Thread: Need help on bus origins.

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Originally Posted by johnboy

Phone rang at 5:10 pm yesterday: "Mark Crysell here from Fair Go. We want to do the story on your bus."
So the wheels are turning...perhaps slowly...but inevitably . . .

He said it will be three weeks (perhaps more,) before they can get the four hundred miles or so down to Rahotu . . . but they will get here . . .

All good.

They will have to consult a roadmap first,,cos if they are coming down from Auckland,they will be totally lost past the bottom of the Bombay Hills.. probably take the long way,via Wanganui,John..

Hope they get it shot, edited and aired before your departure date to the US for your Route 66 adventure, jb. Plus there's a wedding event not too much before that time too, right? Don't want to miss all of the hoopla from the news program, and your 15 minutes of fame.

We actually had three weddings booked in, two prior to our trip, and our #2 boy's after.
We did the first of the prior weddings two weeks back, and the second has been cancelled . . . I didn't ask why; it's none of my business.
Suffice that we're not required.

Robin: they won't get lost.
Crysell told me of playing rugby many years back at the Rahotu sports ground, and having to shift the sheep off before play could commence.
"Yep. That sounds about right," I said.
So he does know where Rahotu is!

And . . . a phone call this morning from Noel McMillin . . . Land Transport have acknowledged that they do have the relevant paper-work.
It's only about six weeks since they received it.
The speed at which they move makes a snail look like a boy-racer.

This is a quote from the (closed) Mavericks' website, posted by a fellow Maverick who has been involved in the bus since the germ of an idea was planted six years or so ago.
He was commenting on the same issue I mentioned in the post above:

"Yup, we heard that too.....

It was sitting on the desk of the person we expected - he's been asked at least 6 times in as many weeks if he knows of the whereabouts of this paperwork.

They told me today 'Oh were you meaning the Dually? Yeah we've got that. We thought you were talking about a bus'.

I f###in give up. To call them muppets, would actually be an insult to muppets.

I hope they (Fair Go) still pursue the story - they SHOULD - because they can claim a victory, all was quickly resolved once the word went out that Fair Go was involved.

Anyway, this is good news, you're one step closer now. I hope the body work hasn't suffered too much mate."

What can I say?
Absolutely gutting to me; but not even a blip on the radar to some minor petty bureaucrat.

sigh.

I'm becoming very fond of hokey-pokey ice cream and double shots of rum.

HMmmm.. Well, I guess as long as you can move forward, it'll be a win but, I also hope the TV crew comes and investigates as the story of abuse needs to be told.

jb, Fair Go should also bring to light the several ridiculous changes that you had to make initially, due to the potential load capacity of the chassis without regard for the size of the bus, swapping out the seats because of some interpretation of rules that should not have been applied, and on, and on. The WHOLE sorted mess needs to be addressed, aired in public, and the people in charge held accountable or ridiculed accordingly. Seems to me that you've spent a considerable amount of money unnecessarily, only to pacify twits?

Twits are genetically inclined towards bureaucracy.

This week I had a twit tell me that the original copy of my birth certificates isn't acceptable. They need a piece of paper from a second agency, saying they have seen the original..without twits, the asinine decisions of our elected officials couldn't be enforced.

Yay democracy.

Never Mind.....

Phone call at 3:10 pm.
Usually at this time of day I'm up in my shed, but today I wasn't; so I took the call.
"Noel McMillin here, Land Transport have finally okayed your bus."
Well!
I'm actually not as pleased as I thought I would be; this whole bloody saga has just dragged on for far too long.
And: there are some provisos, there has to be an underfloor plate welded under the passenger's seat, with the seat bolted to it, and one of the welds has to be redone.
I can live with that; I'm pretty much resigned/inured to anything these bastards throw at me now.
Just get it done!

But it's too late!
I've tossed the dice, land where they will; that's the path I'm following.
And they've landed with Fair Go . . . so that's the way I'm going.
(Isn't it amazing how things suddenly happened when they appeared on the horizon?)
As a Govt. Dept. they have an obligation to ensure things are done promptly; an obligation they have not fulfilled.
So it's name and shame time coming now.
Nobody comes out of their programme smelling of roses, not even the complainant, but I'm not concerned about being told I'm a s.o.b., I've been one a long time; the hours are good, and there's no heavy lifting.

Bastards.

Double post . . . dunno how . . .

You can say that again! Bastards!

Good news jb, but as you say, once the die is cast it cannot be pulled back into the hand. They deserve the negative publicity they'll get, and hopefully will recall who they really work for.

Originally Posted by rspears

jb, Fair Go should also bring to light the several ridiculous changes that you had to make initially, due to the potential load capacity of the chassis without regard for the size of the bus, swapping out the seats because of some interpretation of rules that should not have been applied, and on, and on. The WHOLE sorted mess needs to be addressed, aired in public, and the people in charge held accountable or ridiculed accordingly. Seems to me that you've spent a considerable amount of money unnecessarily, only to pacify twits?

You're right on the money there mate!
If we'd scratch-built a chassis with 6 x 2 box section it could have been classified as a light vehicle.
(Under 3.5 tonnes and with a dispensation to 4.8 tonnes for a motor-home.)
But because I did what I thought was the better option, and used a standard GM chassis rated at a potential 6.5 tonnes, I landed myself in a heap of strife due to one bureaucrat's pedantic attitude.
Sigh.
Ain't hindsight a wonderful thing?

But that part of the build is now (almost) over.
A plate can now be mounted and bolted under the seat, and a weld can now be redone.
It's taken twelve months to find those two minor imperfections.

I'm still not happy . . . one-tenth of me is glad it's over; but nine-tenths is absolutely furious over the time it has taken.
Very mixed feelings.

So; in the not-too-distant future I'm going to have to make a trip to Hamilton, get a certificate of fitness on it, get it registered, and then take it to Dave Green at Matamata for him to finish tweaking the computer.
Then re-book it to get the interior fitted, and in the interim tout it around paint shops to see who can paint it for me . . . those I had it booked with have given up on me long ago.
Another sigh.

johnboy is not yet a happy camper.

Almost there take a little time for some ice cream you'll feel better

Will the painters who had it booked in for paint not fit it in now or have you had time to rethink that stage ? I still feel your pain John and hopefully Fairgo will give the story a good airing so that the right people maybe held accountable for their lack of action. It amazes me that if the standard seat was in place it , the floor, would be sweet but due too having an aftermarket seat bolted in , one has to reinforce the floor. Wonder if all these boy racers that rip the seats out of their jappa's and replace with recaro seats have to have steel plates added to the floor structure, I don't think so....