All good things as they say come to an end, and so it is in my life and times. Sadly a combination of the accelerated chemotherapy treatments, and the quite right and proper evolution and development of uTrack mean that it is quite rightly I believe time for me to lay down the pen and say audios to the uTrack blog from me. I have to say that it has been an honour and a privilege to have been allowed to write about well let’s face it anything, and everything over the years since the very first blog on the January 30 th, 2012 a fair few years ago now. I am pleased that over the years and months I have maintained my personal goal of 3 blogs a month. And I will be eternally grateful that Eamonn and Conor allowed me to indulge myself with well frankly writing and venting about anything and everything. It has truly been a deep, rich, and wonderful experience that I will be forever grateful for experiencing.
Over the years I have laughed more than I could have imagined as I remembered experiences, people, situations, and life that you could not honestly make up. Yes it has also been a vehicle for change and reform for which I make no apologies. I am an absolutely committed advocate and champion for both the Bus and Coach industry and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. I am devoted to championing their cause and future, I was after all born quite literally into both institutions, due to the influence of my mentor and hero, my dad John Austin Birks. It is also strangely fitting that I end this journey on the anniversary of his parting, for me a nice rounding of the circle, however these blogs I hope will live on as I work on the publishing of a book, a collection of the blogs over the years for which I thank my loving partner Yvi, without whom the book would never have happened.
I fervently hope that the book will not simply be a social documentary of my life and times over these turbulent years, but I also hope will be a source of laughing and dare I say it a chronicle of lessons that I have learned in the wonderful bus and coach industry, and a guide for those who might wish to join in the future. It is as my dear old dad always said an industry about people, and he was so right. So as my old fingers now covered in plasters as a result of 9 hours of chemotherapy today, painfully chug their way across the letters on the screen for the last time I will offer my thanks my dear reader chums for your kindness in taking the time to read my nonsense, it has been wonderful, and I genuinely and sincerely thank you all. Farewell and goodbye.
