When I started as an insurance analyst for the state at the ripe old age of 22, a few months went by and my car insurance was cancelled. It was due on the first of the month. I sent it early so it would get there on time but it arrived on the second day of the month so they cancelled my insurance.
The state had a mandatory 15-day grace period. Of course they cashed my check. I called and they said there was no way to reinstate my policy, back home a seven-hour drive away. I called the insurance broker several times and his secretary always told me he was unavailable.
Wouldn’t you know there was a reception that night and the state insurance commissioner was there. I’d known him since he was a lobbyist. He asked “What’s up?” and I told him. He asked me to call him directly the next morning with the broker’s name and number, stating that he wanted to deal with this issue personally.
Before noon he called and said “I love my job! I love doing this stuff!” A few moments later a shaken insurance broker called me, apologized profusely and said my policy was never cancelled. Whatever gave me that idea in the first place? Of course he knew he cashed my check and cancelled my policy in the same heartbeat.
So, like AIG (this wasn’t AIG) insurance is an ephemeral thing. It’s something you never want to have to use. No one wants to have a car accident or get cancer. The slimiest ones are those who go door-to-door and sell single-illness coverage to poor folks. Dante has a special place for those people.
Today I spent three hours on the phone with our car insurance company changing our address and getting rental coverage that doesn’t just cover us but the 99% of our lives we have in storage. It took three companies and two calls to our temporary state’s insurance office to get things straightened out. Then I took on the phone company. Remember when the Supreme Court told Ma Bell to break up? It’s back in business and called ATT. No, you can’t call this line they directed you to because you no longer have a combined bill. You only have three cell phones (sounds combined to me) and not a land line or a modem as well. Gimme a break.
Over forty years ago my great uncle told my father he was taking him off the will as executor as he moved too much. In this economy people need to move to get jobs, even temporary jobs. We’re lucky, in a way, as we don’t have to rip kids out of school to move halfway across the country. Taking the dog out of Urban Tails and Doggie Daycare isn’t a biggie.
I want to make it easy for corporate execs like Jim to move short-term with a minimum of effort. Right now it takes me a couple of weeks to enter a place and at least that much time to leave. There must be an easier way and I aim to find it. In the meantime, I spent too much time on the phone today with these blood-suckers, walking Zoe to get her nails cut and trying to find a summer gig for one of my fav musicians.
Jim’s out with Zoe looking at the cranes. Cool birds. Keep cooking. Not cranes, of course. It’s the next day and the cable/modem guys were here for a couple hours today as I was unable to get online yesterday to send this. Thursday, when the expanded cable and modem were installed, the guy reported a problem that is not only affecting us but everyone up here in this part of the world, homes and businesses alike so they had crews out making repairs to the main line to give us more power. Cheers, Dee
Cheers! Dee
