Reply #15: yeah, patience of a saint... i don't have that level of patience.

[NuttyFluffers]

now the context makes sense why your husband said that. but whatever, it's a partnership working to get the house painted. sure he may have felt extraneous, but if you got it, he could have just wandered the store and let you and the paint lady do business. well, his ego was bruised, and if you wanted him to feel better you could take him to the hardware store and ask the difference between a crescent wrench and a monkey wrench, but honestly who has the time?

but apparently you live somewhere between ne'er-do-well and hell. i don't know if i could take that much incompetence hopped up on egotistical entitlement. kill my trees so you could look busy? get outta here!

if i were you i'd try to work on setting up a BBB or some sort of licensing board, or even apply for a grant to build a vocational tech school in the area -- even if it does nothing immediately it would feel like you're doing something and might lower your blood pressure. at least your educational training might leave a regional legacy of some actual training/standards available for the next generation. though how much time you have for that in between watching these nincompoops like a hawk is anybody's guess...