08 DEC 2007 - 7 Day Eastern Magic Part 4

[pfishgirl]

I missed another one

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

I am slowly working on my check list for the trip. I am online right now stopping our mail. You can go to the USPS website and stop your mail from there. Technology is great! We leave THIS SATURDAY sometime in the morning before the sun comes up. It came so fast. Then again, it feels like we have been planning and anticipating this trip forever too. There are never enough hours in the day to get everything done. It is so hard to pack for five people and not have ten bags. Also, we are staying at a DVC property. So, I need to bring snacks and breakfast items. We plan to stop at a grocery store near Buena Vista for milk and other "cold" items. Does anyone know of a grocery store near WDW? If not, I may google it or just wing it and hope our navigator points us in the right direction.

- Jennifer

USPS website:
https://holdmail.usps.com/duns/HoldMail.jsp

 

[coastgirl]

I know we are homeschooling right now. But, if our children ever have to go to a Public School not close to home, I will be driving them. I am NOT letting our children on a school bus until they put seat belts in them. It still doesn't make sense to me that in this day and age with all these seat belts laws for children, there are NONE for school buses. It just baffles me.

I KNOW! That and taxicabs. Uh, yeah, I trust the cabbie more than my dh to get us there safely. NOT. That's why if we're renting a car it has to be ON TERMINAL or else dh gets it and comes back for us...crowded little shuttle buses without seatbelts...nope on that too.

 

[coastgirl]

More info on running the school bus out of the road. Most importantly, no one was hurt.

I was headed home down the one lane dirt road. I was driving very slowly because it is still raining . I came around a curve and met a schoolbus. I started to back into a driveway so he could pass but he decided to pull off the road, into a ditch and got stuck. The kids looked excited, not scared.

I feal bad but he could have waited, I was almost up the drive.

I don't even know where the bus was going. I didn't think anyone stayed up here during the week. This is my first Monday here.

Oh, sorry, that made me laugh...the guy going into the ditch needlessly, the kids getting excited about it! Glad no one was hurt, anyway.

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

I KNOW! That and taxicabs. Uh, yeah, I trust the cabbie more than my dh to get us there safely. NOT. That's why if we're renting a car it has to be ON TERMINAL or else dh gets it and comes back for us...crowded little shuttle buses without seatbelts...nope on that too.

JoAnne:

What are the Canadian Laws in regards to seat belts?

- Jennifer

 

[WIFamily]

I know we are homeschooling right now. But, if our children ever have to go to a Public School not close to home, I will be driving them. I am NOT letting our children on a school bus until they put seat belts in them. It still doesn't make sense to me that in this day and age with all these seat belts laws for children, there are NONE for school buses. It just baffles me. They are starting to give Texas School Districts money/incentives for putting seat belts in buses. It all comes down to money. A new football field or seat belts on the buses?

- Jennifer

From what I understand, school buses are 8 times more safe than a car. This means that a child is 8 times more likely to get injured in a car in the same amount of time or mileage in it than in a bus. The average bus is designed with high back padded seats to compartmentalize the passengers. If you add a belt, you increase the likely damage by creating a pivot point at the hip. There are some studies that show that chance of head injury increases.

Not only that, but also think of the logistics of if something bad does happen, and the sole driver has to help 60 kids unbuckle their belts.

Personally, I don't think the only reason there aren't seat belts is money. There are other issues and factors.

 

[Cruise]

I KNOW! That and taxicabs. Uh, yeah, I trust the cabbie more than my dh to get us there safely. NOT. That's why if we're renting a car it has to be ON TERMINAL or else dh gets it and comes back for us...crowded little shuttle buses without seatbelts...nope on that too.

When we arrived in Sydney this past Spring, we went to the shuttle stop that goes into downtown and drops off people at various hotels. These guys are private, so of course they try to shove in as many people as possible. So he shoved in as many people as possible, and then started loading the luggage. The luggage all went behind the back seat in this van and had a wire "cage" about halfway up. Well, this driver shoved and shoved and shoved to get all that luggage in and it was all the way to the top and looking pretty precarious.

So this one guy in the back speaks up and says "I'm not going anywhere with this luggage like this. What if you have to slam on brakes? This is going to come flying forward and break my neck." I thought he had a pretty good point. Well, the driver was having none of it. They almost got into a knock-down-drag-out over this luggage. Finally, the couple who's luggage it was agreed to sit in front of the luggage and the guy with the objections and his wife moved to the front...where they both sat in a seat-and-a-half.

But yeah... I wouldn't have wanted to sit in front of that luggage either. Especially not after I saw how the guy was driving too.

 

[MrsMork]

DGS rode a bus on a narrow winding road that also has gravel trucks running up and down it all the time to the gravel pit. The bus slid off the road twice, no one was hurt either time. Don't know if they were just lucky, or perhaps Jason is correct about the design.

 

[coastgirl]

I am slowly working on my check list for the trip. I am online right now stopping our mail. You can go to the USPS website and stop your mail from there. Technology is great! We leave THIS SATURDAY sometime in the morning before the sun comes up. It came so fast. Then again, it feels like we have been planning and anticipating this trip forever too. There are never enough hours in the day to get everything done. It is so hard to pack for five people and not have ten bags. Also, we are staying at a DVC property. So, I need to bring snacks and breakfast items. We plan to stop at a grocery store near Buena Vista for milk and other "cold" items. Does anyone know of a grocery store near WDW? If not, I may google it or just wing it and hope our navigator points us in the right direction.

- Jennifer

USPS website:
https://holdmail.usps.com/duns/HoldMail.jsp

We got just about everything we needed at a WalMart supercenter, I think you pretty much have to drive by it (and I wouldn't trust my directions were I you anyway)...Dh did find a publix not too far away (we were staying at CBR/Epcot resort area) but it was not that big.

 

[MrsMork]

DrHug is mailing off a box to us at VWL today. Couple of bottles of wine we have made. One from 2001 and one from 2005. Also the Secret Santa stuff, Mickey Hands, and stuff. We are getting so close!!

 

[coastgirl]

Very exciting Angie!

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

From what I understand, school buses are 8 times more safe than a car. This means that a child is 8 times more likely to get injured in a car in the same amount of time or mileage in it than in a bus. The average bus is designed with high back padded seats to compartmentalize the passengers. If you add a belt, you increase the likely damage by creating a pivot point at the hip. There are some studies that show that chance of head injury increases.

Not only that, but also think of the logistics of if something bad does happen, and the sole driver has to help 60 kids unbuckle their belts.

Personally, I don't think the only reason there aren't seat belts is money. There are other issues and factors.

In Texas, most of the school buses have low-backed seats. So, there have been instances where kids have been thrown over the seats and injured even in a sudden stop. There have been talks that any new buses will have the higher seats. But, they still want the buses to have seat belts too. They have passed a law for the smaller buses to have seat belts and are working on passing a regulation for the larger school buses. I have seen those specials on tv with a hidden camera on buses where kids go flying in the air when the bus hits a big bump. That footage was scary. So, that image is always what flashes through my mind when I think school buses need seat belts.

- Jennifer

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

DrHug is mailing off a box to us at VWL today. Couple of bottles of wine we have made. One from 2001 and one from 2005. Also the Secret Santa stuff, Mickey Hands, and stuff. We are getting so close!!

Thank you for reminding me to pack Bill's Mickey hand. We need to get two more at WDW.

- Jennifer

 

[coastgirl]

JoAnne:

What are the Canadian Laws in regards to seat belts?

- Jennifer

Somehow I missed a page. Getting quick around here, I was used to the graveyard it's been while you guys were off turkeying.

Kids are required to be in boosters until about age 8 or 9 now, ds, 7, is still in one (just a backless booster to help with the regular belt). I think that's a good thing, as it makes it easier for parents to say "you're staying in the seat, it's THE LAW." Younger kids have different regs, corresponding pretty much to what the car seat manufacturers recommend. Everyone else is also required to use their belts of course. Taxi cabs are pretty much exempt, though I think more recently they've made cab passengers responsible for themselves and subject to a fine. The pax, though, not the driver is considered responsible. In private cars, the driver gets the fine if any pax are unbuckled.

I know the seatbelt on the bus thing has been discussed but AFAIK it's still pretty rare. I've heard the arguments, but I dunno...The most infamous school bus episode here lately was a young teen getting the pulp beat out of him while the bus was in motion. Would seat belts have changed that--probably not... I do pity those drivers, though.

A nearby town just passed a bylaw making it illegal to smoke in a car with anyone under 18 present. Verrry controversial, and impossible to police, but that was a great, and brave idea I think. I remember as a kid HATING drives with my folks b/c they both smoked, and as we found out of course, it was also dangerous. The town in question said it's more to raise awareness and send a message, and I think that's great.

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

We got just about everything we needed at a WalMart supercenter, I think you pretty much have to drive by it (and I wouldn't trust my directions were I you anyway)...Dh did find a publix not too far away (we were staying at CBR/Epcot resort area) but it was not that big.

Thanks! I'll have Bill put the Wal-mart in the navigator.

- Jennifer

 

[brack]

Ah, camera envy. It is a pathetic thing!

I agree but I can't help myself.

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

I am happy to report DS2 is healthy and ready to go to WDW. (Jason: How is Ryan doing?) In spite of being out in the cold Friday evening. For our Anniversary, I surprised Bill with lunch in downtown Fort Worth at Sundance Square. Then, we attended the Fort Worth Parade of Lights. I got us reserved seats. It was a nice way to start the holiday season. Everyone cooperated (meaning the kids behaved at lunch and the parade). We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was cold, but bearable. I got us some hot chocolate at a stand and brought blankets to bundle up in. It wouldn't have been the same if we were sitting there watching a holiday parade in shorts.

- Jennifer

 

[coastgirl]

Good evening Brack!

I'm off for now, it's bedtime...but I'll be back. Aaargh! irate:

 

[brack]

We wear our jeans and a sweatshirt both ways on the plane also.

I wear loose shorts, a T-S**** and sandals to get through the airport. I want them to have as little to search through as possible after I set off the detector with my metal hip.

 

[brack]

Good evening Brack!

I'm off for now, it's bedtime...but I'll be back. Aaargh! irate:

Good night JoAnne