Is there anything good in the world at the moment

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

Is there anything good in the world at the moment

Hey, I need some help! My wife of 48 years is being progresively taken from me. Lots of couples don't make it for one reason or another. They just fall out of love....one of them has an affair....one of them dies!

But, this is a sh*t of a situation because...we both love each other, but we are being progresively pulled apart by this bloody disease....Multiple Sclerosis!

I come here to the CC because I want to escape for an hour or so every now and then, the reality of life.

I am sure, for every problem post, there are 1,000 nice posts that I would love to read and be a part of. I logged on tonight and this is what I see....

Bad times..png

 

Although I have, I don't feel I want to respond to any of those....I can conjure up enough problems in my life without taking on more!

I want to start a thread that is devoted to hosts who loved their guests, and guests who loved their host....I know there are many. I think we are loosing that great attribute.....empathy. It is all very well to help each other out of a scrape here or there.

But can we please start to see what has made this platform great for us. I loved reading Freds post about how he built and atoll into an Island hosting.

There are millions of funny stories out there, God I have related many, but they just disappear into an obscurity of hosting gloom.

Can I please ask you to post on this thread your funny happy stories so I can luxuriate in the things that have made us what we are.....human!

 

 

Cheers......Rob

58 Replies 58
Willow3
Level 10
Coupeville, WA

@Robin4 - I'm so very sorry about your wife's battle with MS, I've seen it's effects in my own extended family.  My thoughts are with you both.  

 

I am one of those happy hosts.  I truly enjoy hosting, and when my youngest heads off to college in a few months, I intend to up my hosting... not only with a second room, but by also baking scones each morning and doing Wine Wednesdays, where if guest WANTS to, they are welcome to join myself and possibly neighbors - for wine on Wednesday evening.  I also want to invite guests into my front room, which I think is cozy and comfortable... their guest rooms don't have a lot of comfy seating, only space for one chair each. 

I've been unable to do this sort of hosting up till now, because my daughter is a disaster, looking for a place to happen.  Keeping common areas (I don't allow guests into any indoor common areas at the moment) clean is simply not possible with her.  Most people have heard of strong willed children - well, she makes them look like compliant angels... she's the kind of kid psycologists use for case studies, lol.  

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Willow0 

 

Hahaha, bloody ha.....I have had two grandchildren here for two years just like that. The landscape changes by the second, they go from one disaster to the next! No such thing as that purposeful walk from one room to another.....one has to tiptoe through a veritable 'Toyworld' full of plastic and trinkets!

 

Although there were many days I half heartedly wished them to move on but they are such adorable little angels, they left a couple of months ago I miss them so much now they have gone and are turning someone elses house upside down!....

FB_IMG_1513949771766.jpg

 

Cheers.....Rob

That littlest one looks like mischief personified!  

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Willow3 That is Ivy Rose and you are absolutely spot on Willow.....if there is something to be screwed over, Ivy will be behind it! Madison is as thick as two short planks and just goes along with the mayhem that Ivy creates.

I pity the poor man who ends up with her!!

But I love her to bits and miss her terribly sitting on my lap and looking at videos on Papa's phone at the moment!

 

Cheers.....Rob

@Robin4 - your Ivy Rose is my Claire.  I've long joked that if I can get her to adulthood, she will rule the world.  Now I can't guarantee she will rule benevolently, but NO ONE makes her do something she doesn't want to do.   I pity anyone who attempts to do so... I've been living that dream for 17 years and every white hair on my head, has her name on it.  

When she was 18 months old, one of her grandmothers renamed her Boozilla, because she destroyed and tortured small villages.  She would steam roll over anyone or thing in her way.  One of my friends spent about 5 minutes in her presence around the same age - and declared... "Willow, she is three handfuls, and you've only got two hands!"  Both women were 100% accurate on their assessments.  

I'm very proud to say that through MASSIVE amounts of perservence on my part, she is a strong, smart, charming and funny young woman with a great head on her shoulders.  She's graduating high school in the top of her class, and is off to a great college in the fall.  Her room is still a toxic waste site that will need to be decontaminated before I can move into it (to use my room as a guest room) and she still never does her chores.  But I do believe that someday, when she is ready, she will want to do these things for herself... and then she will in fact do them.  I just don't imagine ANYONE will ever want to live with her.  

Ann3
Level 10
Savannah, GA

@Robin4, I'm so sorry about your wife's illness. I wish I had a magic wand to wave so I could make it go away.

 

So here's my happy story -- and it involves Australian guests. Bonus! 

 

Over this year's holidaze, I was feeling a little downhearted. A friend had booked our little cottage (on our property) for her daughter and teenaged grandsons to stay for a week over Christmas. At the last minute the mom (friend's daughter) had a family emergency and could not come. Long story short, I allowed the young men to stay in our cottage anyway, with assurances from their grandmother that all would be well, and she would check on them every day and make sure they kept the cottage tidy. You can see where this is going:  It was a disaster. In the middle of their stay we had our first snowstorm in decades, lost our power for a day and the cherry on top: my excellent cleaning helper pulled up out front with all of her stuff in a rented truck and announced she had suddenly decided to move across the country. Perfect! The state in which the boys left the cottage almost brought me to tears. It took me over 8 hours to put it back in good shape for my next guests, who were arriving that evening.

 

My guests, too, had had a rough go of it. Three lovely folks from Melbourne (a couple and their best friend) had their plans of a leisurely tour through the American south scuttled by the same storm that whacked us. They were in that strange limbo of cancelled flights, icy roads and no way to plan more than a day ahead because of the airlines' indecision on opening the airport again. They reached here exhausted, jet lagged and unsure. Their luck had been so bad. Would it continue?

 

They fell into our beautiful little city like they were landing on a soft mattress. They loved everything about Savannah -- the trees, the food, the history, our crazy little beach town (Tybee Island) -- but most of all they loved our neighborhood and the cottage. They wanted the full details on where to go and what to do, so we sat before the fire with a bottle of wine and planned out their time here. My dogs thought they were the best thing to happen to them since the day the turkey wing fell on the floor. We ended up hanging out at our house the next night, too, telling our life stories and a few tall tales.

 

By their last day, we were collaborating on the perfect dinner menu and swapping book recommendations. 

 

I hated to see them leave, but I know they will be back. We had a really interesting talk about the direction Airbnb is heading, and I loved hearing feedback from people who have been using Airbnb since the early days. Their insights into how the platform is changing, from the one on one experience type of stay to something more akin to a hotel or executive rental were very interesting. It's been my experience that about half the guests I get want a brief introduction and then being left to their own devices. That's fine with me, too! But I love having folks visit who want to share good conversation and an occasional bottle of wine.

 

They validated for me the thing I get the most joy from -- sharing my wonderful city, anticipating guests' needs so they are comfortable here, and making real connections. And their kindness took my mind off the rugged experience of the days before they got here.

 

99.99% of our guests are good eggs - thank goodness. 

 

Hope this helps! My next Australian guests arrive in 2 weeks. I know, it's not all koalas and kookaburras, but I have a feeling they will be a lot of fun.

 

 

Gordon0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

>>My dogs thought they were the best thing to happen to them since the day the turkey wing fell on the floor<<

I laughed out loud at that. Beautiful line. 

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Ann0

In general dogs are a good judge of character and I can categorically tell you Ann, Betts prefers Airbnb guests.

That is so nice to hear that you had such a wonderful experience with those Aussies, but catastrophy tends to breed frienships and closeness, and that dreadfull weather you experienced I am sure had a lot to do with the outcome of that hosting.

I have just hosted a couple from the other side of the world who came via a booking by their daughter who they had not seen in a decade. The wheels fell off the family reunion and I felt so sorry for these people who had such high expectations.

However this terrible experience for them became a positive, this couple, Ade and I have become such good friends, and we will remain the warmest of friends for ever more. Airbnb did that!

 

At the moment it 'IS' all about Koalas and Kookaburras here Ann, we have a resident Koala who puts in an appearance just about every night, much to the delight of the guests. I know it won't last, sooner or later a fox will appear in the neighbourhood and, the Koala will be gone but, it feels nice being a part of it while it lasts.

IMG20180328031918 b.jpg

 

Don't expect that all Australians will turn out to be wonderful people, but in this country we regard Americans as true friends, and we have a very strong ethic where true friends are concerned!

 

You are right Ann, that barrel is filled with good eggs!

Cheers.....Rob

Robin, you are a legend in the hosting world and I am sorry you are going through such an awful situation. A marriage of 48 years is something to be truly proud of. I can only aspire for something so special. Talking of marriage, I have had quite a few Canadian honeymooners stay with me, and a particularly lovely couple just had a beautiful baby boy. I have had guests stay to organise their destination wedding and I even had a couple get engaged during their stay. My joke is that I just need to have someone conceive to finish the trifecta! I love all the wonderful people I have met, including my now best friend. I don't need much of an excuse to break out the wine or a cup of tea and sympathy. There are not many jobs where you get to bring the world to your door.

I know there are mostly gripes on the forum, but it does give the chance to blow off steam sometimes when I don't have anyone here to complain to. Like most hosts, I really thank God the difficult guests are few. I do like hearing how others deal with things and I really love the humour that creeps in. I am starting to feel like part of a family again, complete with caring aunts, grumpy uncles and cheeky cousins!

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Rosemarie0, try as I might I can't access your tag.....maybe that is a good thing!!

"There are not many jobs where you get to bring the world to your door."....that is a lovely way of putting it Rosemarie and that is exactly how I feel, every new guest I look forward to meeting.

 

I don't know that I have a lot to be sorry for, we have had 48 good years. I employed people in my mechanical services company and I had to set an example by being first at work every morning. I would leave for work before Ade woke and every morning I would give here a kiss on the cheek and think how beautiful she looked just lying there sleeping....never missed morning.

I think I am pretty lucky to have had that.

 

Cheers......Rob

Sandra126
Level 10
Daylesford, Australia

Thank you for writing this post, I just wrote a huge reply but decided to copy it first in case it was lost because of how long it was but hit the wrong button and it disappeared. If I find time later I will do it again.

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Sandra0

Hey you don't have time to be writing massive long posts like I do! I have a feeling you and I understand each other. I was rather sad when you disappeared last year, you brought a downright commonsense to the forum that was hard to challenge. 

You have spoken many times of your lovely hosting experiences.....mind you, you have dragged the odd 'turkey' out of the closet as well!

If there was no Airbnb I would not have met you, and my life would have been the less for it!

 

Cheers......Rob

Sandra126
Level 10
Daylesford, Australia

It's because we both iron, right?

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Sandra126

I am seriously considering not leaving an iron for guests. I cannot get over the number of guests who have absolutely no idea how to use an iron!!

Every time I want to give the bed that quick little touch-up, can't be bothered walking back into the house to get my main iron and decide to use the guests iron.....the sole plate is all sticky, they have used it on too higher heat setting and no doubt scorched what ever it was they were ironing.

I know we live in a society where 'less is more' but has the art of ironing been totally lost to the world....except for you and I Sandra!

 

Cheers......Rob