Help me think of scenarios wherein my friend is okay

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Okay, so the real reason I’m posting so much tonight. Nervous energy.

Mr. Rilch and I have been having a lot of remodeling done on our house, pretty much since quarantine ended. “Mike” is the carpenter, so he’s here most days. Except today. The other guy, “Heath”, showed up, but no call, no show from Mike. And that’s never happened before. Car trouble, illness, family emergency…we always heard from him at least by the time he was supposed to be here. Heath had heard nothing from him. I should mention that Mike and Heath are not a partnership; Heath was a friend of a friend who needed work, and Mike needed an assistant. Now we consider them both friends. Which is why I’m quietly flipping out.

His son lives locally but not with him, and he hasn’t heard anything. This is not good. All we can think of is jail*, hospital, or…Mr. Rilch got his address from the son, and if we don’t hear from him by the usual time, he’ll call the sheriff and ask for a welfare check.

Sigh. Well, if Friday was the last time I ever saw him, at least it was a good time. Mr. Rilch wanted to take advantage of what was probably the last warm weather, so he did hamburgers and bratwurst on the grill, I made scalloped potatoes and beans with bacon, and some beer was consumed. And earlier this summer, Mr. Rilch took both of them, and another friend, to a metal show. And I’m always sending them home with something freshly baked or cooked. I mean, I was bracing myself to be sad when the remodeling ended, not for this.

So can anyone think of a plausible reason why Mike would be unable to communicate, while still being alive and unhurt? Oh, and he’s in his mid-fifties, for what that’s worth. Also, a friend that he and Mr. Rilch have in common reported having texted with him while the Steelers were playing Sunday.

*Don’t know what he’d go to jail for, but Ted Bundy’s co-workers said the same thing. And I would say, he’d have called someone for bail money, but I think nowadays, one can post one’s own bail with a bank card. Correct me if I’m wrong.

2

Forgive the double post, but you should see the awesome job Mike did in the foyer, for instance. New floor and new ceiling. I know people here don’t like accent walls, but he did an accent wall in the kitchen, using old boards from the barn that he cut, sanded and varnished. We have been looking into what it takes to get someone profiled in a magazine, like for woodworking or home improvement. Mike deserves some recognition for the work he’s done, and if he doesn’t get to see this project through, that sucks a whole bag of dicks. (If that’s allowed in this forum.)

3

I mean, he could be sick, but not dead. If he lives alone, he could be sick enough to not care about calling people, or not able to follow through even if he did care and think of it.

Or, went on a bender?

Those are my top non-death options. Which both seem likelier to me than dead, somehow.

I hope he’s OK.

4

Cell phone lost or broken? That assumes you don’t also have a landline way of staying in contact.

5

My guess is went on a weekend bender. Hopefully that’s all it was.

Keep us posted!

6

Please let us know when you find out.

7

Is there a reason the son isn’t checking in on him? I would think he would be the one to look into this. I understand your concern, but I’m thinking that this should be something that he should be doing since he has a closer relationship to Mike. If he’s not worried, then this may be typical behavior where Mike disappears for a few days. I see where you’re coming from, but I think you may be overstepping a bit with a welfare check.

And especially with contractors, this is very typical behavior. They get on another job and ignore their other clients. I’m not sure if that’s what Mike is doing, but it’s something that I know happens a lot with contractors.

8

Update: He showed up this morning. Family emergency; haven’t heard the details yet. Whew!

filmore, yeah I forgot to mention that Mr. Rilch called “Jeff”, the son, to ask him to check the house. But Jeff is in D.C. at this time, for something work-related! So he suggested calling the sheriff. As for blowing us off, no. He’s taken on other jobs during the course of our project, and we’ve always been informed. This is the kind of community where someone who ditches clients without a word would soon be without work.

9

Okay, a recap, and an interesting coda. So yeah, some kind of emergency involving Mike’s elderly mother in a nursing home. Got there before he would have been at our place, whatever it was took a long time, and when he finally left, it wasn’t until he stopped for gas that he remembered his phone was on the desk in someone’s office (only place he was allowed to use it). And yes, Jeff was worried; the first thing he said was “Oh man, that’s bad,” in response to Mr. Rilch telling him about Mike’s no-call-no-show.

And that was on Tuesday. Now, a few hours ago, Friday, the phone rings. I should mention that Mike’s last name is somewhat uncommon, at least in the US, and it’s shared by a legendary rock musician. So “Beth Jagger” as the caller ID tells me she’s named, wants to know if someone called her from this number. Yes; is she related to Mike? “I used to be married to him. He left me for that other woman. Then he left her.” In a very deadpan tone. Anyway, yes, Mr. Rilch must have called her while trying to track down Mike. Yes, we know she doesn’t know where he is, not least because she’s in Houston. Yes, he showed up again on Tuesday; sorry to have bothered her. Yikes. I hadn’t known he was twice divorced.

10

Thanks for update! and glad it turned out OK.