Great '94 Ranger XLT

I received a 1994 Ford Ranger XLT as a gift from my parents. Simple little single cab, manual locks and windows, pulled radio and installed my own system, but the stock radio was definitely nice sounding. My truck has the 4.0L V6 engine, which for a truck of this size has a good amount of extra power. Not to mention, it gets great gas mileage for a truck. The manual transmission is very smooth and runs absolutely wonderfully. From driving manuals, this seems to be one of the hardest ones to accidentally stall out on, though to me the clutch feels a bit different.
The only thing I am wondering about got me into a little incident with a mailbox. I checked the fluids once a week, including the brake and power steering fluid. As I approached one of my friends house, I completely lost my steering and ran up onto a curb and deflected off a mailbox. The truck showed no damage besides some scratches, and parts were easy to replace. The power steering fluid container was literally bone dry though, which struck me as odd, it was Wednesday and I had checked them, as always, on Sunday. The entire truck has no problems running, accelerating, or keeping traction, though I'll be the first to tell you it rides VERY lightly on the rear wheels, not hard to get them to slip when there is no weight in the back. Thankfully for me, our Texas weather doesn't provide much slippery surface to get on. Overall, a wonderful truck, I hope to keep it for quite a long time and step right into another Ranger.