The wood room

[fbhjr]

My first job out of school was horrible. I’ve told a lot of stories about it.

The ice cream makers we made had wooden buckets. To make sure they were leak proof, they were made with wood as dry as possible.
So, we had several large rooms where the wooden parts were kept very warm and very dry. The rooms were about 35C with almost zero humidity.
Normally, it was unpleasant to go in them.

But, when I wasn’t feeling well, I sought them out.
If I was stuffed up, or had a cold, that warm dry environment always made me feel better.

Of course, once the owner found I liked to go there when sick, he banned me from going there. I’d still sneak off there for as much as I could get away with. It never took him long to find me.
(I know he had a way of listening to different parts of the factory. I never found any cameras. Maybe he just heard people say hi to me or something.)

There is very little I miss from those days.
But, being able to go and hide in a warm dry room, even for a short time is something I still think about when I’m not feeling well. Even more than 3 decades after I lost that job.