Half the fun of a vacation is -the anticipation! Remeinber the day you went to the travel agent and returned home with ten color brochures of resort condominiums in Spain? For me, the worst part of travel is preparing my home for our absence. What do you do with a houseful of cats, plants and equipment? Where do you store valuables? What do you do with your kids if you should be lucky enough to go alone or with your husband? What if the pipes freeze or your home is vandalized? Where do you leave your cars? How do you arrange for emergency messages? What about mail, papers, milk delivery and garbage? Here is my checklist. Try it! HOUSE: The best arrange- ment is a “house sitter.” If you can’t find or afford it, use these guidelines: 1. Have a friend check the premises every day. They will have to remove mail and flyers, rotate lights and look into freezers and refrigera- tors. 2. Cancel deliveries such as milk and newspapers. This can be tricky, though. When you leave papers to be picked up by friends or neighbors, they may forget. But, by cancelling deliveries, you are advertizing the fact they you'll be away to fifty or a hundred strangers who wouldn’t have known. One might be a crook. One way of avoiding this problem is to cancel regular milk delivery several weeks before departure, giving no date for resumption. Trust your house-watcher to pick up all papers. 3. Buy a gizmo that switches- on lights and radio at a certain timé every day. Everything is automatic — all you do is set the d.al for “on and off time.” 4. Set your thermostat to 60 degrees in winter, below 50 -in summer. That will insure that your pipes won't freeze should a cold snap hit in January and also keep your fuel bills down. Have your sitter turn on the taps for a few minutes every day 5. Don’t forget to empty all garbage containers. 6. Remove all perishables from refrigerators. Once, in the rush of leaving. | forgot to check the fridge. Several left-overs developed a terminal case of mould. The odor in the appliance and the containers was best described by a four-letter word. Passport photos hile you wait North Shore Darkroom 1627 Lonsdale 988-9813 TRAVEL INFORMATION GORDON HANNA 987-9501 Vea ahh PEEP OT ECANGS be yeti 6. Inform your insurance agent that you will be away. While you're at it, buy an extended health plan for your holiday. Include baggage insurance if you are taking a lot of expensive stuff with you. Be sure that valuable antiques, paintings or ornaments are “scheduled” in your policy, 7. Anything that can be moved to a place of safe- keeping should be. It makes - no sense to leave your great- grandmothers coin collection in your desk drawer. Rent a_ safety deposit box for your diamond tiara. 8. Leave instruction booklets for regular appliances such as pool heaters with your house sitter. If the system breaks down, it is easier to cope when instructions and serial numbers are close at hand. 9. The local police force or RCMP are anxious to keep crime at a minimum. A call to their office will provide a - check-up on routine patrols ~ | and swift action ifa neighbor .— reports “something fishy.” 10. Close fireplace vents. Pour some pinesol or other junk in your toilets. Drain .:.. the sludge out of the bottom. of your hot water tank. > Change all beds and mop the floors. PETS: Dogs do best in kennels. Check-out the place before you trust “Bowser” for a kennel. CATS: They do best at home with a reliable house-checker to provide daily food and water. We have a “cat door” installed so that our pussies If your you'll have to find a “house per- son” who enjoys cleaning the can get in and out. cats use a sandbox, thing. Lotsa luck! BIRDS: Here again, trust your “sitter” unless you have some friend who will agree to babysit. Transporting birds to other locations in mid-winter is tricky. Adivse your vet your departure. your sitter. HAWAII. $299 Alr only WAIKIKI $469 6 Days, 7 Nighta, Ai & Hote! WAIKIKI $579 16 Days, 14 Nights. At & Hote: LAS VEGAS $179 5 Days. 4 Nights, Al & Hote! RENO $239 0 Daya, ? Night, Al & Hote: RENO $179 6 Days, 4 Nights, Ar & Hote: CENTA Tours 1666 Robson Street 10507 K. Geo. Hwy. Surrey 689-7117 Reg. Travel Agent No. 167-3 | by Ba rba ra McCreadie to their care. Be sure he has had all his shots. Your vet is the best person to ask when looking about Leave complete instructions with Arrange for a line of credit should medical care be necessary. Be sure that all shots are up to date. Kiss “Bootsie” goodby and hope for the best. PLANTS: Move them all to a central location. Leave instructions for watering. If all else fails, set them in the bathtub in an inch of water and be sure that the bathroom curtains are open for light. Don't let any trailing leaves touch the water. CARS: For winter vacations, be sure that you've got decent anti-freeze. I leave the keys to both of ours with a neighbor who turns the engines over occasionally, while he is moving them to alternate parking spots. This has a dual purpose: The cars get cranked and thieves are disconcerted when they see allt fen, PELs eset hag TN ii ut De p< ‘i {fh ul aL wt Hay i vas tty . mm IMMEDIATE DELIVERY! Super $500 Saving Today Our $500 factory rebate means big savings on any new '79 210 Sedan, Station Wagon or Hatchback. And great features are part of the low price. The 210 shown above includes — MacPherson Strut Front Suspension — Tinted Glass— Front, side and rear window detrosters — Bi-level ventilation— Rear flip-out windows. Our deluxe models add pile carpeting. fabric seats and much more Dataun 210 §-speed in Itres per 100Km convened toMPQG andcomparbato 760 0 1 ratings tor Mavench Monte Carto Valiant and Comet Actual Conaumption will vary ~~ **Based on Transport Canada approved ratings to: feo seoatnds ea it | the machines in difterent spots. Anyone who wishes to steal “Lemonade” blessings. What -nicer sentence for a car thief than to be stuck in heavy traffic when my little car decides to take a nap! EMERGENCY MESSAG- ES: If all our kids etc. are with us, I don’t want.any! But, should the worst occur (Did someone steal Lemonade? Was there an earthquake that eliminated our house?), we leave a complete itinery with the house sitter, our Offices and other people. I phone home every week, even from far-away places such as Argentina ($12 for three minutes, day rates). I've discovered that it is almost as cheap to telephone » as it is to send telegrams, and ma ‘Nay “Wh i Ca Lt | | "ty diy jl ill in , | | 0 has my ~ Mi i > ig eset _ Vi a hell of a lot more in- formative. KIDS: Take them or leave them, they're a:problem! If you get a sitter, I hope you've got a neighbor who likes you will enough to check up on the situation now and again. Sitters aren't easy to find. 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