Everyone Just Wants a Fair Shake

On this most joyous and exuberant of American holidays, we celebrate illusions.

Tricksters are rewarded - or bribed - with treats meant to ward off some unknown ill fate.

Longtime treaters know, though, that the real reward comes from the tricksters themselves whose elaborate costumes or simple cloaks of illusion warrant more than a few cookies, pieces of candy corn, or other such fancies.

After all, the smiles they leave behind will warm the hearts of even most stubborn of hermits.

All in all, not a bad rate of exchange.

On this hallowed eve all that separates each of us is a simple social contract. One side supplies the smiles, the other side the sustenance.

And in the end, it's hard to know which holds more value. Or which will have lasting impact.

Whether you're a trickster or a treater on this wondrous of nights, I hope you'll give as much value as you receive.

That, after all, is the key to all sustainable reward systems in every social contract ever written or implied. Fairness. Just plain and simple fairness.

God bless the goblins who remind us once again.

Perfectly Lovely

The weekend coming up looks to be filled with activities, the loveliest of company, and divinely perfect weather.

Hope your pumpkins are all carved and your treats are all ready.

Because ready or not, the ghosts and goblins are just around the corner.

And I hear they're hungry this year.

That's okay. Soup's on. Pumpkin seeds are toasted.

And, oh yeah, candies and cookies are ready, too. Bring on the witches.

Ethics

They're not just for innkeepers.

USA Today kicks off new website devoted to cruises and includes very specific and lengthy ethics rules. Including no freebies. Or as USA Today refers to it - no bribes.

No, I'm not a cruise fan. But I am a fan of full disclosure, which sadly rarely happens when a reviewer is talking about a free cruise or any other free stay.

My ethics require this: Get it all out there and find significant means to ensure that the truth is being written. Neutral truth, not words bought and paid for with enticements.

And if you can't do that, don't write about it.

Simple really.

Congratulations to USA Today for joining the No Free Rides bandwagon. Don't worry, there's still plenty of room for any latecomers.

H/T Arthur Frommer

Make Music

Make cookies. Make breakfast. Make conversation.

Make beds. Make beds again. Make reservations. Make more cookies.

Sounds like a typical innkeeper weekend to me.

Have a good one!

A Whole New Form of Foreclosure Hell

If you're thinking of snapping up one of those bank-owned inns in Massachusetts, this might give you cause for pause.

In a surprise ruling - surprising meaning that the banksters never ever thought it would happen - the Massachusetts Supreme Court upheld a ruling that can have the impact of reversing foreclosure sales that were made improperly.

Improperly as in having no clear title to the property. Or proof of even owning the mortgage to the property. As in an overwhelming number of the foreclosure sales by most of the banks in this country these days. They don't really, in many many cases, have the title or any proof at all that they own the mortgage.

This tidbit about the titles is not news to regular readers, of course.

So what's a buyer to do? Exercise caution.

If you're thinking of buying a foreclosed property, make sure your ducks are really all in a row.

Just how does one ensure that their ducks are all in a row when the banks aren't exactly being forthcoming with the information?

Hell if I know. Seems like a fool's game to me.

But hey, what do I know?

Solidarity

Over time, some innkeepers have gotten the mistaken impression that I, cough, have money.

And really nothing could be further from the truth.

Sure, like most innkeepers, I am blessed with a fortunate life that, among other things, means living among the wealthy. In my small town, it's no secret that there are more than a few one percenters walking around.

Or driving their Porsches around.

In fact, when the local market stocks its impulse buying shelves - those closest to the cash registers - with an excellent variety of balsamic vinegars in the $200 range, it doesn't take a genius to realize that there's a lot of money around. It takes real money for those kinds of impulse purchases.

And I've noticed that those vinegars do move. So the powers that be in that lovely tiny market sure seem to know what they're doing. And who their customers are.

As for me, well, I admit I do like browsing through some of the finer wares available, but I tend to favor the more, how shall we say, frugal means of expressing luxury. Eggs. Butter. Sweet cream. Beautiful organic produce.

Sans the $200 vinegars and other unnecessary excess, of course.

After all, when I want to feel a little bit of excess, I can just whip up a little bit of Hollandaise Sauce and instantly I have more luxury than I need.

Isn't it funny how food is the great leveler between the classes? As long as one knows how to cook that is.

Happy Sunday afternoon to all of you out there, rich and poor.

As for me, I am the 99 Percent through and through. Long may we reign.

An American Tradition

Over the past few years, some of the most frustrating conversations between the Fabulous Frenchie and myself have centered on just why, oh why, are Americans not in the streets protesting, given all that is going wrong.

And, truthfully, I've never been able to satisfactorily explain to him why that is. It seems pure insanity to a Frenchman. The French, after all, love a protest.

One shining example, though, of how Americans will stand their ground and continue to speak out has been the fabulous group of retirees in Mill Valley who are the Seniors For Peace.

Every Friday, without fail, they are out there. Signs. Guitars. Walkers. Wheel chairs. And a large assortment of folding chairs neatly arranged so that everyone has a view of passers by, who honk and wave and sometimes stop to chat. It seems they're always smiling.

Not smiling at wars, which they clearly oppose. No smiling at the very act of protesting itself. At feeling empowered, even if only for a few hours a week, to make a difference. To be heard. By someone, by anyone.

To state clearly for the record that they, proud Americans that they are, do not support what is being done in their name.

It's an American tradition to speak up, to protest. It's part of who we are. Done well, nonviolent protests have the power to change the course of history.

That's the kind of protests we're seeing these days in cities around the country, as the Occupy Wall Street protests continue, take hold, and grow.

Even innkeepers in rural areas will start to feel an impact from the 99 Percenters. Travelers to and from the protests in the cities will begin to talk more and more around the breakfast table about the protests.

Folks who disagree with them will speak up, too. That's their right and that right is part of that same tradition.

It's how we work through these things, how the world is changed.

While we innkeepers are often challenged to find common ground among the guests who do not see eye to eye on many things, this particular difference is an easy one. The right to speak up, after all, to make our voices heard, well, that's a right we all appreciate. A right we can all respect.

This is a movement that is not going away. It will multiply in the coming days, weeks, months. You can support it like I do, you can ignore it, or you can oppose it.

But much like those Seniors for Peace, it's the living breathing embodiment of a proud American tradition.

God bless us every one.

There Is No Map

I love the theatre probably just about as much as I love ballet. And just about as much as I love the symphony. And, oh, how I do love the symphony.

In fact, back in the day, I raised an awful lots of funds for a number of fledgling theatre groups and dramaturges.

If my name - changed as it is from back in the day - does not roll from their tongues, I don't find offense. In fact, that was always the plan, even then. Even back in the day.

The drama and fame of the theatre - and the ballet and the symphony - belongs to the players on the stage, not to those who work behind the scenes to get them there.

I'd prefer, though, that the theatrics also be confined to the stage, with the exception of street theatre, which I generally adore.

Theatre in politics? Oh, sigh, double sigh, and another sigh.

It seems many politicians just don't seem to know when the curtain is up or down on the theatrics of their posturing. Or how many lives they destroy in the process.

Case in point, Europe. For as good a summary of just what's happening and why - and just how insane the whole process has become - you can't do much better than this plain language commentary in The New Yorker by John Lanchester.

Read it and weep.

And understand that until Europe finds a way to accept the impossible situation it has found itself in - and do something viable to fix it, even if the banksters don't like those solutions - we will have no recovery here in America.

No recovery, no inns selling. No inns selling, aging innkeepers remain stuck in places they can no longer sustain. No Europeans traveling, way fewer heads in beds. No American jobs. No financing for improvements.

No way out.

So we can continue to spin our wheels and focus on the wrong issues. Or we can utilize our collective strength to pressure elected officials to do the right thing. The thing that will map our way out of here.

The choice, dear friends, is in our hands.

How we make our voices heard, how we fight to keep the dreams we've created alive, how we demand that our government respond to the needs of citizens, not their paymasters, well, all those varied choices and all that power is ours. It is there right in your own voice.

Use yours well and you will find strength you didn't know was there. Join your voice with others and together we will find solutions.

And here's a hint. Austerity measures are not the solution. They are the problem.

There may be no map but there is a history. And history tells us we are heading into the territory of no return.

Don't let that happen. Use your voice. Find your strength. And save the world.