The painters are coming!

So it's just the hallway, but I'm very excited. Just told Russ (in an email) that they're coming Friday. This is the first he's heard that I'm going to have them paint too. The only hitch here is that I'm leaving town on Saturday. Mario has good references from the neighborhood, including one family who had them work while they were on vacation. Russ didn't want to paint yet because he wants to install crown moulding, chair rail, etc., replace the trim around the living room and dining room archways, sand blast the radiator, blah blah blah. I know he means well, and he does do excellent work, but he doesn't have the time. I told him I decided that we should paint now and fine tune with the trim later. I know he's going to have a cow (as Bart Simpson would say). I just want him to throw his hands in the air and say, "Whatever." I don't want him to fire Mario. I also don't want to miss going to Cape May, which is where I'll be next week.