Don't panic !!!!! .... or how owning a B&B teaches you to keep your cool.

[bbinnsitters]

Add to that list:
1. A guest locked himself out of his room (it had one of those automatic locks that only the person in the room can lock - thus no key would unlock it) and the only way to get in was for me to climb up to the 2nd story and crawl into the bathroom window.
2. Switch at the top of the basement steps evidently shuts off the furnace - did anyone tell me that?! After a few hours the house starts getting colder and colder - after trying everything I can think of I call the # the owners left me...as I am waiting for someone to arrive I flip this switch that I don't know what it does...I hear a big noise in the basement - I think I just turned the furnace on! Call the furnace guy back to avoid any unnecessary charges! I'm assuming I must have flipped it at some point thinking I was turning a light off!
Having things written down is a major help for your Inn-sitters!.

Just a note on those pesky furnace switches at the top of the cellar stairs...they should have a RED faceplate on them. If anyone has one that doesn't, change it out!
.

Ours is red and also says 'Oil burner emegency switch' on the faceplate. However, it is in the unfortunate location of being right above the light switch for the basement stairs, and I have inadvertently turned it off myself.
.

Good to know! Being red and having a label on it should definitely help!

 

[Copperhead]

So TRUE!! Good deal that you got it fixed so quickly. Most innkeepers I've encountered are pretty dang handy with most things. Although Ang on Sanctuary definitely gets the Grand Award! Our service and repair guys will bump us to the top of the list too....mostly because we've sent them lots of referral work.
Good job, Tipsy!.

Although Ang on Sanctuary definitely gets the Grand Award!

Gomez is very impressed. I stopped telling him her stories because it was getting to be too much. 'Wow, she did all of that? Wow, that's really good.'
.

Gomez is very impressed. I stopped telling him her stories because it was getting to be too much. 'Wow, she did all of that? Wow, that's really good.'

And then it starts - 'why can't you take apart an engine like that, honey?'
.

Gomez is very impressed. I stopped telling him her stories because it was getting to be too much. 'Wow, she did all of that? Wow, that's really good.'

And then it starts - 'why can't you take apart an engine like that, honey?'

Har har, the taking apart is EASY...
.

Gomez is very impressed. I stopped telling him her stories because it was getting to be too much. 'Wow, she did all of that? Wow, that's really good.'

And then it starts - 'why can't you take apart an engine like that, honey?'

Har har, the taking apart is EASY...

Yes, I know that!

Now Why where in the world does this part go?

 

[Copperhead]

Add to that list:
1. A guest locked himself out of his room (it had one of those automatic locks that only the person in the room can lock - thus no key would unlock it) and the only way to get in was for me to climb up to the 2nd story and crawl into the bathroom window.
2. Switch at the top of the basement steps evidently shuts off the furnace - did anyone tell me that?! After a few hours the house starts getting colder and colder - after trying everything I can think of I call the # the owners left me...as I am waiting for someone to arrive I flip this switch that I don't know what it does...I hear a big noise in the basement - I think I just turned the furnace on! Call the furnace guy back to avoid any unnecessary charges! I'm assuming I must have flipped it at some point thinking I was turning a light off!
Having things written down is a major help for your Inn-sitters!.

Having things written down is a major help for your Inn-sitters!

And sometime for the innkeepers too.

 

[Morticia]

Add to that list:
1. A guest locked himself out of his room (it had one of those automatic locks that only the person in the room can lock - thus no key would unlock it) and the only way to get in was for me to climb up to the 2nd story and crawl into the bathroom window.
2. Switch at the top of the basement steps evidently shuts off the furnace - did anyone tell me that?! After a few hours the house starts getting colder and colder - after trying everything I can think of I call the # the owners left me...as I am waiting for someone to arrive I flip this switch that I don't know what it does...I hear a big noise in the basement - I think I just turned the furnace on! Call the furnace guy back to avoid any unnecessary charges! I'm assuming I must have flipped it at some point thinking I was turning a light off!
Having things written down is a major help for your Inn-sitters!.

Just a note on those pesky furnace switches at the top of the cellar stairs...they should have a RED faceplate on them. If anyone has one that doesn't, change it out!
.

Ours is red and also says 'Oil burner emegency switch' on the faceplate. However, it is in the unfortunate location of being right above the light switch for the basement stairs, and I have inadvertently turned it off myself.
.

Ours is red and also says 'Oil burner emegency switch' on the faceplate. However, it is in the unfortunate location of being right above the light switch for the basement stairs, and I have inadvertently turned it off myself.

My kids had friends over and the hangout was the basement (not finished, but kids don't care). They kept running up the stairs to turn the lights off and one of them shut the furnace off. It got colder and colder in the house and I thought the battery died on the thermometer. When the kids went home, I went to the store, got a new battery and still no heat. Finally figured it out before we froze!

 

[gillumhouse]

So TRUE!! Good deal that you got it fixed so quickly. Most innkeepers I've encountered are pretty dang handy with most things. Although Ang on Sanctuary definitely gets the Grand Award! Our service and repair guys will bump us to the top of the list too....mostly because we've sent them lots of referral work.
Good job, Tipsy!.

Although Ang on Sanctuary definitely gets the Grand Award!

Gomez is very impressed. I stopped telling him her stories because it was getting to be too much. 'Wow, she did all of that? Wow, that's really good.'
.

Gomez is very impressed. I stopped telling him her stories because it was getting to be too much. 'Wow, she did all of that? Wow, that's really good.'

And then it starts - 'why can't you take apart an engine like that, honey?'
.

Gomez is very impressed. I stopped telling him her stories because it was getting to be too much. 'Wow, she did all of that? Wow, that's really good.'

And then it starts - 'why can't you take apart an engine like that, honey?'

Har har, the taking apart is EASY...
.

Gomez is very impressed. I stopped telling him her stories because it was getting to be too much. 'Wow, she did all of that? Wow, that's really good.'

And then it starts - 'why can't you take apart an engine like that, honey?'

Har har, the taking apart is EASY...

Yes, I know that!

Now Why where in the world does this part go?
.

And what am I supposed to0 do with these parts that are left over?

 

[Sanctuary]

Truthfully, it's harder for me to take things apart since when I need to take something apart, it's usually seized to another part. And the salty environments tends to weld dissimilar metals together. Sometimes, I have to break out a torch just to get a screw out of something. I never have left over parts...usually something falls into the bilge where I can't reach it and then I have go to get another. I probably have 10 pounds of screws, nuts, bolts, etc. down there, along with a few tools.

 

[Samster]

Truthfully, it's harder for me to take things apart since when I need to take something apart, it's usually seized to another part. And the salty environments tends to weld dissimilar metals together. Sometimes, I have to break out a torch just to get a screw out of something. I never have left over parts...usually something falls into the bilge where I can't reach it and then I have go to get another. I probably have 10 pounds of screws, nuts, bolts, etc. down there, along with a few tools. .

OK...torches are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay beyond my level of comfort. I am in awe of you!