The electrician

came yesterday. He has put in a new cable - from the two boxes on the wall that the NBN man put in - to a point halfway through the house and relocated the router. 
His comments about the location of the boxes were scathing. Apparently they should not have been located at that point although we were told they were the best place for them - apparently "best" meant "easiest" and that is what the NBN man was required to do.
So far the internet has only dropped out once since then. I may be able to work with less frustration now.
It is fortunate we know our local electrician well. He did some complex work for the Senior Cat's workshop about twenty  years ago. He put in a new air conditioning system the year before last. When the old one was not working reliably he turned up on several occasions and didn't charge us his usual fees.
He has four children and it is perhaps because of one of them that we get such prompt and generous service from him. One of his girls is intellectually disabled and I had met her at her school. I remember the first time he came. We offered the customary cup of tea. The Senior Cat was asking him about his family and he mentioned his daughter. I happened to be getting a meal ready in the kitchen and listening to the two of them. 
     "I know G...." I told him, "She's a great kid. Are you her dad?"
He looked at me in a startled sort of way and asked how I knew her. I had been in and out of the school I told him - because I sometimes help with children who have profound communication problems. From then on he has been completely relaxed with us. He will talk about G... as much as he talks about his other children. His eldest son was apprenticed to him and the other two go to university now. G... will never do that but you can still sense his pride in her achievements. 
Yesterday our friendly electrician went out of his way to get things done. We needed some lights changed as well, particularly an outside security light. Everything was done with a minimum of fuss and mess even though  the cabling required some major work, including taking tiles off the roof and replacing them. We were glad he had done the air conditioning system. He knew exactly what he had done and how to approach the problem.
And he sat there for a few minutes and drank tea and talked about his children. 
      "Give you a toot if I see you out and about Cat," he told me as he left.
      "Tell G... hello from me," I told him.
      ""You bet," he said.
I wonder what our relationship would be like if the Senior Cat had not asked him about his children? What if we didn't know he was G....'s father?