The American homeowner’s idea of hell on earth is a kitchen remodel by a bad contractor - the kind who demolishes the old kitchen, removes the windows and disappears for a month. So we hired a kitchen designer mostly to get a referral to a reliable contractor. She found us Chris Nelson, Nordic Construction, who she said was a very skilled and conscientious contractor. Chris scared me at first. He looks like an old biker and his gigantic truck is painted orange and black; Harley Davidson colors. He loves to argue about politics and I dubbed him a “libertarian-curmudgeon”; a person who thinks he should get to do anything he wants and also thinks everyone else should do what he wants. He liked the title. He also loves Vikings because they were so tough and they discovered America before Columbus. He and his partner turned out to be ideal contractors. Near the end of the job Chris, who has been married about 40 years, admitted he used to collect Barbie dolls. But, as he perused Rachel’s Barbie catalog, he said he collected them because they are hot.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Calls from Rachel. Rachel helping me buy clothes (my personal stylist). Visiting San Francisco. Living in Sacramento. Mark’s Prius. Library bookstore. Seedless watermelon. Competent, considerate kitchen contractors. Stephen Colbert.