I was going to leave the progress report from last time up a while longer, but I've got my anger up after spending all day on the phone with my car insurance company.
First, let me be clear on my general attitude on this subject. Insurance companies are on my list of the three most evil things on the planet. Insurance companies, tow truck companies, and banks. (number four are funeral parlors).
Regular readers may know that I'm really open minded for a liberal (that's right, I think liberals are close minded for the most part)... I would date hippies, vegetarians, mis-guided anti-gun girls, or even a women that was anti-abortion (yes, such a thing exists, strangely enough). But, I have to say in all honesty, if you worked for an insurance company, bank, or tow truck company, you'd have to have a sparkling personality and an ass that tasted like french vanilla ice cream before I would even think of paying for dinner.
God you suck and should kill yourself if you work in insurance.
So, my bank fucking owns my car, because I haven't paid it off yet. That's right... I drive it... pay for it monthly... put gas in it... muck up the inside... but they own it. And since they own it, I am forced to buy insurance for it. If I owned it, I would still have to pay liability... which is kind of a like the state forcing you to buy orange juice because vitamin C prevents scurvy... wouldn't I love to have a product the state forces you to buy.
Anyway, I had GE car insurance, which charged me over $900 a year (I'm old, with a good driving record... I know a lot of you reading this are like "that's all?" But that's not the fucking point). They were bought by AIG (American International Companies). Without going into how fucking stupid their name is, I called today to give them my change of address. Low and behold, since I had moved into a different zip code, they needed to charge me $70 more a year for some reason.
Well, since I'm not driving to work anymore, I figure I can save a little by decreasing that mileage thing they always ask.
But, then the real pain starts. Seems my premium for this year (fuck me for not noticing when the renewal papers showed up): $1400.
What?
So, I call back, and phone girl Julia tells me that part of it is that last year I commuted 15 miles one way and this year I wrote down 75 miles one way.
What?
Geez, Julia, ya think someone misread the 1 as a 7 there? The other $300 fucking dollars was simply "we raised the rates".
She was very firm explaining all the rising costs of doing business, blah, blah, blah. Well, unfortunately for them, I'm not an 80 year old idiot with poor short term memory and there's this new tool called the internet.
So, a short visit to the AIG website, them being a publicly traded company, proves they indeed have posted some pretty nice profits this quarter. About the same percentage as my rate hike in fact.
A couple calls around and three other insurance companies quote me closer to the $900 I paid last year. Oh, and I ran across some news stories about falling insurance rates, too.
AIG gets to charge me 10% of my unpaid balance if I cut out early. Well, you know what? I still can switch and save 200 or 300 bucks, so fuck 'em. Calls go out tomorrow.
Then, I try and beg the remaining $5,000 I owe on my car from friends and family, pay the car off, then drop my insurance down to the state required minimum and save another $700 fucking dollars a year.
Go on, try and tell me your happy insurance stories. Try to justify that a huge majority of people pay for something they never use and never get anything for. Go on and tell me how you think a state justified lottery where each ticket is a thousand fucking dollars and the object is to never collect the money, is okay.
And, if you work in insurance, don't even try my patience with the whole "it's just a job" bullshit. Your job is your belief system. Your work is what you're saying is okay in the world. Instead, take advantage of our all American gun laws; take some of my hard earned blood money the state made me give you; buy a pistol, and blow your fucking brains out.
First, let me be clear on my general attitude on this subject. Insurance companies are on my list of the three most evil things on the planet. Insurance companies, tow truck companies, and banks. (number four are funeral parlors).
Regular readers may know that I'm really open minded for a liberal (that's right, I think liberals are close minded for the most part)... I would date hippies, vegetarians, mis-guided anti-gun girls, or even a women that was anti-abortion (yes, such a thing exists, strangely enough). But, I have to say in all honesty, if you worked for an insurance company, bank, or tow truck company, you'd have to have a sparkling personality and an ass that tasted like french vanilla ice cream before I would even think of paying for dinner.
God you suck and should kill yourself if you work in insurance.
So, my bank fucking owns my car, because I haven't paid it off yet. That's right... I drive it... pay for it monthly... put gas in it... muck up the inside... but they own it. And since they own it, I am forced to buy insurance for it. If I owned it, I would still have to pay liability... which is kind of a like the state forcing you to buy orange juice because vitamin C prevents scurvy... wouldn't I love to have a product the state forces you to buy.
Anyway, I had GE car insurance, which charged me over $900 a year (I'm old, with a good driving record... I know a lot of you reading this are like "that's all?" But that's not the fucking point). They were bought by AIG (American International Companies). Without going into how fucking stupid their name is, I called today to give them my change of address. Low and behold, since I had moved into a different zip code, they needed to charge me $70 more a year for some reason.
Well, since I'm not driving to work anymore, I figure I can save a little by decreasing that mileage thing they always ask.
But, then the real pain starts. Seems my premium for this year (fuck me for not noticing when the renewal papers showed up): $1400.
What?
So, I call back, and phone girl Julia tells me that part of it is that last year I commuted 15 miles one way and this year I wrote down 75 miles one way.
What?
Geez, Julia, ya think someone misread the 1 as a 7 there? The other $300 fucking dollars was simply "we raised the rates".
She was very firm explaining all the rising costs of doing business, blah, blah, blah. Well, unfortunately for them, I'm not an 80 year old idiot with poor short term memory and there's this new tool called the internet.
So, a short visit to the AIG website, them being a publicly traded company, proves they indeed have posted some pretty nice profits this quarter. About the same percentage as my rate hike in fact.
A couple calls around and three other insurance companies quote me closer to the $900 I paid last year. Oh, and I ran across some news stories about falling insurance rates, too.
AIG gets to charge me 10% of my unpaid balance if I cut out early. Well, you know what? I still can switch and save 200 or 300 bucks, so fuck 'em. Calls go out tomorrow.
Then, I try and beg the remaining $5,000 I owe on my car from friends and family, pay the car off, then drop my insurance down to the state required minimum and save another $700 fucking dollars a year.
Go on, try and tell me your happy insurance stories. Try to justify that a huge majority of people pay for something they never use and never get anything for. Go on and tell me how you think a state justified lottery where each ticket is a thousand fucking dollars and the object is to never collect the money, is okay.
And, if you work in insurance, don't even try my patience with the whole "it's just a job" bullshit. Your job is your belief system. Your work is what you're saying is okay in the world. Instead, take advantage of our all American gun laws; take some of my hard earned blood money the state made me give you; buy a pistol, and blow your fucking brains out.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
cable guy 9-5 is a pretty cool gig really. no boss on my back. on the road. my own music. meet lots of people. being in everyones home is a trip though. it has been my own little experiment in sociology and i have learned a lot.
anyway...
ha! shared bday. nice. and local...i suspect our paths may cross. i met 3 other people this year at the same bar on my bday.
synchronicity rules.
did you miss me?!
I have dial-up that i can only use for 10 mins at a time (don't ask) and it kills me, so it's very very painful to try use SG. I start back at school next week so will be heading home sunday or monday, and back online properly then!
whew, i'm glad i don't work in insurance.
see ya soon