Author: Pet worker/gig worker/life worker

Every task I abandoned had the same epitaph, it was too complicated. There was too much stress and not enough time. Can it be different now?

You have to learn how to be in your space when you work from home. Please recognize that it’s a different place now. 

Take my desk. In my mind, it is meticulously organized with gentle lighting and incense sticks. In reality, it looks like a paper monster vomited all over it. I avoid even looking at it. 

Instead, I write on my laptop on my couch, legs propped up with an orthopedic wedge. Elvis, a senior poodle,  lies on one side of the wedge. Riley, the Boston Terrier puppy, rests between my elbow and forearm as I type. 

On this couch with my doggies is where I’ve discovered I work best.

It should be stressed again that this blog is a chronicle, not an advice column. I am not a finance expert. In fact, Friday morning I discovered that my checking account was overdrawn because I hadn’t transferred funds in time. A financial advisor would give me a well-deserved scolding.

Experiences like the one on Friday are not uncommon in the gig-work world. The life of a freelancer is volatile.

But learning the price of even small things can steady you.

Ziplock bags, rubber bands, plastic containers from Citeralla, paper napkins that came with fat deli sandwiches. I’ve learned to reuse each of these items. 

Those containers store flaxseed and sugar. On walks, I fill them with water so my dogs don’t get thirsty. Why buy Tupperware?

Envelopes once packed will bills are my new post-it notes.

The pages from an old agenda book are scrap paper for my daily to-do lists. 

An old pillowcase makes a good cozy for a blender or a slower cooker.

Ziplock bags are used over and over again to freeze everything. The rubber bands which held together containers of sushi and grape tomatoes I tie around bags of frozen vegetables.

I wipe down my counters with old wash clothes. I just cleaned up a dog’s accident using paper napkins from the deli.

What can I be repurposed as?

Dollar stores and hard-boiled eggs

A hard-boiled egg, how did I never realize your versatility and value before?  I make an egg salad sandwich after walking the dogs. Salmon and avocado can be added. If I am running out in the early morning I have an egg and a banana.  

The granola bars my best friend scores me from her office are also good for on the go snacking.

Discount stores always looked dingy full of collapsing shelves and low-quality products. Then I started to compare prices on hand soap. 10 ounces of hand soap at Duane Reade costs $2.50.  At the 99 cent store on Amsterdam Avenue, a 14-ounce bottle of hand soap is $1.39.

I taught myself how to make coffee using an old espresso machine. Family Dollar has bricks of espresso for $2.50.

But even with dollar stores, you have to do comparison shopping which leads me to.

Bulk Buying

In New York the cost of living is high and space is severely limited. For years I was tempted to buy in bulk but where would I put everything? Then I started thinking seriously about toilet paper. The Amsterdam Avenue discount store had individual rolls of generic toilet paper for 89 cents. These rolls looked like they had been handled by many people.

Walmart offered 20 rolls of Scott for 69 cents per roll.  I found space in the upper shelves of my closet for kleenex, paper towels, and TP. These shelves weren’t used before now they are.

Plus the Walmart packs were sealed so I didn’t have to worry about multiple people fondling the merchandise.

Amazon usually beats Duane Reade for prices on dishwashing detergent and cold remedies.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not a big box store advocate. While Duane Reade doesn’t need anymore more of my money I would be very upset if my local bodega/produce market closed. After all, they have the best deal on lemons and grapefruit, 5 for $2.00.

The saviors; eBay and Trader Joe’s

Last spring Trader Joe’s opened down the street from my apartment. By offering quality food at excellent prices this store changed me.

Dagostino’s, we should have divorced much earlier. $5.00 for a half a gallon of orange juice? At Trader’s Joes, you can get your OJ for $2.50. Trader’s even beats Walmart and the dollar stores by selling a pound of pasta for 99 cents.

I have curly, tangly hair. While I can cheat by using store brand conditioner I have to use Ouidad styling gel and shampoo. Otherwise, things aren’t good.  I always bought products directly from the salon before. The same products are sold on eBay for $10-15 dollars less. When I couldn’t download books from the library I bought them for $4 or $5 on eBay.

Speaking of the library the best part about this economizing was discovering what an amazing resource New York Public Library is. They offer an incredible array of classes both online and in person. And you can download a vast catalog of books off of their app. It’s all free.

Unfortunately, finding a new use for a Cozy Shack pudding container does not yet translate into having the confidence to refinance my mortgage. “Yet” is such an important word in this life. 

Even when I had a magazine job and the financial security it provided I had a lot of trouble making investments. But that is another blog for another day.

In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the tiny rush of self-sufficiency that comes from turning my fraying hoodie into cleaning cloths.

“Her refusal to accept the reality of this business cost her the company of a cheerful dog.” -Journal entry from three weeks ago.

I started writing this blog a month ago. It would have been devoted to scolding a fellow sitter for refusing to watch Beamer, a terrific Labradoodle because his need for attention interfered with her writing.

“Don’t get me wrong. I would rather be in the park holding back an excitable dog than vying for space on a packed subway.”-Journal entry from two weeks ago.

This was written before I spent 5 days walking a dog who lunged viciously and violently at other people on the overly crowded sidewalks of my neighborhood. Straining every muscle I still couldn’t keep him off of a friendly doorman from two doors down. I’ll take the 1 train at 5 o’clock over that sidewalk.

I started this blog before a shingles rash broke out on my right ankle.

This was drafted before I was bitten by a dog who supposedly loved all other dogs and people. The bite punctured not only my skin.

The writer who rejected Beamer wasn’t the only one not facing reality.

Another trauma proceeded all of this.

Illness, a skilled assassin, found me on Good Friday.  With four dogs to take care of, I was suddenly delirious from a high fever and vomiting. More agonizing than my symptoms was knowing that I couldn’t connect fully with my dogs.

I was overbooked, unprepared and ashamed. In my old life, I felt this way all the time.

The stomach flu changed this job for me. I wish it hadn’t but it did.

It wasn’t all pride and pluck before the flu. There was joy and hope with every new canine connection, every walk, every bit of revenue. I miss that optimism.

Hopefully, this petwork vocation is evolving not ending. But I just don’t know. I do know that without multiple bookings my revenue will go down. And this decrease will call into question whether or not I can actually make a living at this. This scaling back could cost me the company of dogs I love.

My sitter network is a great resource. Many of us struggle to find a balance, to be profitable, to recover physically and emotionally from difficult situations. “Take care of yourself.” “Be patient.”  We affirm each other. All of us love our dogs.

Next week will be another busy week. Let’s see how I do.