Fun with Insurance Coverage

Okay, you may remember that I called the insurance people Sunday, and was told that my claims adjuster, Trish, would get to me Monday. Monday someone named Brenda called me and said my claims adjuster would call me w ithin the next 72 hours (translation: after Christmas). This morning I called Trish and left a message on her answering machine.

Trish called me around 5:30 this evening--while I had biscuits in the oven, of course--to tell me that the company had declared Saturday night's weather a catastrophe, and they have a different way of handling that and she was going to transfer me to the "Cat Center." The transfer didn't go through, so she had them call me, and I talked to Brandy, who told me my claims adjuster's name was Curtis, and she would transfer me.

Curtis wasn't available, and his answering machine cut out on me, so I called back and left a message.

Don't you think there's a potential video game here?

Brandy said, "What can we do for you?" I said, "I don't know--what *can* you do for me?"

The guy who used to do odd jobs for me stopped by when I phoned an SOS--I didn't expect him to come, because he announced his retirement, but he came, which was nice. He thinks he can take care of the chimney by knocking off bricks until the edges are even, then topping it with a metal cap and outlets. It won't look as nice, but oh well. He wants to do the tree, too, but I think I might see if I can get someone to haul it off for free firewood. Meanwhile, he noticed a place on the west side of the roof where it looks like the trunk hit on the way down--there is a noticeable dent--so I grabbed the guy across the street who's a fireman who does part-time construction work, and keeps a storage building across the street from me. He just happened to stop by this morning, so I ran out and explained what was going on, and he took a look at it from the ground, and said, well, it depended on what the insurance co. wanted to do about it--that some companies would pay to have the roof torn down and reroofed (which would be really nice) and others would give me $200 and say "Good luck." I told him I'd let him know which kind of insurance company I've got. He thinks the rest of the tree ought to come down, and no doubt he's right, but it cost $2000 to have the tree that didn't hit the house taken down, and I don't have $2000, so it's going to have to stand there until another storm blows it over. Hopefully this time the wind will come from the south--there's nothing north of that tree that it can hurt.

I admit, I'm sort of going to miss those trees--over there on the west, they shaded the house from the afternoon sun in the summer, and really helped keep it cool. They also kept things from growing in the narrow strip between the house and property line, but now I'm going to have to plant something there so it doesn't get all weedy. Or at the very least, put down a couple of layers of black plastic with a hundred earth staples to hold it down. But I am NOT going to plant a a couple of80-foot forest trees 10 feet from the house to get shade. There must be some other way.

Meanwhile, if the weather cooperates, my sister and her family and my brother and his family are going to be in town tomorrow so I've got to pay bills and feed the cat in the morning, and then spend the afternoon in a Holiday Inn Express room. Poor Ts. I'll take them when I pay bills, and I've set up an appointment to take them to a friend's new house to play in her backyard on Saturday.

It hasn't exactly been a peaceful holiday, eh? But it could have been worse. I'm not complaining too much.