The Attack of The Contractors!

Contractor:  A person or company that performs tasks like electrical or plumbing work in construction projects.

I'm having some work done on my trailer home.  I'm having a water softener installed because god forbid I should have to endure the agony, both physical and emotional, of hard water.  The psychic tragedy might cause the earth to wobble on its axis.  Wars have been waged over hard water.  Brilliant minds have postulated and hypothesized over the relative grains of water hardness that the Seaweed household has had to endure.  For almost 5 weeks!    

We asked a water softener company to come out and give us a quote.  The guy talked really, really fast.  He sounded roughly like a high speed dentist drill.  His solution was the best AND the cheapest.  He had some worrisome talking points.  I'm ex-sales - I know about these points.  They're designed to worry the potential sucker . . . er, customer.  I gave him the chance to admit to some weakness.  Anything.  Bad breath, noisome vapors, slickery surfaces.  Nothing - the best AND the cheapest.  I moved on.  It was: Too Good To Be True!

I hired A Contractor to do the work.  The guy is in The Fellowship and he works a good program.  I trust him.  He's also A Contractor.  He's doing both electrical and plumbing work on my trailer house per the definition of A Contractor.  It started well.  He called and said that he would arrive on Thursday and might be able to finish the work that very same day.  That very same day!  If not he'd be able to finish it up the next morning.  The next morning!!

There are many tiny little Seaweeds living in the Seaweed brain.  One of them - just one! - mumbled that this might be Too Good To Be True!  Today is the following Tuesday and The Contractor is still on my property.  The job is not finished.  He has run into unforeseen obstacles - he has forgotten tools - he has had to pick up kids who may or may not be his own to take them to various practices, recitals, exhibitions, and the occasional wilding.  He arrives and he leaves.  He sees new situations.  He recalculates old situations.  He's a nice guy.  I like him and I trust him.  But he's A Contractor!

Insanity: repeating the same action over and over while expecting different results.