My client was a bully and I fired him

I guess it could have gone differently, and you may not have had to "fire" your client if you had confronted him the first time he was out of line, instead of assuming that he was having a bad day. You waited and your irritation and anger grew inside until it boiled over and you snapped.

You could have told him right from the get-go that nature of a contractor's schedule is that there are no set hours. You have a timeframe of delivery you agreed upon (probably listed in the contract), and that's the deadline you'll honor. Also, that if he's having a bad day due to something else, the relationship between the two of you needs to stay professional. He may not have been aware that his behavior was out of line, and when you mention that to him at the first occurrence he'll know that you've noticed his behavior. When you waited so long, and then just went off at him over the phone, he probably thought you were the nutcase and continued the same behavior with others. You could have made him aware, professionally, and made a difference. You chose to be just as unprofessional as he was, and neither of you made money.

Biggest lesson in your article was that nothing changed, both of you have a story, you are still bothered about this years later, and you both wasted each others time.