The Con-Tractor
- Michael Jay Tucker's explosive-cargo
- 6 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Okay, so last time I had us thinking about building a Casita in our backyard. I had had a moment of pure, unadulterated, industrial-strength madness thinking about doing the work myself. (HA!) And then we...okay, I...admitted the sad fact that me and construction are just not a marriage made in heaven. Me and total devastation, now that’s something entirely different. There we got simpatico. Or maybe a vision of the apocalypse. Six of one.
So, we headed out in search of a Contractor to do the thing for us. As I indicated last time, that’s when ran up against the grim reality of building in the midst of a seller’s market.
You see, at just the same time we were trying to do this, Austin...and much of Texas in general...was in the middle of an major economic boom.(1) We were surrounded by new housing developments. West, East, South, and North there were homes springing up out of what used to be grasslands and prairie. Between the housing developments (all of which seem to have names like “South Winds,” “Pink Waters,” “Continental Sunshine,” etc.) were enormous apartment buildings, with vast parking lots, and apparently no shortage of young commuters as residents. And they all look exactly alike. The buildings, I mean. Not the commuters. (2)
About the photos: First, our living room on Christmas Day of this year. You can see our house a little too small, perhaps. But, we love this room and its cozy ambience. If the Contractor had had his way, it would have been turned to rubble. Second, Martha looking amused here in Georgetown. Third, and finally, a bloom of a flower I took not far from our house. I believe this is a Peacock Flower, but I don’t know for sure.
And, belatedly, communities are trying to build the infrastructure which all this requires. There are new roads and highways and bridges in progress everywhere. And along them are strip malls, grocery stores, and (Texans love their cars and trucks), car washes are appearing like tumbleweeds on a windy day. (3)
So, given all that building, contractors can be kinda rare. And it took us a while to locate one who’d even talk to us. But, we finally did, and shortly past the mid-point of 2019, there appeared at our house a man of middle-age who I’ll call “John.”
John came into the house and we explained what we wanted. A Casita, we said. You know, in the back yard, we added. An out-building. That we’d use as an office.
“Uh-huh,” he said.
Uh-huh? we asked.
“Hmm,” he added.
Ah...yes...hmm, we replied. That’s it exactly.
“Of course, you *could* do that,” he said.
Well, yes, we could. And we intended to.
“But,” he said, standing up and beginning (uninvited) a tour of our house, “it would make a great deal more sense to simply extend your house. You’d start by punching out that wall there...” pointing at one end of our tiny but functional living room... “and then that wall there...”pointing at the end of the bedroom....”and then replace the roof, and then we’ll work on the kitchen, and after that...” and on, and on, and ON.
When he was done, he had a vision of the whole rear end of the house taken down to the foundation. Our bedroom would be uninhabitable... “but only for a couple of months”....the kitchen would be unusable, the rear porch would be gone... the living room and the second bedroom would be extended six feet into the backyard...and it would be done “oh, in no time at all. A year. Maybe two years. Two and half tops.”
And all it would cost was maybe four or five times the price of a Casita. Okay, maybe six times. But, who’s counting? (4)
Yikes.
We very carefully, very politely, very firmly showed him to the door.
Well, we said to ourselves, what now?
After a bit of thought, we decided we needed to do things. First, we’d try to find another contractor. Second, we’d start looking at some of the companies which we’d seen around the area that sold prefab sheds and outbuildings. Those looked like a better bet.
So, the very next day I got up early and headed for my usual coffee and doze in the front room before dawn. On my list of to-dos was a big red “Contractor.”
And who knows? Maybe I would have actually got around to finding one.
Except...except...
That was the morning I heard...
“The Rats In The Walls.” (5)
Footnotes:
1. Though, interestingly enough, not all of Texas is. As in the rest of the country, certain (mostly) urban areas are doing great. But, many a small town and some rural areas are in serious trouble. This dichotomy is, I think, a root cause of much of the political unrest of our times.
2. But, who knows? Maybe there’s a certain similarity.
3. And they, too, all look alike. The joke is that every strip mall in Texas has a vape shop, a Chinese, Mexican, or other “ethnic” restaurant, a chain pharmacy, maybe a hair dresser and/or a nail shop, maybe a soul-destroying after-school “enrichment” program, maybe a Judo or other martial arts school for (mostly) kids, and, depending on your county, a liquor store. Thus you can destroy pretty much every part of your body in one convenient location.
4. Answer: we were.
5. Actually, they weren’t in the walls. They were in the ceiling. But “The Rats In The Walls” is the title of one of H.P. Lovecraft’s most genuinely terrifying short stories. Unfortunately, it also reveals the racism of the time. But, still, it’s well-written, and genuinely scary. You can see it here: https://www.hplovecraft.com/WRITINGS/texts/fiction/rw.aspx
About the photos:
First, our living room on Christmas Day of this year. You can see our house a little too small, perhaps. But, we love this room and its cozy ambience. If the Contractor had had his way, it would have been turned to rubble. Second, Martha looking amused here in Georgetown. Third, and finally, a bloom of a flower I took not far from our house. I believe this is a Peacock Flower, but I don’t know for sure.
Copyright©2026 Michael Jay Tucker
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