The world over, construction is famous for corruption and organized crime. It is where piles of money come together over short periods of time, thus creating all sorts of opportunities for funny business. For better or worse, I ended up being a specialist in construction, too. To add insult to injury, construction is in the news in Croatia right now. While I am in Zagreb, I cannot get to my electronic mail without going through the portal of the company that provides the service, and the portal always bristles with news. Getting to the mail itself is painfully slow, as well. As the whole country has been steeped in corruption and organized crime since independence, construction has benefited handsomely. By hook or by crook, much has been built in the last two decades, most of it well beyond the country’s means. But construction companies have done very well indeed. And so have their sponsors in the government. Try as I may to remain blissfully uninformed about either construction or Croatia, as well as the snug relationship between the two, my nose is dipped into the shit each and every time I check my electronic mail. And all I can do is grumble about it on occasion.