I hope your appointment went well Dawn.

Hi Beckie. I just did more shopping, but at Morrisons this time.

My social worker said provided a bed is there I'll be admitted Monday. Smokes remain an issue.

In other news watching Babe the sheep pig so not all bad :P

Even more shopping Lorraine?!

Surely you'll be able to go off site/off the ward to smoke if you're an informal patient?
I haven't seen babe in years! Good film!

I am home. My psych told me a few things about himself and he had some good news. He cleared me to start driving so I will be hitting the roads in the new year!

That's great Dawn! I recently got cleared to drive as well, it's very exciting!

Applied for a provisional licence online. Now I have to find a driving instructor.

I got banned 10 years ago from driving so it proves how much that I have improved since then!

I can apply for mine in January when ive been a year seizure free. Just a formality.

That really is fantastic Dawn! :)

That's great, Dawn!

And Katy, I hope it goes ahead.

How are you, Beckie?

Hi amy! I'm good thanks. How are you?

I'm hot and bothered. >:(

What're you up to this evening?

Thanks Beckie and Amy. Although I shall miss having a bus pass because I only got it because I was banned from driving.

Will they take it off you straight away?

No because I haven't got a licence atm. I am ok to use it until December 2019 (when it expires) or I pass my test (whichever is sooner).

Not up to much.

My bus pass expires in 2018 and I'm hoping I'll be driving by then.

That's not too bad then.

You get an automatic bus pass when you get DLA over here. And if gives you free travel on all buses and trains. It's awesome. Like I have a car too.

That's epic!! Why can't they do that over here?!
If you live in London you can get a freedom pass which let's you on buses and the underground for free.

Hello all. Dawn that's good news about the driving.

I have a free bus pass.

Bus passes are a godsend if you can't drive. Without it, I wouldn't be able to afford to go to college or the clozapine clinic all in one week!

I struggle with public transport and sometimes have to jump off the bus, so I really appreciate it and find it helpful for appointments and things.

They're really handy and depending on your disability you can get the freedom pass plus 1, allowing you to take your spouse or carer too.

Yeah I have a panic attack sometimes on the bus. About a month ago I got off the bus because I got too stressed.

It's good that the bus pass allows you to get off and on buses for that reason.

The bus service for me is pretty bad as we're concidered rural and now they're talking about cutting the bus service through our town completely. Which would suck balls as Ritzi doesn't drive and it's her only way into seeing me.

Let's hope it doesn't happen Amy.

Hope that doesn't happen amy. They tried cutting services in a town near me but there was this huge petition and they didn't end up doing it.

My town is considered rural and we actually have a really good bus service. Buses to the next big town (where college and clozapine clinic and hospital are) go every 30 mins and there's another one that goes to the same destination but round different villages every hour. The one that goes every hour gets into town a lot faster though!
Where I used to live, the bus only went every 2 hours so it was much quicker to get the train. Cost more though obviously.

Same. It's actually a pretty scary thought.

The buses go every two hours from where we are.

It would be incredibly unfair to stop your bus service, especially as they don't go much.
I'm sure more than enough people use it for it to stay in service.
My bus route keeps changing for some reason. Not massively but it's a bit random.

You'd think so. We shall see.

If they try it, just sign or make a petition. They do work!

There's already uproar so I doubt they will. It would just suck.

I have a service every half an hour except after 6 pm and a Sunday/bank holiday when there's nothing. I used to have a service then but the bus service went into administration and nobody has taken over the route.

It's **** alright.

Buses/bus companies can be so unreliable.
The best service I've found is arriva. They used to run most of the buses in my old county and they were rarely late and new buses with fancy screens and usb ports in between all the seats!
In this county, most of the buses are stagecoach. Mainly on time but when they are late, they are very late!
And with the grant palmer buses, they go to REALLY rural areas and are very hit and miss. More often than not, they just won't turn up!

I seem to know quite a bit about the local buses!

Buses can suck, hope it sorts itself out Amy <3

Arriva are running the bus service here and frequently the bus doesn't turn up. You complain to them and their excuse is "you must have missed it". No I was at the stop in plenty of time it's you being crappy.

The bus driver was dressed up as father Christmas on my return journey.

Hopefully now we'll get to keep the service.

I got on the bus the other day and the driver clearly did not give a damn! He left the stop over 5 minutes early, he didn't stop for some people waiting for the bus (not all people, just at a few stops) and occasionally ignored people pressing the buzzer to get off.
It was really bad, he must have been having a really **** day!

God that sounds awful Beckie.

I had it once where it decided to go a completely different route to it's normal one. Fortunately on that day I didn't have a appointment at my flat so I just had to sit on the bus for longer. I had it once where it missed my stop completely.

Some bus drivers are just really awful.

It was! I felt very sorry for the poor elderly people who had 5o stand and wait for the next bus in 30 mins. It's just not on!

Buses can be annoying like that!

I always worry they won't stop.

I've only had it happen to me twice. Once I was in town so it was only a 10 min walk to the stop I wanted.
But once it was when i lived at home and I ended up in the next village over so I had to get my mum to pick me up as it was 2 hours until the bus back!

That's ridiculous! Argh, buses!

Oh the joys of public transport!

It must be hard living in remote areas without a car. I'm in a busy area, so I have choice of buses and trains.

Yeah, we're incredibly lucky I have my car. It's almost too expensive to run though.

I can't drive, which has never bothered me since I live near good transport links.

Yeah, if you have the public transport links, you're alright. We'd be very cut off without the car.