Lakewood, Ohio
A great plumber, who can discover? Mine, Bill Poland, is 83. He gained’t do fourth-floor work anymore. In one of many residence buildings I personal, he’ll go solely to the third ground since there isn’t an elevator to take him larger. It’s his hip, principally, however Bill refuses to get a alternative. “It takes at least six months to recover, and I might not be around that long,” he stated.
“Plus you smoke,” I replied.
“You sound like my wife,” he stated.
Aside from his medical points, Bill is cheap and fairly priced. My backup plumber, Chris, can’t afford to go as little as Bill’s costs. Chris is in his 50s and has 9 workers, a fleet of vans and a receptionist.
Bill is without doubt one of the few plumbers I do know who nonetheless reply their very own telephones. He’s a one-man operation and reveals up for emergencies. Sometimes I want a plumber at 11 p.m. or on a weekend. Water goes wherever it desires, at any time when it desires.
Lately Bill has been utilizing a cane. He informed me, “Back in the old days, a lot of people walked around with canes.”
“What’d your doctor say about the cane?” I stated.
“What do you think he said? He said ‘Cut. Do the hip surgery,’ ” Bill informed me. “He’s a surgeon.”
Bill is a surgeon in his personal proper—a drain surgeon. Chris describes Bill as a “genius with a wrench.” That’s precisely what I want. Property administration is all about water points: Roofs leak, pipes burst, and tenants flush potatoes down their bathrooms. Everything drips. The query is: How often and for the way lengthy?
Bill grew up working in his household’s funeral residence: “There was a lot of heavy lifting in that business.”
I hope that, opposite to what motive tells me, an 83-year-old plumber who smokes and walks with a cane can maintain working for years. I don’t like plumbers with secretaries.
Mr. Stratton is creator of the weblog Klezmer Guy: Real Music & Real Estate.
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Appeared within the July 21, 2022, print version.
Source: www.wsj.com”