Japanese Repairmen

So were two things around the house that needed fixing beyond our repair. First, paper in one of the doors on our tatami room was ripped. I would have continued to ignore this, but we also had a major crack in a glass sliding door in the room where I spend most of time, and it's cold in there without extra leakage. As a result, I reluctantly visited my bill paying service (they take care of pretty much anything related to the house that might involve talking to a Japanese person) to get a repair guy. I was prepared for a hassle. I forgot I was in Japan.
The lady at the bill pay service patiently listened to my concerns then called the repair service. They said they could fix both doors on Saturday, but they'd like to come see the glass one to figure out what needed to be done. They promised to stop by sometime after two yesterday. So I figured it would be late afternoon. I forgot I was in Japan.
At 3:00 a kind Japanese repair man was standing on my doorway. He spoke zero English. If I was in America and didn't speak English, a repair guy who spoke only English would pretty much be useless to me, but I'm in Japan. So I grabbed Dory, answered the door, and said "Chotto mate kudasai" which means "just a moment." I meant "I'll be back in a second after I put my insane dog somewhere where she can't kill you." He thought I meant "stay here until I get back." So when I arrived downstairs again, he was patiently waiting in my entryway. I appologized immediately. He took his shoes off and came in to check out the various damages.
The repair guy spent some time measuring the glass door, and actually appologized when he needed help holding the measuring tape. Then I showed him to the tatami room to check out the paper door and left him entirely alone without the slightest concern for my belongings in there. When he returned, he had a question. I appologized for having no clue what the question was, at which point he appologized to me and reverted to sign language. He had the materials with him to fix the paper door, which he proceeded to do for free. So the same day I expressed concern about the door, it was fixed. I love Japan.
Next my new best friend wanted to let me know when he'd be back to fix the other door. He went nice and slow and we successfully agreed that he could come back the next day (no, really) after 3:00 (because I wouldn't be home until then). I am very proud that I could get all that in Japanese. I even learned a new word (after) in the process. I tried to ask him how much it would cost and met with less luck, but he didn't seem concerned about getting paid (no, really) so I didn't let that worry me.
So today my bill service company called to ask me if it was okay if the repair guy came at 3:00. (Remember, originally the company had told me the earliest this would happen was Saturday.) Apparently he called them to make sure we were clear. He also gave them an estimate, and I arranged for them to pay that bill too. I told them after 3:00 would be fine, and they called back to say he'd be here at 4:00 and the repair would take about an hour. Then I forgot I was in Japan again and began to worry. In America, 4:00 in repair man time is 5:00 or 6:00 and one hour is two. Since I had to leave the house again at 5:30, that was a little unsettling. Thankfully, I didn't cancel. At 4:01, my favorite repairman was back. He indicated that he just needed me to unlock the glass door in question, so I did that. The one hour repair job took 20 minutes.
I absolutely love Japan.