Yeah another non masker was up my rear at Costco last visit. I just gave him the glare from hell when he moved up right behind me. At Costco you can’t put the cart behind you once you are close to the checkout because they take your cart to start unloading it. I guess I’ll start using the self check out for better spacing. Better yet I’ll stay home like I did last winter and have my stuff delivered… if they have any delivery folks.
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Was going to mail a couple packages at UPS yesterday, thinking they were more reliable than the PO.
What a surprise, not one person behind the counter had a mask on, no plexiglass. Of the 8 additional people in this small room a total of 3 had on masks. One other woman and I were commiserating. I had waited outside as long as possible before going in.
Then, the price to send a wee package ground was over the top, so I went back to more unreliable but masked and spaced P.O.
Hello, this has been going on in the US for close to 2 years, does anyone have a clue?
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Exclusively. I don’t like other people touching or bagging my stuff & avoid where I can. Sam’s Club is the best because I self checkout w/ the app.
Case in point…bought sneakers at Academy yesterday. Lady asks if I want the 2 boxes bagged. I say yes as they are gifts I need to sneak in.
She gets a new pile of plastic bags, stuck tightly together. LICKS HER FINGERS and uses to separate the bags 
I politely tell her bags are not needed after all & grab my boxes before she can touch them “post lick”. Ugh!
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Don’t worry the Brits are as dumb as the Yanks ! - 90,000 covid cases today but still 20% on buses don’t wear masks even more in London - there will be alot of funerals in January many of which could have been avoided with a bit of common sense.
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About a year ago I was standing outside in the lineup at my upholstery supply shop (they weren’t allowing anyone into the store- when you got to the head of the line, you told them what you wanted and they brought it to the door for you), there was a guy in the lineup I was keeping my distance from- he was coughing and wearing a filthy mask.
Then I watched him pull down his mask and pick something out of his teeth with his finger. When it got to my turn, the employee set my bags of pillow stuffing on the sidewalk and this guy rushed to “help” me carry them to my car, grabbing them with the hand he had just put in his mouth. I freaked, told him I could manage by myself, thank you, and left those bags in my car, baking in the hot sun, for a week.
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I haven’t rented one out, but I have used the service and loved it! A lot fewer total cost surprises and easy exchanges. I am a little skeptical because Turo claims to cover liability but I would hate to test it. Regular policies don’t usually cover use of your car if people pay you for a ride and this would be similar.
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Survival of the fittest at play??? 
My 2nd bout of Covid started with that type of cough. I hope it’s not, but it is a symptom. Maybe she’s just dehydrated.
Pretend you’re my late Mom and put the temp down to 55 at night. Seriously. the woman could make pennies bleed dollars, she was so “thrifty.” 
My Canadian market has dried up here in FL. I’m getting locals coming in for family events and need an overflow place, sailing regatta folks (I’m 1 mile from the sailing center and I race as well), and none of my usual “driving to and fro” people.
“May you live in interesting times…”
Thinking about that.
I’m getting weekends out into March but they’re few and far between. I’m looking at the FF model as well. I think I’ll suck it up and pay the $99 and see what happens.
That is brilliant!! I need to train Miss Bella Marie Pesky Paws. I mean why own a mini-leopard if she can’t protect her turf/human?
That’s the issue! I’m masked up in stores and around people again. I’m going into hiding right after Christmas. I don’t “do” NYE, so once my HS friend leaves on the 29th, I’m shopping like a prepper and locking the doors.
Apparently not. :
Ugh!!
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Yes, and also it’s quite dry here compared to central TX where she is from. She also has a cat and may even be allergic to it.
In my own part of the house I frequently have the heat off at night. It’s so mild here that it will stay in the 60’s even with the heat off. I have a radiator type heater mounted to the wall in my bedroom and in the airbnb room so we can each have some control over the temp regardless of what the whole house is set at.
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About Furnished Finder.
Yes $99/year but no fees to guests (I think - not positive)
For FREE you can join their Facebook group. Frequently potential guests will post seeking housing.
I called customer service at FF about data for my area. They were able to tell me about demand. They send me periodic updates about new people looking for housing.
I didn’t ask about rates but I think they will provide information. I snooped listings in my area & my usual >30 day rates were comparable.
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After never having more than a couple days at a time unbooked, I found myself guest-less for 10 days after Thanksgiving. Started monkeying with pricing a bit (lowering it different amounts for different days/weeks) and got some bookings to fill out the rest of the month. Then my college student came home and (after testing negative at pick-up) tested positive two days later.
Told the current guests (the house shares an HVAC system w/ the basement-level apartment) and while the husband wanted to finish the last night of their stay the wife did not so they checked out a day early and I refunded them. Also canceled the rest of the bookings through the end of the year since I assumed the rest of my family would all catch it and I didn’t want to have to worry about it. So far, the rest of the family has managed to not test positive (THANK YOU mRNA BOOSTERS).
I also have ZERO bookings for the entire month of January and only one in February. It’s a 1BR/2-person max unit that accepts pets (which is like 75% of my renters). My hunch is that people are going to be doing a lot more wait-and-see, especially for places that don’t have a penalty-free cancelation policy. And lower demand will drive down prices. If I didn’t kind of need the money I’d just shut down until March, but during a “normal” month Airbnb income pays for most of the mortgage.
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No pets here, but bookings for February and March are picking up, including a young couple coming from Belgium in February for a 1 night stay.
I’m going back to 1 day in between blocked again.
Stay healthy!
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We were thiiiiiiiiiis close to booking an international trip Jan. 3-13. But haven’t. The issue of border closings is the reason…travel insurance will not cover that. UGH.
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I’m on the FB page and was an early adopter when their platform was in its infancy. Wasn’t impressed by the leads and the ones I’ve found on the FB page in the past have not panned out well.
But many of my neighboring STRs are doing FF and doing well. The biggest issue is travelers with pets - I don’t allow them. That and SOs who don’t work and would sit around the house all day. I work from home, so that’s a non-starter.
That’s true. It costs us $99/yr to list but there is no fee to the travelers unless you require them to do the background check/credit score, they have to pay for that. Because I’m only dealing with licensed professionals, I don’t bother with any of that. I know, as a licensed professional, that the background check has already been done and their credit is not relevant to me if they have a travel contract. I get a copy of their contract, which shows their pay rate and their housing stipend, I verify their license for my state online and then I verify the contract with their recruiter/travel rep.
Looking at the listings in your area on the FF website is the best way to get the information regarding rents, demand, etc. You can see how much is available, what they have the rent set as and how quickly and far-out that they’re rented by looking at comparable listing’s calendars.
It is $99 but it has been a good investment for us. We get more for monthly rent than we would elsewhere and it’s a particularly stable pool of applicants because they have good jobs and need a place to live but only temporarily. If you stick to the healthcare providers. The need for mid-term furnished rentals has really increased and word’s gotten out so now there’s a lot of digital nomads and various other folks on there too. At some point I just put “no WFH” in my ad and that helped cut down on those requests, but for anyone who wants them, they are on there too.
I kind of forget that they have those Tenant leads on there because I’m not much of a sales person and I know I’m not going to reach out to anyone. I think it’s better if they go to the trouble of reaching out to me, it makes for a better tenant and an easier leasing process, because they are self-motivated. So if the leads aren’t working out, you can just wait to get messages from the travelers that are interested.
For me too. On top of those couples there are also the WFH/digital nomads on there now too and it’s both of them that are going to work from home. You can put “no WFH” on your ad and eliminate most of them, of course some will ask anyway.
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An article that was recently posted on Washington DC Host Club site:
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What a strange situation. If I had a good review and was not concerned with being vaccinated, why would I care if they mentioned it? Now they lost a good review. OTOH any 77 year old man who assumes that people are jabbed and decides to share a house with them…are they responsible for making smart decisions? I notice they are using the phrase “pandemic of the unvaccinated” which is starting to be irritating. Yes, everyone who can should get the shot but many people can’t for legit reasons and this is just becoming a lazy way to single out certain people for continuing the pandemic when really it’s a societal failure in many ways.
People who insist on traveling and then don’t even have the sense to vet their host (especially in deep red UT) are contributing to the continuing pandemic. Having guests ask hosts if they are vaxxed and then not staying with those who aren’t or won’t answer would be the nice “free market” way to help promote good civic behavior. At least they admitted to their part in the episode at the end.
Also interesting is the contention that reviews are removed on a regular basis making hosts look better than they really are.
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Yes, if they only knew the reality of how hard it is for hosts to get reviews removed.
I was glad to see that she ended the article with the acknowledgement that it was also her responsibity to have asked first if the hosts were vaccinated if it wasn’t mentioned in the ad.
I genuinely wish my rental could accept dogs. Owners pets are allowed by HOA; renter pets are not. Because of tight turnover time during the summer, I wouldn’t allow pets then. I think too much risk of increased cleaning.
For my snowbirds, I know I would get booked earlier, could charge a significant pet fee, and because of less supply get a higher base rent.
Notice I mentioned dogs. I like cats. I grew up with cats. Cat dander triggers violent sneezing & eyes watering by me so it’s a hard pass on cats.
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