Hi Surfers and Guests at the Glowhouse!

    We welcome you to our abode and appreciate you being in our community for your visit to DC!  We welcome you as fellow roommates with us for the time that you are here!  Here are answers to a few common questions we get ahead of time:

• Darrell - an AI Engineer and SourceKeeper of Camp Contact, he is the owner of the house and resides in the back room on the 2nd floor, in the Library room.
• Audrey
• Patrick
• Johannes
• Meg

Pets:

• We have one cat: Luna, who may show up at any time and leave just as suddenly.

Gifts!

Sometimes Couchsurfers want to bring a gift to the house as a token of appreciation, but it is not required or expected. We appreciate the thought, and if you do want to give a gift, we kindly request you don't bring any sweets, candy, crackers, cookies, cakes, danishes, or other carbohydrates as a gift. Healthy vegetables and fruits are welcome! We are challenged by the high amount of sugar already in the American diet.

Help!

Living in a group space requires a lot of coordination and maintenance of organization, and we'd love your help in keeping the Glowhouse Glowing, leaving the place nicer than you found it:  If you're up for it, there are often some special projects that we need assistance with in the house, including gardening and plant care.

Dishes:

We appreciate your help in putting dry dishes away from the dishwasher and the drying rack.  We're also hoping you'll help with washing dishes, either by hand or putting them in the dishwasher and starting it.  Please start the dishwasher when its 3/4 or more full, you can find dish soap packets under the sink and put one in the tray, sliding the door closed and pushing the start button after the dishwasher door is closed.

Trash & Recycling:

We're thankful for your help with taking trash bags and recycling bags outside to the trash cans.  Trash goes in green cans; Recycling goes in blue cans. To access them, bring the bags downstairs and out through the back door via the laundry room.  Instructions for opening the sliding gate to access the cans are on the dry-erase board in the laundry room.   You can use any of the cans labeled 3110; additional cans are available in the alley if the ones next to the gate are full.  Recycling should be brought out in the blue container and emptied directly into the city bin without a bag.  Please replace the inside receptacle with a trash bag (White) which are stored in the pantry next to the kitchen.  This is also where you'll find paper towels or toilet paper if you need to replenish them.  Washington, DC, does single-stream recycling.

Compost:  We collect compost in the metal circular bin on the counter next to the pantry.  If the metal bin is full, please empty it into the 5-gallon bucket that is in the front yard.  The city picks up the bin from our front porch on Monday mornings.

Kitchen:

The kitchen is available for your use, and we enjoy sharing meals should you feel called to prepare additional food or beverages.   You’re welcome to keep food in our refrigerator or freezer in the pantry. Choose a color dot that isn't being used and update the dry-erase board with your name next to it, to the right of the stove.  Please help yourself to any of our common consumables labeled with a Green Dot sticker, as well as spices & oils.  Please consider replacing anything that we run out of or getting anything we're missing. We especially like shopping at Yes! and Whole Foods.  Please help by keeping the stove, dining table, and kitchen surfaces clean and organized.

Water:

The tap water in DC isn't super clean; hence, we have a built-in reverse osmosis filter for the house. Please get your drinking water from the tap to the right of the sink or from the chilled water dispenser inset into the silver fridge. This is the best way to get water for making tea or coffee. We typically use a French press for making coffee.

Stove:

Please keep the iron skillets put away in the oven below the range after you're done with them. You're welcome to use the hot pot to make hot water, free to use these at any time.  Note that you shouldn't use soap to clean the iron skillet; just use a paper towel to wipe it clean when it has cooled.

Commons:

The commons has three couches, a video projector with HDMI & VGA inputs, and is the main social area for the Glowhouse. You're welcome to hook your laptop up to the projector and to the sound system and watch / share video and music. Please help keep the common area clean and organized. We typically don't have couch surfers stay in this area because we like to keep this area available for residents to use day and night. Typically, you'll stay in the Yoga room/Guest Room on the 3rd floor, or in the Attic.

Laundry:

The GlowHouse has an extra-large washing machine and a dryer, which are available for your use in the basement.  Please feel free to use these machines while you’re here, and mark how you want the laundry handled in case someone needs to move your laundry from the washer to the dryer on the dry-erase board.  There is also a combination washer-dryer that will both wash and dry your clothes.

Toilets:

All of the toilets (except for the Toto Neorest) have a Dual Flush System installed, which allows for saving water for liquid waste.  If you pee, lift (pull) the lever up to flush (or don't flush at all).  Otherwise, please push the lever down.

Security:

The front door and the three back doors all have combination locks set to the same combination.  Please get the current combination from your host.  To enter or leave the front door, you need to turn both the top handle and the bottom handle at the same time.  Please close doors completely once you go through them.

WiFi:  We have multiple Hotspots you are welcome to use, all named Glowhouse, with some digits after them.  Please select the one with the strongest signal and use the password on the donation box to the right of the white refrigerator.

 

Hot Tub

The Hot Tub is on the 3rd floor, out on the deck, accessed through the back door through the Yoga/Guest room.  It is kept warm and is available for use most any time. After opening the insulating cover, please latch the clip attached to the post to keep the cover open in case a gust of wind blows it shut.

The hot tub has a red valve that puts out cold water and is nice to have when you get too hot.  Please feel free to use it, but make sure it's fully closed after you’re done.  It isn’t enough to lower the handle to the point where the water stops; the handle should be in the lower closed position so that no water enters the valve.

After you’re done using the hot tub, please turn off the jets, close the hot tub cover, and turn off the lights.  You can leave your damp towels on the hooks or on the stair rail at the 3rd-floor landing.