That Neat Little Button

 The older the Trucker and his Passenger get, the more air conditioning is a blessing.  

There is a down side, though.  At night, when temperatures drop below our AC setting, it doesn't run.  Generally this means I will wake several times a night, uncomfortably warm.  

There are several solutions to this:

1) Flip the pillow and try again.

2) Turn on the ceiling fan above the bed.

3) Move to the sofa, which has a fan above it as well.  The added bonus is distance from the Trucker, whose internal furnace always runs on high speed.

Number three is the most frequently used option, as that fan seems more effective.  When our house was built in 2003, according to the Trucker's design, fans were installed in both the living room and the bedroom.  However, a few years ago the living room fan gave notice, and the trucker replaced it.  A better model, I reasoned, which is why it was more effective.

Somewhere around dark-fifteen this morning, an inspiration struck me.  These are rare, but I do try to have a decent one every few months or so.

The inspiration?  See, the newer fan in the living room has a neat little button on the side to reverse the fan blades.  Left to blow air down, for the summer.  Right, to blow air up, for the winter.  My sleep deprived mind wondered, might the bedroom fan also have a neat little button, one that I never noticed?

When dawn arrived and the Trucker and I were functional, I posed the question.  Never one to delay, the Trucker promptly stepped up and checked.  Amazingly, the older fan DID have one of those neat little buttons!

He slid the button over, and started the fan.  Immediately, the moving air around us was filled with flying dust bunnies, sailing across the room and dropping on the bedspread.  Oops. After a quick intermission to run a dust cloth over the fan blades, we tried again.  Now that it was established that the fan had two directions, which blew up and which blew down?

In short order it was clear.  Our fan had been set on "up" since being acquired twenty years ago.  A great accomplishment this realization, and it wasn't even time for breakfast.  But that little button being unnoticed for twenty years?  Oh, me.  

The result of the early morning inspiration and the later morning experiment and cleaning session?  The bedroom fan is now set to blow "down".  For the last few weeks of summer, my nights will be somewhat more comfortable.

That's not to say I will get any more sleep.  Because...what else in this house has not yet been noticed and put to its intended use?

5003 Steps

It had been years of a rather sedentary lifestyle, for one reason or another.  Added to that, years of sleep deprivation, disrupted schedules, grief, skipped meals, illness, and all around stress.  The Passenger's temple was a blob of low energy and less motivation.

Something needed to be done.  On an whim, she researched the Fitbit.  10,000 steps a day sounded like a worthy goal, but how to measure them?  She wanted to know how this piece of technology worked, what it could be connected to, and what parts of her life would be susceptible to its snooping?  And, of course, what kind of price tag it carried.

Along the way, she realized there were apps that could be used instead of a Fitbit, downloaded onto her phone.  And as the phone is always with her, and the apps cost nothing, this seemed the best option.

So she downloaded.  And only then realized that few of her pockets were large enough to hold her phone and yet not obstruct activity as she moved through her day.  Her phone was kept in a case that doubled as a mini wallet for grab-and-go convenience; too bulky for pockets.  So much for planning ahead.

The phone app went to work, and daily posted updates on the number of steps taken.  Mostly in the neighborhood of 200 steps per day.  Not nearly the goal of 10,000, but then the phone mostly lived on desk, counter, or purse, in a day's work.

___________________

The trucker had a short run coming up, to Omaha to pick up a trailer, add a load, and return home.  A short run like that was the perfect opportunity for the Passenger to ride along.

The trip out was bobtail.  With no loaded trailer to add weight, they blutzed (as the Trucker's father would have said) westward.  The second morning, the cute little blue stripe on her phone posted the update on how many steps she'd taken the day before.  Very few actually were expected, as she was a Passenger, and her steps only took her across parking lots for bathroom breaks.

But the update showed 5003 steps!  A curious thing.  Until she remembered the rough ride because of the bobtail.  How fun.  Apparently bounces a jolts counted as steps.

And next day, the 10,000 step goal was accomplished before noon.  Iowa's roads were particularly rough.  Funny how technology can be deceptive.  And used to achieve ends by means that are not actually correct.  

For the return trip, they'll see how many steps the app records now that a loaded trailer has been collected!