No, this isn’t about a religious experience, although at times it has brought out the worst and best of me. Actually this is about my plumbing job, which some of you are already familiar with.

Junior, I figure I can use his actual “first name” since that name may apply to half the men in our county, last name withheld to protect the innocent, has agreed to accept the job to replace my entire bathroom floor as well as replace the fixture that caused the water damage. Hooray!

I really wouldn’t want Junior to read this and find out he wasn’t my first, second or even 5th choice. I’m just happy to have him. However…All the plumbers listed in the book didn’t call me back, and then I started asking for personal referrals. My neighbor, who is a saint, and also a retired tradesman who knows most of the reputable contractors in the county, asked his friend, Tom if he would be interested and he wasn’t, saying he steered clear of bathroom jobs because he always found he had to also replace tubs because of hidden water damage. However, “Tom” gave my neighbor another man’s name, “Billy” and said he would vouch for him. They gave me Billy’s phone number and I called him. Billy was out of town and too busy but he referred me to another man, Charlie, who also was too busy to get to it for about a month but he referred me to Junior. I truly can’t remember by this time if he “vouched” for Junior or not. However, he said he would have Junior call me, which Junior did -the next day. Junior was at least willing to come look at it and did so right away. Apparently he, too, was leery of bathroom floor jobs, and he wanted to examine the floor underneath, etc. He did so and determined he couldn’t see any water damage under the tub, so he said he would do it if I wanted him to, but he also couldn’t start right away. (Thank God, there was no tub damage – I’d likely have to have the house gutted and start over.) By this time I was so eager to have an agreeable person, I forgot to even negotiate the price, I just asked “How soon?” He, being a practical guy, said “Well I think we forgot to talk price.” At this point I’m sure he realized he had an amateur on the hook. We talked price, and I must say I am so happy to have Junior willing to tackle my bathroom, I am very agreeable to pay him the price he requested. I hope Junior will do a good job. I feel pretty sure he will, although my neighbor has never heard of him.

I immediately liked Junior because when I mentioned HGTV, he didn’t smirk and sneer. He said, “You know, I kinda like to watch that too – it gives me ideas.” He didn’t say what my husband always said about it…”HGTV should be outlawed in this country,” or what my son recently commented: “HGTV is wholly to blame for 12 million American women going from being consumers of home improvement projects to feeling qualified to be the general contractor.”

Nope, Junior may not be my first choice, but he surely is one fine man – and he knows the diplomacy that makes a successful contractor –“Don’t argue with the woman, If she likes HGTV, it don’t hurt to pretend…