I was wiped out after my contretemps with Max, and spent time indoors doing minor stuff. Our pool cage netting had ripped away from a large overhead panel, and I was waiting for Joe, a Pine Island screen guy who had told me he would come Friday, and then couldn’t make it, so he would come Saturday, and he didn't and I couldn't reach him.

I figured he was giving me the run-around because repairing one panel isn’t worth his time. The answer to that is say so, instead of saying you’ll be here and I stay here, trapped, for two mornings in a row. I went on the internet to find other outfits that do screen repairs. I got one, a very nice guy, said it wasn’t worth their coming out for one panel – they had a three-panel minimum for $150, but he referred me to a guy who works without a net (meaning no checks, please), who would do the work.

This fellow, Nick, came the same day in the afternoon, worked 2 ½ hours, had found other screens that were pulled away but we had not noticed, so we said, yes, repair them all. So he had a $225 job and we didn’t mind because he was a good worker and it needed doing.

Then I called the no. for Joel, told him that we had found a reliable screen guy who we paid $225 to replace five panels, and to have a nice life.

Service workers of the kind Joe represents have a short-sighted view of doing business. It pays to do the small jobs because the customer, when he has a big job, will call you. The walkway to our house is flanked by areas that have stones on them and had plants that were old and gnarly and shedded constantly – it is very tiresome to clean plant debris from stones so I had the plants removed and now we can see the old, dirty stones, and Ed hates the look. We plan to pave the area. We’ll remove the screen that encloses the small step-up vestibule to our front door, and install a cage that will encompass that and the new patio. It will attach to a mid-height stone fence abutting the walk way on one side and attach to the house on the other. We'll put in a table and chairs and a couple of urns with flowers. Hey, maybe we’ll even have a perennial fountain. It is a substantial job that we will now give to Nick. And when we call him and set it up, I will then call Joe again and say, we just contracted with the guy who did the “small” job to do this and we are paying him $$$$.

That’s as evil as I get.

xx, Teal