The Dirt on the Dirt

So when your house has had the side taken off, and a piece of plastic is all that separates you from the great outdoors, elements, and curious raccoons, the Soil Guy Cometh.
It's a bit like a visit to the doctor. There you sit and wait for the cold probing instruments while you are wearing nothing but a modified sheet.

This fellow doesn't work for the construction company but for the county regulations and zoning or something. He comes and takes a tablespoon of dirt or so and checks it in his laboratory to make sure it isn't ALIVE (bwaa haa haa haa). Well, really what he is checking for is called "expansive soil." Around these here parts, it has been said that massive cracks may appear in parts of your house indiscriminately due to rebellious clods of dirt. So in order to prevent damage from said dirt, they come out and see if that is indeed what you have so that when they pour concrete (which doesn't move very well) they can put in costly "precautions" (don't ask, I don't know). He came Friday but wasn't happy with his fair share. He wanted some more. So he came out yesterday and had the Backhoe Guy dig a 4' deeper hole. It will take him 2 whole days to test so all is at a stand still till tomorrow.
They don't think we have the bad dirt because there would already be bad cracks in the concrete we already have. But it would be too easy just to look at that, wouldn't it?