Four, three, two, one--yellow, red.

Numb-faced, Tekkie sighed: summer heat migraine; the wait--anxiety.

Tekkie's upper lip quivered into a snarl when he thought about the non-option. He decreased the cabin temperature of the compact pickup truck, increased the fan speed a couple notches. A map on the dashboard screen displayed his route to the city office, the traffic flow color scheme, and the ETA. Curated music streamed on the radio.

Tekkie pressed his foot on the acceleration pedal releasing the brake auto-hold. He maintained a reasonable distance between his truck and the hatchback in front that was straddling the two-way left turn center lane broken/solid lines. He did not attempt to swerve around the moving obstacle. The right-side view mirror icon pointed out a vehicle next to him; however, there was no immediate reflection in the looking-glass.

A sun glare beam ricocheted into Tekkie's eyes. Flash memories sparked: hearty breakfast, low carbs, coffee, decaf, plenty of fluids, sports drink. Simultaneously, he impulsed-tapped the brakes jolting the truck's forward motion coast.

"Electrolytes," he blurted.

Obstacle avoided, Tekkie accelerated to maintain the speed limit. In the clear, he thumbed the steering wheel command button. A dim ding acknowledged awareness.

"Set a reminder for thirty-five minutes from now, 'electrolytes'."

A voice responded the time when the solution would be brought to mind, which Tekkie soon forgot.

Approximately a half hour later, an on-screen alert bubble mentioned, "six hundred feet" (roughly one tenth of a mile). Prepared to turn left, Tekkie paused at the intersection, yielded to a semi whose inertia forced the big rig through the stop light; the trailer bobbled, the haul thumped.

A residential one-way street offered some parking spaces further down the block. Tekkie parallel parked along the driver's side curb without any horn-honking pleas from congested motorists.

Proud not to be the morning's impediment, plus the lack of rush hour aggressive defensiveness, Tekkie's headache seemed to lessen despite exiting the air conditioned pickup. He strolled with a gentle breeze at his back. He went into a corner-store and purchased some liquid replenishment before he entered the office building.