I'd better explain Number 8 wire.

My Australian friends tell me they don't understand the term 'No. 8 wire'. As I am originally a New Zealander, this was part of our cultural background.

According to Wikepedia, No 8 wire means this:

Number 8 wire is a gauge of wire on the British Standard wire gauge that has entered into the cultural lexicon of New Zealand.

Number 8 wire is often used inventively and practically for applications other than for fencing.^[1] It is also used as a term that epitomises the "kiwi bloke" as someone who can turn their hand to anything.
The Waikato Museum runs an art award named after the wire.^[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_8_wire

There has even been a book written about this, showing that it meant that a person was ingenious, had good thinking abilities, able to fix anything up.

No 8 Wire - The Best of Kiwi Ingenuity
by Jon Bridges & David Downs
Hodder Moa Beckett 2000

http://www.techhistory.co.nz/Articles/No8Wire%20Review.html

So it's application to house sitting?  As I said in my first blog, it means that anyone house sitting has a 'can-do' attitude, can fix things if necesarry, has a bit of nouse, can use their noggin and work things out.

And this is a huge advantage. Of course it's possible to call an electrician to change a lightbulb, you can call a plumber to stop the water running down the back of the loo, (all it really takes is to unhook the top of the cistern and flick the levers inside), and it's also possible to call in a builder to replace a nail or screw. 

On the other hand, these little jobs are the sort of thing most people can do themselves, and if you've never done them, just a little thought will soon have the problem fixed.  If you can fix these sorts of problems, then you can use a bit of number 8 wire.