloodstain - Jamie saves Roy from being hit by a car after the gala in s1 (Currently 2 out of ? chapters posted)

dear leslie - Leslie Higgins giving advice to people (2 chapters posted - planned chapters left include Keeley, Isaac and Beard)

old habits die screaming - Beard and Jamie bad dad's universe (Currently 3 out of 5 chapters posted)

damaged beyond repair - After Ted rejects him at the Crown & Anchor, Jamie runs into two men who are looking for a fight, Jamie more than happy to give it to them. (Currently 1 out of ? chapters posted)

false confidence - Jamie suffers a concussion during the Zava era and Ted takes a look at how he's been coaching since the superstar arrived (Currently 4 out of 5 or 6 chapters posted)

Unpublished WIPs

copenhagen - Jamie and Roy spend the night a la Amsterdam in Copenhagen. When Jamie gets on the bus the next morning with a black eye, no one believes it was an accident.

i worry i'll grow old - sequel/roy's pov from i worry I'll die young

post-series Jamie saves Roy from being hit by a car

Jamie and Dani become secret besties when he's sent back to Manchester and Jamie insists they hide it when he comes back so the team accepts him for him not because of Dani (might not finish it completely but can definitely prioritise the first chapter likely 3 or so chapters) (requested lol)

Things I'm Not Great at Writing

shipfics

anything related to CSA, it's an important subject one that i want to do justice and I'm unsure if I can

[hunty627]

More stories that Grant can make up with his model trains when he rebuilds his model railway layout.

Caitlyn plays Keepy-Uppy. Dorie’s little sister Caitlyn came to the docks to see Thomas was awaiting a friend of his. Fernando was coming to visit Sodor all the way from Brazil. He was gonna show Thomas and his friends how to play Keepy-Uppy, a game where the engines have to keep the beach ball in the air.

Rosie to the rescue. Rosie wants to know what it’s like to being a rescue engine. She decided to go on patrol and look around for any emergencies.

Gordon goes the extra mile. Gordon the big engine was given the extra mile award for saving the ice cream. But Philip was envious of it and wanted to know what it’s like to wear a special rosette. But a bird took Gordon’s award and flew away. Will Philip get it back before Gordon comes back from his express runs?

Dominic and the Duke and Duchess. Spencer came to visit Sodor and he was being as boastful as ever. But when he got into an accident one day, the Duke and Duchess of Boxford were worried that they wouldn’t be able to get to their important dinner at Vicarstown station. So, Dominic volunteered to take them in Spencer’s special passenger cars.

Smith and the track cleaner. Smith was very excited. A new track cleaning wagon had arrived on Sodor and he was gonna pull it along and clean the tracks. Sir Topham Hatt wants to make sure he cleans all the tracks on every part of the line.

Kayley and the mysterious critter. Kayley was taking the workmen to do some late night track maintenance in the forest. But then she saw something moving through the air. It looked like a furry creature with a bushy tail and it can fly. Kayley told the other engines, but some thought it was a load of rubbish. But Thomas told Kayley to ask zookeeper Jack from the animal park to find out what it is. And it’s actually a flying squirrel.

A spicy hot delivery. Noor Jehan the diesel engine from India came to visit Sodor with a delivery that came all the way from her home. It was a delivery of fruit and vegetables from India. Thomas saw some coconuts. But he saw a vegetable he had never seen before. It was none other than Indian dragon fire peppers, one of the hottest peppers in the world.

The little old twins reunite. Skarloey was feeling sad because for the past few years, his twin brother on the mainland, Talyllyn hasn’t ran in a long time and was worried his twin would be scrapped, as told by Diesel, as well as Splatter and Dodge. Sir Handel told Skarloey not to take any notice, but then one day, Skarloey woke up to find a huge surprise. Talyllyn was in his shed! He told him that he had been fully repaired a few weeks ago and is back in service and came to visit his twin.

Not-so-tuneful toots. Rusty the little diesel got himself into an accident at the quarry with the troublesome trucks, which ended up causing his horn to only make the low note. Will Rusty be able to cope with this before he goes to the Vicarstown Dieselworks to be fixed by Den and Dart?

Dart goes solo. After Daisy’s sister, Rose the diesel railcar broke down due to some sand getting into her engine, Sir Topham Hatt requested Dart to look after her passenger duties while Den repairs Rose. Dart was bummed that he wasn’t gonna work alongside Den, but he knew he pulled passengers before when he pulled the express with Den & Sidney. But can he handle a local train?

Stafford’s super stopped. Stafford had broken down when making a delivery of coaches full of passengers, but his battery was fully charged. But Amanda volunteered to lend him a wheel. But will she get Stafford’s passengers to the station to catch their bus before dark?

Poy and the popcorn. There was going to be an Ultratrain movie playing in the ride-in theater, and Poy was requested to deliver the popcorn there, but a flock of pigeons wanted to eat it. Poy wanted to get away from them, but pigeons are fast too. Will she get the popcorn to the ride-in before the pigeons try to eat all the popcorn in her freight cars?

[osrphotography]

You would think by now I’d be used to seeing classic buses around the neighbourhood. After all AA Coaches park their buses everywhere but their depot in Māngere Bridge. But this, this is no ordinary classic bus.

Come all the way from Te Awamutu is (ex-)GoBus №408. An MAN 11.230 with Coachwork Auckland bodywork. New to Simpson’s Bus Services, Huntly as №8 it became 408 when Simpson’s merged with Lewis Hodgson Motors, C. J. Worth (Blue Worth Coachlines) and Hamilton City Buses to form GoBus Transport Ltd.

It is also one of only ~40 buses built by CWA before it was sold to Designline in 1995 and became a repair centre for Designline and a sister to my bus. 

[hoperenae]

Turning Heads (a Haikyuu fanfic by hoperenae)

PREVIOUS — SERIES MASTERLIST — NEXT

PART 16- One of Us Had to Lose

The bus ride back home was quiet, too. Even coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei didn’t have anything to say. When we got back, Ukai took us all to a local shop and bought us dinner. We sat there staring at our food, still unable to fully comprehend what was going on.

“Your muscles are at their limits, so you’ve got to repair them by eating,” Ukai said as he sat down. “That’s how you build muscle and become stronger. So eat. Eat a proper meal.”

Slowly, we picked up our utensils and said our thank yous to the lady who made the food. Then, we ate. After the first bite, I knew Ukai was right. My body needed to refuel in order to heal. We all shoveled food into our mouths.

Next to me, I saw tears fall from Hinata’s face onto the table. Looking down, I realized my own tears were dripping onto my food. A quick glance around told me it was the same for everyone. Even Tsukki looked more emotional than usual. I glanced across the table at Nishinoya who was frantically shoving a rice ball into his mouth, his tears mixing in with the food.

At the end of the table, Ukai and Takeda-sensei were smiling sadly at all of us. I made eye contact with Ukai, and he nodded, which only made my tears fall heavier.

This sucked. There was no other way to put it. It was hard to see the other side when you felt so defeated. At this point, I wasn’t even sure if there was another side.

Eventually, we finished eating and went back to the school. Ukai said we would have our meeting at practice the next day, so we all just went home. Daichi and I walked along in silence. When we were approaching our house, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Oikawa was leaning in front of our front gate, hands in his jacket pockets. He was wearing glasses. I loved those glasses on him. My skin burned red hot with humiliation and frustration. I wanted him to go away. I couldn’t look him in the eye after today. Not yet, anyway. But just as I thought this, I felt my brother’s hand on my shoulder.

“Go,” he said, motioning toward Oikawa. “Talk to him.” I furrowed my brow but he nudged me forward.

As we got closer, Oikawa finally noticed us. He straightened up and took his hands out of his pockets. Daichi merely nodded at him and went inside the house, giving me one last encouraging look.

“Well,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. “What is it?”

“Arya, I just,” he stammered. “I wanted to say you were amazing today. And I’m—”

“Don’t,” I inserted. “Don’t apologize for winning.”

“I wasn’t going to,” he fired back, forehead creased. “I was going to say, I’m sorry you lost.” He glanced down at his feet, suddenly seeming smaller. “I’m sorry that one of us had to lose.”

I was frozen. I didn’t know what to say. Then I felt the wet warmth of tears running down my cheeks. I wiped my nose with my jacket sleeve and stared at the ground. Oikawa put a hand on my shoulder, and it was all over. I collapsed into his arms and sobbed. He held me there for a bit with his head buried in my hair, whispering soft and encouraging words and placing kisses on the top of my head.

“I—I thought we could do it,” I sniffed, rubbing my eyes and stepping out of his embrace. “I actually thought we could beat you guys. I wanted it so badly. Why did we lose?”

He gently grabbed my chin and brought my face up to meet his, my eyes finally locking with his for the first time since I told him off.

“Sometimes it takes a heavy loss to make you stronger,” he said. I let that sit with me for a moment. Now that I had let all my emotions out, I was able to process what he was saying.

“You’ll come back from this,” he continued. “And when you do, I can’t wait to meet you on the court again.” He grinned down at me, and I was surprised to find myself smiling back. He pulled me in for another hug.

“Thanks,” I whispered into his chest. He squeezed me tighter.

“I better get going,” he said. “Iwa-chan and I are gonna watch the match and go over our game plan for this week’s practices.”

“Do you guys ever take a break?“ I chuckled lightly, sniffling.

“See ya!” he exclaimed with a wave as he turned to walk away.

“Toruu!” I called out after him. He turned over his shoulder to face me. I grinned. “Don’t go thinking you’re invincible now just because you beat us this one time. We will defeat you.”

He shot me his famous cunning grin.

“Looking forward to the challenge, lefty!” he replied, echoing my words from so long ago.

TAGLIST: @celcero

Message me or comment if you want to be added to the taglist!

[wongmsrailgallery]

Friday 1 November 2024 - Transit Systems electric bus #168 BS09LO on route 471 along Grieve Parade over the West Gate Freeway. Note the plain white rear quarter panel following crash repairs. Plus 2 more new photos in the Transit Systems Victoria, StavLink Transit and Road coaches albums https://railgallery.wongm.com/page/archive/2024-11-01/

[jcbuilders]

Reliable Bus Repair Services in Christchurch - JL Coach Builders

Expert bus repair services in Christchurch. JL Coach Builders ensures quality workmanship and timely repairs to keep your fleet running smoothly.

Bus Repairs Services in Christchurch

[scots-gallivanter]

EIGHTEEN

Auld Ayr, wham ne’er a town surpasses, For honest men and bonnie lasses

ROBERT BURNS, Tam o’ Shanter (1791)

BURNS IS UNDOUBTEDLY Scotland’s most electrifying literary figure, but it would be way beyond the scope of this undertaking to do justice to his links with Ayrshire. He was born in Alloway, which is now a suburb of Ayr. The house where he was born, and in which he lived till he was seven, is a place of wholesale pilgrimage, part of a well-trodden tourist trail.

On his travels, John Keats thought the approach to Ayr ‘extremely fine’, but he was disappointed with the old caretaker of Burns’s House in Alloway. He called him ‘a mahogany-faced old jackass’, who talked too much. (Letter to John Hamilton Reynolds, Maybole, July 11, 1818). In mid-summer, Alloway is invariably chock-a-block with coaches and buses, from which camera-wielding Burns lovers emerge. Many of them hail from Japan and other countries where the bard is revered. Many of those who immortalise him at boozy haggis-stabbing bashes here in Scotland would have wandered to the other side of the street to avoid him had they been contemporaries.

From his wanderings in 1634 Brereton described Ayr, the county town of Ayrshire, as ‘a dainty, pleasant-seated town, most inhabiting in which are merchants trading into and bred in France’, but a century later Defoe found: ‘It is now like an old beauty, and shows the ruins of a good face, but is still decaying every day; and from having been the fifth best town in Scotland, as the townsmen say, it is now the fifth worst; which is owing to the decay of its trade.’ (Tour through Great Britain, 1745).

After presiding over a murder trial Lord Cockburn spent one of the last days of his life enjoying the shore at Ayr. He stated: ‘The beautiful bay of Ayr could scarcely have been more beautiful. The advancing sea was insinuating its clear waters irresistibly, yet gently, into the innumerable little hollows and channels of the dry sand. It was quiet, apart from seabirds playing and a couple of pale boys paddling.’

There was no sound, except of an occasional hammer by a few lazy masons who were pretending to be repairing the point of the pier, the ring of whose implements only deepened the silence Cockburn enjoyed. He watched a couple of old anglers dozing off as their corks bobbed in the sea. It hadn’t rained for six weeks, so they caught nothing.

Cockburn, one of my favourite early travel writers, had found it all a refreshing contrast to ‘the heat and the crowd of that horrid court’. He took ill the following day and died four days later.

I find Ayr a tad tatty now, and public facilities leave a lot to be desired; the bus station has no toilets. To Stagecoach’s shame the toilets it purports to have on board certain vehicles are often closed.

I am sure a lot of people are doing a lot of work to improve the appearance of the town of ‘honest men and bonnie lassies’. Not so the Malaysian Ung Eng Huat, though, who bought Ayr’s Station Hotel in 2010, and closed it in 2013, leaving it to rot while he has swanned around the globe. Gallingly, Huat, who calls himself Sunny Ung, has regularly flaunted his wealth, luxury cars, designer clothes and expensive watches, on social media from several countries, as well as selfies with V.I.P.s such as the Formula One star Lewis Hamilton.

Officials have tried to contact Ung for years. He is yet another absentee owner, who has allowed Scotland’s built heritage to decay, and remains incommunicado, although vandals set fire to the prominent listed building in the centre of town in September 2023. The blaze closed Ayr Station in the run-up to Christmas. Meanwhile, the man who boasts of his philanthropy in the Far East has posted photos of himself in Switzerland, Madrid, Marcella, Rome, Venice, and the Greek islands.

South Ayrshire Council has published a feasibility study into a compulsory purchase order. Its chief executive Mike Newall, said the owner hadn’t acknowledged any correspondence, not even in 2013 when the council tried to serve the first dangerous buildings notice. The bottom line is that Ung has walked away from any responsibility to conserve a building of historical and cultural importance.

Ayrshire itself has an absorbing mixture of history and heritage, some exceptional beaches, plenty of indisputably beautiful landscapes, and a popular horse racing venue that hosts the Scottish Grand National. But Ayrshire, and Ayr itself, has faced great challenges. In 2022 a Scottish Government bulletin stated that its economy was lagging and diverging significantly from Scotland’s.

In the year to March 2020, Ayrshire had the second highest unemployment rate in Scotland and some of the highest deprivation levels (27% of children lived in poverty).

NINETEEN

Beinge of that countrie, of a place not farre from Are, cawled the Truyne, leinge harde upon the sea, so commodious as the lyke was not to be found upon the weste seas.

Report by THOMAS RANDOLPH to Marie of Guise on a possible landing place for French troops (1559)

TROON WAS NEVER invaded by French forces but, like many resorts in the Firth of Clyde, it was besieged by sea-bathers, thanks to the phenomenal popularity of hydrotherapy in the 19th century. Its development was aided first by the arrival of steamboats, and then by the establishment of the first passenger rail service in Scotland, from Kilmarnock to Troon, in 1812. Troon Golf Course was founded in 1878, and the town is renowned for its golfing heritage: the Open has been played there on several occasions.

Troon was in the vanguard of sea bathing in Scotland, which evolved from ‘taking the waters’ at a mineral well or spa. Troon and other resorts became tremendously popular and were painstakingly marketed when the steamers and then the railways made the coasts more accessible. I must rewind, though, to some early 18th-century quackery and to Sir John Floyer’s History of Cold Bathing (1702). According to Floyer, Scots women bathed their children in cold water in the winter: ‘....by these instances it appears that the Northern People have found cold baths very useful to their bodies.

‘I remember that a lady of very great quality of Scotland, and nearly related to His Grace, Duke Hamilton, told me about four or five years since that several of her sons, though born strong, lusty children, yet pined, dwindled, and fell into convulsions …… that a Highland Woman advised her either to wash or bathe them in cold water ….and accordingly the Lady did so and ever after her children thrived, and did well, and are now lusty strong young men.’

Then there was the redoubtable Dr Richard Russell, whom the French historian Jules Michelet hailed as ‘the inventor of the sea’. Russell wrote Glandular Diseases, or a Dissertation on the Use of Sea Water in the Infections of the Glands in 1750, and it became a best-seller. Brighton grew on the back of it, and owing to Russell’s ambitious philosophy on the connection between health improvement and seawater (bathing in it and even drinking it). Many doctors were sold on the new craze.

Michelet reported in The Sea (1864), with a hint of eugenics: ‘This whole grand theory may be summed up in a very few words: It is necessary to drink sea-water, to bathe in sea-water, and to eat sea-weed; clothe your children as lightly as possible, and let them have plenty of air. The Ocean breeze, and the Ocean water; there you have the sure cure.

‘That last advice seems very bold. To have the half-naked child exposed to the open air in a damp and variable climate, is, no doubt, anticipatively, to lose the weak; but the strong will survive, and their posterity will be the better brought up.’

Sea-bathing grew in popularity in Scotland. Robert Heron visited Edinburgh in 1793 and noted that in high summer it was empty of people of ‘gaiety, of study or of business’, who had betaken themselves to some ‘fashionable watering place’. By the next century saltwater therapy had evolved into swimming and – for the ‘lower orders’ as well as the Victorian gentry and wannabe gentry – sea air blew away the angst of the daily grind. The Kilmarnock nobility built or bought summer houses in Troon. From 1839 the second railway line enabled visitors from Glasgow and Paisley to reach Troon by rail.

Before the launch of Henry Bell’s Comet, the Clyde’s first ever steamboat, in 1812, only the wealthiest of Glaswegians could enjoy going ‘doon the watter’. By the beginning of the 20th century city folk were going on day trips.

We bus it up the A78 towards Largs, passing the turn off to Portencross, where a pier was built during the heyday of tourism but was never well customised, although in ancient times the deceased monarchs of Scotland were brought to Portencross before being conveyed to the holy island of Iona for burial. Their bodies lay in state at Portencross Castle, an earlier castle than the 14th-century fortress which stands there today.

The Social Marketing Foundation think tank revealed in 2017 that seaside communities had some of the worst levels of economic and social deprivation in the UK. North Ayrshire was one of 10 local authorities in Britain with the highest unemployment – 10.8 per cent, compared with the UK average of 4.8 per cent. To cap it all, in 2023, North Ayrshire had 12% of all vacant and derelict land in Scotland, one of the highest proportions of any Scottish local authority. Gone were the days of thriving lidos, sedate pavilions, packed dance halls, and esplanades devoid of walking room.

In an article on the deteriorating fortunes of Saltcoats, written by Annie Brown in the Daily Record in 2017, the Saltcoats-born author Janice Galloway was quoted: ‘There was a sense of adventure that was there, which is fairly absent from young people’s lives now.

People looked active and engaged with their lives and the town. Recently I went on a visit and could have wept.’

Annie Brown concluded: ‘We sneer at how old-fashioned and obsolete seaside towns seem now. But they were the beauty of their day and if only the tide would turn – if only people were prioritised over profit – they could be once more.

 

 

[bokharicoaches]

How does BOKHARI COACHES ensure reliable and punctual Nashville bus service for your trips and events?

At BOKHARI COACHES, we understand that reliability and punctuality are critical components of an exceptional Nashville bus service. Our commitment to providing dependable and timely transportation is reflected in every aspect of our operations

Here’s how we ensure that your trips and events go off without a hitch:

Comprehensive Planning and Coordination

To guarantee reliable Nashville bus service, BOKHARI COACHES begins with meticulous planning and coordination. We work closely with you to understand the specifics of your trip or event, including the schedule, route, and any special requirements. This thorough planning process allows us to anticipate potential challenges and devise effective solutions, ensuring that our buses are on time and ready for your needs

Experienced and Professional Drivers

Our team of professional drivers plays a crucial role in delivering reliable service. At BOKHARI COACHES, we employ experienced drivers who are well-versed in Nashville’s roadways and traffic patterns. They undergo rigorous training to handle various driving conditions safely and efficiently. Our drivers are also trained in customer service, ensuring that you receive a courteous and professional experience throughout your journey

State-of-the-Art Fleet Management

To maintain punctuality, BOKHARI COACHES utilizes a modern fleet of well-maintained buses. Our vehicles are equipped with the latest technology for navigation and communication. We employ GPS tracking systems to monitor real-time traffic conditions and adjust routes as necessary to avoid delays. Regular maintenance checks and timely repairs ensure that our buses are always in optimal condition, reducing the likelihood of unexpected issues that could impact punctuality

Proactive Communication and Support

Effective communication is key to ensuring reliability. BOKHARI COACHES provides proactive updates and support before and during your journey. Our customer service team is available to address any questions or concerns you may have and to assist with any last-minute changes or adjustments. We also provide timely notifications in case of any unforeseen delays or issues, allowing you to plan accordingly and minimize disruptions

Stringent Adherence to Schedules

Punctuality is a top priority for BOKHARI COACHES. We adhere strictly to the schedules agreed upon with our clients. Our dispatch team monitors each trip to ensure that buses depart and arrive on time. By closely managing our operations and continuously reviewing our performance, we strive to meet and exceed your expectations for timely service

In summary, BOKHARI COACHES ensures reliable and punctual Nashville bus service through comprehensive planning, professional drivers, advanced fleet management, proactive communication, and strict adherence to schedules. Our dedication to these principles helps us deliver a dependable and smooth transportation experience for all your trips and events. Contact us today to learn more about how we can provide you with exceptional bus service in Nashville

[autobusaccessories]

Urrja Bus Decor: A Trusted Name in Bus Body Parts Manufacturing

In today’s fast-paced world, transportation is an essential aspect of daily life. Among various modes of public transport, buses are one of the most popular choices for commuters across cities, towns, and rural areas. A well-built, comfortable, and reliable bus ensures not only safety but also a pleasant travel experience. At the heart of this lies the importance of high-quality Bus body parts, which form the backbone of a well-constructed vehicle. Urrja Bus Decor, a leading name in the industry, specializes in the manufacturing and supply of top-notch bus body parts that enhance the overall functionality and aesthetics of buses.

Importance of Bus Body Parts

Bus body parts are the external and internal components that make up the structure and interior of a bus. They include doors, windows, seats, panels, mirrors, bumpers, floors, and many more essential elements that contribute to the bus's durability, safety, and comfort. These parts must meet strict quality standards to ensure that the vehicle can withstand daily wear and tear while providing a comfortable experience for passengers and drivers alike.

High-quality bus body parts contribute to the overall longevity of the vehicle, reducing the frequency of repairs and maintenance. Moreover, they ensure the safety of passengers, which is a paramount concern for any bus operator. Therefore, choosing the right manufacturer for these parts is a crucial decision, and this is where Urrja Bus Decor steps in.

Urrja Bus Decor: Excellence in Manufacturing

Urrja Bus Decor has established itself as a trusted and reputed name among Bus Body Parts Manufacturers. With a commitment to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction, Urrja Bus Decor provides a wide range of bus body parts that cater to the needs of various bus models, whether for long-distance coaches, city buses, or mini-buses.

Here are some of the key features that set Urrja Bus Decor apart from other manufacturers:

1. High-Quality Materials

The strength of any vehicle lies in the quality of its components, and Urrja Bus Decor takes this very seriously. All bus body parts manufactured by the company are made from premium materials that are durable and resilient. These materials ensure that the bus body parts can withstand tough road conditions, harsh weather, and the constant use associated with public transportation.

2. Precision Engineering

At Urrja Bus Decor, the manufacturing process is a blend of traditional craftsmanship and modern technology. Each part is designed with precision to ensure it fits perfectly and functions seamlessly. This level of engineering helps in enhancing the overall performance of the bus, ensuring smooth rides and minimal downtime due to part replacements or repairs.

3. Customization

Every bus model is different, and each may have unique requirements when it comes to its body parts. Urrja Bus Decor recognizes this and offers customization options to its clients. Whether it's the size, shape, or design of a part, the company works closely with its clients to deliver parts that match their specific needs. This flexibility allows bus manufacturers and operators to maintain consistency in design while ensuring the safety and comfort of passengers.

4. Safety Compliance

Safety is a non-negotiable aspect of public transportation, and Urrja Bus Decor ensures that all its bus body parts adhere to national and international safety standards. The company’s parts undergo rigorous testing to ensure they can handle impacts, provide fire resistance, and offer maximum protection in case of accidents. This commitment to safety ensures that buses equipped with Urrja Bus Decor parts offer reliable protection to passengers and drivers alike.

5. Aesthetic Appeal

While functionality and safety are paramount, the visual appeal of a bus also plays a crucial role, especially in the highly competitive transportation industry. Urrja Bus Decor manufactures parts that not only enhance the performance of the bus but also contribute to its aesthetic appeal. Sleek, modern designs and high-quality finishes help create buses that are not only safe and comfortable but also visually pleasing.

6. Sustainability Initiatives

In today’s environmentally-conscious world, sustainability is an important factor for any industry. Urrja Bus Decor is committed to environmentally friendly manufacturing processes. The company uses eco-friendly materials where possible and ensures that its manufacturing processes minimize waste and energy consumption. This dedication to sustainability not only helps protect the environment but also adds value to the brand as a socially responsible manufacturer.

A Comprehensive Range of Bus Body Parts

Urrja Bus Decor offers a comprehensive selection of bus body parts, catering to various needs within the industry. Some of the key parts they manufacture include:

Doors and Door Mechanisms: These are designed to ensure smooth operation, durability, and safety. Whether automatic or manual, Urrja Bus Decor provides high-quality doors that offer ease of use and long-lasting performance.

Seats and Interiors: Comfort is key in public transport, and the seats and interiors provided by Urrja Bus Decor are designed with passenger comfort in mind. Ergonomically designed and made from durable materials, they contribute to a pleasant travel experience.

Windows and Windshields: Urrja Bus Decor manufactures sturdy, clear windows and windshields that offer excellent visibility while protecting passengers from external elements.

Mirrors and Lighting Systems: These components are critical for driver safety, and Urrja Bus Decor’s mirrors and lighting systems are designed to provide optimal visibility and durability.

Panels and Bumpers: These parts help protect the bus from external impacts and ensure the bus maintains its structure and appearance even after years of use.

Trusted by Bus Operators and Manufacturers

Over the years, Urrja Bus Decor has built a strong reputation among bus operators, manufacturers, and maintenance providers. The company’s dedication to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction has made it a go-to choice for anyone looking for reliable and high-performing bus body parts.

Conclusion

Bus body parts are the foundation of any reliable and durable bus, and the choice of manufacturer plays a significant role in ensuring the vehicle’s longevity, safety, and overall performance. Urrja Bus Decor, with its commitment to quality, precision engineering, customization, and sustainability, has emerged as a leader in the bus body parts manufacturing industry. Whether you are a bus manufacturer or operator, choosing Urrja Bus Decor means choosing the best for your vehicles, passengers, and drivers.

[whiterecoveryuk]

White Recovery

When it comes to vehicle breakdown recovery, White Recovery sets the standard for professionalism and reliability. Whether you drive a car, bus, commercial vehicle, motorcycle, or coach, our team is ready to assist you 24/7 across the UK. Count on our well-equipped workshop facilities and skilled technicians to deliver top-notch mechanical repairs and services using the latest tools and diagnostic technology, ensuring your vehicle is back on the road in no time.

[masterstransportationspringfield]

Master's Transportation - Springfield

Master's Transportation - Springfield

Master’s Transportation in Springfield, MO serves as one of the area’s largest commercial bus and van dealers. We offer a wide range of shuttles buses, sprinter vans, and school buses for sale or rent, and we also provide comprehensive parts and repair services.

The Gold Standard for Springfield Group Transportation

Bus for sale Springfield MO

Our Master’s Transportation location near Branson, MO and Springfield, MO serves as a hub for school bus inventory in the region, serving hotels, schools, prisons, Silver Dollar City and other group transportation clients.

Enjoy the in-depth knowledge and experience of our sales and rental agents, who work with a variety of clients in Springfield group transportation. We have a large selection of in-stock inventory with over 100 buses on site.

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Service Your Commercial Bus, Truck, or Van at Master’s Transportation

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We recognize that keeping your vehicle or fleet fully operational is of critical importance, which is why we have invested heavily in our state-of-the-art repair and service centers. Helping you get the most out of your vehicle is a top priority for our team of certified technicians, and you can rest assured that your vehicle will be cared for with attention to detail at Master’s Transportation. Use the link below to schedule a service appointment today.

contact us

Master’s Transportation – Springfield https://www.masterstransportation.com/springfield/ ADDRESS: 171 Shady Oaks Dr Ozark, MO 65721 PHONE: 800-783-3613

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[deadmomjokes]

Regarding the question of the carriage being safe for transport of a stab victim: the short answer is "it's better than nothing." The long answer: It depends. On a lot, actually.

In the 1890s, London was a hodgepodge of road types. You had "macadam," which was compressed gravel/stone chip; "tarmacadam"/tarmac, which was compressed gravel treated with tar to make it hold together better; the coveted "sett" or "stone sett", which is the granite paving that looks like bricks; cobble/cobblestone, which is what most people think of but was actually not that commonly used; and wood block paving. This last was most common for quite a while, but was also what we would consider today to be a massive biohazard.

Wood is porous. It sucks stuff up. In an era when all serious overland transportation was done with literal horse power, and when animal control and public health weren't exactly ubiquitous, this meant those wood blocks were marinating every day in an awful lot of urine and feces. More expensive woodblock roads in swankier parts of town were pretreated with creosote or oil, which helped. But many woodblock roads and carriageways were giant sewer sponges that oozed when compressed, and turned into shallow rivers of what can only be described as toxic sludge when it rained. Which it is wont to do a lot in London.

Carriages at speed could throw wakes of sludge up to 15 feet high on the wettest days, and a fine mist of filth at most other times. There's a reason passenger cabs and carriages were covered and had shades or thick curtains, and it wasn't for the sake of privacy. It was so the passengers didn't get coated in ick. So depending on weather, route, mode of transit, and speed which your rescuer asks the driver to employ, you could very well be dealing with a choice between "trying to stop this man's bleeding in the dark," or "able to see but risking infection from the backsplash of road gunk."

Barring the aforementioned sludge storm, the ride itself wouldn't be that much of a danger to someone in need of medical attention for a stab wound. Contrary to popular media belief, carriages aren't all that bumpy or unstable. It all depends on the surface and the speed at which they're traveling.

Despite being heinous sponges of infectious filth, woodblock roads weren't all that bumpy. Not until they started needing repairs, anyway. Generally speaking London wood paved roads were routinely described as being smooth enough to cycle on, and quiet enough that carriages and wagons posed a documented risk to pedestrians. No clanking through potholes here.

When they started rotting, however, they did form wheel ruts and holes that led to a more uncomfortable ride. The rotting blocks were usually pulled up and replaced on an as-needed basis so that the road as a whole stayed open; so much like roads today, there may be a few divots here and there, but it was unlikely the whole route would be a bumpy, jostly mess. So field treatment en route to a hospital? Totally doable, especially when you only have to worry about controlling blood loss.

The main issue is going to be space and positioning, as well as speed.

"Carriage" could mean a number of things nowadays, but very few of those things would have been private transit back in the day. Most people walked where they needed to go, and those who needed to go a fair distance hopped on an "omnibus" (shortened to 'bus') or coach. These were long "carriages" (in quotes because a carriage was a very specific kind of vehicle at the time in question) pulled by teams of horses, often with set routes and stops. They also didn't go super fast, and were generally pretty crowded.

For urgent "get us to the hospital" travel in 1890s London, your characters would most likely hail a hansom cab, sometimes just called a "hansom," which was usually only big enough for one or two passengers. It's not spacious, and won't have room for the injured person to lie down. This could be a bit of a problem depending on where they've been injured. It could also make applying pressure to the wound more difficult (again, depending on location).

Hansoms had only one bench seat, facing forward with a lovely view of the horse's butt (the driver basically sits on the roof in the back). The door also closed across the front, roughly over the passengers' knees, like a slightly more roomy version of the safety bar on a roller coaster. Your characters are going to be shoulder to shoulder and pretty well unable to move around or change positions during the ride.

Hansoms could go a lot faster than other modes of hired transportation, but by the 1890s, there were also laws designed to discourage reckless speed. Exceptions could and would probably be made for life threatening situations, and with enough compensation to the cabbie, of course, but you could still run into traffic that makes it difficult to maintain the necessary speed, depending on where your characters are trying to go. It'll also depend on time of day-- it was easier to go recklessly fast at night when there was less pedestrian traffic and fewer witnesses.

So to boil it down to your original question, is it safe? Generally speaking. It's not going to be so bumpy as to dislodge important blood clots or anything. Is it going to make things worse? Probably not, unless they get stuck in a traffic jam so tight they can't get out of the vehicle and keep walking, or if your injured character gets so disoriented and anxious that they panic and try to jump out of a fast-moving hansom or open cart. But a lot of the specifics will depend on destination, path to get to said destination, mode of transit, weather/time of year, traffic/time of day, and how much money your characters have on them.

So here, have some links for more information and research!

I'm writing a scene where character A gets ambushed by an assassin. A gets injured and starts bleeding out. B swoops in to save them in the nick of time, but A starts fading in and out of consciousness. B transports A using a horse-drawn carriage (setting is 1890's London, so no cars) to a safe place for medical attention. Would the carriage be safe enough for transportation or make things worse? Also, any ideas where the wound could plausibly be located on A? (Stab/cut, no guns.)

Okay, so this is a good news/bad news situation.

The good news is that blood loss is really easy to understand. If someone pokes a hole in you, and you start leaking, you'll generally keep leaking at a pretty consistent rate until you manage to stop the leak, or until you start getting additional holes poked in you.

Now, joking aside, moving around, and staying active can accelerate bleed out. Especially if you're engaging in activity that keeps your heart rate up. For example: Running, or fighting. But, normally, you're going to keep losing blood at a fairly consistent rate. (Now, it's worth noting, as you lose blood, your body will actually increase your heart rate to keep oxygen going to your brain. This means that the rate of loss isn't completely consistent. You'll also start hyperventilating.)

The fun part about blood loss is it can actually turn into a math problem. If you know the volume lost per interval, you can calculate roughly how long it will take to die. Just take 2,000, then divide that by the blood lost in milliliters per interval (so, for example, minutes), and then you will know how many minutes your character has before they bleed to death. (Technically you can go over that two liters lost a little bit. (In sloppy napkin math, this means that you'll slightly overestimate how long the character will last.)

Here's the problem.

Hypovolemic shock has four recognized stages. These stages are bracketed by how much blood you've lost. Stage one is up to 15%, Stage two is 15-30%, Stage 3 is 30-40%, and Stage 4 is 40% or more. You might know that the human body has roughly five liters of blood in it, and if you were paying attention you'll notice that two liters is 40% of five liters.

As a quick aside, Stage 1's only symptom is that you'll be a little paler than usual. Otherwise you're basically fine (even if you don't feel particularly great.) To put this in context, you can (almost) lose a liquor bottle's worth of blood without serious side effects.

Once you hit stage 2 and 3, you'll see some mental issues. Anxiety and restlessness at Stage 2, confusion and impaired reasoning at stage 3.

Loss of consciousness (and comas) are symptoms of stage 4 blood loss.

This is the bad news. If you are losing consciousness from loss of blood, you have already lost so much blood that your body (and possibly your brain) are already dying. Humans can lose a frightening amount of blood before it incapacitates them. And, that fun little math problem earlier, the time to death that you're calculating, is also the time to loss of consciousness, because there's a tiny margin between, you bled to the point that you're drifting in and out of consciousness, and, you have bled to death.

There's still some hope here, but it's not great. First aid for hypovolemic shock is to stop the bleeding. It kinda makes sense, because if you don't, they'll bleed to death and after that, it won't really matter. That means, if you're swooping in to the rescue, the first thing you need to do is stop the bleeding, as best you can. When you're already looking at someone in stage 3 or 4, you're not going to stop it in the field, and the best you can do is buy time. But that is a critical step.

This leads to a really important question. How long did it take your character to lose two liters of blood?

Because, if they lost that much blood duringthe fight (which is, actually possible with some arterial hits), there is no medical science that would keep them alive long enough to get them to a surgeon. Not in 1890, and even in 2024 it'd be touch and go with modern emergency trauma packs.

This is a mortal wound.

Now, if you slow it down, and they're bleeding out over the course of the ride, that's entirely feasible. You'll probably want to read up on the exact stages of hypovolemic shock, keep in mind that the stages do transition from one into the next. And, keep in mind that, “slipping in and out of consciousness,” is basically the end. At that point they're about to die. Immediate surgical attention could still save their life, but they need a hospital. This is beyond the scope of what a back alley clinic could reasonably deal with.

I know I didn't address it earlier, but, “where,” could be pretty much wherever. So long as it didn't sever an artery, because at that point they would be dead. Arterial nicks could result in serious bleeding over time. Really, any serious, persistent blood loss that refuses to clot could create a situation like this. Deep tissue penetration, particularly when it damages internal organs, can be pretty nasty, and surprisingly hard to stop a bleed. If someone is hemorrhaging internally, that's going to require surgical attention to keep them alive, and any effort to stop the bleed will really be wasted effort (because they'll continue bleeding into the chest cavity), though, unless your characters have a pretty solid grasp of anatomy, they're unlikely to know that.

The real issue here, from a practical application, is just the, “swooping in at the last minute.” If you're really coming in at the last minute, you've got a minute to make peace with their death, and move on. If you get there sooner, you have more of a scene. You have more options to spool out the drama, and subvert expectations.

Consider, alternately: Your character comes in to disrupt the assassin, and the pair make their escape. While escaping, the character who's been injured discovers they're bleeding. Leading their rescuer to realize that the situation is much worse than they initially thought, and having to change route to a hospital, while the injured character starts to become less coherent.

In this alternative, you can carefully track how quickly the character is bleeding out, so that they're getting into the hospital right around the time it's starting to become touch and go. With a real possibility that they'll die, either before or during surgery. (Also, with added stress that now your character needs to keep them safe in a public space, while that assassin is still on the loose, and they can't move the injured character to someplace more secure.)

So, you've got options, and now you've got a math problem you can play with to figure out how quickly your characters will expire after you poke new holes in them.

-Starke

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