KK in the FLESH...

 I obviously have earned the 'Kuarantine Karen' name. Look at the review my Little Rock host left for me on AirBnB.

SARAH:

" I do not think Karen was familiar with Airbnb and I think would be more comfortable in a hotel with a 24-7 staff to help answer questions and operate electronics and fans. Number of guests on reservation was not accurate which caused some frustrations/confusion on both ends."

Yep, sounds like me, right? The country gal gone bitchy. After the host canceled the original AirBnB due to rain damage the day before my trip I was offered a brand new AirBNB by the same hosts as an alternative so my $140 / day- 3 BDR house was switched to a $325/ day- 3 BDR at no extra charge except due to the request of the guest after me the 3rd BDR had been made into an office but the hosts would bring in an air mattress. Seriously?

The first reservation had to be cancelled which the host helped do and then set up the new reservation It went downhill from there.

I had kept in touch with the host regarding the uncertainty of when my kids would share the space but I had originally paid up front for 2 guests for the entire week for Irv and me. I explained on any given night the number of overnight guests would change depending on who was arriving and who was departing when. The hosts kept wanting to charge extra per head for 5 extra people for the entire week when I had already paid for 2. I wanted to pay extra but for only the extra number staying each night. They obviously didn't know how to enter that so a 400 + charge appeared and then was refunded.

After an afternoon of frustrating correspondence and finally telephone calls, I was asked for the umpteenth time if there would ever be 4 extra guests, I threw up my hands in resignation and just said "NO" because it was easier than going through it all again.

But I had never stayed in a brand new place and was really looking forward to it...

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Brand new ⭐️ Hilltop Home⭐️walkable to the Heights

I should have known things would be amiss when upon arrival there was no info booklet with WIFI code/rules, info how to operate tech much less the absence of promised smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, paint cans in the laundry space next to the hot water heater no less. I told you it was newly redone.

Of the 53 extra listed objects to be available, at least 10 were missing. ie:There was liquid hand soap in both bathrooms but only one bar of bath soap, brand new towels in their plastic bags still needing to be washed, remote controls with rusted/ no batteries, one serrated knife, (the new boxed knife set would be discovered under the sink 2 days later with instructions which to hand wash first and then hand dry .... Good luck with future guests washing anything by hand. )

The kids also commented on dirty bottoms of their feet either from dust/ the floor stain. Curtains still hadn't been hung in the living / dining room nor kitchen.

Bottom line, the house just wasn't ready for guests...

Instead of apologizing, you could tell the host was bothered whenever I texted/ called to make a request/ suggestion/ ask questions/ give constructive criticism. When reminded about hangers, host Sarah told me there were drawers. Whoa, but she did then order some from Amazon.

Then, the Pest guys showed up one day and told me they would be under the house doing an inspection. The next day guests were greeted at the front door by a 3 " cockroach and when I emptied garbage into the bin it was swarming with the critters. Oooh...

One day I was informed workmen would be coming to put up a fence. The work guys showed up on my last full day. Bittersweet as the kids were all gone, it was my first anniversary without Natureman and the day I had lost the bid on the house I wanted. What a day to have to listen to the pounding...

I feel I was kind in my review, assuming they would take my suggestions to heart....But after reading the host's review and her seeing me as a "Kuarantine Karen" and that I should stay in hotels in the future, maybe not...

Oy. Any Air BnB stories you'd like to share?

The Past , Present and Future Intervention

Yesterday was a bittersweet day... filled with the past, present and future.

On a day when both kids had returned to their respective homes across the country, a day with anniversary memories, I also had to continue the house search as I had been outbid for the house I had been coveting as my future home.

In my mind's eye I already knew on which walls my art would have hung, how I would daily walk Balto around the great neighborhood and visit the nearby doggy park...yet, there were 2 other showings and thus the chance of being outbid.

As strange as this sounds I had reconciled myself to believe Natureman's will would make the decision, if the house was right for me, it'd be mine and if not, there'd be a better abode awaiting me else where...

I had a clean, fair offer and possession time could be worked out. If countered I had found storage for my things, a temporary rental situation but alas there was no counter. I was overbid by $12,500 and possession of a month later.

So, I had to continue the search for my future roof. There were two newly posted Little Rock houses - one on a lovely street where childhood friends had lived had rain drainage issues and part of the tastefully decorated house smelled of that excess water. Ick. The second was a westside contemporary redo beauty ruined by the overpowering noise of a nearby highway.

After living in the middle of nowhere for almost 20 years and having Mother Nature rule and also provide the silence of the woods, it was clear those 2 for sale abodes weren't for me either.

I spent the afternoon calling house rental companies to find possibilities for August. A late afternoon phone call provided a different temporary solution. An acquaintance, another widow, has provided light and repair. She wants to share the lower level of her serene river view home with Balto and me.

In August the moving plan will be to store my stuff upon arrival to Little Rock and I will continue the house search but Balto and I will awake to the quiet and a river view.

Our daily walk ironically will be around the same block where that outbid house sits... and close by a 5 minute ride to my Dad and the other direction is that doggy park. A win win.

Natureman definitely intervened...