Living the Good Life

As some of you may recall, Bryan, the contractor working on my kitchen renovation, was on his way over one afternoon in early April, but never made it here. I called the hospitals. I checked the morgue. To my relief, I did not find him there. I phoned a friend. He said Bryan had hopped a plane to California, for a week’s vacation. We can all use a little spontaneous R&R every now and again. I wasn’t mad, but I was a little jealous. I patiently waited for his week to pass.

Bryan never did returned to finish the job. He never came by to pick up the tools he left in my backyard. He never answered his cell phone. (I probably wasn’t the only client calling.) While I was a tad concerned about Bryan’s whereabouts, I was more concerned that I was stranded with a non-functional kitchen.

I quickly realized kitchen contractors are pretty busy in April. Seems a lot of folks use their tax return checks on home updates. Who knew? Luckily, I found Chris – on a tip from a bartender. (What can I say, I was getting a bit desperate after 6 weeks with no running water.) The kitchen was completed and Chris moved on, but the pile of Bryan's tools remained in my backyard – a constant reminder of the great disappearing contractor.

Last week, I found out that Bryan is indeed alive, and living in California. Seems his plane did not go down on his return flight. He never actually boarded a return flight. I’m glad he’s not in jail (as my brother speculated) or laying in a gutter somewhere. He’s simply enjoying the sun, sand and surf on the west coast. Oh, to be young again.

I’ve since given away Bryan’s tools and moved on to the next home improvement project, but every now and again when I walk into my kitchen, I picture surfer boy Bryan living the good life in LA.