Hotel Issues

I got in late last night to Ephrata, PA. I’m not wholly sure exactly how you pronounce Ephrata, but I am here.

Now, what I really want to know is why the rooms are always made up so that you can’t pull the comforter and sheets up all the way? They always come up to about my arm-pits and that’s it. I either have to rip all the sheets out from underneath the mattress or scoot down lower in the bed….which means that the pillow won’t stay where it’s supposed to because the headboard is now a good four inches to far away. It’s a minor complaint.

At least the larger hotel chains always seem to have plenty of hot steamy water, even if all the water conservation thingies don’t let you have much water pressure. A hot shower always goes a long way in the morning or after a late night of traveling.

And what about the A.C. / Heater units? Well for the most part they seem to work well, but I like a little air moving when I sleep. That pretty much means I like a fan, but it’s a rare thing when the hotels have them. Most of the HVAC units shut off when the room reaches a desired temperature and that means no moving air or no ambient noise to drown out the tv, screaming kids, or college kids making their own Girls Gone Wild video in the next room. So I either have to freeze the room out (which I like to do anyway) or make it entirely too warm. The best technique, in Montana, seemed to be opening the window just enough to keep the room fairly cool and then setting the HVAC unit to a low heat setting. However, this wastes electricity and I hate that.

The best bet are the ones that allow me to get the room to the right temp and then just turn the fan on without any heat or AC. The one in the room last night was even better. I could turn the AC on, and the compressor only kicked in when needed but left the fan running the entire time.

It’s either that or start carrying portable fans and that just means one more thing to pack into my suitcase.

So now, here I am….clean, but not rested getting ready to stand on my feet and project to a classroom for 8 hours straight. I take breaks with the students, but it’s entirely lecture and therefore not much time to sit and relax.