Excuses, Excuses

The builder who is supposed to be doing our pointing brick work (NOT the incredible Dave the Builder) has been testing our patience from day one and I received a new excuse today.  These excuses have delayed the work by over a month and they are getting more inventive each week.  Now, I'm not saying they all aren't real (maybe he just has REALLY bad luck?), but I wanted to keep track of them all in one place due to the amount of them:

1)  "I have to look after my sister's children."
2)  "A water main burst on the tracks and I can't take the train." (this was actually true, however the man has a van)
3)  "I was pulled over by the police and told I can't drive until I fix my exhaust."
4)  We weren't at the house when he arrived late to work one afternoon so instead of calling us to see when we'd be home, he decided to just drive back to Brighton.
5)  "I can't use electrical equipment in the rain."  Hmmmm, there was a lot that needed to be done that didn't require electrical equipment but OK!
6)  Gout