Huck Finn Revisited

Brother Bear, General Contractor, has been hired by Five Bears to paint the fence on the right side of the house. After discussing with the customers what they wanted, inspecting the job, and evaluating the time involved, Brother Bear GC came back with a quote of $20 to be completed within 1½ weeks. Today was Day One.

Fence built 2 1/2 years ago...needs to be painted.

So, after helping to get the lid off the can of paint, and confirming the "stirring procedure" (you really need power tools for this?!?)....

...and locating small rollers and a paint pan, half an hour or so later I went out to check on the progress.



Not bad for ½ hour of unsupervised work.



I asked Brother Bear if he was subbing out to Angel Bear. After explaining the roles of General Contractor and Subcontractor to him, Brother Bear says, “I’m not PAYING him, he volunteered!”. After reminding him that we had agreed on an early completion bonus, and with Angel Bear’s help the job would be finished that much faster, I left Brother Bear to think on what would be fair. Brother Bear is already calculating how quickly they can finish the project in terms of what that might total out to in payment. Shrewd business mind. We’ll see what happens when the project is finished.

Just a quick note on maturity and development. A year ago, Brother Bear would have said "Yeah, I'll do that for $20", started the project, and then peetered out when it got tough. I think he's got enough focus and determination (and desire for funds, which he's already spent in his head), that he may just finish this project on his own. And, he's already calculating how much he might charge to paint the larger fence on the left side of the house. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that maturity is catching up with desire.

End of Day One

P.S. I think I'm getting better at the "boy" thing...