A Brief & Granitic Update

Remember the granite installer who was given a copy of the drawings and specs to bid on the Lapidus granite install for the million-dollar house? You know -- the one who substituted cheap granite in his bid, didn't clearly note the change on his bid form, and then when informed that the owner would "no way in hell pay for your mistake" blamed it on the contractor saying he bid what the contractor told him to bid? Well, after talking to the weasel, the contractor decided to dump him, go find another granite installer who will probably cost a lot more to do the work, but not charge the home-owner for the extra cost.

This honorable decision will probably cost the contractor $2,000 to $3,000, and I suppose he could have tried holding the weasel's feet to the fire. But he decided that life is too short to deal with weasels any longer than absolutely necessary. So there.

What was it I once wrote about this contractor -- being an honorable gentleman and all-around likable chap? I rest my case.

He is, of course, the rarest of exceptions. Most contractors have a bit of weasel lurking within their mongrel DNA. The question is usually a matter of how much is too much. The answer usually involves something about how life is too short...