May 15, 2008. Harper, Texas.

Actually, it is all my fault. This morning we left San Antonio to check out our latest completed project at the lake, prior to paying the final bill. The project was a renovation of the project completed last Spring. Unfortumately, the system never worked properly, so we had to hire another contractor to fix the problems. The repair turned out to be more expensive than the original construction. The whole idea started with me.

We were sitting on the deck at the lake enjoying ourselves. Our plan was always to keep the landscaping no maintenance, so to get to the lake we have a wooden walkway, with both sides left in their natural state. Once a year David cuts down everything on both sides of the walk, and the wildflowers and shrubs come up again. It looks wild and rugged but attractive. I decided to myself that the girls would enjoy a pool and stream with the wild bushes removed so they could run around. Ken thought it was a good idea too. We did not ask David and Suzanne. This was signifigent, because by our rules, if you want to buy an object over $100. you have to all agree. If you do not ask for approval, you have bought the object yourself. It's a good rule and has worked well since we purchased this lake house together in 1994. So now we are stuck for the whole bill.

Ken and I contacted companies to come and give us a bid, and the young man we chose was by far the lowest bid. We hired him, and he and his wife worked like dogs until it was complete. We were not in town,but David checked it out and everything worked and looked beautiful, so we paid him. He built a pond on the lower level, where the water is pumped up into two small ponds, then courses down two separate streams, finally joining tpgether before it falls into the lower pond. It looks and sounds great, and the girls love it. We also had him plant a bunch of flowers and bushes. Now it is lovely, so with chairs situated here and there you would think you are in heaven. The only problem was the pool at the bottom was too small, so every time we ran the fountain and stream, the water level was so low more water had to be added. We called our first man Eric. No answer. No place to leave a message. We are stuck. But he did complete the job and it worked, kind of, and we paid him the agreed price. The problem was that he seriously under bid the job, and he was not about to spent a minute more on this same job.

Ken found a local company who seemed to agree with Ken as to the solution, so we hired them to fix the error in size, plus plant two more trees. Now it looks great, and functions properly, without having to add water. David and Suzanne and the girls will love it. But as Ken reminds me when I complain about the cost, it really was all my idea.