Maybe?

Shockingly, I got a call from a contractor (?) after filling out a form on Angi. He emailed and called, and of course I don’t answer my phone, so I emailed back the full scope of the project and warned him of the particulars - there’s no address, there’s no water or power, there’s not much money. I was amazed when, a few hours later, he wrote back that he loves these kinds of projects and he’d like to come see it tomorrow. 

Of course I’m skeptical - we’ve had so many guys out there I’ve lost count at this point, and they’ve all been untenable for one reason or another - but part of me believes that, just like with trying to have babies on my own, persistence in the face of disappointment and setbacks is key. I sent him a pin of the place and he said he’d go by tomorrow. Who is he? It sounds like they’re a property management firm. He thought this was an Airbnb that needed repairs and he sounded slightly taken aback that it wasn’t. There’s almost a complete lack of web presence which concerns me - there’s no way to get reviews on these people. But my experience has been the places with flashy websites also expect flashy budgets. So that could be a red flag or could be meaningless for our purposes. He said he has references and I intend to call them all, even though of course he’s only going to send us positive ones (and the guy that ripped us off had references, too, which I neglected to call). He says he won’t take any money upfront. So we’ll see. I figure if we get a signed, detailed contract, and the price is right, there’s no reason not to proceed. At a certain point you just have to trust people, which is hard after everything we’ve been through, but the place has to get finished, and logistically I really don’t think we can do it ourselves. So, here we are. 

I am currently withholding this information from the H until it looks more solid - a written estimate, perhaps, or until I have to meet the guy out there and can’t lie about why I suddenly have to head out. For all I know this guy won’t head out there at all and I’ll never hear from him again. Or he’ll say he’ll write something up but not actually do it. You know - contractor stuff. 

In the meantime I plan on another solo trip next weekend because of course the H has to work. I asked a friend who expressed an interest in going so she may join me. I’m looking forward to it. 

Theo was sent home with a covid test yesterday because apparently his class was “exposed” - and his teacher has been absent since Tuesday. His test is negative, but who knows. It’s pretty shocking that these kids never caught it. Still waiting for that shoe to drop. Bobby has been part of a grade-wide playwriting project which will culminate in some actor parents performing it on Monday night. It’s cute to see his excitement about it and how he wants to make sure we’re early so we can get good seats. He’s mostly a pretty even keel kid and can be hard to read, but every once in a while he’ll suddenly show enthusiasm for something and it’ll surprise me. He joined the yearbook club unexpectedly this year, which of course delighted me since I was the editor of my high school yearbook. It just gives me happy feelings about what fun it’ll be to watch him grow into junior high when he’ll have lots of opportunities to start leaning towards some interests. I asked both kids recently if they had any inkling of what they’d like to do for a living - Theo doesn’t know, but Bobby says he’d like to be an engineer, but I think he mostly says this because we’ve told him a few times he’d be good at that. I don’t know if he’s prepared for the amount of math involved. But I can see right now that he’s got a very organized brain - he’s perfectly capable of staying on top of his homework and projects, which is pretty good for an eleven year old boy who would I’m sure much rather be playing Gorilla Tag. When I was their age I probably still wanted to be an actress and a dancer; when I was twelve I saw Picnic at Hanging Rock and it blew my mind so much I decided right then and there that I wanted to be a filmmaker, which I avidly pursued for about twelve or so years until I realized that path was going to be completely impossible without money and connections and I had neither. I don’t think either of these boys will ever be interested in taking over my business, assuming it survives, which is just as well since I’ll have to do it all my life, which means they’ll have to have taken on other careers anyway. So, so much for a family-run business. Some day I may be tasked with finding a successor, which is an interesting thought. But I get ahead of myself.