Today was doomed. Here’s what I knew going into today: Robyn was going on Day 3 of a horrible stomach virus and most likely would not be able to work. Jessica was stranded at a client’s house! She was house sitting for a client when, during the storm last night, a tree came down pulling down the electric wires across the driveway. While out on the property with the dogs, Jess heard an explosion and saw lights flash and shoot up the driveway and then the house was plunged into darkness. This is a huge house on a hill with the only way on or off the property being this driveway with a bridge going over a creek. Sounds a little scary, no? I did get a few more texts than normal last night as Jess sat in the dark. 🙂 As of today, PECO had not gotten to the wires so it seemed Jess was not going anywhere. I was now left with 11 midday visits to work out between mine, Robyn’s and Jessica’s! Jon was able to add 2 of them to his schedule. Trooper that she is, Robyn made it out at 1PM to get 2 of them done. After I’d done 4 visits, I went to where Jess was staying and implored the PECO workers to get Jess out of the driveway. They got her right out and she completed the next 3 visits. I’m happy to say that we worked this out without bumping anyone off the schedule and got to everybody within their required time frames. I am so thankful for the dedication of my staff and the fact that they feel the same way I do – we have a responsibility to these animals and just have to find a way to deal with obstacles. Please know that not all pet sitting services operate this way. I received a call this morning from a client who uses us as back-up to another pet sitting service. Her sitter had called that morning saying she wouldn’t be doing her visits due to water in her basement. I asked her what happened to the sitters this woman has working for her. She said she had no idea and was quite frustrated. Unfortunately, I had to tell her that I wouldn’t be able to help as I had my hands full with the ones who were already scheduled.
Despite a bit of stress and craziness, I had a great time on my walks today with Gumby, French Fry, Abby, Tango, and Ellie. I remain so thankful every day for a wonderful business, great clients, and just the best dogs and cats ever.