Okay, friends, I need some advice.
I may have mentioned my housesitting gig for the summer, but if not, one of my professors asked me to housesit for him as he is taking his family to Oregon for the summer (all of June and July) where he has a summer teaching position. His house is all right, and he has a few creatures - a cat, a few fish, his daughter's gerbils, and his wife's plants.
Given my understanding of housesitting, I assumed I would be paid to stay there. However, when I asked him about it, he seemed a bit confused. I assume now that he's offered his place to college students (and etc.) before as a place where they can live rent-free for the summer ... which would be awesome, except I'm already living rent-free. So, my conundrum is this: Do I say "screw this, I ain't puttin' up with all this for two months and no extra money" or do I say "yeah, good, for the reasons I shall elucidate below."
Reasons For:
(*)I haven't mentioned it here, I don't think, but I'm seeing a guy and have been since April. I think it's getting pretty serious, and it would be spectacular to have an actual place, even if it's only for the summer. As it is, he lives with his (albeit cool) mother, and I live in my roommate-esque situation with my brothers and father, and will probably spend time with my mother. Still, it would be awesome to have a place to call my own.
(*)Just for me, then: The whole divorce thing often drives me crazy, and even when no one's here - I'm watching my house and the dogs for about a week while my family's in Mexico - it's still heavy with an uncomfortable vibe. It would and could be worth it, I think, to have a different place to be for a couple of months.
(*)Apart from the whole "not living with my family" thing, I could certainly get food from my house and supplement it with what I wanted to buy. Then, too, my house is available for anything I may need over the summer in addition to food. I mean, same town and all.
(*)I really do like this professor, even if he's a big nerd. Certainly if I back out on my deal now, he won't write me a letter of recommendation, and I do plan on asking for one.
Reasons Against:
(*)The obvious one, no money. But I will be working this summer tutoring as well, so I have my job to provide me my pittance.
(*)Driving logistics. Since my brother and I essentially share a car, this could be problematic since I will probably staying over there for days at a time. Fortunately, my brother doesn't have summer school or a job, but he's supposed to look for one. How he'll do that, I'm not sure, since he's in Mexico now, will go to Japan a week after he gets back for a week and a half, and is definitely taking one other trip this summer with one of his friends. Obviously, my schedule should take priority, not to mention that they're supposed to be selling one of the dirtbikes and buying another car, and this may serve as the incentive to actually do that.
(*)The time investment. If I'm tutoring, taking a class, and watering and whatnot, my summer may not be as fun-filled as I had hoped. But it's not a huge problem I anticipate.
I dunno, it looks like the reasons for are currently in the lead. It would be nice to be paid, don't get me wrong, but it's not the dealbreaker I thought it was when I first found out.
So, your advice?
I may have mentioned my housesitting gig for the summer, but if not, one of my professors asked me to housesit for him as he is taking his family to Oregon for the summer (all of June and July) where he has a summer teaching position. His house is all right, and he has a few creatures - a cat, a few fish, his daughter's gerbils, and his wife's plants.
Given my understanding of housesitting, I assumed I would be paid to stay there. However, when I asked him about it, he seemed a bit confused. I assume now that he's offered his place to college students (and etc.) before as a place where they can live rent-free for the summer ... which would be awesome, except I'm already living rent-free. So, my conundrum is this: Do I say "screw this, I ain't puttin' up with all this for two months and no extra money" or do I say "yeah, good, for the reasons I shall elucidate below."
Reasons For:
(*)I haven't mentioned it here, I don't think, but I'm seeing a guy and have been since April. I think it's getting pretty serious, and it would be spectacular to have an actual place, even if it's only for the summer. As it is, he lives with his (albeit cool) mother, and I live in my roommate-esque situation with my brothers and father, and will probably spend time with my mother. Still, it would be awesome to have a place to call my own.
(*)Just for me, then: The whole divorce thing often drives me crazy, and even when no one's here - I'm watching my house and the dogs for about a week while my family's in Mexico - it's still heavy with an uncomfortable vibe. It would and could be worth it, I think, to have a different place to be for a couple of months.
(*)Apart from the whole "not living with my family" thing, I could certainly get food from my house and supplement it with what I wanted to buy. Then, too, my house is available for anything I may need over the summer in addition to food. I mean, same town and all.
(*)I really do like this professor, even if he's a big nerd. Certainly if I back out on my deal now, he won't write me a letter of recommendation, and I do plan on asking for one.
Reasons Against:
(*)The obvious one, no money. But I will be working this summer tutoring as well, so I have my job to provide me my pittance.
(*)Driving logistics. Since my brother and I essentially share a car, this could be problematic since I will probably staying over there for days at a time. Fortunately, my brother doesn't have summer school or a job, but he's supposed to look for one. How he'll do that, I'm not sure, since he's in Mexico now, will go to Japan a week after he gets back for a week and a half, and is definitely taking one other trip this summer with one of his friends. Obviously, my schedule should take priority, not to mention that they're supposed to be selling one of the dirtbikes and buying another car, and this may serve as the incentive to actually do that.
(*)The time investment. If I'm tutoring, taking a class, and watering and whatnot, my summer may not be as fun-filled as I had hoped. But it's not a huge problem I anticipate.
I dunno, it looks like the reasons for are currently in the lead. It would be nice to be paid, don't get me wrong, but it's not the dealbreaker I thought it was when I first found out.
So, your advice?
