Encountered

Some artwork would be nice.

Charley Ries left so fast today we didn't get a chance to take his picture. But our old family friend and carpenter did a bang up job installing two new countertops, base shoe, crown moulding and a clothes basket shelf, bringing the laundry room just a few touch-ups away from completion.
He rang the doorbell at 7:45 a.m. and left by eleven.
It was fun working with Charley again. Over the past 30 years he's done a lot of work for the newspaper company, mostly shelves, partitions, work tables, cabinets, archival storage and other oddments that the general manager dreamed up. The former Shakopee fire chief is a man of many talents and a willing and practical problem solver. Ten years ago he built a shoe cabinet with drawers and a CD player nook beside our mud room door. We tossed the CD player and the nook and installed a new matching top today. We'll show you that home improvement as soon as we get the wall painted.
Charley once blew out an entire fuse box while pulling down some light fixtures during an office remodel, shutting down the entire operation. So we called him "Sparky."
He was always patient, precise and quality-conscious. He still is.