Thanks — I ended up just looking on Yelp and hiring the first person that got good reviews, and who answered the phone directly and gave an estimate, rather than having me go through some frou-frou secretary who didn’t know jack about plumbing. I didn’t ask about union(*) or not, legal or not, just that he could do the job and do it well. Which he did, and came in about $20 under estimate in the end!

As far as your job, just because your GM plant is doing well right now, why not save a bit, walk the hell out, and start your own shop anyway? Working for yourself has got to be more pleasant than working for a mega-corepiration like Chrysler (or Generic Morons, AT&T, Monsanto, or GE). With one, you have more control, with the other, you’re just a cog in the machine.

(*) – non-union one-man show would actually be preferable to me. I’m a lone wolf and have more respect for other lone-wolves than employees or unionized groupers.