Oh, my. Roofing. So many moving parts, so to speak. Tear off the old felt, yes or no? Change the weatherhead or just the thing around the post that the power comes into the house through? Square footage of both the house and the garage roofs. Permits. As we settled into working through the numbers for the job it was kind like old-home-week because he's been here a couple of times before and we have several mutual friends and he did some work in the village recently (making this easier - he's already registered at city hall).

The insurance company rolled dollars for other "losses" into the payment; some painting and window treatments and the fence, so I have to go through their numbers and see what was dedicated to the roof and what this contractor will do out of all of the things noted.

I put the dogs in the yard before he came in, but later let them in so they could greet him and we could all go out in back to look at a couple of things on the list. He remembered the previous dogs (a pitbull and Catahoula) - gone for many years now. These two are just as friendly.

We both have things to research and we'll speak again on Monday. The work might happen later that week. As we talked in the driveway and looked at the garden, I asked if he likes eggplant; not so much, but his wife loves them. I cut a fresh one to take home to her. The garden is great for goodwill.

Politics comes into this job. The current shingles are from a roofing supplier, though he tells me there is something similar and easier to get from Home Depot. I told him I'm not shopping there much, and why (no more DEI). The first place costs less, but is on the far side of town in one location if they need more; Home Depot is everywhere. This man speaks enough English that we can discuss this job, but at home I'm sure they always speak Spanish. Does it matter to him that I don't shop Home Depot because of their policies? His son, a US citizen, will apply for the permit, so it might.

I looked at the house as I let him in - my goodness what a mess. The power outages didn't help.