What, you're doing it for FREE???

The life of the housesitter! It's a strange sort of life, stepping in to a virtual stranger's house and taking care of the pets, the mail, etc. At times I feel like an intruder or imposter: "it's not my dog" is a common answer to questions about the dog's weight and questions about the reason for his name.
Most of all, it's a lot of work taking care of a teenaged dog. He needs to get tired out every day and that's a hard task for someone my age. I'm going to get tuckered out way before him. And I'm not going to run with him in tow; I need to be careful with his need for tug of war games that a strong dog like him doesn't yank my arm out of its socket.

But it's a lovely house I'm staying in and a lovely place, Bainbridge Island (WA)! I'm getting to know most of the parks. I have a hot tub I can use.

I am doing it for free, as is the rule for the website, Housesitters America. But it's a lot to do for free. You better love the place and love dogs (in this case, chickens and aquarium fish as well). I've heard of some housesitters who will only take care of cats. The older woman with the young big dog in the dog park here charges a lot and knows someone who charges even more per day, $70! She couldn't believe I was doing it for free. Maybe I am making her look bad or lose value?

Really, I am doing it for a good reference but I now realize there is such demand that I really shouldn't have been anxious about getting one. It was long ago that I made the decision to housesit here, perhaps 3 or 4 months ago. Free room and board in a beautiful place is the obvious advantage.

Overall, it's been a very good experience. The family I am housesitting for are very nice people, as are the people I have met, such as the neighbors and the people who come to the dog park and the people at the beach park in which it is unofficially okay to let dogs run free. I feel I could almost be considered an "islander" though of course that's ridiculous after two weeks.

There are things I don't know how to use or make work. Watching their big screen TV seems so complicated that I have pretty much given up. I was happily watching MSNBC on the TV in the dining area and Amazon Prime shows (I am not a customer) on the big screen but then the smaller TV stopped working and just shows a logo for Comcast. Three remotes to watch the big screen is two too many! The house feels complicated; there is so much to learn! How do I empty the vacuum cleaner? Where do they keep plastic bags? Where is the light switch for the porch? Did I feed the fish today? Where is the cup for the blender? The questions are infinite! It's a bit like being a substitute library worker! You don't know where they keep stuff, again and again.

But how can you not love a dog like this? The frisbee is his prized possession. My favorite caption from Don: "Designer cone of shame."

And the beach is so lovely but at this time of year, brrrr! Maybe the homeowners could stop sending me photos of them in bathing suits on the Caribbean beach?