So I'm going to do work on my apartment - paint ceilings, walls, and do a lot of repair. Replace all the tape along ceiling & wall edges, close cracks between wall & floor, replaster holes, caulk, insulate the front door, build shelves into the closet, more stuff like that.

There's a guy I've worked with before, and he's very good. Except he will never tell me how much he wants to charge, he insists I tell him instead how much I want to pay him. What kind of an answer is that? I had worked up a number in my head beforehand, but as we were going through the apartment this morning, he pointed out a lot more things - perfectly valid ones - that he would need to be fixed up, and how he would do it. In my head, the estimate went up, but when he asked, I froze and gave him my original number, which he accepted.

But now I worry that it's too low. I can understand why he accepted - jobs are slow, you have to take what you get - and that makes me even more uncomfortable. I guess I could just give a "bonus" at completion. Still.