First of all my fellow Steemians let me apologize for being off for a week. I recently acquired a stack of books and have indulged myself in a reading frenzy.
You see in the picture above a queen sized Intex air mattress. Supremely comfortable and quite durable. I put one to the test. But I am going to back up a bit here to set the scene.
In early April of 2015 my house was gutted by a terrible fire. We all got out ok but lost almost everything inside. There we stood on the drive, me in my pajamas with no shoes on, all the clothes gone, furniture gone, homeless on Good Friday.
For a short while we stayed with a relative until we could find a place to rent while our house was rebuilt.
Such a place was located and we moved in but alas it was unfurnished. No tables, no chairs, no beds. This is what prompted me to purchase the aforementioned air mattress. A nice feature of this particular air mattress is it has an electric pump built in to inflate it. If I had to rely on lung power to blow it up I would most likely have needed medical attention from the hyperventilation.
Once set up with fresh bedding I began what was to be one of many many nights on it. I truly did not realize how long it would take to rebuild a house. In case you are curious it was 15 months. The air mattress remained comfortable and fully inflated til about the one year mark of having set it up. And then I discovered a problem.
Imagine it is 4 in the morning and consciousness stirs. Now I know some people when they awake are fully coherent and aware of their surroundings. This is not the case for me. Waking is a process. The bladder is the first to send notifications to the brain of its wish to be emptied. Then come the various aches that come from sleeping in an awkward position. The sense of touch comes online.
As brain activity increases I became aware that I was now cocooned on either side by two air bags. Some time in the night one of the seams must have developed a small rip and I was now flat on the floor air mattress pressing on both sides. Squishing my way to the side I ponder how I am going to fix this. I know! Duct tape, because duct tape fixes everything. Right?
Generously applying several layers of duct tape did allow the air mattress to retain its inflation. At least for a while, until another larger seam let go. Fortunately not too long after my house repairs were completed and we were able to get a real bed. If you ever find a need for an air mattress I would suggest this one just don't abuse it as I did. They are not meant to replace a standard mattress.
Live long and prosper
