Lesson of the past few months: Contractors are overpaid & useless. (Sorry contractors, but according to most of your own conversations, everyone else you know completely sucks at this job too.) 

[s]Believe me, this comment is a vast understatement of what I've been dealing with.[/s]

But on the bright side, I finally made the front of my house all spoopy, with Halloween decorations. [i]Even had my other next door neighbor, finally introduce himself & give me a skelly to use.[/i] (And I've had a pretty good October too, all things considered.) 

[i]I just hope there's enough kids on all the streets nearby, to justify the amount of candy that I bought in preparation.[/i]