Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Adventures in House Sitting (Part 1)

I am starting to run short on McQueen stories. This is good because it means things aren't breaking down, or going horribly comically wrong. However, it does make for some slow blog-writing. As you've noticed I've started ranting about various things, mostly about web browsers. (Don't worry. There'll be more browser-related rants to come in the future, I'm sure.)

However, having mentioned I was house sitting in The Door Is A Jar, just after I posted it, someone commented within about 2 minutes. They asked about house sitting, so I thought I'd take some time and talk about my adventures in house sitting.

For the uninitiated, house sitting is when someone asks you to look after their house for a while. They're usually going on vacation, and insurance would go up if no one is there. So they can either hire a professional house sitter, who's been bonded and all that, or they can ask someone they trust.

I've known a number to go with the second option, and the someone they trust has been me.

Now, the thing about house sitting is that it's usually only for a week or two. With the exception of the McQueen household, if you took a two week snapshot of someone's house most of the time nothing would go wrong. But stuff always seems to happen anyway. (So perhaps the McQueen residence isn't all that different?)

My first house sitting experience was taking care of someone's condo in Sault Ste. Marie. It was a two month job. The owners were in and out for the summer. Actually, that summer nothing went wrong. It was great!

I didn't understand the insurance thing at the time, so I thought they were doing me a favor by giving me a place to live for two months rent free!

Anyway, there are more (exciting stories) to come. But, if you have a house sitting story, please feel free to share! We'd love to hear from you!

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