This is How it Works

If you ever own a home and you need something fixed, this is how it works.

You call a contractor. The contractor comes out to your house to check out whatever the problem is. He (and it is almost always a man - though our contractor came with a woman. I suspect she runs the business side of things and he handles the actual fixing part) tells you all the things that will need to be done and then gives you an estimate. They leave. You call later and either schedule the job or tell them the price is too high.

Then, he comes out to your house. In my case, he showed up with two other guys. He ran through what needed to be done, in Spanish, with the guys. Then he leaves, telling me these are his "great guys" and they'll take care of everything. They do not speak English. I do not speak Spanish. If something is wrong, they will call the contractor.

So far, it seems like things are going well. There have been no phone calls. Though, right now, there is also no work being done because they seem to be on break. They also seemed uncomfortable with the fact that I switch from cooking to reading at the kitchen table, which is in direct line of where they were sitting in the living room, having their break.

So, now I'm upstairs in my office because I don't like to make people uncomfortable and I feel guilty because I don't speak Spanish and can't make them more comfortable.

****

I'm cooking chili right now. I got a recipe from my mom which she doesn't really follow. I was supposed to use it as a guideline. Basically, I cut up pork tenderloin and threw it in a crock pot and added crushed tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans, red wine, minced garlic, and some spices. Now it's going to cook for 8 hours or so. I hope it turns out. It was supposed to have bell peppers and onions but I didn't have a bell pepper and my onion was moldy - I bought it a couple of weeks ago when I meant to make chili but didn't get around to it and used the meat for the original chili for something else. Apparently, onions don't stay good forever. Who knew?

Anyway, I've never made chili before, so I hope this doesn't suck.