Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Monday, November 28, 2011

Hmmm....odd jobs that might be useful to look into

Serfing the Web: Sites Let People Farm Out Their Chores: Workers Choose Jobs, Negotiate Wages; Mr. Kutcher, Anonymously, Asks for Coffee
"Manage our worm bin!"

That was the help-wanted note new mom Rachel Christenson posted a few weeks ago at online marketplace TaskRabbit Inc. Neither she nor her husband wanted the "gross" job of dealing with an overflowing compost bin, so she clicked her mouse in search of someone who would do her dirty work.

After about 11 hours and a few crazy questions like, "Are your worms nice?" Ms. Christenson, 27 years old, found a taker. Douglas Ivey, a 45-year-old research scientist, drained the "worm juice" from the bin, put back the compost, mixed in newspaper and hosed it all down. The price? $31. "That guy was bold," says Ms. Christenson, of San Francisco. "He just jumped right in."

"It was completely disgusting," says Mr. Ivey, who added, "I don't mind. Actually, I find the really gross jobs pay pretty well."

Not all the odd jobs on such sites as TaskRabbit or Zaarly are so disgusting, for that matter, and might be a good way to earn some extra money for some folks. It doesn't seem to have caught on yet in Lexington--at least on those sites--but it sounds interesting.

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