Pet sittingGetting to the Apt.:If you’re coming from Rive...

Pet sittingGetting to the Apt.:If you’re coming from Riverside, you’ll want to turn ontoMagnolia. So, if you’re coming from north to south onRiverside, that means you’ll want to turn right ontoMagnolia; if you’re coming from south to north, take aleft. If you’re coming in on I-75, you’ll want to get off atthe Downtown exit. If you get to the Cemetery Road exit,you’ve gone too far. That’s all if you’re coming from southto north on 75. If you’re coming from north to south on75, still take the Downtown exit, but don’t go so far thatyou reach the junction with 16, because then you’ve gonetoo far. Once you take the exit (the Downtown exit),you’ll want to take a right or a left, depending on whichdirection you exited the freeway from. If you came infrom south to north, then you want to take a left whenyou get to the light. If you came from north to south,take a right.
Once you get to Magnolia, my building will be on yourleft, at the end of the block. It’s a seven-storey brickbuilding. But, if you come at night you probably won’tbe able to make out the bricks, or how tall the building is(there are lots of trees!), so look for the drug store on theright at about the middle of the street. It’s a CVS, and nextdoor is a Blockbuster. The Blockbuster and CVS are onlyabout fifty yards from my building, which will be on theleft. You can park on the street from 10 AM to 4 PM fortwo hours before you get a ticket. But if you come duringrush hour (between 6 AM and 9 AM and from 4 PM to6 PM) you won’t be able to park at all, and your car willbe towed. But if you come really early (before 6 AM) orlate (after 6 PM) you won’t have to worry about parkingat all. But, Sinamyn doesn’t like to have visitors that earlyor late, so I recommend not coming during those times.Also, as for the parking, Magnolia’s not exactly a “safe”street during those hours, so if you park, be sure not toleave any valuables in plain sight, and I’d just leave thedoors unlocked, so that the homeless don’t break anywindows before they riffle through your things. Once, Iparked on the street and returned and found syringes onthe floorboards and I’d only been parked down there forlike twenty minutes!
Once you get to the front of the building (the addressis 419, FYI; I know you’ve been here before, but, just tobe safe!), look to the left, on the brick wall (here you’llactually be able to see the bricks—even at night, becauseof the street lamps. They’re really old, aren’t they?), whichwill be west of the main door. There’s a telephone dialingpad sort of thing there. Dial *0265, which will unlock thefront door. Then you can get inside. Inside, there will be ahallway to the left, but don’t go down that. To your rightis the staircase. Take the stairs to the second floor. At thesecond floor there will be a door labeled “2.” Open thedoor. You’ll want to turn left inside the hallway, and takeanother left. There’s no other way to go, so you shouldn’thave any trouble with this part! On the left-hand side ofthe hallway you’ll see my apt., No. 265 (I know, I haven’tchanged the code to unlock the doors downstairs yet, andI should probably get around to that, but I knew you’d belooking after Sinamyn and this would make things easier,so I’ve been putting it off ), about three doors down on theleft. The floors here are all original hardwood, so if you’rewearing heels, they tend to clack quite loudly. That’s nota problem, unless you’re coming at those really early orlate times, because I wouldn’t want you to wake up theneighbors. Mrs. Gitlen, (across the hall) is kind of old,and rather suspicious, and I don’t think she sleeps much,or she is a terribly light sleeper, and she might wake upand think you’re a stranger and call the police.
Once you’re inside the apt. (the other day at work I gaveyou two keys. The round one’s for the deadbolt, thesquare one’s for the knob; I had them made that way soyou wouldn’t get them mixed up), the kitchen counterwill be on your left, and that’s where I usually set downmy purse when I come home. It’s just a convenient placeto put down your things so that you can get settled beforetaking care of Sinamyn. By the way, thanks so much forthis; you’re a big help!
Feeding:
Sinamyn only needs to eat once a day (she’s been on adiet since she started puffing up, and the vet said that forher age she shouldn’t be putting on that much weight, soI’m not feeding her as much).
To the right of the kitchen counter you’ll find therefrigerator. On the right side of the refrigerator is therefrigerator compartment. The left side is the freezer. Youshouldn’t need to get into the freezer at all, especially ifyou don’t give in to Sinamyn’s whining for more food!I’ve left enough for her to cover the day I’m gone, butshould you need any extra, there’s some in the freezer. Ifyou open the freezer, on the middle shelf (the bottomshelf contains my ice cream. Sorry, I know there’s a lot ofice cream. I don’t know why I’m saying sorry about that;it’s my ice cream and I shouldn’t feel bad; I’m just thinkingwhat you might be thinking when you see all that icecream. Well, you know what kind of month it’s been, soyou probably understand) you’ll find Ziploc freezer bagsof Sinamyn’s food. These have been frozen to preserve theflavors, because I read online that if the food is kept in itspackaging at room temperature for more than six months,it gets bland. I don’t know how it is that they know that.Can you imagine? So, should you need more food takeone freezer bag and set it in the big pot in cold water inthe sink to defrost. That’s how I do it. I don’t like to usethe microwave, because eventually—even on defrost—itstarts to cook the food, and then it turns into this mushymess that Sinamyn won’t even look at. If you turn aroundfrom the refrigerator, you’ll be facing the island that sitsin the middle of the kitchen, where the sink is. To the leftof the sink, and below it, is a cupboard, and inside you’llfind pots and pans. The “Big Pot” I use, is the dutch oven-looking one that has the clear lid and sits on the bottomshelf of the cupboard. Just drop the freezer bag into thepot, cover it with water from the tap and let it sit in thesink. It usually takes about twenty minutes to defrost. Feelfree to watch television while you’re waiting. You can alsowatch TV while Sinamyn’s eating, before you take her onher walk. If there’s nothing good on the TV, I have everyseason of Buffy on DVD. Operating instructions for thetelevision and DVD player follow below . . .