Some of you have contacted me to ask why some photographs and text was removed a few weeks ago and, at the time, I felt unable to discuss the matter.

However, since my recent bout of pleurisy, I have reluctanly decided to give up my delivery work and I'm thinking of turning the blog into a journal.

When I do so, I will most probably replace what was removed and, at the same time, I might explain the circumstances which led to me having to make the alterations.

In the meantime, I'm extremely grateful for the support I have received during the six months I've spent putting together this little corner of the world-wide web.

This post was made on the 10/11/2008 and put in the wrong section.

Earlier this year - before this blog came into existence - my sister and I were obliged to spend some time in north Wales attending to issues arising from the sudden decline in health of an elderly maiden aunt. Fortunately, my sister's background is in nursing and care for the elderly and we managed to find a very nice Care Home in the area.

In the meantime, our aunt's house was put on the market and, luckily - in the light of the recent financial climate, it has been sold and I drove up to Wales on Tuesday to tie up one or two loose ends with the solicitor and to make sure everything had been removed from the property.

In many ways, it was a bit of a busman's holiday. However, during the drive home on Wednesday, in what must be considered something of an acheivement in this day and age, I managed to complete the journey without using a single motorway and also visited an old army friend.

On Monday evening, a hire-car had been delivered to my house in readiness for a job for following day. However, during the night, I experienced a slight twinge across my chest and assumed that it was the result of moving some furniture some hours earlier.

Later, when the alarm- clock woke me on Tuesday morning, I wasn't feeling very well at all - but, hoping that it would improve as the day went on, I decided to set off towards Sheffield to collect a coach which needed to be taken to Aldershot.

Encouragingly, to start off with, so long as I was esconced behind the steering-wheel, I was relatively comfortable. However, movements which were unexpected or slightly vigorous caused quite a lot of pain and, when the office 'phoned to see how I was progressing, my employer was very keen to impress upon me that I should abort the journey if it became too bad.

At that time, I felt that I could continue and, indeed, even after collecting the coach and heading south, I remained comfortable in the driving position. That said, I don't mind admitting (and I expect my employer may have had the same concern) chest pains do lead one to suspect a heart problem.

However, at about 3.00 pm., it suddenly occurred to me that I had experienced similar symptoms some time ago (that turned out to be pleurisy) and, although the realisation didn't alleviate the pain, it did serve to reduce the stress levels during the rest of the journey.

Although not too far from where I live, the coach company's garage near Aldershot could be an awkward place to get home from using public transport. So, the office had booked a hire-car for me and you can imagine - given the circumstances - I was delighted to use it after delivering the coach.

After a hot bath and some pain-killers, I slept quite well that night and, by the time I woke up on Wednesday, my wife had made an appointment for me with our doctor and, although I suggested all I needed were a few anti-biotic tablets and a couple days in bed, she sent me off to the Medical Assessment Unit at The Royal Surrey Hospital, in Guildford.

After several hours of assorted tests (mainly of a cardiac nature, I thought), it was decided that my own diagnosis had been correct and a course of anti-biotics was started immediately. However, they wouldn't let me home that night and after a further examination on Thursday morning, I was released to go home to my own bed - where I remain as I write...............

On Friday morning, the collection point was at a county council depot in Luton which I had visted earlier this year and, surprisingly for a Friday, I had a remarkably trouble-free journey getting there.

The vehicle I collected was a fairly new school-bus and I took it to a bus manufacturer's depot in Harlow - where, having competed the delivery, a member of staff gave me a copy of a magazine which included an article about a hybrid double-decker bus I had taken there (Harlow) a few weeks ago. It had been painted-up very nicely and was featuring in an exhibition in north America.

Not far from where I delivered the bus, there was a hire-car depot and, since there was a likelyhood of the need for a car for Monday, I walked over to collect a car. However, whilst I was driving home, the office 'phoned to explain that the anticipated job hadn't materialised and I continued to Guildford and exchanged the hire-car for my own car and drove home.

On Thursday, I collected a new double-decker bus from Guildford which had been driven down from Scotland on Wednesday night by another driver. Evidently, it had been too late to deliver it into a bus depot in Hayes, in Middlesex, and I had been asked to complete the delivery.

Originally, it had been expected that I would make my own way back to my own car using public transport. However, on the way to Hayes, the office 'phoned to explain that a job had come in for Friday which would require the use of a hire-car and, instead of hanging around for a couple of  hours waiting for one to be delivered to me, I went to Heathrow airport and collected one myself and took it home.

On the journey back from Wales, the office had 'phoned to see if I could work on the following day - and, since I could, I diverted to Guildford to collect a hire-car.

And, so it was, on Thursday morning, I drove to West Thurrock to collect a double-decker bus which I took to Exeter. On the way, the office called again to say that there was a coach at a MOD camp in south Wales which needed to be taken to Yorkshire. However, it wouldn't be available until the following morning.

By a remarkable and quite convenient coincidence, the camp was within a couple of miles of where a cousin of mine lives. The coincidence, by the way, is that we hadn't seen each other for the best part of sixty years until last October - when we met at the funeral of an uncle - which was to be the start of my aunt's rapid decline in health (see yesterday's blog).

He and his wife were kind enough to offer me a bed for the night and, after a nice meal, we spent the evening 'comparing notes' about our experience of life.

On Friday morning, I left the MOD camp at a little after 8.00 am. and, as I headed towards the coachbuilders near Sheffield, the office called yet again to say that there would be another coach waiting for me which needed to be taken to Northampton - which was on my way home.

So, having delivered the coach, and as the evening rush-hour started, I set off towards Guildford in a hire-car to become re-acquainted with my own car and home.

Quite early on Monday morning, I used the hire-car I had taken home on Friday to get to Purfleet, in Essex, where I collected an elderly double-decker bus which had been converted for the purposes of driver instruction (photo in Not-so-new section). Basically, all that had been done to it was the fitting of an extra seat for the instructor and an additional handbrake for his use in emergencies.

The bus had been sold to a company in Perth and I took it as far as the Ferrybridge service station, in Yorkshire, where I exchanged it for a hire-car from another driver who would take te bus up to Scotland - and his home - whilst I drove back south - and my home.

There wasn't any need for an early start on Saturday, so I had a bit of a lie in before leaving home to drive the hire-car I had taken home on Friday afternoon to Croydon to collect a new bus.

The bus was a type I had driven before. However, it was the first one which I had driven which was based on a different manufacturer's chassis and engine than I was used to. However, apart from the control-panel, from a driver's point of view, there was little to distinguish one from the other.

It would be about 10.00 am. when I left and, since I had been asked to re-fuel the bus ASAP, I stopped at the first garage which could accommodate a double-decker bus. From there, happily, the M25 and the southern end of the M1 were relatively quiet for a Saturday and I enjoyed an trouble-free journey to a frequent destination of mine - the Millbrook vehicle testing centre in Bedfordshire.

Having delivered the bus to the appropriate section at Millbrook, I got into the waiting hire-car and - avoiding the motorway system - I headed home - arriving at around 3.00 pm. The journey made a little quicker than usual because I didn't haave to go to Guildford for my own car because I was expected to use the hire-car to get to another job on Monday.

On Friday, I was due to work with the driver who dropped me at home on Thursday evening. Interestingly, he is getting married in a few days and he wanted to finish work as early as possible so that he could start his 'stag' celebrations. With that in mind, he had asked if I would mind if he collected me quite early. Unfortunately, however, his actions didn't quite match up to his expectations and he arrived much later than promised.

The collection point was in Gatwick - from where we took a couple of single-decker buses to Waterlooville. The journey down was very smooth and we arrived there not very much later than we might have expected to have done if we had worked to the original plan.

A hire-car was waiting for us and, after a bite to eat, we headed back to Gatwick - where he dropped me off before driving to Heathrow airport to meet up with some of his pals who were taking him to an unknown (to him) destination for his final weekend of 'freedom'.

For my part, I collected another bus and took it down to join the other two in Waterlooville. On the way down, the office 'phoned to ask if I could work on Saturday - which I could - and they booked a hire-car for me to get home.

On Wednesday morning, both my wife and I had dental appointments and I wasn't available for work until about lunchtime. The office knew of this and asked me to contact them when I arrived home - which I did.

As it happens, the job they had in mind for me wasn't due to start until the afternoon. So, after a light lunch, I took my own car to Guildford and (in a manner of speaking) exchanged it for a hire-car and headed north to rendevous with a driver who was leaving Falkirk at about the same time with a new bus bound for London.

It would be about 4.00 pm. when I stopped off at Sandbach M6 services for a bite to eat and I was quite surprised to bump into another one of our drivers who - it transpired - was doing exactly the same journey as me - except that his driver had left Scotland a couple of hours earlier then mine.

After eating, I continued north and met up with my guy at Charnock Richard M6 services at about 6.00 pm.

Throughout the afternoon and early evening the weather had been attrocious. Visbility had been very poor and I was relieved to be taking over a bus (high seat - good visibility) instead of the hire-car (low seat - poor visibility). However, by the time I reached the outskirts of Birmingham, the weather had improved and I was making good progress and I telephoned my wife to let her know what time I expected to arrive home.

In the event, I didn't arrive home!

For reasons which weren't clear to us, we were unable to complete the delivery. As a consequence, the driver who was ahead of me had to book into an hotel at South Mimms services on the M25 and I managed to get into the one at Newport Pagnell services on the M1 near Milton Keynes.

At about 9.00 am. on Thursday morning, having driven down to the M25, I met up with my colleague and we had breakfast at South Mimms. Whilst there, I took the opportunity of renewing an aquaintance with IMHO the best operator of a Mobile Phone outlet in the whole of the UK motorway system and I bought a new Bluetooth earpiece from him.

Later, we (myself and the other driver - not the mobile phone vendor) took the buses into the garage in london. However, unfortunately, it seems that there had been some misunderstanding between the bus manufacturer and the bus company and, as a consequence  (having already had to abort the job we were meant to have been doing, today) three hours after we had arrived, we were asked to take the buses away again and we drove them to the manufacturer's factory in Surrey.

When we got there, there was hire-car waiting and, since we were expecting to be working together on the following day, the other driver dropped me off at my house before making his own way home.