Kristi Cramer's Blog: Bounded in a Nutshell - Posts Tagged "accomodations"
Ghost Lounges
Was there more positive fallout from the strike? You bet.
The Regs of 2018 had highlighted the need for more parking and more rest stops, but States were slow to comply. The Truck Stop Conglomerates (TSC) capitalized on the parking and accommodation shortage by creating a new hybrid: the Ghost Lounge. Cheap to build, cheap to maintain, and hey, why not charge incidentals to the Companies? It is a decent cash cow. They are exclusive to Ghosts; it was because of us they were conceived, designed and built so quickly.
These sweet little joints are usually tacked on to a new or existing rest area or truck stop, and are tended like a rest area; there are no merchants hanging around to bug the drivers, but there are vending machines where we can buy everything from coffee to condoms. You have to have a Commercial License to get in: Yeah, the chip.
The innovative feature is the ‘sleeper berth’, a small chamber designed just like a large sleeper berth on a truck. They’re pre-built and stackable, snapping together kinda like Legos. Builders can configure them to fit just about any landscape and spatial requirements.
Inside you’ll find a basic commode and sink (think jailhouse johns), a couple of lockers, and an entertainment unit that plays satellite music. You can use the internet inside; TV and video on demand too, but only after you’ve gotten your Eight.
By Regs you are supposed to be sleeping for eight hours of your mandatory ten hour breaks. I know, right? Who sleeps for eight hours, really? But they enforce it by limiting the things you can do: that same rule applies to time talking or texting on the phone, too, unless it is an emergency call. We learn to prioritize our social lives.
The little bed is fairly comfy and big enough to sleep two, if you haven’t let yourself go to obesity. It’s not quite like a hotel. The beds are wrapped to protect from nasties, like stains and pests. Drivers have to make their own bed when they arrive and strip the bed and clean it when they leave. At least we don’t have to pay for the laundry service. These berths are made for sleeping—or other activities you might engage in on a bed—not much else.
If we fail to leave a berth in decent condition, the driver coming in after us can complain with the touch of a button, and we can lose our privileges for a month. So we take care of our space.
There’s between three and twenty berths—depending on the traffic volume on the route—arranged around a little lounge where drivers can hang out. We have showers, laundry, real kitchen appliances like a fridge and stovetop, television, internet, exercise room, couches and desktops. It’s kinda like a common area in a dorm, with someone coming through twice a day to tend it.
Maybe you find it hard to believe that such a large group of ‘dirty truck drivers’ can keep places like this nice, decent, and clean. Well, Ghosts don’t have our own trucks, so we treat Lounges like our home. They really are a house of many rooms, and we protect them from abuse. If truck drivers as a whole are a Family, Ghosts are kinda like the eccentric branch that comes across as anal, snobbish and aloof. Solos can only come in as guests, and if the rest of the branch doesn’t like your guest, both of you will be shown the door. You for a month, your guest forever.
Don’t think we can get too crazy in there. The TSC has video surveillance running twenty-four/seven, and you have to swipe your chip to get in. Even ‘guests’: no chip, no entry.
If a Ghost wants to bring a Pro in, she (or he) has to get a chip, too, in their left hand so you can tell us apart. That is actually kinda nice—helps to mitigate ‘incidents’ by keeping the ones known to be diseased and/or abusive out, and lets the Pros who follow the Clean Health Guidelines in.
If the TSC sees you engaging in inappropriate activities or trashing the Lounge, you will have your entry privileges revoked. Permanently. So we have to salute "Big Brother" here, too. At least the berths themselves are private and unmonitored. As far as we know.
Because there is so much down time, Ghosts spend a lot of time hanging out with each other, sharing stories of our latest runs. There is always something interesting given the variety of characters out there on the road, and our freedom to hop between them.
Often there is a lot of ‘sharing sleep’—when a Ghost finds another Ghost or a Solo to have sex with. Or I should say there is a lot of trying to share sleep. At times it can be like high school.
Next week: Name Calling
© 2013 Kristi Cramer
The Regs of 2018 had highlighted the need for more parking and more rest stops, but States were slow to comply. The Truck Stop Conglomerates (TSC) capitalized on the parking and accommodation shortage by creating a new hybrid: the Ghost Lounge. Cheap to build, cheap to maintain, and hey, why not charge incidentals to the Companies? It is a decent cash cow. They are exclusive to Ghosts; it was because of us they were conceived, designed and built so quickly.
These sweet little joints are usually tacked on to a new or existing rest area or truck stop, and are tended like a rest area; there are no merchants hanging around to bug the drivers, but there are vending machines where we can buy everything from coffee to condoms. You have to have a Commercial License to get in: Yeah, the chip.
The innovative feature is the ‘sleeper berth’, a small chamber designed just like a large sleeper berth on a truck. They’re pre-built and stackable, snapping together kinda like Legos. Builders can configure them to fit just about any landscape and spatial requirements.
Inside you’ll find a basic commode and sink (think jailhouse johns), a couple of lockers, and an entertainment unit that plays satellite music. You can use the internet inside; TV and video on demand too, but only after you’ve gotten your Eight.
By Regs you are supposed to be sleeping for eight hours of your mandatory ten hour breaks. I know, right? Who sleeps for eight hours, really? But they enforce it by limiting the things you can do: that same rule applies to time talking or texting on the phone, too, unless it is an emergency call. We learn to prioritize our social lives.
The little bed is fairly comfy and big enough to sleep two, if you haven’t let yourself go to obesity. It’s not quite like a hotel. The beds are wrapped to protect from nasties, like stains and pests. Drivers have to make their own bed when they arrive and strip the bed and clean it when they leave. At least we don’t have to pay for the laundry service. These berths are made for sleeping—or other activities you might engage in on a bed—not much else.
If we fail to leave a berth in decent condition, the driver coming in after us can complain with the touch of a button, and we can lose our privileges for a month. So we take care of our space.
There’s between three and twenty berths—depending on the traffic volume on the route—arranged around a little lounge where drivers can hang out. We have showers, laundry, real kitchen appliances like a fridge and stovetop, television, internet, exercise room, couches and desktops. It’s kinda like a common area in a dorm, with someone coming through twice a day to tend it.
Maybe you find it hard to believe that such a large group of ‘dirty truck drivers’ can keep places like this nice, decent, and clean. Well, Ghosts don’t have our own trucks, so we treat Lounges like our home. They really are a house of many rooms, and we protect them from abuse. If truck drivers as a whole are a Family, Ghosts are kinda like the eccentric branch that comes across as anal, snobbish and aloof. Solos can only come in as guests, and if the rest of the branch doesn’t like your guest, both of you will be shown the door. You for a month, your guest forever.
Don’t think we can get too crazy in there. The TSC has video surveillance running twenty-four/seven, and you have to swipe your chip to get in. Even ‘guests’: no chip, no entry.
If a Ghost wants to bring a Pro in, she (or he) has to get a chip, too, in their left hand so you can tell us apart. That is actually kinda nice—helps to mitigate ‘incidents’ by keeping the ones known to be diseased and/or abusive out, and lets the Pros who follow the Clean Health Guidelines in.
If the TSC sees you engaging in inappropriate activities or trashing the Lounge, you will have your entry privileges revoked. Permanently. So we have to salute "Big Brother" here, too. At least the berths themselves are private and unmonitored. As far as we know.
Because there is so much down time, Ghosts spend a lot of time hanging out with each other, sharing stories of our latest runs. There is always something interesting given the variety of characters out there on the road, and our freedom to hop between them.
Often there is a lot of ‘sharing sleep’—when a Ghost finds another Ghost or a Solo to have sex with. Or I should say there is a lot of trying to share sleep. At times it can be like high school.
Next week: Name Calling
© 2013 Kristi Cramer
Bounded in a Nutshell
The skinny on Kristi's life, musings, and occasional bits on writing, works in progress, and promotions.
My blog title is from Shakespeare's Hamlet:
Hamlet:
O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and ...more
My blog title is from Shakespeare's Hamlet:
Hamlet:
O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and ...more
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