Want nap

[xela]

Our temporary digs are the middle unit of a classic Somerville three-decker; I have the front bedroom with the bay window. A southeast facing bay window, with K-mart special cheap plastic blinds. The only sensible place in the room to put my bed turns out to be with the head against the southwest wall. So in spite of going to bed totally exhausted, I woke up this morning a little before 5:30. And couldn't get back to sleep in all that streaming sunlight. (I'd set the alarm for 6:30 so as to be sure of getting the van, which I was way too tired to return last night, back to U-Haul in time, so I suppose I didn't miss much sleep. But I wanted that hour.)

Remarkably, I'm not actually very sore: some minor muscle aches in my shoulders and that's about it. That and an interesting pattern of bruising on my forearms are about it. So nothing to complain about, especially given that when I went to bed I fully expected to wake up sore all over.

First order of business was to put gas in the van.¹ I'd gone 14 miles at that point and was a couple of miles form the U-Haul, so I figured even at $4/gallon, $10 ought to be enough. The fuel gauge barely budged, and was still well below where it was when I picked the van up. Another $10 appeared to do the trick, if just barely. Then I watched it slowly climb as I drove back to U-Haul: I'm guessing modern fuel gauge are computerized and average over a few minutes to dampen noise in the system.

Returned the van. Caught a bus back to Davis; had breakfast (I have kitchen stuff but no groceries here yet), came back, started unpacking and wrote this.

---

¹ If you return it with the fuel gauge showing less than when you left, they not only charge you well over market for the difference, but also a $30 service fee.

Comments

[narya.livejournal.com]

The last time I bought mini-blinds, Target and Home Depot both offered "light filtering" and "light blocking" mini-blinds for about $10. Switching to the light blocking option might help you - my ex-roommate said they worked pretty well.

Congrats on the successful move!

[awfief.livejournal.com]

Especially in a home that's not yours, or for temporary circumstances, open the blinds, tape aluminum foil to the window, close the blinds. You barely notice it, but it's highly effective at blocking light.

[nacht_musik]

(Your image link is broken?)
When I refilled a 15-person rental van recently before returning it, I had exactly the same experience -- it seemed the gauge didn't actually move *at all* while the van was turned off. And so I probably put in an extra $30 of gas I didn't actually need to. :-}

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

Image link fixed; thanks!

[alierak.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly, there must be damping in fuel gauges to prevent rapid changes when the fuel sloshes. Excellent explanation of the whole mechanism here, with the part about damping at the end.

[nuclearpolymer.livejournal.com]

Err, you all have fuel gauges that display when the car is off? Because mine always reads empty unless the car is on, and when I've done rental car returns, it's the same thing---they need to turn the car on to read the gauge.

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

Old-school mechanical fuel gauges will; modern ones will work when the key is in the "on" (or maybe the "acc") position, even though the car's not running.

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

Eww, the bruising looks harsh - hope you're soon settled in and can relax after the stress of moving.