EIGHT YEARS OF INNKEEPING

Doris and I celebrated being bed & breakfast innkeepers for eight years on September 1, 2009. Eight years! It really doesn't seem that long.... not when you are having so much fun! Yeah... right! Don't get me wrong, it has been at times fun, interesting, very rewarding, and exciting. But, it certainly has had its down periods.

Like ten days after we bought the Oakwood Inn, 9/11 hit us. Occupancy tumbled with the weekends generally full, but we lost all of our weekday business. I still wonder why the terrorits waited until Doris and I bought the Inn. Then we had some issues trying to get affordable healthcare insurance as small business owners. Government not putting their nose in operating health insurance... that is a joke here in North Carolina where some of our part-time lawmakers are insurance agents and others take funding from healthcare lobbyists.

Then we had to replace two of our three furnances and A/C units.... not all at once, in a reason span of 2 years. Then the guest who broke the foot of our sleigh bed... sitting on it. Heck, it was going to break.... what do you expect from old wood... it was an antique bed! And then the bride who threw up all over the room. Red wine can have different hues and shades when mixed with stomach acid.

And now we got hit with the Wall Street Fiasco which caused our occcupany to once again tumble but this time with longer and more devastating effects. And the list goes on and onm and will continue to do so. But so will the good list!

The upside in all of this is that we live in Raleigh, North Carolina where it is predicted that the recovery of the economy with be strong. We will be looking at an upward swing and people getting back to work. The state government is doing it's share. It just raised our sales tax from 6.75% to 7.75% to raise more money for more government programs creating more jobs... and it's only temporary. Right! The only thing polictians create as temporary is the lag time from constantly screwing the taxpapers.

But lets celebrate! Doris and I have achieved another milestone at The Oakwood Inn Bed & Breakfast as the longest staying innkeepers. The four sets before us stayed only an average of 4 years... we doubled it. Maybe because we are nuts and have lost all sense of intelliegence. Maybe because we have severe demenitia and forgot those bad times. Or maybe because the good outweights the bad and the potential for outstanding is always presence. Life only comes once around for a person. Enjoy it whenever you can.
Gary