I have to admit that I’m a little bit concerned about the house. More to the point, I’m concerned about the house sitter. I’m meant to be enjoying this pina colada by the beach right now, and instead I’m consumed with thoughts of windows left unlocked, bin days forgotten, jam left open on the kitchen bench and drains clogged with ant-riddled jam.
I’m sure she’s not as bad as all that, but I’ve never used a house sitter before, and I wasn’t sure how much information to leave her with. Like, I didn’t want to be patronising by explaining every little thing, but I do want to prevent break-ins, busted pipes, water damage and the like. Maybe I should give her a call and check in.
No, I can’t do that. It would defeat the purpose of rejecting my sister for the task, which I did on the grounds that she calls too often with stress-inducing questions. Last year she rang me in Morocco to ask when I’d last had a boundary trap replacement. Melbourne homeowners, what would you say to that? Am I meant to know what that is? I mean, obviously I’d find out if it was a matter of emergency, but in this case it really wasn’t. Melissa just wanted to know because she’s weird like that.
Still, I don’t know if I’m supposed to provide the house sitter with info on more basic things, like who to call about blocked drains. Thornbury has no shortage of plumbers, so I’m sure she could find one with minimal fuss, but what if she’s never called a plumber before? I mean, you never know with 22 year-olds. They’re inclined to ignore things like overflowing sinks until the situation reaches breaking point.
I did catch a slight whiff of her only doing this for the free accommodation, which I guess makes me uneasy about her level of investment. But she seemed responsible enough, and her parents live just around the corner, so she can always defer to them.