Hi my name is Dave
Hi name is Dave
Some back ground as my view of the world will probably be different from the run of the mill tourist.
Where to start??
Summer 1967 Montreal Que. Expo 67 Man and his World Terre des Hommes
This is a good starting point as it’s a kind of transition point between for both Canada & myself.
Expo 67 marked the coming of age of Canada with the Worlds Fair that attracted 50,000,000 visitors to a country of only 20,000,000 (a record that still stands). It was the last year of the old guard Prime Ministers as Pierre Elliot Trudeau would be elected the following Apr. & the Canada we knew would start it’s change (not for the better IMHO) to the country it has become.
Turning 21 that summer I was one of the multitude to visit Expo a few times that spring & summer. It was a good time to be young with the basic learning experience behind you & whole life time of great expectations ahead. One perfect day sticks in my mind that summarises those times, half a dozen friends that grew up together spent the day at Expo then went for supper at a restaurant in China town where we talked about the old days & our plans for the future. Nothing momentous just a good time with good friends & the last time this group were all together at the same time.
I was brought up on a farm in a typical WASP family, father was a progressive farmer involved in the community & mother a school teacher. The main value learned & still live with to this day is “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. I am not a believer in organised religion (too many people have been slaughtered because of it over the ages), just believe in common sense & decency & reincarnation (keep on living until you get it right). Told you my view might be different!
Might have had some thing to due with mother teaching but I couldn’t wait to get out of school where in spite of an above average IQ I just accomplished enough to get by (there was too much else interesting to do than apply myself) so upon graduation went out & got a job with a local construction company & by the end of summer was driving truck.
Now the local pipe line had been upgraded the previous summer & I had mentioned that it would be nice to drive truck on it, father had said a local boy had no chance as only westerners had the contacts.
CHALLENGE!!!
That summer evening in 67 at the Chinese restaurant in Montreal I was home (for a couple day shut down) from my job driving stringing truck on a pipe line job in London Ont.
Did try college for a while in 1968 but decided it wasn’t giving me what I wanted so didn’t return the second year. Had a union job hauling cars for a while but couldn’t put up with the BS that went along with the union (no wonder the big three auto manufacturers are in trouble. Greedy unions).
Went into business delivering trucks in 1978 which was good until the 1982 recession, tried a couple other things until after a separation, stumbled (nobody grows up with that as a career goal) into the school bus business with the significant other of the day. She’s long gone but the bussing turned out to be a challenging & rewarding profession until a couple years ago when the changing times & economics started forcing the small operators out.
Always stayed small (under 10 employees) to keep government interference to a minimum & due to the fact it is a service (minimum wage) business it’s hard to keep quality drivers. Could have gotten bigger but the way you have to do business to grow doesn’t go with my “do unto others—“ philosophy.
Now after 30 yrs. in business, the fun has gone out of it & time has come to say adios. Sold the school runs 2 yrs. ago, when I saw the writing on the wall, finally sold the building last month & am in negotiations for the charter side. Should be free by Aug.
That’s me the good, the bad & the ugly.
Dave
Tags: Travel
busman7