FLORIDA - Clearwater - 2016 - House Sitting - Another assignment with friends / clients

I received an email from a house/pet sitting client asking if I was available to watch their home and furry family as they had to leave on a family matter.  Without question, I said yes

It all started a couple of years ago, when I received an email asking if I was available to house/pet sit for a family living close to my home.  Due to prior arrangements, I was not available at that time, nor the second time they contacted me.  But, I was available and anxious to meet with potential clients.

Taken with my dash-cam

Finally, on the third attempt our dates coincided.  Why did Jerry and Marcia continue contacting me to care for their home and furry family?  I like to think it was because prior to sitting, we had the chance to meet each other.  That meeting was not only an 'interview' between homeowner and house sitter, it was the foundation of a friendship.

Since then, I've watched Jerry's and Marcia's home a few times.  Yes, there are still times our travel dates don't workout, but we work through it.


With this house being so close, I spent some time taking care of things my own home.  As such, this is one of the hardest house sitting assignments for me to write about.  Basically, I continue with my daily life, with the one major difference, I sleep someplace else.

Anyway, when I received the email from Marcia, it was a no-brainier for me.  My trip to be with family for Christmas and New Years was drawing near an end, I left as scheduled.

Within 24 hours of being home, I stopped by to visit with Jerry, Marcia, where we spent about an hour talking about our latest adventures.  They had already made transportation arrangements to the airport, so making sure there was no significant changes in the assignment, I got the key and we bid our farewells.

For the first couple of days, as usual, I spent time with the cats, Sammy and Quinton while unpacking my stuff.  With the weather being cloudy and cool, not much time was spent outside.  Besides, it was a new year and I had to do my file and email purging.

The one thing I did during this assignment was buy a boat.  I'd been considering it and looking for over a year and felt the time was right.  After making contact with and looking at a few boats, I found a 16 foot flats boats; perfect for fishing the bay waters in my area.

The rest of the sit was spent taking an online 'safe boaters course', getting the never-ending incidentals needed on a boat, and tinkering with it.

Until next time,
Mike