Blast Off!

After you reach a certain age, there's a lot to be said for hiring skilled people to do jobs you don't enjoy, like painting walls or pressure-washing decks.

Uriah, above, is a local college student who will go far in life, given his intelligence, drive, clear communication, and awareness of what potential customers want. He listens to classical music on his ear-protecting headphones and is a quick, yet thoughtful conversationalist, as well as a meticulous worker.

In addition to his pressure washing and general exterior cleaning business, Uriah has several other potential small businesses in the planning stages. He's definitely not letting the proverbial grass grow under his feet!

(A side note: I hadn't been around pressure-washing close up before, and seeing what water under high pressure did to the wood of our deck immediately brought to mind the iconic images of high pressure fire hoses used on civil rights marchers in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, as ordered by Bull Connor, the city's Commissioner of Public Safety. You can see an excellent 10-minute documentary on that tumultuous time here.)