My first hot contractor

The plan was to blog about the fitness center in my building today (lets just say it's no Golds Gym... more like a Curves, but with no pilates) but something else came up.

There are a fair number of construction dudes walking around This New Condo because the building is still a work in progress. I always know a contractor is in the hall or around the corner because their Nextel walkie talkie phones are always chirping. The Nextel walkie talkie is the bell on the cat's collar for builders.

Anyway, maybe I've been conditioned by Hollywood or Madison Avenue or Van Nuys to expect Mike Delfino or that guy from the Diet Coke Commercial or even one of these guys to be on the jobsite. The hot construction/maintenance/workman guy has always been a part of our cultural landscape. Stanley Kowalski, the dude on "Kitchen Accomplished," Russell Crowe in "The Sum of Us," we (or the "we" who make movies) seem to have an ideal, a mold that all blue collar, construction dudes are pressed from. THIS jobsite though is staffed with very talented, professional craftsmen who came from real life, not central casting.

Remember my tile problem? It's fixed. Done on time, under budget, by a tall, broad shouldered, italian accented, craftsman with helluva handshake. He came complete with the requisite tight t-shirt and toolbelt too! I never learned his name, but I've decided that it's Paulo. When his Nextel chirped Paulo actually answered, "Caio!" Now I'm not a single guy, not looking for fodder with which to write a letter to [name you favorite skin mag here] that starts with, "I never thought these stories were true, until one day..." but it was a cool surprise to open the door and find the Hot Italian Tile Guy instead of Larry the Cable Guy for a change. He did good work too!

Looks like the whole thing might even be covered under warranty!

Why do I feel the need to blog about this? Weird. Just part of this new homeowner experience, and that's really why I write these posts, right? Yeah, right.