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Ramblings of a Bus Pass'

Last year (2006), Gordon Brown gave every senior citizen the entitlement to a free bus pass and I have certainly taken advantage of it. It's not as if I'm miserly or not even able to drive myself around but the plain fact is I now go just anywhere anywhere that takes my fancy. I've been to places I would not normally go, I've enjoyed great company along the way and the fact that I have unshackled myself from petrol pumps, concrete parking and yes, even parking fines, together with all the hazards of driving is just sheer heaven. I just step on a bus, show my pass, no fumbling for money and away I go. It couldn't be easier and I don't have to declare where I'm going, sometimes I don't know the answer to that myself. I have been known to change my mind halfway through a journey and go somewhere else instead. Mind you I had a bit of research to do, when I first acquired my dream ticket. Armed with every possible timetable relevant to the locality, I was surprised to find, how many buses served so many different places and how many different operators there were too. Great I thought, with a bit of forward planning, I could map out a journey that would be both interesting and practical. Take the day I went to Altrincham, a shopping center, where I had my eye on some rather nice cushions.

Although it was an hours long bus ride, I intended to stay for only a short while because having looked at the journey back, I knew I could drop off at Knutsford about midway home and take in the delights of a fabulous, albeit expensive, antique shop. I had just one hour to spare between the buses, to do that special bit of window shopping. An interesting day was rounded off with a free newspaper on the way home, okay maybe it was only the Metro', but who knows whatever next, perhaps a dolly trolley with a cup of tea

There are some crinklies I know, who wouldn't think of using public transport, as they hate the idea of sharing their space with anyone else. All I can say is, come aboard and join us freewheelers, especially with today's current obsession with, global warming, carbon footprints and going green. I'm going green, going red, going any colour that the buses are painted. Oddly enough, on the rare occasion when I have to use my car, I miss just sitting back and embracing the world at my own pace. It's the little things that steals my attention, like the lingering moments outside shop windows, when the bus comes to a halt and glancing in to see what's

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