> 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