Dave-The-Well-Guy and his crew finished the well. They bolted a steel cap on top, leveled the walk from the driveway to the fence, then poured cement. The damp concrete still has its wood frame. It should be dry today. We can remove the wood and get on with the rest of the work we need to do.
Our picket fence was damaged by the winter. Broken pickets need replacement. Maybe hinges too. After which, a bit of cleanup and we will have a front walk. Imagine! We can come and go through the front door, saving a whole flight of stairs.
I was going to pay Dave. I was feeling guilty. He had completed 85% of the work last autumn. We have water.
Garry countered, pointing out Dave-The-Well-Guy is not someone you pay before the job is finished. Garry figured if we paid him, it would be the last we’d ever see of him. The project would remain permanently “almost done.”
Owen was restless about fixing the fence and other warm weather tasks. I hoped Dave-The-Well-Guy would get to it. I hate nagging. He had called and assured me we weren’t forgotten. But that was it. No “Dave-The-Well-Guy sighting” followed.
I called Monday and said “If you want to get paid, finish the job.”
He explained winter had caught him off-guard. I reminded him it hadn’t snowed until January 27th. He said he was waiting for the ground to thaw. I pointed out the daffodils are blooming.
The truck arrived an hour later. It promptly rained. They had to stop, but came back yesterday. The well was finished by dinnertime.
Finally.
—-
SLASH AND BURN: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. — Robert Hanlon
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Categories: #Photography, Anecdote, Home, Humor, Seasons
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Yay, all done! Very wise, waiting for completion before handing over payment.
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He really IS a good guy. But he is the ONLY local guy and he takes on more than he can handle. Much more.
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Dave’s assistant looks a lot like Papa Hemingway.
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He does, you know?
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Well you must be happy to finally be at the end of that saga. Dealing with trades people can be very frustrating, they seem to operate in their own time zone sometimes. 🙂
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They absolutely live on a different time plane. Maybe they use different calendars … or the world spins at a different rate for them. But I have found all these people have their own schedules and they never have much to do with mine,
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I remember the day when the well-punching guys tapped into that spray of water. Almost seemed like magic!
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It IS magic. They are very good at finding water. Part of it is knowing the area in which they work … well guys are always local. The rest is a kind of instinct. Magic. And a life saving magic, too.
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Garry was right, never pay a Handyman before the job is done NEVER. Glad you guys got your well.
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All contractors seem to be cut from a common cloth. Paying them is a guarantee of never seeing them again. We have learned over the years that just having a contractor show up to do the work is a minor miracle. So prepaying probably shows naivete beyond words 🙂
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It’s a double edged sword I have to ask for 50% deposit, won’t touch anything without it. Learned it the hard way, got screwed endlessly. Some people still have old values, like “I am good for my word” but the most will take advantage of anybody if they get a chance.
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I would generally have expected that, but there are no materials involved in this, just labor. And I was ready to pay him. When 8 months later, it still wasn’t done, I decided to rethink it!
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Well, don’t pay him for 8 month 🙂
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I’m not going to hurry … but I want to maintain a positive relationship. He is the Well Guy and when you need him, he comes. He always makes sure you have water, even if you can’t pay him at all. And he is my neighbor.
Being himself, he probably won’t remember to bill me for three months anyway. He has yet to ask for any money at all.
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No not at all, it shows values.
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He’s a good guy. Just — a contractor.
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One of my “pals” from my working years advised me you never pay anyone up front unless it’s a “button job”. Never used his services but I was tempted.
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Dave’s a good guy, just not a great business guy. I wonder how long it will take him to send a bill? It takes his brother about 3 months. We’ll see.
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Whew, that is a relief. Until you get the bill. It was nice to be able to use your photos of the daffodils to show the ground had definitely thawed. And they are beautiful
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Those daffodils are survivors! They were there when we bought the house and many other plants have died, but by golly, those are hanging in there.
I’m hoping the bill is what i’m expecting because we never actually did anything in writing. Dave and his family are not dishonest. We’ve been dealing with them — one or another of the brothers, uncles, etc. — for years and I have never known them to try to pull a fast one. But they do forget what they said. They live a mile down the street, so we can always knock on the door and discuss it.
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I’m glad you finally got your well. What an ordeal!
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Thanks. The ordeal portion ended 8 months ago when we got water again, but the project seemed to becoming permanent and ongoing. I’m glad to have it finished. Next, they hopefully will send a bill and we will finish this business.
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Those maintenance workers seem to be an international breed, but if they arrive they finish the job. We had to have a new ventilator fitted in the shower this week. He managed to remove it within a half hour, but the new one has not yet been installed. He had to order it. It is now day 2, so if we are lucky we might have it by the end of the week.
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Eight months on this. He did 90% of the job in about 12 weeks of intermittently showing up between September and December of 2014. The rest has been waiting since then. I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t wrap it up. It was less than 3 hours of work and I haven’t paid him. Surely he could use the money.
You are right. They are all alike. Dealing with contractors is the most annoying, frustrating thing. They act like they are paying YOU.
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And all’s well that ends well!
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Sigh. Yes. Finally. I can (I hope) close the book on this. Of course, he still hasn’t sent a bill. So I guess that will be the final final chapter! All’s well … IF it ends well.
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At least the daffodils are blooming and you have a well to water them (or do you have a rain barrel for that?)
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We don’t water. Too wasteful. But we also get rain often enough to not really need to water. And we don’t have a lawn to protect, either.
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Well, the well is finished. Daffodils are blooming and you can go and come from the front door avoiding the whole flight of stairs……All seems well at your end. I have linked my post for your challenge and left the link in the comment box for you to see. Regards and smiles.
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I haven’t found that comment yet, but I linked your post anyway, on my own. I’m working my way through today’s email. It keeps coming in faster than I can manage it., I’ll get there.
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All d best. You are doing it fine.
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yay! FINALLY!!! 😀
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Yes, FINALLY!! Let’s see how long before we get the bill.
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😀 you can be sure it won’t be as long as it took him to finish the job!
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How cynical. And probably, how true.
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