Insurance Fraud or Helpful Contractor

The other day we had a visit from a roofing contractor who was going through the neighborhood. He climbed up on our roof and left with the desire to come back and sit down with both of us to discuss replacing the roof on our house. 

The other day when he called me to schedule the visit, I started asking questions. 

There was a severe thunder storm that had gone through our area, and most of the rest of central Florida and they were visiting home owners who had roof damage with the intent of filing all the claims and paperwork with our insurance company. 

Our only obligation would be to pay any deductible which we may owe. 

Now the interesting part is that our home and as far as I know, none of our neighbors homes suffered any damage from any of the storms from the past week or so. 

We also have to remember that we live in central Florida. During the summer months. We have a storm pass through almost every afternoon. This roofing contractor could have picked any day and any storm to seek business. 

I did some research on the contractor and pretty much everything that I could find was positive, including the better business bureau, and most ratings sites where he is listed. He also has a valid license with the state and there are no complaints affiliated with the licenses they hold.

So, is how this contractor seeks business legal?  Is it ethical? Is it insurance fraud?  

I don't know the answer to any of these questions but I did not feel comfortable doing business with this contractor and I don't see any evidence that any of our neighbors fell for his sales pitch either.  At a minimum, we can not allow people like this to undermine our trust in any group. We will need a roofing contractor at some point in the future. I hope I remember this company so we don't do business with them. 

Turn Signals - Feature or Safety Device

Turn signals as we know them today were invented somewhere around 1907.  They are typically activated by a stalk, stick, lever, or whatever else you wish to call it, on the left side of the steering column. 

Based on some reports, drivers fail to properly activate or deactivate their turn signals over 750 billion times per year. The neglect of turn signals results in nearly 2 million accidents per year while distracted driving results in approximately 950.000 accidents (based on data from. 2012). 

I have been noticing an increasing failure to use turn signals in our area. I have been in situations both walking and driving where I have almost been hit as a result of a driver failing to activate or deactivate their turn signal. I have also set at an intersection waiting to turn when driver after driver turns without a turn signal on causing unneeded delays in traffic. I know, better safe than sorry.  

It is  aggravating when something as simple as a stick and light bulb or two that have been around for over a hundred years is so difficult for drivers to uses properly. Is it sheer ignorance, lack of consideration for other drivers, failure to operate a motor vehicle safely, or some other reason?

I know that federal and international laws and regulations are fairly strict regarding how auto makers must implement turn signals. With this understanding and the statistics referenced above, I think that turn signals are installed on our vehicles as safety devices. 

I don't think that those pretty little blinky things in yellow or red are there for looks. As a matter of fact, I think that the manufacturers could design some really unique cars if they didn't have to include all of the safety devices we have on our cars today. 

At this point, what are we to do?  Maybe everyone could at least use their turn signals when they are turning from one roadway to another. Maybe they could also use their turn signals while changing lanes on multi lane roads and highways. Maybe they could follow at least one portion of our local traffic laws and improve the level of safety on our roads for our fellow drivers and pedestrians alike. 

--- source data ---

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_lighting

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/04/30/turn-signal-neglect-results-in-over-twice-as-many-crashes-as-dis/

Comcast Does It Again

The saga with Comcast continues. We received our last invoice and services we had singed a contract for were removed from our account. We did not authorize any changes to our account and we did not place any orders that would have caused changes either.

After contacting the call center and being transferred two times, I found someone who could help resolve the situation.

As it turns out, the corporate complaints department issued the cancellation order while trying to fix our cable outage from a week or so ago. So, while on vacation, we had no alarm service. Great job Comcast. In addition, we were charged a $510.00 cancellation fee.

Now for the good news. The representative was able to reinstate our account retroactive to the original installation date so the service should not show up as a new contract. They were also able to issue a credit for the $510.00 cancellation fee and for the inconvenience that they caused, we were given a credit of $39.95, which is $10.00 more than the service actually costs per month.

So all in all, even though this is a major customer service issue, the representative who finally handled the call was able to resolve the issue on the first call.

Thank you Comcast for another customer service FAIL.

Thank you to the customer service representative who fixed the issue on the first call

Family Reunions

Are family reunions worth attending is a question that can be difficult to answer for many people. In my case, we just attended a family reunion for my dad's side of the family. In a way it was a little sad because all of the grand parents and great aunts and uncles are no longer with us. At the same time, it was a good time to celebrate because we had many grand children there that would not have been there several years ago.

This reunion is something that my dad decided to plan and worked long and hard to get everyone there. We got lucky, there were only four members of the family who were unable to attend due to various reasons. We ended up with twenty three to twenty six people and one dog there, if my memory serves me correctly. 

The conversation and stories that were told were interesting. It is amazing when so many people get together how many things everyone can remember as a collective group but no single person can remember at all. Of course, this can get a bit interesting when we had hoped that some of the stories would never be repeated, especially in the presence of our moms, dads, or children. 

We had more than enough food for everyone and plenty of iced tea and lemonade and of course many brought their favorite drinks, mainly Mountain Dew. 

Many just sat around talking while others played horse shoes or went for a walk. The reunion was held at a community park in a location with real restrooms were available, not a portapot, which those in need appreciated greatly. 

It was a very warm day, but the humidity wasn't too bad and their was a nice breeze as well.  All in all, it was a beautiful day for a potluck dinner and family reunion.

Some members of the family traveled from as far away as California or Florida,  others were just a few miles away and many more from somewhere in between.

Pictures were also taken for each part of the family and the entire group of attendees. This of course turned into a time for joking and kidding around as everyone was in very close proximity to one another. Dads other sister coordinated all the photo taking as she has done for as long as I can remember.  I hope that the joking and kidding around didn't ruin too many of the pictures. 

So the committee made of the three eldest members of the family brought the family tougher in one place for one afternoon for what should be a memorable experience for all. 

So back to the original question; are family reunions worth attending?  In my opinion, I believe it will be a memorable moment in my life and it reminded me that waiting fifteen years to return home to visit family is way too much time between visits.

We miss a lot of important moments in everyone's life which telephones, Twitter, face book, email,or whatever method of sharing information you may use are the primary way we communicate with our family. 

I would say, that family reunions are an important part of every familie's lives and gives the elders a little extra time to share stories of the past with the younger generations who can then pass on to their children and grand children. 

If you have not had a family reunion in a while, I would say you need to talk to your family and see what you can do. It may well turn out to be one of the better moments of your life.