So what you see now are the results of her spending some of her vacation doing some web design and WordPress work. I don’t meddle with all that too much — I leave it all to her.

Let us know if you like the new look.

From mid October to  the first week of December I was on duty 24hrs a day at the motel, since Vina had to go to India to visit her family. And was I so happy when she came back. Its the first time I’ve had to manage the motel all by myself for almost 6 weeks and the stress showed its toll in my loosing a few pounds from my waist. I had to get up by 5am so that I could shower quickly before anyone would come to  the front office. Then I’d make my "masala chai"(spicy tea) to start the day . As guests would check out Id run the laundry and dryer and be done with that part  by 1pm.The afternoon would see me catching a light nap on the sofa but would always be disturbed by phone calls or some sales person wishing to sell me something. Luckily for me my Son and wife and Grandson would come by in the evenings to bring me dinner and give a bit of respite by allowing me to run up to Walmart to buy supplies. I realised how often I took my wife’s  presence for granted and counted every day that passed. Now its back to sharing our work loads.

2011 is going down as a truly bad year, business wise. I look forward to seeing an improvement in this Country in 2012. Almost all of my guests this year have bemoaned the state of the economy and the way things have turned out. Gas prices for the most part of 2011 remained above $3.25 a gallon, The price today in Rolla is 2.99 a gallon.

2012 also sees the enactment of the city regulation that only 20% of all motel rooms can be designated as Smoking Rooms. So we will only have 5 rooms available as Smoking rooms from Jan 1st 2012. Rolla will have a Smoke Free environment from 1/1/12. Its upsetting some people but we have to follow the law.

Finally on behalf of my family I’d like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a very prosperous New Year and look forward to seeing all our guests make a return visit to the "family owned" RUSTIC MOTEL,

In March 2011 while being given a tour of his farm on a Recreational Terraine Vehicle ( like a Golf Cart) my friend (Mike) hit a bump and the RTV flipped on it’s side and in the process I dislocated my left elbow and broke my glasses. My first thoughts were that Vina, my wife, would really be upset- but once I reached home from the ER with my left hand in a sling, she was cool about it. The bad thing was that I would be of no help to her in running the motel’s daily chores. Luckily we managed to find a part time help and its because of his help that we have been lucky to run the Motel efficiently. He has driven me to St Louis to see the Doctors, Helped with Laundry, mowing the grass, repainting the Swimming pool and getting it ready for guests to use it and most importantly of all he has been of so much help in doing general maintenance work at the motel. Thanks Jack. This incident has prevented me from GOLFING the rest of the year!! That is one summer activity I looked forward to, so impatiently. Right now I have to go for Physical Therapy 3 times a week. 

The year 2011 so far has been one of such extremes of the weather. We’ve had a large amount of snowfall this year and the temperatures were still in the lower 40s in May and now the heat is unbearable. The pool which is located outdoors has been a hive of activity because we let the locals use it. Since last week miillions of "sekedias" (grasshopper like insects) have hatched after a 13 year cycle and with their screeching noise have been a big nusiance. Slowly they are disappearing and we’ll see them again in 13 years time.

Business  has been slow, the price of regular gas hit $3.99 a gallon in Rolla lst month but has since dropped to $3.62 a gal. But folks are hurting in general and there have been no reservations for "Family Get togethers" or the sporting camps that are regularly held in Rolla in the Summer.

We now have  a Computer located in the front office for our guests use and they can print their Airline Boarding passes and anything else they need to print. Just one more way of pleasing our guests.

My grandson who is now 3yrs and 8 months is growing so fast, and he has all the love and affection from his "Grandpa Bob and Grandma Vina"- He loves to come to the motel and "demands that we buy him all the toys that he sees on TV.

Its been 8yrs and 6 months since we bought the motel and we’re so proud to own this business. The community has accepted us and I was elated when from 6 candidates who stood for 3 vacant positions on the Board of Directors of the Rolla Chamber of Commerce I was one of those elected for a 3year term. 

Look forward to seeing you at the Rustic soon.

My Grandson, NIKHIL, will turn 3 in October and he is the just the greatest! I guess all grandparents feel that way about their grand kids, but we are lucky that he spends the nights with us at the Motel and its my duty to drop him off at the Daycare every morning. He is learning so much things and that makes me wonder how today’s kids are learning so much things at such a young age. And when he is with me he follows me everwhere. Once when I was cleaning the swimming pool area I tripped and bruised my knees with blood rushing out, Nikhil came and started to blow air from his mouth on my injuries to sooth the pain. I always tell him that you’ve got to look after your Grandpa even when he gets old! When he’s not around near me I find it difficult to concentrate on my work.

My son and Daughter in law bought a house in Rolla last October which is not very far from the motel and they are doing their best to run the Dry Cleaners professionally. I go help out there once in a while.

The Motel is operating well, we are happy that we can make the monthly payments on time to Curt and Lucie Smith, they have trusted us and now it’s been 7 years and 8 months that we’ve been operating the Rustic Motel for. How time flies. Rolla is a great little town with some of the friendliest people around. 

July Independence weekend was a busy one for us as the people who operate the Carnival rides at the Lions Club park occupy a lot of our rooms and it’s also time for family reunions, When we first bought the Motel in 2002 we used to see plenty of family reunions but alas due to the bad economy less and less families can afford to get together. I still believe that a strong family bond is a must and thats the most important thing to cherish and build.

Played golf last week in a club tournament but our score was nowhere near the best so we played, sweated and finally watched Spain win the World Soccer Cup by beating the Netherlands 1 – 0.

The Swimming pool is a hive of activity and the ladies sitting by the poolside  get a huge kick when passing motorists on Rt 63 honk at them!! We are the only place in Rolla to have an outdoor pool just a few yards away from the highway.

Last year we painted all the wood panelling in the upstairs rooms to brighten them up. The European tourists that come to travel on Rt 66 from Chicago to L A who stop by and stay with us are surprised that we painted the panelling, cause they feel that the wooden panelling gave the rooms a distinct nostalgic look. Well we cant please everyone all the time.

The heat of Summer means more swimmers at the pool from tomorrow. The price of Gas is $2.56 a gallon in Rolla today.

If you’re passing through Rolla stop by and come see our Motel. Our motto is " we treat you as our family"

My son Amit, his wife Deepa and Nikhil (their 5 1/2 month old son) moved to Rolla in the last week of Feb 08. Currently they are staying with us and because of this we get to see our Grandson everyday,and spoil him dearly.

An incident that happened yesterday really had me mad. A guest who shall remain nameless and who had been staying at the Motel for the past 11 days because his house was affected by flooding came back in the evening swearing at me that I had entered his room and stolen one of his possession and that he was calling the police and report me to the Daily paper that I was a crook and that he would damage my reputation and made sure I would not be able to operate a motel again and he wanted his "stolen" item back. Calmly I told him that the Housekeeper or I would never touch a guest’s personal belongings and that he was free to call the police. Well the Police Officer came asked us the necessary questions and went to look in the room that the guest had checked out from and told me that the RUSTIC MOTEL has had a VERY GOOD REPUTATION with the police dept and he was surprised that such an accusation could be made against me or the Motel. He asked that guest to re check his bags and see if he had mis placed his item among his other clutter he had. The Police Officer who was a great gentleman left and told me that he would have to file the complaint. Then just as he had driven off, I got a phone call from that guest that he had re checked his belongings and HAD FOUND THE MISSING ITEM!!!!! he apologised, but to me he had spoilt my whole evening and his apology was meaningless.

Friday April 4th was supposed to be a celebration day as I had just bought a local Dry Cleaning business called "FORUM CLEANERS" but this guest had to spoil the day with Extremely Slanderous and False Accusations. The Cleaners will be managed by Amit and Deepa,

Business at the Motel has been declining I think due to the high cost of Gas ( $3.29 a gal) and the recession talk that’s really creaping the public.

The 100th St Pats Celebration was a huge success and at the Motel we had a busy weekend- most of our guests were in their middle age and not the young crowd that normally comes during St Pats. So the rooms were left in a decent state and we had no complaints of excessive noice.

This morning the Temp is around 65 degrees, My mood is cheerful now that I my reputation has been cleared.

I hope that you will enjoying the Spring and travel and stop over at the Rustic Motel. 

St Pat’s 100th year Celebrations commence in mid March and most of the Big Brand Franchise Motels are already booked up but we still have a few Rooms open so if you’re planing to attend the St Pat’s festivities please make your reservations early.

Winter is still around and we’re expecting freezing rains tonight, so again not many will be travelling today and that means empty rooms at the Rustic.

The Gas price today is $2.69 per gallon.

Last weeekend I visited my son, daughter-in-law and MY GRANDSON in Atlanta and while there my daughter, Jigsha, also joined me from Knoxville. That weekend was so terrific for me as I got to cuddle NIKHIL and the best part about him is that he never cried, has an awesome smile and is so intelligent. He turns 3 months old today and Vina now has her turn to visit them this weekend.

The temperatures in Rolla have been hovering in the low 20′s at night and high 40′s during the day. The cost of Gas is $2.77.

We’ve had to suspend renovation in the other bottom rooms as the contractor has to fullfill his obligations at some other sites.

This morning’s news headlines talk of a "RECESSION" and it’s scary, I just hope that we can get by this year and I sincerely hope that all the readers of this blog also make it through 2008 and my best wishes for a healthy and happy 2008.

It seems that in this modern world we still have some bigots who cannot change their racist attitudes. This question about "American owned" always has that racist tone to it.

This phone call has really upset me and I hope that I never have to put up with this in the future.

We treat all our guests as though they’ve come to our home and go all out to make their stay here as pleasant as possible.

If you are reading this blog I hope that you will come over and experience our hospitality.