I win at the internet.

[mrissa]

And ladysea wins with me.

Our gutters had gotten past what we could clean ourselves: the screening is all very well, but what it means is that the little fine particles get in there instead of the big leaves. So: less frequent cleaning required, but kind of a pain when it does need doing. And I have had just terrible luck getting people to return calls, do bids, and show up when they say they will, so I was kind of putting off starting to make the gutter-related phone calls.

Are you paying attention? Sheesh, people; get your minds in the gutter.

Anyway, ladysea recommended ServiceMagic.com, where you go and give them your zip code and what you want done, and they call you. And they did. The ServiceMagic people called me immediately when I said it would be okay to call, to verify my information and go over their policies, and then one of their contractors called immediately and said they could do the job yet today if we wanted them to, and for a price I considered reasonable. Um, sold! They were on time, they were polite, they were efficient, and they spotted a problem with the dryer vent that was next on my list to fix and fixed it at a discount "since we're already here."

And I didn't have to make phone calls. I got to work on the book when I would have been making those phone calls.

(Remember? I hate phone calls.)

I am just boggled by how well this went, and I am totally using this website again. For bigger/more expensive/more skilled jobs, I will probably spend more than five minutes picking the contractor, but the fact that they called me back promptly and did the work promptly is making me happier than it probably ought to.

*hugs the internet*
*hugs ladysea*
*does not hug the gutter people but gives them money*

Calling promptly! Working promptly! Whatever will they think of next?