Too Long!

[gillumhouse]

This is a vent. I am giving fair warning to those who do not want to read it.
It is now 1:30 AM. I actually went to bed 2 hours ago. Even my bad knee cooperated and i was in a nice deep slepp until 1 AM when DH woke me up. Someone is knocking on the door. I throw on a robe, go open the door and discover it is NOT the font door. It is my "guests" pounding on the door to the room with the TV. The

14 year old is in there asleep and they are trying to wake him up because once again he has the door locked so the key will not work. I crawl out the bathroom window, discover it is not only raining but since the last time i was on that roof we had the pitch changed on that roof in an attempt to stop the leak n our bathroom - roof is NOT flat, it humps at the batroom and then goes downward. Thank goodness I put on my deerskin slippers AND this time the window was not locked, it is a smaller window with only one lock but it was so warm it was open a bit. I pushed up the screen, pushed the window open enough to get my head & shoulders in the room and yelled his name enough to wake the brat up - the TV was on also of course. I bent the bathroom screen either getting out or getting back in. I did not trust myself to get anywhere NEAR that kid. I am now so wound up I cannot sleep. I tried ad my knee is now teling me what I want to tell the kid. so instead, I have taken a couple gel-caps and venting as I give them time to work. I will be in great shape for morning. DH and I are going to go to Half Price Books and then whle he had a supply of reading material, I was going to go to IKEA to get more magnetic spice cannisters & rack. Then he is taking me to Joe's Crab Shack to celebrate our anniversary - we made it through 36 years! I am really going to want to get up at 7 so I can make her coffee and do what I need to do for us to leave by 9. They have been here too long! That kid has been here too long! I have wanted to slap him silly so many times - but tonight I REALLY want to. She said the house was supposed to be done Friday. It had better be because I cannot take much more of this. I just went up and turned off the bathroom light after the latest 15 minute shower at 1 AM - the hall lights are on 24 hours when they are in-house! There is no need to leave that bathroom light on. See! I am READY! Thank you for letting me vent.

 

[Joey Camb]

It is why on 11 out of 12 doors we have the kind of locks that you have to physically turn the key either to lock it while you are in or lock it when you get out. However on 12 we have had a new door and like an idiot put on a lock that you can twist from the inside and then pull the door behind you to lock it. Guest this week did this with her keys inside then went out the front which locks with a latch and then obviously could not get back in when she came back. Then she thought she had lost the keys but they have all turned up. I don't trust anyone with anything they are all not fit to be let out!

 

[Don Draper]

Oh Kathleen...my heart is pounding just reading this. You are a far, far more accommodating innkeeper than I can ever hope to be. My DH, I truly think, would have either killed the kid or kicked them out in the middle of the night. Especially because it's happened before...WTH are these parents thinking???
It burns me so badly when people take advantage of generosity.

 

[gillumhouse]

Oh Kathleen...my heart is pounding just reading this. You are a far, far more accommodating innkeeper than I can ever hope to be. My DH, I truly think, would have either killed the kid or kicked them out in the middle of the night. Especially because it's happened before...WTH are these parents thinking???
It burns me so badly when people take advantage of generosity.

.

It is a single mother, he is the baby, and it is the old gotta make it up to the kid for leaving the idiot. She shows some signs of being on the right track, but quite honestly the child protection laws keep parents from doing what is REALLY needed. Too many do not understand it starts while they are in diapers - disipline I mean. IF it is started then, less of the "rod" that was my education is needed. I rarely swatted mine, but they knew I would if I needed to. And the fact that I had told him to not mess with that lock was the thing that really ticked me off.
So here I am up and functioning while they are upstairs sleeping until whenever. I am SO glad this is the last week. I am making this the last week. regardless. I do not care if they have to camp out on the floor in sleeping bags - the house is supposed to be done Friday and then it is only a matter of furniture. It is good that we are going away today. I need to not be around that kid today - this week is Spring Break!

 

[toddburme]

Wow! Now the kids has seen what you have to do to resolve this twice. You would think at 14 he would have enough brains to not want to make you do this!!!

 

[seashanty]

enough!
crawling out windows is too much. two times ... no way. i am confused about how the whole locking thing works, i would not have been able or willing to do that ... yikes ... but you are officially done.
even though the money has been really helpful (yes?) please stick to your plan. their visit ends friday. rooms aren't available after that (to them). period. otherwise, this could go on and on. one more week, just one more week, etc. you've told her you need them out by then, right?
what if you FELL? then there would be the two of you on crutches or worse.
happy anniversary!

 

[Alibi Ike]

Time for new door locks. You do this too many times.

 

[birdwatcher]

So sorry to hear that, that kid will be in a whole lot of crap when he is an adult.

 

[Generic]

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience....

 

[Alibi Ike]

This puts the nail in the coffin of my ever wanting to take on long-term stays. Guests start to really think they are home.

 

[Alibi Ike]

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience.....

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience....

Do you have the movement detectors for the lights? How did you install that? I'd like to do that for the living room and hallway. Otherwise, we do leave the lights on all night so late guests can find their way around and up and down the stairs without mishap.

 

[EmptyNest]

This puts the nail in the coffin of my ever wanting to take on long-term stays. Guests start to really think they are home..

"This puts the nail in the coffin of my ever wanting to take on long-term stays"
Boy I agree...even if I needed the money badly...this situation has gotten way out of hand. I wouldn't put up with it.

 

[Copperhead]

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience.....

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience....

Do you have the movement detectors for the lights? How did you install that? I'd like to do that for the living room and hallway. Otherwise, we do leave the lights on all night so late guests can find their way around and up and down the stairs without mishap.
.

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience....

Do you have the movement detectors for the lights? How did you install that? I'd like to do that for the living room and hallway. Otherwise, we do leave the lights on all night so late guests can find their way around and up and down the stairs without mishap.

They have some that you can screw in along with the lightbulb but they are cumbersome so will not work with all fixtures and the fixtures have to be in areas where detectors will pick up movement. In the hall it may work well because people are moving, but in the living, if they sit to watch TV or read etc. movement may stop & there goes the light...

 

[Joey Camb]

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience.....

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience....

Do you have the movement detectors for the lights? How did you install that? I'd like to do that for the living room and hallway. Otherwise, we do leave the lights on all night so late guests can find their way around and up and down the stairs without mishap.
.

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience....

Do you have the movement detectors for the lights? How did you install that? I'd like to do that for the living room and hallway. Otherwise, we do leave the lights on all night so late guests can find their way around and up and down the stairs without mishap.

They have some that you can screw in along with the lightbulb but they are cumbersome so will not work with all fixtures and the fixtures have to be in areas where detectors will pick up movement. In the hall it may work well because people are moving, but in the living, if they sit to watch TV or read etc. movement may stop & there goes the light...
.

Our biggest problem is guests turn all the lights out without thinking so where I can I am going to replace the switches with those ones that turn on and off with a key so they can't. That will stop them. One guest was saying "oh its to save you money" yes when I get sued cos you fell down the stairs that will save me money.

 

[Generic]

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience.....

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience....

Do you have the movement detectors for the lights? How did you install that? I'd like to do that for the living room and hallway. Otherwise, we do leave the lights on all night so late guests can find their way around and up and down the stairs without mishap.
.

In all the hallways we use goo.gl/9Nofr so that the guests never need to worry about the lights being on or off. We have, in the past, had to tape off the bottom so that they don't reset it. Workmen put it to "on" since it's required by CSST (Workman's safety), but otherwise the lights in my halls all turn themselves on and off automatically. Some units work well with CFLs, others need one incandescent light. It's simply a replacement for the socket and the movement detector is on the plate. There are plenty of models, here is a very different one.... goo.gl/PudNS from Target and made by Black and Decker. Better suited to hallways than to a living room, though, if you ask me.
You could also get X10 units and program the whole house. Again, these are wall plates, but not motion detectors. You program it through a box that resembles an alarm clock and it sends the signal through your electrical wiring.

 

[Generic]

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience.....

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience....

Do you have the movement detectors for the lights? How did you install that? I'd like to do that for the living room and hallway. Otherwise, we do leave the lights on all night so late guests can find their way around and up and down the stairs without mishap.
.

1. Hall lights need to be on movement detectors, saves a heck of a lot of the trouble.
2. Change the door lock. Not safe to climb out on a roof at 1AM.
3. Low flow shower heads, so at least you have water left.
Then remember that they are paying your mortgage. Patience....

Do you have the movement detectors for the lights? How did you install that? I'd like to do that for the living room and hallway. Otherwise, we do leave the lights on all night so late guests can find their way around and up and down the stairs without mishap.

They have some that you can screw in along with the lightbulb but they are cumbersome so will not work with all fixtures and the fixtures have to be in areas where detectors will pick up movement. In the hall it may work well because people are moving, but in the living, if they sit to watch TV or read etc. movement may stop & there goes the light...
.

There are some that will leave the lights on for up to 30 minutes or an hour. But they are definitely more suited to hallways.

 

[Proud Texan]

This puts the nail in the coffin of my ever wanting to take on long-term stays. Guests start to really think they are home..

"This puts the nail in the coffin of my ever wanting to take on long-term stays"
Boy I agree...even if I needed the money badly...this situation has gotten way out of hand. I wouldn't put up with it.
.

"This puts the nail in the coffin of my ever wanting to take on long-term stays"
Boy I agree...even if I needed the money badly...this situation has gotten way out of hand. I wouldn't put up with it.

Just got a call this morning for someone wanting a 3-month stay. Not only did I tell them NO, but HELL NO. (in much more polite terms)

 

[gillumhouse]

Re the hall lights - a former insurance agent (mine when with another company) told me that if a guest had to reach out and turn on the lights at the stairs and chose not to - I am still liable because they had to flip that lighted switch. As for motion operating, I am not sure they would work in my hall. first it is a very open hallway and second the globes on the fixtures are the old ones - my electrician told me I cannot use anything over 40 watt or i will destroy the globes. They leave bathroom lights on, bedroom lights (I can see from the street as I come in from meetings and then they come waltzing in. THAT I look at as cost of doing business. The long showers wake me up because they are midnight or 1 AM. This IS the last week. I am telling her tomorrow (I was too angry today to speak to her) that I have bookings coming in next week and I cannot take the chance that her kid will have a temper tantrum and get noisy.
He got into a snit with his mother tonight and stormed upstairs and shut the door. I called to him from downstairs and told him he had better not touch those locks. It is the local issue and has been too long. Things that have been irritating me have finally hit the bell on the last straw on that carnie hit the hammer to ring the bell. They rang the bell last night and today.