Hi,
Today is Mexican Revolution Day. In 1910, the social revolution was launched by Francisco Madero. It is also the anniversary of Edwin Hubble (1889) who discovered that the universe is expanding. That’s why they named the telescope in outer space after him.
I’m in the Tribune Review today. Feature writer JoAnne Harrop did an article on guest rooms, what non hoteliers need to know about setting a room up for visiting friends over the holidays. She interviewed three bed and breakfast owners and made a nice compilation of our ideas.
It’s supposed to be a nice day today through Monday. Sunny and warm today and tomorrow and warm and cloudy Monday. I’m planning on pulling my compost out and spread it around the gardens and then cover that with my chopped up leaves for the winter. It is fairly warm out there right now, but no sun. It’s so much nicer working outside when it’s sunny. OK, I’ll quit whining and be happy with what I have. Tomorrow’s the Steelers play a home game, so I’ll be busy with that (I’m sold out last night and for the next two). I’m planning on hanging my outside holiday decorations out on Monday (but I won’t turn the lights on until after Thanksgiving).
Up date on The Stone Manse Inn, they ran into a major snag on Tuesday (the day they were to close on their current house as well as the Inn). The buyers of their current house couldn’t complete financing. I don’t know if they are totally out of the picture at this point or not, but Myra & Phil arranged to have closing on The Manse next Tuesday. Myra’s been reading and editing my manuscript and there’s a section called “So Do You Really Need Money”. In it I talk about alternatives to your traditional forms of dealing with money issues. Like if you don’t have enough cash and loans to complete a real estate transaction, maybe tap your sister and do it formally just like a loan and payments. The nice thing here is you don’t need to leverage collateral like you do with a bank. This leaves more collateral to get better terms from the bank. I also talk about new Inns being room rich (empty rooms) and cash poor (empty rooms). So instead of buying ads to get your Inn known, why not work a barter deal with a local newspaper that brings people into town for various reasons. Also, if you are only selling a couple of rooms on your good days, do you really need four bath towels in each bathroom and back up in the linen closet? Why not direct the cash you would have spent on all those towels towards something to get yourself known? They took some ideas from my book and with relentless determination got a deal shoved through with the bank. That’s what separates the men from the boys in owning a business. When “opportunities” arise, you have to rise not to them, but above them. And believe me, there will be plenty of “opportunities” owning your own business. 🙂
I am definitely loving not having a cast. I’m typing this with ten fingers (well, eight and two thumbs), not four fingers, a thumb and one finger on my left hand. The stiffness in my left wrist and small finger knuckles is almost gone. I’ve actually been tackling some minor projects that require two hands that I’ve been putting off for the past six weeks.
Finally added an amenity to the guest rooms I’ve been planning on for sometime. The all have emergency flashlights next to their alarm clock radios. Naturally, I got maglite flashlights. I don’t know if you know the story of maglite, but it was founded by Anthony Magica, born in NYC, but moved with his mother as a young child to her Croatia. After World War II, they came back and he started his company in LA in 1955. He started his business doing precision work for the aerospace industry. He went on to design his flashlight line in the 1970’s. They have gotten numerous awards and recognition for the quality of their design and craftsmanship. He’s adamantly American and when other manufacturers are building factories in foreign countries (with inferior products), he’s maintained his facilities here. I think I heard on NPR that he hasn’t raised the price on his flashlights since their introduction.
Well, it’s about check-in time. I’m going to go down stairs and get started on prep for b’fast waiting on my four check-ins. I just saw a Just Ducky tour amphibian go down the street. I thought they were closed for the winter. They’re my preferred way to tour the city. They also are a great company.
Bye,
ed
