An avatar is a little picture that appears under your name on the forum. There are 2 ways you can get an avatar.

Either way, do this first: Click on Profile >> Modify Profile >> Forum Profile

First Way: Choose from gallery
Two galleries came with the message board, Actors and Musicians. I just added Sports Teams. Make requests for avatars to be added to these categories in a reply to this message and I'll add them as long as I can find them. I don't intend to add more categories ... the pictures in the gallery are on this website's server and take up space so I want to keep it minimal. (Plus they have to be added one-by-one ... very time consuming.)

If you have a picture of your own that you want to use, send it to me and I'll crop it, if necessary, resize it and upload it for you.

Second Way: Specify URL
If you find a picture on the web that you want to use, all you have to do is enter the address a.k.a. location a.k.a. URL.

If you're using Firefox, right-click on the picture and select View Image Info. Copy the "Location" and paste it into your profile.
If you're using IE, right-click and select Properties. Copy the "Address" and paste it into your profile.

For best results, the pictures you choose should be square ... same width and height ... because they will be resized to 60 x 60 pixels automatically when they appear here. Also, please, don't use animations ... they can be distracting to readers.


Here's a good site to use with the "Second Way" ...
http://www.avatarsplus.com/main.php


Have Fun!

One of our members sent this to me ... ya' gotta see it!

I didn't like the default smileys that came with the message board so I installed some from the old message board and some new ones. Besides the ones you see above, you can click on "[more]" right below them and see more to choose from. If you hover over them a second a one-word description as to what they represent will come up.

Christmas isn't over yet, folks. Here, free for the asking, are several items that I'm sure some Pioneer S.I. 1181 members can't live without!
.


1) Hand crocheted mailboxes and houses ... made by my neighbor, Crazy Marcia. What the hell you're going to do with them, I have no idea. But hey, you're welcome to them! Houses are about 4" long, mailboxes about 2 1/2" long.





2) Silver-plated demitasse set. There are cracks in the glaze on one of the ceramic cups, but at this price, you're going to be fussy?





3) Vintage Infant of Prague Ceramic Planter - There's got to be somebody out there who asked Santa for one of these and didn't get it. And it's a "Ruben's Original!" He's about 11" tall, but with lots of water, he might grow. (Believe this dates back to about the 1940s.)




Just e-mail, PM or see me if you want any of the above. (For Pioneer S.I. 1181 members only.) They're FREE with FREE DELIVERY, to boot! Who needs the Home Shopping Network when you have Buzz's "Things-that-don't-sell-on-eBay" right here on 1181drivers.com!

The Second Court of Appeals seems to be rushing along the case of the busing of 7th and 8th graders. Doubt there will be any decision before March anyway, and wouldn't be surprised if it didn't come until after school's out. I think it's all for show, and that in the end, they're going to side with the city. Bloomy gets what Bloomy wants. Never has been about the money.



http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/01/court_puts_city_on_a_short_lea.html

If you didn't happen to notice, the schedule and location of the Spring Refresher has changed. It apparently is in reverse seniority order ... somewhat. They're all next week at the Kreischer St. K of C. I didn't copy the schedule so be sure to check the notices posted around the drivers room.

Some of our members, particularly the anti-incumbents factions, seem to be suffering undue consternation over the "Most Favored Nation" clause in our contract. Essentially, all this clause does is prevent 1181 from organizing a bus company contracted with the DoE by agreeing to lesser pay or benefits than other 1181, DoE-contracted companies currently have.

How this prevents the union from doing so is thus: If the union were to enter into such an agreement they would have to let other contractors renegotiate their contracts with the union to the terms that are more favorable to themselves. The union would never do this, for obvious reasons, but the contractors wanted that clause in there for reassurance.

Why, you ask? You have to realize that outside of NYC, 1181 contracts with individual school districts and each one may have different rates of pay and benefits, and few, if any, fare as well as we do. Contractors here just wanted to make sure that the same would not be done with other companies who contract with the DoE. That's all.

It's as simple as that. There is nothing sinister or diabolical about it. It has nothing to do with bids, and it does not rewrite the Mollen agreement. It does protect the contractors, but not without first protecting us.

If you have heard explanations other than this, it is for one of two reasons: (1) The person talking to you does not understand what the clause means, or (2) that person was intentionally trying to deceive you to suit their own agenda.

I can see from the Error Log that some of you are having trouble logging in.  Remember, your password is case sensitive. The user name isn't, but if there is a space between a two-part name, make sure you log in with the space. Keep trying ... I've upped the login threshold to 10 attempts. If you can't log in after 10 tries, e-mail me for help. You've got to be doing something wrong.

OK, kiddies, last day of vacation ... don't forget to claim unemployment.

(If you had to open a new book I hope you did it last week!)

]

For Sale: Domain name pioneerdrivers.com. $1,000 ... negotiable.

Inquire within. 

Welcome to the For Sale, Rent or Hire message board! Feel free to contribute a message appropriate to this board's purpose. 

Welcome to the News and Views message board! Feel free to contribute a message appropriate to this board's purpose. 

Welcome to the People and Events message board! Feel free to contribute a message appropriate to this board's purpose. 

Welcome to the 1181 Matters message board! Feel free to contribute a message appropriate to this board's purpose. 

Welcome to the Work Related message board! Feel free to contribute a message appropriate to this board's purpose. 

There is a new message board system in place. Most of you will have to register again on the new 1181 Drivers Forum to be able to post. If you posted on the old message board within the past 3 months, you have been pre-registered in the new forum as a courtesy to those who help provide content. (If not, please contact me.) However, you will have to log in with a temporary password the first time. (There is no way for me to decrypt or retrieve your old password.) Please log in to the old Pioneer Drivers Forum and check you personal messages (that's the link at the very top of the page). Complete instructions and your temporary password are given there. (PM me back if any problem.)

For all others, registration is will be done automatically, for the time being. (Until the spammers discover the new forum.) Click "Register" near The top of the forum page and follow the simple instructions. You must provide a valid e-mail address so you can receive an activation link and confirm your membership. (This will happen within seconds.) It's not really necessary, but if you're worried about privacy, you can create an alternate e-mail address ... as long as you can access it. Contrary to rumor, no one's e-mail address, IP or other info is shared with anyone ... never was, never will be. (But, believe what you want.)

There is indeed a Work Related message board on the new 1181 Drivers Forum. It is the first board on the forum, however, you must log in for it to even be visable. Therefore, you must be a registered memeber to post, read or even see that the Work Related forum exists. All other message boards can be read by guests, but you must be a member to post.

The old Pioneer Drivers Forum will remain archived online for several months for reference purposes. It is read-only ... you can no longer post to those message boards. You should find the new forum fairly similar to use as the old. Most of whatever is a little different is pretty much self-explanatory. If any questions please post them on this board after you register and log in. If you have questions before you register, either send an e-mail or send a PM from the old Pioneer Drivers Forum.

Good to be back ... looking forward to seeing you on the new boards.

Cheers!

--- Buzz


(This message will remain on the homepage only temporarily.)