600,000 Hits and Still Growing Friends

Thank you very much for reading.

650 posts. Over a million words read in over 20 nations worldwide. A book. New friends and possibilities. It all began as a simple writing exercise. It became a habit I’m apparently unable to leave behind. 

Habits can be suffocating. I’m hoping this blog can adapt in style and energy, but lately the writing is stale. Posts often sound repetitive. I have tried to stop writing here before only to have another topic pop up as I drive my bus. Still, I am buoyed by your comments of support. Mostly, I write to give YOU a voice, the countless thousands who do this job with little appreciation through thousands of dedicated hours in the seat every day.  

Whenever I contemplate ending this blog, too many issues cancel the decision. There are still many roadblocks to overcome. My solution is limiting future posts to issues upon which I cannot honorably ignore. To produce consecutive series on Maintenance, Dispatch, Road Supes and Rail still resonate, if my fellow union brothers and sisters will help me. I desire to help those whose job is a vital role in any transit-powered economy. It's a far cry from what this blog's original intent was.

While the jury deliberates upon whether this blog is just a stepping stone to joys yet to be found, there is still work to be done here. I hope some of you decide to chronicle your own experiences behind the wheel. Each of US have many stories to relate.

My delight has been to find several other transit voices, those who echo my own initial excitement as I began this career. It's a writer's dream to reach others at the farthest ends of these fingers' touch. I enjoy my new friend Bruce Whalley in Australia, who rode with me in '19 with his wife upon their visit to Portland. My life is enriched by Constant Readers Ken and Helen Coates of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England; they met us during our 2019 Scotland Adventure, after having made their acquaintance on holiday at the Oregon Coast a few years earlier.

A very inspiring and friend I have yet to meet in person, Tommy Transit, taught me how to creatively acknowledge those who ride my bus. My friend and fellow author Billy Alsheimer in Rhode Island, has been working on his dream of producing a television series about bus operators, one I prod him about often. My fellow blogger Robert in Florida (BusTropical is awesome!) is someone I exchange postcards  with and has long supported this blog; someday I hope to ride his Florida roll.

To you countless others who have reached out to me the past eight years, or asked me to sign my book for you... priceless memories I will never forget, thank you ALL for giving me constant and overwhelming joy!

Thanks again. This blog has been the most rewarding experience I’ve known as a writer. It's definitely one of the highlights of this wonderful life. I’m honored you have allowed me this podium. If I’m lucky, I’ll step up from it as an improved artist to a wider audience. One can only hope, eh?

Peace, y’all.

db