Wanted: A contractor with a working cellphone

Stupid cell phones! That's all we can say. First, Pickle's phone now Indy's phone. Coincidence or typical contractor excuse..."my phone's been messing up all day." Anyway, Noel has been put through the ringer trying to get the bid from Indy. He tried last Wednesday when he put up the gate. He tried the next day (after contacting Indy on Wednesday night to tell him that he was coming down to Tullahoma to get the bid on Thursday), going down to Tullahoma before heading to work. Noel went down to T-town, called Indy, left a message, had lunch, waited, then saw Indy driving through town talking on his phone. Had he returned Noel's call? Silly people, of course not. Turns out Indy's phone was turning off when he folded it up and put it in his pocket. He heard Noel's message but said he then forgot to call him back. Once again, I ask. If you were expecting someone to call/meet up with you, why, oh why, would you not check your voicemail or return a call. Nevertheless, we finally got the bid from Indy (late Saturday night out of his mailbox), which turned out to be a bit higher than Fishy's bid. Indy, however, is not as detailed with his bids. He gives you a number based on the highest amount the house could cost-to-build. We fully expect that if you use Indy to come in under that bid. Follow me here. You see, the cost-to-build, considering strictly materials and subcontractors, should essentially be the same or very similar among all three contractors. Indy has the lowest commission of the three contractors. Fishy has given us a significantly lower bid for his turn-key house. We expect Pickle's bid to come in right around Fishy's. With those two being very detailed in the bids, they are probably closer to the correct cost. Since their commissions are much higher for Fishy and Pickle (15-20% and 12.5%, respectively, compared to Indy's 9%), we would expect the final price to be lower. I can just hear my mom in the back of my head saying, "That's what you get for thinking." Ha! I hope I am right, though. 

Today Noel met with the electrical engineer, Drew. Drew is going to draw up and quote a couple of different options for the electrical lines. We have to add this into our budget. It's amazing all of the different little things to consider that add up: running electrical lines, carving out a driveway, getting a water tap installed, building a fence. Cha-ching! Cha-ching! Cha-ching! Be prepared. Even though these are expected expenses, there will be many more (well, hopefully not too many more) unforseen expenses.

Waiting on Pickle's bid. Queue Jeopardy theme music... 

Check out our poll on the right. We'd love to know what you think. On a side note, Indy got a new and operational cellphone from Verizon yesterday. We are very grateful.