The week of annoying frustrations.
I should finish the reading for Gary's class, work on the Papert project, work on my Flash course (at work), create a powerpoint slide show for the 3-n project and or answer the 3-n reflection questions (Gary's class again), refine my lit review, and on and on. I don't want to do any of it... not today. I think I've reached that point of total exhaustion and I need a little time to blow off some steam. It's been one of those weeks where everything would be fine if nothing unexpected or difficult happened. So, of course, something unexpected and difficult happened every single day. Love that Murphy and his ironic law.
Let's see the fun w/ the home owner's insurance company is over now. What an excellent demonstration of the pitfalls of technology and decentralization that was. An inspector visited my home (routine), spent some time there, found everything to be fine, and filed his report. As part of that process, he took some basic photos of the front and back of the house for the insurance records. Someone in NY reviewed the report and the photos (digital don't you know) and decided that the photos showed crumbling brick where the front porch meets the house. This was odd, because there is no brick where the porch meets the base of the house. There is a concrete foundation. The height from the top of the porch to the top of the foundation (where the brick starts) is nearly exactly the height of one line of bricks. Many years ago the house and the foundation was painted (white... ewwww). The previous owners (bless their dear souls and excellent taste) had the house sandblasted so that the original, lovely, red brick construction could once again be free. In the process, the foundation was also sandblasted but some areas near the porch were not completely sandblasted. Possible the foundation was not sandblasted but, rather, painted a new color (red). Whichever is the true history, now the foundation is mostly exposed concrete but still shows some peeling red and white paint in places (mostly near the front porch...how ironic).
Apparently, the person in NY looked at the pictures and determined that the red and white peeling paint on the concrete was actually crumbling brick! So, right before thanksgiving I received a letter from the company informing me that if I did not have the crumbling brick repaired (and proved to them that it was repaired), my insurance would be canceled! Nice thing to spend thanksgiving weekend thinking about! Of course, I called and attempted to explain the error. My first couple of calls were met with a standard answer that there was nothing to do other than have the problem repaired, preferably by a licensed contractor. I persisted and finally asked for a copy of the full inspection report. I was surprised when they agreed to send me one. My copy arrived yesterday. There was NO mention anywhere on the report of the brick. There was a mention of the wall-to-wall carpet inside the house! Imagine my surprise to find out that my polished, colored, concrete floors are actually wall-to-wall carpet. There was also a mention of the wall paper. Again... my surprise that some of my painted walls are actually wall-paper. Armed with this new information, I telephoned the insurance company again. Correcting the mistakes about the wall covering was easy. Correcting the mistake about the floors was a bit more complex. Apparently, the computer database didn't have a field, radio button, or check box for Concrete floors. The agent wanted me to know if she should put down Stone, Slate, or Tile???? I explained what polished concrete is. She asked again if that was Stone, Slate, or Tile (sweet, confused, girl). I explained how they make polished concrete floors. She asked me to hold and then returned and said that it was "all taken care of." I wonder if I still have "carpet"? Then we moved on to the issue of the "crumbling brick." Unfortunately, she was unable to help me with that. I had to wait until today to call the "home office" (which is only open 9-5 East Coast time).
This morning I talked to the "home office." I explained the situation w/ the concrete foundation, the painting, and the sandblasting. The agent told me that the observation about the "crumbling brick" was made when the inspection report was reviewed (at the home office)... ! Just as I had suspected. She said she was looking at the photos "right now" and could clearly see how one might think that the line directly above the porch was crumbling brick. I accepted that and asked what exactly I would need to provide to demonstrate to their satisfaction that it was not even brick, much less "crumbling brick." I expected to be told I'd need a signed and notarized letter from a licensed contractor, a video, a photo album, etc. To my delight and surprise she said, "you know, as I look at this I can clearly see that it's not brick because there are no rows of mortar.) DING. I could not believe my ears! :) Just to be sure, I asked her if I needed to send a letter with additional pictures. She said, "no, I've removed the intent to terminate insurance coverage. Your policy is fine now." I was still suspicious, so I asked if she could send me a letter to that effect, "just for my own records." She said that she would. Wow. Persistence works. I hope. When I have the letter, I'll know.
While dealing with all that, I also discovered this week that the phone company (cell phone) charged my account twice for this months bill (that's what I get for setting up automatic bill payment). Then, the bank sent me a returned check (a check I deposited, not one I wrote). The check was dated April 2004 but they bank apparently did not cash it out until November 2004... now they want to charge me a bounced check fee (even though I'm not the one who wrote the check). The frustrating thing about this is that the bank account the check was written on was active back in April 2004 but is no longer active now (which is probably why they cannot get the returned check fee from the check writer). I'll have to try to deal with that tomorrow. Then I have to figure out what I've done to piss off the gods who are in charged of annoying frustrations and appease them. :)
I suppose I'm learning all sorts of skills for dealing with these things. If that's the case, then I must say in some cases ignorance really is bliss.
Let's see the fun w/ the home owner's insurance company is over now. What an excellent demonstration of the pitfalls of technology and decentralization that was. An inspector visited my home (routine), spent some time there, found everything to be fine, and filed his report. As part of that process, he took some basic photos of the front and back of the house for the insurance records. Someone in NY reviewed the report and the photos (digital don't you know) and decided that the photos showed crumbling brick where the front porch meets the house. This was odd, because there is no brick where the porch meets the base of the house. There is a concrete foundation. The height from the top of the porch to the top of the foundation (where the brick starts) is nearly exactly the height of one line of bricks. Many years ago the house and the foundation was painted (white... ewwww). The previous owners (bless their dear souls and excellent taste) had the house sandblasted so that the original, lovely, red brick construction could once again be free. In the process, the foundation was also sandblasted but some areas near the porch were not completely sandblasted. Possible the foundation was not sandblasted but, rather, painted a new color (red). Whichever is the true history, now the foundation is mostly exposed concrete but still shows some peeling red and white paint in places (mostly near the front porch...how ironic).
Apparently, the person in NY looked at the pictures and determined that the red and white peeling paint on the concrete was actually crumbling brick! So, right before thanksgiving I received a letter from the company informing me that if I did not have the crumbling brick repaired (and proved to them that it was repaired), my insurance would be canceled! Nice thing to spend thanksgiving weekend thinking about! Of course, I called and attempted to explain the error. My first couple of calls were met with a standard answer that there was nothing to do other than have the problem repaired, preferably by a licensed contractor. I persisted and finally asked for a copy of the full inspection report. I was surprised when they agreed to send me one. My copy arrived yesterday. There was NO mention anywhere on the report of the brick. There was a mention of the wall-to-wall carpet inside the house! Imagine my surprise to find out that my polished, colored, concrete floors are actually wall-to-wall carpet. There was also a mention of the wall paper. Again... my surprise that some of my painted walls are actually wall-paper. Armed with this new information, I telephoned the insurance company again. Correcting the mistakes about the wall covering was easy. Correcting the mistake about the floors was a bit more complex. Apparently, the computer database didn't have a field, radio button, or check box for Concrete floors. The agent wanted me to know if she should put down Stone, Slate, or Tile???? I explained what polished concrete is. She asked again if that was Stone, Slate, or Tile (sweet, confused, girl). I explained how they make polished concrete floors. She asked me to hold and then returned and said that it was "all taken care of." I wonder if I still have "carpet"? Then we moved on to the issue of the "crumbling brick." Unfortunately, she was unable to help me with that. I had to wait until today to call the "home office" (which is only open 9-5 East Coast time).
This morning I talked to the "home office." I explained the situation w/ the concrete foundation, the painting, and the sandblasting. The agent told me that the observation about the "crumbling brick" was made when the inspection report was reviewed (at the home office)... ! Just as I had suspected. She said she was looking at the photos "right now" and could clearly see how one might think that the line directly above the porch was crumbling brick. I accepted that and asked what exactly I would need to provide to demonstrate to their satisfaction that it was not even brick, much less "crumbling brick." I expected to be told I'd need a signed and notarized letter from a licensed contractor, a video, a photo album, etc. To my delight and surprise she said, "you know, as I look at this I can clearly see that it's not brick because there are no rows of mortar.) DING. I could not believe my ears! :) Just to be sure, I asked her if I needed to send a letter with additional pictures. She said, "no, I've removed the intent to terminate insurance coverage. Your policy is fine now." I was still suspicious, so I asked if she could send me a letter to that effect, "just for my own records." She said that she would. Wow. Persistence works. I hope. When I have the letter, I'll know.
While dealing with all that, I also discovered this week that the phone company (cell phone) charged my account twice for this months bill (that's what I get for setting up automatic bill payment). Then, the bank sent me a returned check (a check I deposited, not one I wrote). The check was dated April 2004 but they bank apparently did not cash it out until November 2004... now they want to charge me a bounced check fee (even though I'm not the one who wrote the check). The frustrating thing about this is that the bank account the check was written on was active back in April 2004 but is no longer active now (which is probably why they cannot get the returned check fee from the check writer). I'll have to try to deal with that tomorrow. Then I have to figure out what I've done to piss off the gods who are in charged of annoying frustrations and appease them. :)
I suppose I'm learning all sorts of skills for dealing with these things. If that's the case, then I must say in some cases ignorance really is bliss.
posted by susan | 11:49 AM
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