The wifi is very spotty at the Air BnB we are staying at. The host is nice enough and came by and tried to resolve it himself and then sent the guys from Spectrum to have a look. Apparently squirrels have been chewing at the wires. One of the Spectrum guys described squirrels as the "bane of our existence". Anyways, they got it up and running but it is still pretty spotty and keeps dropping so maybe there is another problem or more squirrel damage than they anticipated.

That got me thinking. "If I ran this air bnb I would probably get starlink" and that started the avalanche of things I began to notice that "shouldn't be this way".

My wife will tell you that when I go on a "this shouldn't be this way" bender I can be hard to reign in.

From my many years of running my business and scrutinizing the work of my employees and the conditions of various properties I have a highly discerning eye for "this shouldn't be this way". In fact a variation of it- "this doesn't need to be this way"- was part of our sales pitch in many cases.

My business partners and I used to have a an adage we would tell employees and contractors "don't give them a reason to look for things". Of course, it is impossible to be perfect or even have everything run precisely as planned. Shit happens as they say. It was just a reminder to take care of the details, check your work, don't leave a mess or equipment/tools behind, report any issues/incidents. There is nothing more disheartening than doing a good job but having the first thing in a client's mind be "they forgot to lock my door", or "they set off an alarm", or "they didn't put things back the way they were supposed to be" etc.

Once you give them a reason to look for things, they are focused on what you didn't do or didn't do well and not the quality of or value gained from your product or service.

So now in my unconscious effort to "look for things" I have noticed a loose door handle, a loose knob on a kitchen cabinet door. a wooden door frame that is starting to detach from the drywall at the seam, the shower head doesn't offer a flow setting I particularly like, they don't have enough bowls, plates and cutlery (I ran the dishwasher but I shouldn't have to do that after a day and a half), the fan vent in the bathroom is dusty. and they could use some additional or brighter lighting in the back of the property so I can take my pup out at night comfortably.

There are many great qualities about the property. I don't want to give the impression that we don't like the place or aren't enjoying our stay. We certainly won't be "those people" that leave a review complaining about every minor detail. I wouldn't complain unless I felt we were misled about the property or that the host made no effort to address concerns. Neither is the case in this instance. But even though he has gone to great lengths to rectify the wifi issue, now that I am "looking for things" I am starting to think maybe we should be compensated for having to use mobile data roaming on three phones due to poor wifi. That's a $120 cost I would have borne anyways but now feel forced to.

Just a classic case of "Don't give them a reason to look for things"

Sats for all, GR