Be a Yokel - Stay Local

At the end of last month, the circulating pump on my furnance crapped out. Since I was cold, I whipped out the yellow pages and called one of those emergency plumber companies - 24/7 service. A technician arrived in good time, looked around, agreed I needed a new circulating pump, quoted an outrageous price, and urged me to go for a whole new heating system which would cost A LOT OF MONEY. Financing was available. Fortunately, The Kid happened to drop by and immediately put an end to any discussion of anything. He also suggested I call Born Bros. Plumbing on Remsen Street as he had good things about them around the water cooler. So I did. Kurt Born arrived shortly, agreed I needed a new circulating pump, and installed it at, to my mind, a very reasonable cost. We also had a pleasant discussion about prints; I have a collection of framed prints; so does Kurt. He also recognized them as having been framed at Artifacts Gallery where he goes. The moral of the story: I solved my problem at a reasonable cost, employed a Trentonian, and had a nice chat about prints. Not every local businessman will share my interests, but I learned my lession - start local.