Free at last

My kitchen sink is now back in business, thanks to the plumber. I was pleased with the service: punctual (and anyone who has dealt with plumbers knows how unusual this is), efficient, polite - and he even cleaned up the mess afterwards. It cost 107 Euros (flat rate), and was cheap at the price. Highly recommended to readers in Raum 7.

It is characteristic of (perhaps only southern) German craftsmen that they don't like dealing with money. I assumed on past (Canadian, English) experience that I would have to pay cash on the spot, the plumber assumed that I would be sent a bill by post. He phoned the office, and was told "do what the customer wants," so I gave him cash. We talked about the financial aspect as he was writing out the protocoll cum invoice, I said that I was happy to pay for a service well and promptly performed, he replied that many customers don't see it that way: they argue about the price and try to haggle. Maybe I'm a fool, but I would consider it unworthy, demeaning of myself, to haggle after being told and agreeing to a fixed price, unless the job was badly done. "The workman is worthy of his hire," my mother always said, misquoting Jesus slightly, and I live by that.

The blockage was a bolus of sticky, slimy, evil-smelling black sludge which he identified as "fat." Ye gods, it's (almost) enough to turn one into a raw-food vegetarian. I wonder how old that must be? I don't cook fatty meat, nor do I use enormous quantities of oil. (There was indeed a clot of congealed un-dissolved Drano crystals in the u-bend, but that was incidental to the problem.)

In other news another four-day weekend is upon us. We (the architects) all have today off since G "needs some peace and quiet" to do more massaging of prices and quantities, still trying to reduce the building costs. Sunday is Pfingsten aka Pentecost, and therefore Monday is a holiday. As yet, no plans other than work as usual: It's already June, my God, and the Hobbyist project is nowhere near finished.