Adventures on the Party Bus

[andrew5184]

What a deal! I hope your wife dont read these stories...LOL

Oh, she knows. She knew I was driving a bachelorette party and told her about all this stuff. Maybe I didn't go into quite as much detail with her, but nothing would surprise her.

I have told her though, that if she ever accompanied me on one of these, she wouldn't want me doin it. Lol.

I'm driving a post-wedding party Saturday that picks up at Keystone Lake, which is a fairly long drive from the yard. 10:30pm - 2:30am.

I think I can count on both hands, maybe one, the number of parties I have left in me. This burnin the candle at both ends is takkn it's toll. But I figure, 2 more parties and I can pay back my 401k loan. Then, I can find another part time job until I hit the road. We'll see.

I better get busy here. I'm takng tomorrow off (Friday) so i can have a 4 day weekend w/ Memorial Day being Monday. I'm touring my trucking school tomorrow. But I've got a lot of work to get done today. Will probably be a late one.

Andrew

[andrew5184]

I'm going to keep this one brief, cause I don't really want to relive it. This Saturday's party was the type that really tests my resolve and makes me ask, how bad do I want to be a truck driver? I drove a post-wedding party that was run by the maid of honor, who also just so happened to be the most condescending BIOTCH I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with.

The pick up was at Keystone State Park, so I left the yard at 9 o'clock to be at the park early so I could find where they were. I kept trying to call my contact at the party, but this person never answered. I arrived at the park around 10, and the pickup was at 10:30. I pull in a bit, and the small roads starts to T, so I stop and try to call again. No answer. I called the owner, and he was able to find someone who could get me there. I arrived at 10:28.

The party leader came out to meet me. She seemed fine at first, let me know she'd be providing directions throughout the evening. It's always nice when there's one person who handles all that. So people start getting on the bus, and I hop off and chat with a few of the guys. One starts saying, "Oh, we're gonna head to Embassy Suites first I think and then hit Ivey". Ok, sounds fine to me.

About a minute after that, the leader comes back and says, "OK, we're going to head to Candy Bar first, then I want you to take the bride and groom to Embassy Suites while we hang at Candy Bar for about an hour". I chuckled and said, "Yeah, I forgot, you're in charge. Someone said something different, but I'm only taking directions from you." Rather than laugh at the joke this obviously was, she looked frustrated and said, "No, I'm in charge, that's why I came out to meet you first. Only take directions from me".

Well, right there I knew what I was up against and what the night would be like. We leave Keystone and get to Candy Bar at about 11:17, from there I'm to take the bride and groom to their hotel. Before I leave, the fearless leader says, "drop them off and come straight back (like I'm gonna go joy riding and come pick them up when I want) and call me when you're five minutes from here so we can coordinate everything." Ugh...

Their hotel was on the other side of town, so it would work out about right. I no more than leave downtown and get on the highway, then my phone starts buzzing. I see it's HER. "Yeah, we're ready to leave, have you dropped them off yet?" "No, I just left 5 minutes ago, their hotel is on the other side of town". "Uh, well can you give me an estimate of how long it will be?" "Probably 30 to 45 minutes" "Well, can you do it any faster?" "No, especially not in this thing." "Well, just call me when you get close and hurry up". GRRRRR.

So I go to drop of the bride and groom. They're back there arguing about whether or not they should use a condom. Kicked them off and headed back downtown. In the meantime, she called again to inform me they moved to McNellies and ask me to hurry up again. From their, I took them to Ivey and found a place to park off Brookside. I told her they probably wouldn't have time to go anywhere else, since it was getting late. When they wanted me to pick them up, I pulled up on the opposite side of the street, because there was no room to turn around anywhere. They took their sweet time getting on the bus, meantime pedestrians are about to get hit, and cars are having a hard time pulling off the side street cause I'm blocking their view. I'm like, "we need to get moving, I can't leave this here". Her response, "I understand that!" Clearly you don't, moron.

Rather than leave, they convince me to thread the bus into the tiny parking lot behind Ivey and park, while some of the guys go in and try to pull girls out of the bar and onto the bus. They were NOT successful. Fast forward 20 minutes, people are starting to leave and want to get their cars out, which is impossible because of where I'm parked. I tried several times to call the leader girl, but she didn't answer. So I told everyone still outside and on the bus, that I would pull back around in front of Ivey so we could pick everybody up without blocking anyone. Well, then she decides to call. My phone's buzzing, but I don't answer it. They were coming out the back of the club to meet me. I guy runs up as I'm trying to turn out of the parking lot and says, "Hey man, we're back here. They let us out the back". I said fine, I'd just pull out along this little side street and park. When the *&#! met me outside, she said, "We were coming out the back door!" I said, "great, but I couldn't reach you, so we were pulling around front to pick you guys up". At this, she looked at me and shook her head. I'm thinking, why? What the hell difference does it make. I said, "Look, the bar is closing, people want to leave. I can't block people in and make them wait on us".

She clearly has no sense of common courtesy and no decency. From there, we started dropping people off. FINALLY. I'm glad they tipped my up front (although not enough to deal with her all night) when they paid for the bus, cause I don't think I'd of gotten much of anything. We just didn't hit it off.

I know people pay good money to rent the bus, but there's no excuse for acting like that. I've driven a lot of parties and never had to put up with that kind of attitude. Incidentally, when she called me, I noticed she had a California area code. That explains a lot! (No offense to the Californians on this board)

[DAFnie]

Working with peoples sometimes could be very hard. Especially if you're truck driver for a long time and get used to be alone and in "peace and quiet". Reading your Adventures just make me more convinced that I don't want a big wedding, if it ever being any LOL.
But, even as a truck driver, I experienced many similar situations, where someone "order" a truck just to be in their backyard, and loading or unloading goods is a sideshow.

[andrew5184]

Another bachelorette party! YAY! I got my assignment on Thursday and found out I'd be driving the 15 passenger, aka the short bus, from 10pm to 2am. Not bad; a four hour bachelorette party in the highly maneuverable 15 passenger. I should've known better, though. Since I've been doing this, I've never driven a party that was easy, and the fear of a breakdown has always been in the front of my mind.

Friday night, the owner called me and texted me needing someone to cover a party that came up last minute. Apparently, they were supposed to be on the T-Town Trolley, but there was a mechanical issue with the trolley. Good thing we never have those! (Sarcasm)

However, I informed him that I'd had a few beers, and couldn't drive. At this point, he has a number of drivers who can cover stuff like that, but I'm 2nd from the top in terms of seniority, so he always gives me the option. The top ranking driver is usually already driving something.

So Saturday rolls around. I get a text midday from said driver who is at the top seniority wise (he helps the owner out a ton, since the owner lives out of town) that I'll need to take the 25 passenger instead of the 15, because the interior of the 15 is about to come apart. Great! A week or two ago, on his way back to the yard, a back panel that holds speakers and party lights had collapsed; apparently, his attempts to screw it into position had failed. So I arrive at the yard at about 8:45, start the bus, and back it up to get in position to leave. I leave it running, and run into the storage shed to get some items I'll need. Wait, hold on! When I first got in the bus, I noticed a foul stench. It'd been sitting in the heat all day, but usually these busses smell like booze. As I come back from the shed, I see I have a text message from the other driver informing me that there were 3, COUNT 'EM, 3 pukers on the bus the night before. OH! So THAT'S what that lovely smell is. He'd washed it the night before, and today, but you could still smell it, and there was no air freshener at the yard. Good thing I got their early, or so I thought. I left the bus on and let the A/C start to cool it down.

I left the yard about 9:10 so I'd have plenty of time to stop by a QT on the way to The Mayo. I hit the QT, used the restroom, grab a water, and find some Febreeze. I went to town with that bottle of Febreeze, spraying every section of the bus and letting it be drawn through the air filter on the climate control vent. Time to hit the road.

I get on the B/A Expressway to head downtown, hoping to arrive 10-15 minutes early, as usual. After about 8 miles, somewhere around the Yale exit, the dreaded "Stop Engine" light comes on. "Oh no", I thought. We've had trouble with it leaking coolant before, and the "Hot Engine" light would come on, but the owner pretty much ignores that light. This was different. There are no gauges, mind you (at least none that work) so I didn't know if this was temp. related or not. I pulled off the BA and came to a stop near the end of the exit ramp at Harvard, 4 ways on, and called the owner. He told me to shut the main breaker off for about 30 seconds, then start it up again. So I got out the orange triangles, set them up, then killed the power. When I started it back up, the light had gone off, so he wanted me to stay off the highway and see if it'd be okay (he thought it was getting hot, and these busses run hotter at high speeds). I collected the triangles, and started rolling up Harvard, drenched in sweat, to meet the bachelorettes. At this point, it was already 9:50, so he called them to let them know I'd be late. About 10 minutes later, I was at 15th & Peoria, and the light came on again. So, per the owner's instructions, I started heading back to the yard to grab the 15 passenger, and hope the interior didn't collapse on everyone. The owner called the girls to let them know I'd now be REALLY REALLY late, like 11:00.

The other driver had been asking me about the bus, so I called him to tell him what was going on. "CRAP", he says, "I've got the keys to the 15 passenger on me". Awesome! So now, we have to meet each other, then, I have to limp this bus back to 71st & Elm in Broken Arrow without taking the highway. GOOGLE IT! It'll take at least 45 minutes, if not an hour.

The other driver says he can meet me at a gas station at 15th & Lewis. So I back track, and we end up arriving at the same time. I pull into the gas station and set the parking brake. He tosses me the keys, and I go to leave again. No power. The engine is dead. Apparently, it took this opportunity to shut itself off. I try to restart it... nothing. I kill the main breaker again for a few minutes... reboot... nothing. Call the owner... what do we do?

Well, the other driver had already left, but after he made his next stop, he swung back by to pick me up, and ran me to the yard in BA, while the owner had the 25 passenger towed. What a night!

So now, after all this, I've still got to drive a party on a bus with no shortage of it's own mechanical issues. I'm hoping and praying the ceiling doesn't cave in!

I arrived at the yard to get the bus at 10:50, 50 minutes after the party was supposed to start.

I'll pick up there in the next post.

Andrew

[andrew5184]

The poor bachelorette! All she wants is one final hurrah and a single woman, and it's being sabotaged by mechanical problems.

at 10:50, I'm on my way, hammer down to down town. I arrive at The May at 11:15pm. The owner said they would still pay full price and negotiate a refund, if needed, Monday. I had a feeling this party, which was supposed to go til 2am, would be going later...

The women were incredibly nice and understanding AND easy on the eyes, c'min! There were only 7, which makes things easy, but can also hurt you on tips. The more tippers, the more in tips and vice versa.

One very outgoing, uninhibited young lady decided she'd sit down on the floor right next to me and be the DJ. Sounds good to me! I'm a horrible DJ! First, we hit Ivey, but it was to busy, so I took them to Pink, one of the hottest clubs in town. We've got a good relationship w/ Pink, and they let the girls right in w/ no cover. It never hurts to have hot bachelorette partiers in your club.

While they were in Pink, I double checked the ceiling. It seemed to be holding up, but I was driving real carefully over bumps. The girls came back about 12:15, ready to hit someplace else. Next they wanted to hit Majestic, a notorious gay bar in the Brady district. Alright... I drop them off and go talk to the bouncer. He says he'll let them in free, but they'll have to wait in line. This place was hopping! Lot's of gays I guess. I thought I saw Eskimo and Trucker Steve in the middle of the line, but it must've been someone else (LOL. Just kidding).

I went around the corner to park. About five minutes later, they call me to come pick them up because it's going to take to long to get in. Understandable. So I grab them and take them to Dirties in the Blue Dome district. Fortunately, they decided to stay here a while. One of the girls had to work the next morning, so I ran her back to the hotel, then came back and parked. When they came out about 1:30, they were all much more drunk than they had been previously. From here, we just cruised around and met up with the bachelor party taking place in midtown near TU.

A couple girls kept trying to hang upside down on the stripper pole in the back. The 15 passenger just has a stupid little rearview mirror like a normal car, so it's hard to see what's going on.

Anyway, when (my wife just brought me some pink lemonade. Ain't that sweet?) it was all said and done, I dropped them off at the hotel at 3am. The girl who had been playing DJ was still beside me, but laying on her back, passed out. The bachelorette was in the back, puking her guts up into one of our plastic trash containers. Took them 10 minutes to get her out and three people to hold her up. And, as I'd suspected, only having 7 people really hurt the tip total. All in all, not much compensation for what I dealt with this night, but that's the way it goes sometimes. At least the upholstery didn't fall down on them.

I got home a little after 4 am this morning. I knew the sun would be up in a little less than an hour, so I made sure the curtains were as closed as I could get them and woke up about noon.

I've gotta hand it to the owner. He is resourceful and always seems to find a way to get a party done in the face of mechanical problems. I just wish he could get on top of them for the sake of my sanity and safety of others.

Andrew

[snorelord870]

4) It's hard to work 5 days a week, 8-5, then give up my weekends, too. I'll come home from work on Friday, lay down for a bit, then head to the busses to be at a p/u at 8 or 9. I'll get back home around 3am, sleep til 11 or so on Saturday, then back out Saturday night. The only time for a mental break is Sunday morning and afternoon.

Andrew

Get used to this when you become a driver. I used to drive a school bus before going for the big rig. I miss it. But the money wasn't great so here I am in nowhere'sville Montana doing a 34 reset.

[andrew5184]

Get used to this when you become a driver. I used to drive a school bus before going for the big rig. I miss it. But the money wasn't great so here I am in nowhere'sville Montana doing a 34 reset.

Although I believe it will be somewhat different because I'll finally be doing what I've always wanted to do, I know you're right. I think the main point is attitude. I try every day to have a better outlook, because I know that it is not something that is changed by circumstance, but by one's own thoughts. Drive safe!

[andrew5184]

Last weekend found me back in the 35 passenger bus. It's the newest in the fleet, and by newest, I mean the most recently added, not "newest". The night before, the other 35 passenger had broken down. The high pressure hydraulic line ruptured, cutting out the power steering and filling the cabin with smoke from the leaking fluid. Thankfully, I wasn't driving that night.

I had another bachelorette party (or so I thought). Tis the season; everyone's getting married.

It turned out to be a bachelor/bachelorette combo party. Those usually cause you to end up driving all night. I picked the group up in an east broken arrow neighborhood at 2100. The girls wanted to be dropped at Ivey and stay most of the night while the guys went bar hopping. Okay, that's not so bad!

I get on the road, and as is typical, some girl approaches me and says "can we stop at a convenient store". And so I made the first of what would be many stops at the nearest QuikTrip. Fortunately, I was near 129th on the BA, so I just hopped right off and parked at the brand new, super sized QT. After about 10 or 15 minutes, they were ready to go.

I dropped the girls off (and 1 gay guy) at Ivey and waited as the guys discussed where they wanted to go. "Night Triips" they said. So I start heading towards the strip club. As I approached 41st, they changed their mind. "Riverwalk"! Ok, so I take a right on 41st, we've through construction barrels, and start heading south on Riverside. "Nighttrips"! Ok... "No, Riverwalk". Would you guys make up your minds? Finally, the best man says, "let's head to Riverwalk and stop at that QT at 96th. Sure, no problem. We pull in and everyone gets off. It's at this time that I notice the bachelor is REALLY drunk. Now, I drive a party bus. I've seen many varying degrees of drunkenness. I've seen people that couldn't walk under their own power by the end of the night. BUT, I've never seen anyone this drunk this early into the party (it was 10:30/2230 at this point). He explained to me that he really wanted to go to the strip club, not the Riverwalk, which I can totally understand. In all my driving, no one has ever requested to go to the Riverwalk.

So, I head north and backtrack up Riverside to grab I-44. As I approach the on-ramp, someone says, can we stop at a convenient store real quick, I think the bachelor's gonna puke. "There's not one nearby" I say. "See if he can hang on and I'll hit the one off the Yale exit". Unbelievable! This guy is setting all kinds of records.

Rather than QT, we stopped at a Mexican Restaurant off 41st that one of the guys works at. Two guys go in and puke, and one goes to grab ice. Meanwhile, I think the bachelor snuck in to puke, then he comes back out and starts talking even more insanely than he did before! He was continuing to plead with me to take him to the strip club, and begging me not to tell his bride to be. It was only 11:00 and the guy could barely stand up. Then, a bunch of bikers wearing 'I Heart Jesus" shirts file out of the restaurant just in time to hear the groom to be start yelling "I want to get naked! I want to get naked!"

"Believe me when I say, you're the only one who wants that", I said. His buddies got him back on the bus, and I stood outside and chatted with a few of the other guys. A couple minutes later, we all got back on the bus, and to our utter bewilderment, the bachelor was passed out, sound asleep. I checked my phone: The time was 11:06. I've never had a pre-midnight puker, much less a partier unconscious before the clock struck 12. WOW! Sadly, he never made it to the strip club. Well, he made it to the parking lot, but was unable to get off the bus.

I parked at the car wash next door. Some of his friends were worried about him, and wanted to go to yet another QT to grab him some water. To attempt to avoid this, I said, "here, take mine, I haven't had any of it yet". They thanked me, and gave me $2 to cover it, which would end up being the only tip of the night.

After that, we went to pick up the girls, sat in a parking lot, and went back to the pick up location, but the groom never woke up. Two guys had to carry him off the bus and into the house. Perhaps this is why they forgot to tip me. Who knows, but I was very pissed that I got stiffed for the very first time. They were all real nice throughout the night, too, but I'll never drive for them again.

Andrew