Pet Care, Inc.

We do a fair amount of pet sitting, and for N it works nicely because it's sort of a job for him. It's not a constant situation, but enough so he can make a few bucks here and there. The people who “hire” him are usually generous and understanding that he's just a kid trying to earn some extra dough (to support his fabulous lifestyle). I'm more than happy to help out by driving him to certain locations, though in some instances he can simply ride his bike, which he does. We don't expect payment from our friend, HH, because she's practically family, so how can we possibly charge her?

Interestingly enough, every now and then we get the perfect storm of pet care and are watching over upwards of 3-4 households, sometimes with chickens, as well. That's when things get a bit more complicated. This holiday season we fell into this routine, and coupled with mom being away, we were jumping through all sorts of hoops just to get these pets cared for. One of our regulars, JC, lives a little far away, so we have to drive over on remote dirt roads to get there. Our good friend HH was also leaving town, as well as S&T and their three cats and chickens. There were only a day or two of overlap, but even when things are staggered, it can get a little crazy. Again, when you add chickens to the mix, it brings with it a whole new dimension of responsibility and worry.

On top of all that, we had to feed the animals on Christmas Day, and we got slammed with a big snowstorm. I woke up this morning to see all the white stuff and thought, “There's no way we're getting out of our driveway.” This presented us with a problem for HH's animals, because they have a dog and he needs to be walked twice a day. You figure he's gone all night with a bathroom break, so the morning walk is important. With the snow raging outside, I contacted HH and told her we were in a bit of a bind, and she contacted her neighbor who said he could do the job. Boy was I relieved, I really like HH's pets and felt like I was letting them down. Also didn't want to have a doggie accident in their house. I mean, can you blame the pup?

That leaves us with doing S&T's cats and chickens. Their situation is complicated by the fact that they live on a massive hill, and their driveway is a long sheet of ice. We park at the end and walk in, and even that's a challenge with the conditions as they are. Sometimes on Christmas Day, all you want to do is sit around the house and eat Christmas treats.

Oh well, at some point we're going to have to make the sojourn up the hill. I just hope our car makes it.

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Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Ramon Bataller for the pic.