*Things You Took For Granted
I'm writing this in the corner of a truck stop's foyer, next to the Subway (there are many Subway's in truck stops). It's noisy and distracting. I don't mind. It's also air conditioned.
When I first tried to describe a sleeper truck, (in a post I never put up here) I compared it to one of those cabins you sometimes find at a state park. You know--the ones where you freeze to death in the winter because they didn't put in a heater, a fireplace, or any insulation? Well I wrote that in the early spring. In the last few days one big difference has come to my notice:
Those cabins usually have sizable windows. You freeze to death in the winter so you won't melt in the summer.
In the sleeper, you can do both.
The windows in a sleeper are about the size of your head. If you're lucky, you can open them enough to flap a hand through. The windows in the cab proper are much bigger, of course--like the ones in your car. On a cool night, you can be fairly comfortable--as long as you don't mind sharing your rest with every passing bug. The windows in your car don't have bug screens either, do they? Didn't think so.
I am old enough to remember lying awake on a summer night, feeling the sheets soak up my sweat. I wasn't expecting to do it on 70-degree nights.
So I'm hiding in the a/c until the outside air cools down. That won't help the truck much, of course--maybe I can run the fans a little while before I go to bed. As long as I don't run the battery down I might be all right (I did that once--fell asleep before I could cut the fans off for the night. Fortunately another driver had semi-size jumper cables...)
Or I could start the truck and run the a/c for a while. In Louisiana I can. There are several states where I could be severely fined for that. But that's another post.
Meanwhile, I wait for the cool. No point in taking a shower until the truck's cool enough that I won't get all sweaty again. Showers are a precious thing, now. (Another TYTFG there. Maybe tomorrow...)
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