We had to increase our rates recently. Fuel prices, insurance rates, parts, repairs, they have all been costing us more just as they do you. We made an increase but have begun splitting the second and following hours in half. Remind us to take note of the time upon arrival and we will get accurate billing. Our trucks carry lots of repair parts so we don't have to go get them on your dollar. Other plumbers come to their clients' homes in small vans or pick-ups and repeatedly go after parts on clients' time. We promise to carry typical parts in plentiful supply. Occasionally an oddball repair will cause us to run, but rarely.

Those of you who know us already understand our resoursefulness and ingenuity. We have even heard "clever" applied to our troubleshooting.

The price-shoppers will know frustration at plumbers for poor service and poor workmanship.

You get what you pay for, Starbucks or McDonald's!

Malachi got married on November 18, 2006 to Brandi. We wish them well (we don't want them to move in with us!). Malachi and Brandi went to Nashville for a few days before exploring Indiana. His parents had been married twenty-five years and five days. Now two anniversaries will be celebrated in the third week of November each year. Our families make quite a to-do about wedding anniversaries, we want to keep watching the numbers get larger each year (25th, 30th, 50th).

November 3, 2006 I installed a shower door for Tom H. It was a bad day from the get-go. The door wasn't there when I arrived. The client had arranged for the purchase of the door. Oh well, go back across town to pick it up and return to begin. I looked over the boxes for damage and unpacked everything to let it get acclimated to the home's temperature and humidity. Where's the instructions on this odd-ball shower door? None to be found I called the manufacturer. "We don't send out instructions." Now what? I couldn't guess and miscut, the damage would be on me! The wholesaler said they'd have some instructions sent over by fax. Good, go back across town to get the instructions. But they only sent three pages. Another call by the wholesaler and more pages come. Good to go. Back across town to the home. Now I find about 1/2 of the instructions still missing! I think I was riled up by then. Well, left to my own devices I put it together and with some help from my friend James it got installed and looks beautiful. What should have been a three hour project took eight. But hey, it's there and Tom is happy so I'm happy. Yea, happy to have that day done!

At the end of October we had some turn-over. We lost one employee and gained another. We'll have pictures on the line soon. The new person worked for us early in the year for a month and worked out well but went on to work in his family's business. James Rupert is welcome and you will find him curteous and well trained.

Just for S. Andrews: I like reading James Whitcomb Riley, but Ogden Nash is my favorite with Shel Silverstein coming in close second.

I was sitting at the light at Vernal Pike and 37 on Monday the 16th of October. BAM! A small car hit me in my step-van. It made a lot of noise but didn't hurt the truck too much. Her car was beat up pretty good on the driver's front fender. Ms. Fox was visibly shaken and shaking! I got in her car after we pulled aside and we chatted a while. I decided to give her a pass when the state police showed up and not make a report. Her insurance would have gotten wind of it, don't you know. After all, it was raining and now she knows to let up off the brake to steer around a stopped vehicle. I'm sure you'd have done the same thing if your vehicle didn't have noticable damage. Let's remember to do random acts of kindness. It'll pay us back one day when we need it most.

The biggest tip I ever got. $200. See if you can top it! Ha! Ha! ;) I bid a job to take two days and it turned into a nightmare of four and a half days. I stuck to the original bid. J. Shaffer was kind enough to note the extra effort and reward me for sticking to my word. That was as recent as October 2006.