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Innkeep

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Those of you who know me best have heard my story about the Health Department inspector who made me jump through waaay too many hoops to get my kitchen approved. Mine was the first B&B in the county so he pontificated from a position of ignorance. After lots of back and forth, multiple revisions of blueprints and the assistance of two separate attorneys, my kitchen was finally approved and I was able to proceed.
The kitchen has been inspected since then once or twice a year, but always by one of his minions. The last inspection was in November, which I passed with flying colors. The inspector told me she would put me on a once a year schedule. Last week I had a free day and was actually doing some good deeds, visiting a friend in a nursing home when the cell phone rings. It's Mr. Clean himself, standing at my front door for an unannounced visit to inspect, just 4 months after the last time!
He recites chapter and verse to me that the ordinance calls for inspections every 6 months blah blah, and schedules an appointment to arrive today. I had a week to fret about it, since my perception of our previous encounters was not pleasant. I thought I'd really be in for a white glove inspection. This is once when things worked out just fine. I snowed him by giving him a tour of the rooms before he went to the kitchen, then he pulled out a bed and breakfast kitchen inspection sheet instead of a restaurant kitchen inspection sheet, said he was surprised that his assistants were not using the more simplified form that he had.
So, literally all he did was to check the temperatures of the freezer and refrig. Didn't even look for my newly renewed food handler's certificate! He also didn't seem to remember our adversarial positions from times past. Aside from getting a cramp in my face from being so nice to him, all turned out well. Such is our bureaucracy.
 
A friend just had the inspector at her place. She runs 2 separate businesses out of her building and he had to inspect both parts of it. He spent so long in the kitchen he had to come back to do the B&B. She had a list as long as her arm of things I had never been told that she had to fix 'before he returned'.
She's on the phone with me and I'm making a list of everything he told her that I know no one ever told me (or the problems would not be present!) and we went to work on our kitchen that day.
One thing I won't do that he told her was required is to have covered trash cans in the guest rooms. Ick. At the start I had guests complain about the covered trash cans we did have so I took off all the covers. No more complaints. I do not want to wash trash can lids every stinkin' day! (And, name me ONE hotel with covered trash cans in the guest rooms!)
I think the code is really that the public rest room trash cans need covers and he got over enthusiastic.
My friend went out and bought all kinds of expensive 'stuff' to 'meet code'. Stuff I doubt is required.
 
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A friend just had the inspector at her place. She runs 2 separate businesses out of her building and he had to inspect both parts of it. He spent so long in the kitchen he had to come back to do the B&B. She had a list as long as her arm of things I had never been told that she had to fix 'before he returned'.
She's on the phone with me and I'm making a list of everything he told her that I know no one ever told me (or the problems would not be present!) and we went to work on our kitchen that day.
One thing I won't do that he told her was required is to have covered trash cans in the guest rooms. Ick. At the start I had guests complain about the covered trash cans we did have so I took off all the covers. No more complaints. I do not want to wash trash can lids every stinkin' day! (And, name me ONE hotel with covered trash cans in the guest rooms!)
I think the code is really that the public rest room trash cans need covers and he got over enthusiastic.
My friend went out and bought all kinds of expensive 'stuff' to 'meet code'. Stuff I doubt is required..
Yes, sounds like he was a little too "enthusiastic". We were required to have a covered trash can only in our half bath on the main floor, which could be shared by multiple persons, as well as paper towels (I used fancy hostess paper towels & changed them up for the time of year). My inspectors remarked every time that I could use white paper towels! hahaha...
I think sometimes these guys like to flex their muscles because their bureaucratic jobs are pretty boring in the long run...
 
A friend just had the inspector at her place. She runs 2 separate businesses out of her building and he had to inspect both parts of it. He spent so long in the kitchen he had to come back to do the B&B. She had a list as long as her arm of things I had never been told that she had to fix 'before he returned'.
She's on the phone with me and I'm making a list of everything he told her that I know no one ever told me (or the problems would not be present!) and we went to work on our kitchen that day.
One thing I won't do that he told her was required is to have covered trash cans in the guest rooms. Ick. At the start I had guests complain about the covered trash cans we did have so I took off all the covers. No more complaints. I do not want to wash trash can lids every stinkin' day! (And, name me ONE hotel with covered trash cans in the guest rooms!)
I think the code is really that the public rest room trash cans need covers and he got over enthusiastic.
My friend went out and bought all kinds of expensive 'stuff' to 'meet code'. Stuff I doubt is required..
I have covered trash receptacles in the bathrooms but not in the guestrooms nor at the Sonnier Guest Area. Give a bureaucrat one iota of POWER and it goes to their head!
 
i have covered trash cans in the bathroom as we all know what kind of things go in them! i the bedroom its an open one as i want it to be easy to drop in your tea bag or whatever
 
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