The sharing economy

I stayed in my first airbnb in SF last night (hotels were sold out because of a urology conference)

Thoughts after an eventful first night:

  • It came with a Nest thermostat, which hundreds of random people have used, making the task of guessing what temps everyone wants at what time rather difficult for the AI engine behind it because no two people are alike and it was designed to sit forever in the same house with the same people attached to a Nest account. At 3AM it promptly cranked the temp up to 79ºF and I woke up overheated wondering what the hell was going on.
  • I didn't notice there was a motion sensor on the only light in the bathroom. Also there were no windows in the bathroom. So what I did notice was that after ten minutes, while I was in the middle of a shower in a strange bathroom, it went totally pitch black like I was in a cave. On the plus side, I was also barefoot on a slippery floor plus naked so it was super safe and fun to finish out the shower and fish around for my towel in the empty blackness. I’m sure the unit saves a lot of money on lighting costs, so that's good.
  • The ducting system would scream out about once an hour as air rushed through it whenever the heater turned on. It sounded like cries of help from my cursed elders who died tragically hundreds of years ago and were demanding that I avenge their deaths. 2AM AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH then at 4AM AHHHHHHHHHHHH and at 5AM AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and 6AM AAAAAAHHHHHHH.