Author Archives: Bhakti Watts

Basement Flood

Ricardo had “a feeling” to check the Subud House on September 18th, and sure enough, he found one of the hoses on and water in the basement. He reported this to Oswald, as Jim was taking a well-deserved vacation. Oswald reported the damage to our insurance company, and he and Marston arranged for a company to remove the water and dry the whole area, and for the carpets in the men’s hall to be cleaned. The carpets should be back in 2-3 weeks. Ricardo and Oswald trained a camera on the stairwell that leads to the basement, and Ricardo replaced the outdoor faucets with some that are tamper-proof. Thanks to Ricardo’s follow-through on his guidance, and Oswald and Marston’s quick response there is no lasting damage.

House Rental

Spring Street Center has been doing whole house rentals in response to concerns about house sharing generated by COVID-19. We are in the process of linking ourselves with a company called iTrip Vacations Seattle that will list the house not only on Airbnb but on multiple short-term rental platforms. Debbie will continue doing the cleaning and finding event rentals for the halls, when that is safe again.

 

Zoom Meeting after Latihan September 20th

There will be a Zoom meeting after latihan this Sunday, hosted by Sebastian Tedrow. However, if we are going to continue the Zoom meetings after Sunday latihans, we need a few more volunteers to host the meetings. It’s not hard, and full instructions will be provided. If you are interested, please let Jim know by email.

Zoom meeting ID: 988 202 1449

Subud GS General Meeting This Sunday

The SGS committee is asking you to participate in a general meeting this coming Sunday, August 30th at noon.
It will be the usual link,  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9882021449 Meeting ID: 988 202 1449
 
We have some important news to share, in addition to approval of the previous minutes from 2-23-20
and a brief financial report.
 
As you may know, the committee has been grappling with and comparing various income-generating models for over a year.
 
The committee is recommending that we, contingent on member and SPNW approval, contract Karen Hunt, of iTrip vacations, to manage house rental of the Subud house.
 
iTrip has a presence on 80+ web platforms.  Karen is the sole Seattle franchisee.  She is well known to Lucinda and Bhakti; and Lucinda and Karen’s husband Ken (a partner in the business) have worked together previously.  itrip Seattle has a business license, business insurance.
 
Karen has reviewed the SGS, SPNW, and SUSA websites, and has some initial familiarity of who we are as a group; and is respectful of that.
 
This rental arrangement will allow us to do Sunday latihans when the time comes that the helpers and committee consider it safe to do so; and Tuesday latihans are a possibility.
 
We believe this will be a benefit to SGS, SPNW, and to SUSA in addition to creating a simpler arrangement and less work for the next committee; thereby reducing the risk of burnout.
 
The cost would be 25% of gross revenue; and if we cancel within the 60 day grace period; a cost of $650 for a wi-fi door lock; and $450 for platform listing.  Those costs would be waived if we continued for the year.

We would receive payment monthly from itrip via electronic deposit, and receive a monthly statement.

Karen would provide the party squasher app, which flags the number of WiFi devices in the building and a decibel meter app free of charge.
 
Should we decide, we could engage a professional high-temperature (read virus-killing) linen service.  That would have an initial start-up fee of $800 which could be spread out in installments.  Karen strongly recommends this for client peace of mind.

All cleaning fees would be paid by guests.
Subud Seattle would be responsible for normal wear and tear on the house and furniture.  itrip would cover accidental breakage up to $1475 if the guest calls before checkout.  If the guest doesn’t call, is negligent, or the amount exceeds $1475, the guest’s credit card is charged and itrip also files through AirBnB or VRBO for recovery.

Karen would not charge to come to the house to let repair people in, or for wait time; nor for lining up and scheduling a repair person.  She will communicate with the committee to establish guidelines and dollar amounts for repairs which would or would not need committee approval.
Spring Street would be responsible for carrying a separate renter’s policy.

 
We have a power point from iTrip which you may review by requesting from Jim.