apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The scariest thing for me was when the houssitter called to say that my indoor cat had clawed through the window screen and escaped. Luckily she was found later that day hiding along side the house and was not harmed.

My biggest vacation fear: accidentally leaving a stove burner on.

I have had serious OCD about this particular fear for the past 20 years. I double/triple/quadruple check the stove every morning before leaving home for work. I even touch the burners to make sure they're cool and, therefore, turned off.

When I go on vacation with friends, inevitably one of them will joke, while we're on the road or on a plane, "So, David, I don't think you checked the stove before you left - well, hopefully you're house won't blow up to bits while you're gone."

I have an electric stove. It was even worse when I had a gas stove.

A fire. It doesn't matter how careful you are- if your neighbors do something stupid, you're screwed. There were a couple of bad fires at my last building, which luckily didn't impact me. But between smoke damage to apartments above, and water damage to apartments below, a fire doesn't have to be that bad to cause the neighbors grief. My new building has sprinklers in all of the kitchens, which gives some piece of mind. I check the batteries in my smoke detector, have renters insurance, and keep my fingers crossed.

my greatest fear would be pet-related (getting lost, sick, etc.) but this past June while we were away our freezer died and left a large puddle and some VERY nasty smelling stuff in the freezer. ugh. it wasn't atrocious, but it certainly wasn't fun to come home to.

Vandalism. I would hate to get robbed but the idea of someone destroying my stuff and my home just "for fun" is scary. It happened to my grandparents one year and they never fully recovered from the icky feeling of imagining some bad guy cutting up their Super-8 family movies.

:(

Are a lot of people preparing to go on vacation right now? August seems to be the tail end of vacation season. Maybe people can share the fears they had, and whether or not they were proven right.

Oddly enough, my fears usually involve my car when I fly for business or pleaure. I fear it either it being stolen or vandalized at my house or the airport lot. I guess that is because I have roommates and no pets...

The opposite could also be scary. Living in the city then you go to a secluded house in a very quite mountain area. Then all you can think of is being out of cell phone reception area and people sneaking up all manson family like. Also like the movie from two months ago, The strangers. The trailer alone is creepy.

I have a two-fold burglary/pet fear. I fear that a burgler will come in my home and somehow injure one or both of my two extremely friendly cats. I think this fear started when I saw an episode of Animal ER on Animal Planet and a home intruder had pulled the teeth out of the resident cat's mouth and caused other bodily harm. Disturbing.

Well, let's see. There's the time I went away and the basement took 4' of water because the sump pump failed. then there's the time where I went away and the stupid cat clawed it's way out the window and fell - 9 stories - and was just fine. I tend to be OCD about making sure doors are locked, but I know my places is about the last anyone looking at this building is going to choose unless they're going for something very specific.

Pet worries, but someone posted about not going on a trip with her mother because she had a cat and didn't want to leave the pet and her mother died and they never took a trip together. That really made me sad. Being with family is the most important thing. I have great friends who will take over care of horses, goats, geese, dogs, cats, birds, work emergencies, whatever. I focus on the fun of each day away and will deal with home problems when I get back. A bear came through the neighborhood while I was gone in July, but all pets were fine. I had cat poo in the house, nasty, but trivial.

I haven't been on vacation in quite a while, mainly because every time I go, I come home with a serious or painful injury. My last two produced broken bones and pinched nerves.

Well thankyou for now putting all these bad thoughts into my head before my vacation!
One question for ( anaximander ) ---You left your window open on the ninth floor of a building? I sure do hope you do not live in my building. Screens do not keep out the rain.

David: You may actually be my soul-mate.

I hate this thread...