Doing the Work

After several failed attempts, we finally found a guy who is actually doing the landscape clean out job we've needed for years. It amazes Wifey and me -- supposedly so many people want work, and yet she makes appointments for landscapers, and they don't show. My friend Pat suggested a fellow last year. He quoted $500 for the job, and left after making a pile of clippings about three by three feet. It appeared he hadn't even visited. Wifey asked the owners of the nicest looking landscaped houses in our 'hood, and got a few names. They quoted absurd amounts -- thousands and thousands of dollars for what needs to be, at most, a two day job. Well, salvation came in the form of Roberto -- referred by my friend who's building a new house. Roberto came by, quoted my $450, and after working most of yesterday, before the rains came, did an awesome job. We saw oolite boulders and bromeliads that had been hidden for nearly a decade. My pond was clearly visible. The "D2" trees, which we so named since they always bloom beautiful purple and white flowers right around D2's birthday in February, have been trimmed back to manageable size. Roberto is due back to finish today. He told me he'd charge $450 for the job. I plan to pay him more... Finding people to actually do the work is tough. It's no different in our law business. Everyone likes to do the fun part of things -- chatting up clients, sitting around with coffee or cocktails and stragegizing. But taking the actual files, and pouring through them to know them better than an Orthodox rabbi knows the Torah -- well, that's another story. And as a result, cases get bogged down, and the simple task of our office, turning white paper (letters and pleadings) into green paper (money for our clients along with fees for us) ends up taking much longer than it ought to. When my partner Paul and I were active, we launched ourselves into the process aggressively -- almost to the point of ridiculousness. We were once hired by a client who fell through an unsecured abandoned elevator shaft in a Miami Beach hotel, had the lawsuit filed and noticed for trial within 2 months. The defense lawyer laconically went to court and asked the judge for a continuance -- as a matter of course. The judge, friendly to the Plaintiff's bar, refused. The defense lawyer panicked, we mediated, and settled for close to a million dollars in less than 6 months from the accident date. The client was blown away, and thankful. Our referral lawyer was ecstatic. We happily earned our fee, and thought that was the way it ought to be -- no one was paying us to let the case sit around. In short, we did the work, and we did it fast. It escapes me why more people don't get that and do it the same way. For now, I'm just happy we found Roberto. When the cooler weather comes, I look forward to walking around the yard, admiring his work. There is so much nobility in actually working on a job, and doing it well. I wish it was more commonplace, in all aspects of life.