Went into Emporia this morning to pick up the quarter round my friend will need to install the stained glass pieces in the doors. Got the amount he recommended I get. On the way home I remembered we forgot to double it as he will need it on both sides of the glass. Went back and got some more. Two trips to the hardware store and counting! I did remember the first time to pick up nails so he can attach it. Got two different sizes as I’m not sure which he will want to use.
Picked up some Brasso while I was at the Hardware store and have been working on getting the stained glass pieces cleaned up. They had been stored in a basement and have tarnished on the lead parts. They are cleaning up nicely but it will take lots more time and patience to get them completely clean as they have lots of little groves to clean out. I finally decided to lay them flat on the dining room table instead of pushing on them while they were standing up. I was afraid I would snap them in pieces.
We are going to put them in the bedroom doors and then move the library room doors to the bedroom and put the stained glass pieces in the library room. They will be pretty when guests come in the front door. Too bad most of us go in and out the back door! Using the bedroom doors will save me from having to find and buy new doors to use. I looked on-line last night and was having trouble finding plain solid oak doors. Most of them have panels of some sort on them. Found some out-of-state but the shipping cost was almost as much as the doors are.
Finished the set of tea towels I was working on yesterday. Still need to press them. Have another set stamped so I will start working on them. I sure enjoy making them. Not sure yet what I will do with them but I’ll figure that out sometime or other.
Got enrolled in my Medicare drug coverage plan this morning. The site kept kicking me off last night but I didn’t have any trouble this morning with it. Only going to be $25 a month for drug coverage – one of the drugs I currently takes cost $510 a month. Think I will come out ahead on this deal. Cancelled the medical insurance I get through the Affordable Health Care Act effective August 1. I think I am all set and ready to go for the switch to Medicare come August 1. Good to have that decision made and taken care of. Trusting I did it enough in advance that I will get insurance cards by August 1 so the transition will be smooth.
Need to finish cleaning the rest of the house for the three guests that are arriving later today. I have the beds all made up and ready. Kathy cleaned the big areas downstairs this morning for me. Won’t take me long to finish the upstairs.
Have a long-term guest coming Monday. He may be here for three to six months. His finance will be staying with him part of the time too. He lives in MO but has a contract job in Emporia starting next week. He is coming out Monday night to stay one night and we will discuss arrangements and if we both feel comfortable will proceed from there. He may be going back to MO on the weekends sometimes so that would free that room up occasionally too. That would solve my desire to double-book rooms as he will book directly through me instead of Airbnb and the other two rooms would be listed on Airbnb for others to book. I changed my listing to only show four beds available in two bedrooms. It will be an experiment to see how I like having a long-term boarder. I will discuss with him a way out on both sides in case it doesn’t work for either side. I plan to put him in the room upstairs with the queen bed. That way if I have female guests they might feel more comfortable not having him on the same level as they stay. Since he will be working long hours during the week he really won’t be around very much, especially if he goes home on the weekends.
It is always a learning experience running an Airbnb. This is the third long-term request I have received but so far the only one that has gone this far. The other two backed out before we got this far. I will appreciate the guaranteed income and trust it will work out for both of us in a fun way.
Grateful for almost being old enough to switch to Medicare, grateful for the potential of a long-term boarder, and grateful for figuring out a way to get the stained glass windows up without it costing so much!