by John Boggs

Created on: July 23, 2008

It is about time we all grew up

Becoming upset is the result of unfulfilled expectations, thwarted actions or stifled intentions. We go along in life with pictures in our mind about many things. When a reality occurs that does not fit our vision of what things should look like, we are torn between what we want and what is so. The difference causes us to become upset. I, like others I know, probably spend too much time in the world of "should-be," a place where I can project my expectations upon the screen and make others wrong because the reality they created failed to live up to my vision.

Such a thing happened two weeks ago. The house I live in is approaching 30 years old, and as such, is beginning to show wear and tear. If I were single and living alone, I would move to a newer home in town. But my wife, who has more emotion invested in where we live, not only likes our older home but loves our neighborhood too. So, I am left to do the repairs myself or find suitable tradesmen to repair the failings of my maturing home.

To locate a craftsman I scanned the local newspaper for ads of those ready to serve incompetent handymen like me. Our small-town paper had no less than nine such ads suggesting that hapless homeowners just call to arrange for a free estimate and the solution to their woes. I tore out the page and picked up the telephone. Twenty minutes later I had called them all, left five messages on answering machines, and was certain that at least one or two callbacks would happen within an hour or so. None came that night. The next evening I called the five numbers with answering machines again and left nearly the exact same message: I needed someone to do work for me, and I wanted to talk about hiring them.

Please understand, the ads in the newspaper were for very specific types of remodeling services, and I only called those that fit my needs exactly. I did not call a painter asking for a roofing quote. At the end of the second evening, I was no closer to solving my problem than I was when I first picked up our local newspaper.

I waited an entire week, expecting one of the five tradesmen to call me back, but no one called. I thought long and hard over the weekend about tackling the repair work myself. But as I mentioned, I am challenged when it comes to certain types of home repair. With certain power tools I resemble a characters from Texas Chainsaw Massacre more than a home owner. So I called the five again on Monday evening. This time I reached a live

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