TED演讲:我无家可归的一年(2)

 　　At first, living in the van was great. I showered in campgrounds. 一开始，住在车里是很不错的。我在露天洗澡。

　　I ate out regularly. And I had time to relax and to grieve¹. 正常的去外面吃东西。而且有时间去抒发情感。

　　But then the anger and the depression about my father's death set in. 但是后来，因我父亲去世而带来的悲愤和痛沮开始加剧。

　　My freelance job ended. And I had to get a full-time² job to pay the bills. 我自由作家的工作结束了。我就需要去找一件全职工作来支付我的账单。

　　What had been a really mild spring turned into a miserably³ hot summer. 从一个非常温和的春天变到一个极其炎热的夏天会怎样呢。

　　And it became impossible to park anywhere 不管车停在哪都是难以忍受的，

　　without being very obvious that I had a cat and a dog with me, and it was really hot. 不用说也很明显，我带着一只猫和一只狗，而且非常的热。

　　The cat came and went through an open window in the van. 猫从车窗来回的跑。

　　The doggy went into doggy day care. And I sweated. 狗跑到了狗狗护理中心。我则大汗淋漓。

　　Whenever I could, I used employee showers in office buildings and truck stops. 不管什么时候，只要可以，我就会去用在办公大楼和卡车车站里员工用的淋浴。

　　Or I washed up in public rest rooms. 或者在公共卫生间里洗洗。

　　Nighttime temperatures in the van rarely dropped below 80 degrees Fahrenheit⁴, making it difficult or impossible to sleep. 在夜里车里的温度很少会降到华氏80度以下，这使我几乎无法入睡。

　　Food rotted in the heat. Ice in my ice chest melted within hours, and it was pretty miserable⁵. 食物在高温下腐坏。冷藏柜里的冰几个小时就化完了，非常苦闷的时期。

　　I couldn't afford to find an apartment, or couldn't afford an apartment that would allow me to have the Rottweiler and the cat. 我没钱找公寓，或者找不到让我可以养狗和猫的地方。

　　And I refused to give them up, so I stayed in the van. 我不想把它们抛弃。所以我继续待在旅行车里。

　　And when the heat made me too sick to walk the 50 feet to the public restroom outside my van at night, 但炎热的天气使我饱受折磨，以至于在夜里走50英尺到车外面的公共卫生间都懒的动。

　　I used a bucket and a trash bag as a toilet. 我用桶和垃圾袋当厕所。

1 grieve   

vi.（for，over）感到悲痛；vt.(使)伤心

参考例句：

• Be sure and not grieve.一定不要伤心。
• What the eye does not see,the heart does not grieve over.眼不见，心不烦。

2 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

3 miserably   

adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地

参考例句：

• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

5 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。