The Apprentice

All last week we had the electrician here along with his two apprentices, rewiring our house. Our electrician is from Romania, and I have to admit that I was charmed by his two young helpers, also from Romania. It was their accents and quick smiles that won me over. Now charming doesn't get the job done. It was the efficiency and quality of the job they did that really counted. They spent two days down in the basement ripping out old electric wiring and making sure that the circuits were balanced. Not only did they do a great job in the basement, they cleaned it up. Really, they swept up all my old sawdust and moved all of our crap out of the way. Upstairs, in our apartment, they moved from room to room ripping out the old wires and pulling new wires. Not one wall was damaged, not one room was left in disarray, and they vacuumed up all the dog hair as they went along. As they chopped out new holes in the wall for the new sockets they continued to vacuum, not allowing one speck of dust to hit the floor. If they weren't so expensive, I'd hire them as maids. I was very impressed that they could put light switches and wall sockets in places that never had them before, and didn't have to destroy my walls to do it. Yes, I was quite impressed with both the electrician and his helpers. We even left them alone in the house while Mark and I went shopping a few times. I trusted them, not one thing was out of place when we returned, not one thing missing. Nothing...  except for the pistachio nuts. On the counter in the kitchen was a bag of pistachio nuts that Mark bought to 'encrust' a fish dish that he had planned. It is to die for, Mark's encrusted Dover sole. He also does pistachio encrusted lamb chops. I could literally live on just that. So on Friday evening I let the dogs out in the yard. They were extremely interested in an area right outside the back door. They were eating something off the ground. Pistachio shells. All over the ground were pistachio shells. When I went back in the kitchen I checked the bag that Mark had left on the counter. It was almost empty. They ate all our pistachio nuts! I fucking love my pistachio nuts and the pistachio encrusted food that Mark makes me. Which is why I understand and forgive the apprentices. Those little green nuts are irresistible, and I don't blow a fuse anymore when I use the microwave.