>     I have always wondered what appropriate gifts are to give the
>     people, sometimes whom you have never meet before, who generously
>     share their homes. Any suggestions?

A home that doesn't look like it's had guests. No stray bottles that
are in odd places; a reasonably clean sink with reasonably clean
dishes; a sofa that won't attack anyone with unsuspected sharp
objects....You know, a home that's "cleaner than when we arrived".

Note, please, that all of my crashers have always cleaned up after
themselves, so all of this is second- or third-hand. One does hear
tales, however.


(Post-revels are a whole other story. [sigh] There was one where
I kept finding bottle-tops under sofas and on top of bookcases
for a couple of weeks afterwards. And let's not talk about the
$12 worth of returnable 5-cent bottles I had to deal with, nor
the olive-jar-juice stain on the rug after someone tried to chug a full
bottle of olives. I don't give post-revels any more.)



Alban