Friday, March 23, 2012

Water May Not Be The Only Liquid Nourishing These Flowers

Today I went for a walk with Ed while we were waiting for the shop to do an electrical system check on the truck - the voltage meter was spiking and Ed wanted to know why. I wasn't too keen on walking because a) I fucking hate to walk and b) I fucking hate the heat. And we are in South Texas, where the heat is constant and brutal. And by brutal, I mean anything over sixty-five degrees.

And today was well over sixty-five. Today, my friends, was well over eighty degrees - that's way too much mercury for me. Ed tricked me by saying it "wasn't that bad" and there was "a breeze". I should have known better, but I figured I would just go and get it over with and maybe he'd stop bothering me. He also said, "They'll be done with the truck by the time we get back."

Well, if you know anything about trucking, you know that the repair shop is NEVER done when they tell you it's going to be done, that was an out and out lie. So we walked. A little over thirty minutes, around the truckstop. The scenery was less than inviting. I saw a ramshackle taco shop, a hotel that had a room designated for "massages", and several pee bottles. One of them was actually a pee gallon. Who pees that much in a bottle and then throws it out the window? Pigs.

I took the photo above on our walk. The tiny pink flowers were sprouting up next to a chain link fence enclosing a yard of abandoned equipment. Perhaps the urine helps the flowers flourish. That was about as good as it got. I was a raging bitch by the time I got back to the truck. First, the shop wasn't done. Second, my head was sopping wet. Third, I lost thirty minutes of my day that I won't get back. And last, I needed a shower but couldn't take one in the truck because the yahoos in the shop were still standing around looking at each other, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Ed suggested I take a shower in the truckstop. I think it's been a couple of years since I've had to do that - I don't even remember the last time - so I packed up my bag and headed in with Ed. Using his UltraOne card, he got me a "Platinum Shower", a phrase which was also emblazoned on the door when I got there.

It was not platinum anything. There were two towels, a washcloth and a bath mat. Towels they apparently think people want to buy according to the sticker on the mirror. They were less than luxurious. The shower was cramped and on the "un" side of clean. There was a new fan (the old ones are usually caked with dust) which was nice, but it was just blowing around humid air.

The water was intermittenly hot and cold, which would have been a problem if I had the water any hotter, but since I don't like a scalding shower the blasts of cold water were nice. I can't say I felt better afterwards, though. By the time I blew my hair dry, I was hot again and my face was beet red.

I put my makeup on, opened the door, and gathered my things. I went to the restaurant to meet Ed. He wasn't there, so I sat at the counter and had a Diet Coke. Within minutes, a guy a few seats down started flirting with me. I chatted back to be nice, but as soon as Ed walked up, the guy put his face down in his plate and didn't say another word to me. Ed left to pay for the truck repair and texted me when he was done. On my way out, another guy, an older gentleman, gave me the once over. Twice. He even held the door open for me, smiling with a twinkle in his eye. But as soon as he saw me walk towards our truck, which Ed had waiting for me right outside the door, he quickly scurried off.

So although I was sweating like a sow less than an hour earlier, I must've been pretty cute after my shower. It gave me a little ego boost, but nothing can take the place of the ice cold air conditioning in the truck that my baby had cranked up for me, in anticipation of my arrival. Just one more reason I love my guy.

The truck had an alternator problem, which was all fixed and partially paid for with the UltraOne points we accumulate every time we get fuel. It only cost us $300.00 out of pocket. Total score. We drove off to look for a comfortable spot in the parking lot, and hunkered down in the truck for the evening. We just did three back-to-back loads and we're off until Monday.

The laze starts tonight.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1 YEAR AGO:
Nappy Time
2 YEARS AGO: Dick. Not A Dick. Which One Are You?
3 YEARS AGO: First The Poultry, Now This
4 YEARS AGO: California Moon
5 YEARS AGO: Ryno And Rob
6 YEARS AGO: Living The Dream

3 comments:

ELH said...

Salena,see you didn't realize you're such a hottie attracting all those guys..did you notice it looks as if they may have killed off the LOTR blog site??
I hear they wi,ll no longer pay for authors,and several have dropped out..no one has posted in several. Days...I hear ya on the heat..back in Chicago we had 8 straight days of 80 plus..broke several records..enjoy your days off and have some fun..

garygoulette@gmail.com said...

I SWEAR that Im not kissing up to you, but I have to say that I cant agree more on the heat ! our truck (owned by my former co-driver) is sans a/c..a condition that has been since last year. I'm trying to hold out on getting the repair for a few weeks ( Owner has given blessing to fix @ anytime). We have hit some 80 degree days, and I have the windows down driving ( noisey for sleeping co driver). I get a little warm around 70. SPOT ON about getting sweaty after a shower, I hate that! A/C to me is less of a luxury..and more of a neccesity. Keep cool sistah !

The Daily Rant said...

ELH: Either I'm a hottie or they're chubby chasers! Or both. LOL I noticed that LOTR changed the look of their site, and I saw a comment by Lindsay that said they're not paying anymore. It's nice that they paid, but the negative tone of the site is just annoying, so maybe there aren't any readers. Ugh - 80 in Chicago?? So I can't even come north and cool off!

GARY: Kiss up all you want! :) I don't know HOW you've driven (and slept) in a truck with no a/c for a YEAR. THat's insane. Windows down do nothing but make noise. And sleeping has got to be miserable. We were without a/c in our old truck once and Ed fixed it himself, crawling under the truck on the side of the road in the Port of Newark, spending HOURS to get it fixed and he did it. It was at night, so at least he didn't have to work in the heat of the day....I think that might have been the day the completely solidified my love for him! :) A/C is definitely a necessity for me!