The Wizard and the Craftsman

     The Wizard had returned.  He strode in to retrieve the last of his acquisitions, most notably the sea dragon pups that had been kept in ether and his divination stones culled from the hellish depths of the earth...

     Actually, the pups were formaldehyde-preserved baby sharks, which would soon be subjected to high-intensity MRIs.  The divination stones were large geos, curious collections of semi-precious stones taken from volcanic pits in Africa (take a 3 foot tall stalactite, break it in half vertically; inside are huge, jagged crystals of purple, red, green and blue.  There were seven of them, each weighing 250 to 300 lbs.  To me, the stones and the creatures were as precious as any man made art, classics included; in my world, a natural rainbow always trumps the printed one).

     As for The Wizard, he was the Professor who hired me last month to help him move his first batch of lab equipment and samples.  But this time, he wasn't alone.  In his almost empty home was a Contractor with whom he had apparently done business before.

     I thought they were ready to kill each other.  The Contractor  was a hard working, multi-talented, Conservative entrepreneur, whose businesses ranged from licensed work to renting his own properties.  The Professor was more Liberal,  a bleeding heart rationalist who visibly recoiled at the Contractor's endless "Dittohead/Fox News/ShaunHannity/Limbaugh"-soaked diatribes.   

     As I continued to carry boxes of sensitive equipment back and forth down the stairs, I noticed something else.  The Professor was moving, so he trusted the Contractor to paint and make small repairs for either a prospective buyer or renter.  Likewise, when the Professor offered to pay in advance, the Contractor refused and said  "Just pay me later". 

     Tonight there is a debate of Presidential hopefuls in Iowa; eventually, the President hopes to face one of them in the usual debates.   I am losing interest before the race has even started.  I work a regular white collar job and moonlight frequently, so I know this much is true:  Ordinary people - who respect and trust each other - don't need politicians to help them get things done!

     Always B Positive!