It's nice to live in the country, but sometimes it's hard to find service providers.

We've had a trench in the back yard for many weeks, waiting for the electrician to install a new line. Finally, he let me know that his company is dissolving, so I'll have to find a new electrician. I liked this one quite a bit, and he was very competent. The problem was he inherited the electric company when his father-in-law died in a car accident, but now my electrician is getting a divorce and is losing his stake in the business.

The plumber was able to locate a new electrician for me, and he'll be here at the end of next week.



Then, we had some guys lined up to replace the railroad tie steps alongside the house, and next thing we knew, some stranger showed up and said the first guys were too busy, so he was taking over. Didn't hear anything for awhile, and then one day he showed up with a couple of guys who were going to do the actual work. They didn't sound very knowledgeable about materials and techniques, and I hoped they knew more than they let on. But didn't hear anything for a long time, so yesterday I sent an email to guy number two, because he's supposed to coordinating this.



Today, this beat up Dodge truck with an old water heater in the bed pulls into the yard, and it's yet another excavation contractor. This guy knew the materials available, took measurements (the first one to do that), and gave me an estimate on the spot. Work will start the end of next week.

Important to me, is they won't be digging up my natural rock area along the steps.



We need to get most of this done by the end of the month because Mr. TroutBend will be heading back to Las Vegas. It's always better to have him around when major work is being done so he can help with any side jobs that arise out of projects, such as filling in that trench.