Keeping cool

I'm sitting in the truck stop, sipping a “Thirst Freeze” and feeling virtuous.

It's ninety-plus outside, and has been for most of the day. I've been idling the truck more than I feel comfortable doing.* Even at night it's been too hot to sleep out there without it. But still I don't like it.

Today I asked one of the nice ladies at the convenience store if there was a mall or something I could flee to in a tractor-trailer. She said yes, there was one fairly close, and gave me detailed directions. To the back side, where the parking lots were usually pretty empty. “I've never heard of a trucker being run out of there,” she said.

Comforting.

I followed her directions, and found them good. This is always a pleasant surprise. Doing what she said dumped me into a large empty lot near one of the anchor stores. Empty enough that I didn't have to worry as I maneuvered this huge clumsy thing into a row of ten or twelve empty parking spaces and shut it down.

As I locked up and started for the mall proper, a security guard happened by. On a scooter. Three-wheeler, with a platform for the driver to stand on as she drove it. Apparently the Segway has generated some competition. This thing was bigger and a bit clumsier, but for patrolling parking lots it would be just as good. And, I suspect, a lot cheaper.**

I stopped her and asked if it would be ok to park here. No sense taking chances.

She said no problem, as long as it wasn't for an extended period.

“What's an 'extended period'?” I asked.

“Oh, well—overnight, for instance.”

I assured her I'd be out before dark and went on my merry way. Much reassured.

I wandered the mall. I skimmed the satellite centers. I found a bookstore!

Heaven.

And I did remember to get out of there before sundown. And got back to the truck stop before it filled up. Had a wonderful time, and used less fuel than I would have sitting in an idling truck all day.

And now I'm hiding from the heat a little longer, in the truck stop. Soon I will go to bed. And maybe by midnight or one I'll be able to sleep without running the truck any more.

Frozen cherry limeade, anyone?

- - - - -
*Emotionally, that is. I'd be a puddle in the cab if I hadn't been idling, but it bothers me.
**They had a guard on a real Segway inside, so things aren't as grim for the fad as I make it sound...