Ground rules

The housesit arrangements originated through MindMyHouse.com and were organized by C and myself with the husbands in the background. She had prepared a couple of pages of printed information and instructions. As might be expected, much of this had to do with the pets' needs. There was a fair list to cover -- how much food, of which type, how often, who goes outside and who doesn't (cats both indoors), when and where to walk the dogs, sleeping arrangements, vet's phone #. Twice there was an apologetic, "I hate to mention this, but . . ." to be followed by the requirement to give the arthritic doggie a daily dose of cod liver oil (no, not from Newfoundland) and his companion a twice-daily squirt of ear drops. Not exactly a burden .

We stopped by the post office to see where to pick up the mail. They showed us where to buy groceries and the best pet food store. We visited a friend in a posh but soulless housing development. The requirements of the assignment are not demanding. No complicated rules we'll find hard to follow. Some of the housesitting adverts I read in recent months were outrageous. "Sitters will be expected to walk Precious for 60 minutes each day, 30 minutes before breakfast, followed by two 15-minute walks at 2:00 and 8:00 p.m.. She needs to be brushed for a minimum of 10 minutes each evening and requires a foot massage twice a week."
The expectations for the house are also quite relaxed. In general we are to treat the place as our own, and try to adhere to the recycling rules. The sole disappointment is the vehicle. We knew we would have use of the pick-up, but did not realize it has a standard transmission. I don't drive standards. (They have other vehicles but I believe they are also manuals.) For three months Jim will have to drive me around -- such a drag for both of us, though he has not complained.

Here is our Canadian moment for the day: In the post office we met an old geezer whom C knows well. When she asked him how he was, he held up his hand and showed the finger where he was bitten by a rattlesnake in September. He gave us the entire scary story about having to drive himself to the hospital, fighting to stay conscious, emergency treatment with the antidote, three days in ICU, and -- the truly frightening part -- the $72,000 hospital bill. "And", he added, "it already cost $90,000 for my back surgery in the spring." It sure made me want to go read the fine print on our travel insurance.