The Great insurance fiasco

Okay, I guess I need a study on business ethics. Why is it okay for an insurance company to quote you a great rate, promise you the world, bill you, accept the check, cash it, send you a policy, call about the guy coming to take pictures (who didn't come on the set date) , send you a statement with payment info and then before the picture guy comes send you a notice of cancellation? Yes, the check did clear, we've never had any claims etc.... Then two hours after you receive the cancellation notice the picture guy arrives? Incidentally, the cancellation notice doesn't offer a reason. It seems that they have 90 days by law to give us a written reason but we only have about ten days left to find another insurance policy.

After many calls to other agencies I have found out some things:
Chickens are aggressive
Ducks too
All horses are killers
People don't look before they walk and don't turn on outside lights before going out in the dark in a strange place. (This after being told we would need to put a deck up outside the sliding glass doors that we don't use because someone new visiting up might unlock the door, move the thick dowel and step out into the dark without turning on the light because they wanted to see the stars and fall the 14 inches to the ground, sue etc.....)
Gotta watch those cats too, they might have poor eyesight and mistake 450 lb aunt Matilda for a mouse.
roosters make too much noise to early in the morning and aggravate neighbors who get angry and it causes a feud and 'things' happen!
Also................

What is this world coming to? Where does this start? Do these things really happen or do we have insurance imaginers who sit around all day and get paid to dream up all the ludicrous possibilities then once it's put out there people think they should sue for all these silly things.

My older kids quite often referred to me as a mother bear, sometimes overprotective etc.... Even I can't possibly see what harm Annie's 3 little white ducks could do to someone. Geese yes, (that's why we don't have them) but ducks???

One company will insure up to 2 dogs of any breed but not us because we have 2 Golden Retrievers and a yellow lab which is 3. Which would you be more apt to get out of your car facing? 1 pit bull and 1 doberman or 3 retrievers. I suppose it would depend on whether you had on a suit of armor or not, after all, the pit bull wouldn't be able to bite through it but the goldens might rust it trying to lick you to death!

I remember some accidents happening when I was a kid and the resulting behavior.
#1 A friend came over to play. We were using the pogo sticks, she fell and that little piece of skin between your top teeth and lip got split off as well as her inner lip cut open. She needed stitches. RESULT: Her mom took her for stitches and came over to apologize for the commotion saying that no matter where her daughter went she managed to get hurt and she only hoped we'd allow her over again!
#2. I went to another friends house. She didn't have a bike and I did. We took turns riding double (which was breaking a rule made by my folks) She was 'driving' and I was on the back, I put my foot in the wrong place and received a little cut and abrasion. When I was 'driving' she got her foot caught in the spokes and really was hurt. Her parents took her to the ER where she got an ace bandage and was hobbling for a couple of weeks. I got grounded from my bike for a month and received a spanking and the even worse glares from my father for the next couple weeks.

Gee, I wonder if I should sue my friends parents for allowing me to ride double with their daughter on THEIR property, I mean, the damage I incurred from my parents has been detrimental to my pschye ever since............................
How about suing the girl that got blood on my pogostick? Cleaning it up was pretty gross......... You all know how squeamish I am!

First time for everything

As one 'commences to think' about their life they tend to reflect on first times. One may think about the first time they went to school, the first time they tried to water ski or the first (and last for many) time they tried sushi. As a parent, one might think of their first child or the first steps of each child, the first day sending them off to prison ---er school-- first time letting them behind a wheel or even the first time rescuing them from wild turkeys or drowning in an outhouse! :-)
I recently had a new first and hopefully LAST!

Last Saturday evening my pastor called. He is a very cheerful guy and it was nice to hear from him...... for a bit.... until I was totally confused. The conversation went something like this:

Pastor (P): Hi Deb, I have an update for you.

Deb (D): Hi, great, what's up?
P: I thought I'd let you know the meeting time is 6:30 and I can give you more specifics then.
Don't worry because Becky has everything under control.
D: (very confused) Great, um..
P: Oh, when did you change to voice mail? You do have voice mail now right?
D: Yup, had it for a long time.
P: Really, I was thinking you had an answering machine.
D: I do, Lianna is on it.
P:Oh, you mean you DON'T have voice mail? (sounding somewhat panicked)
D: I guess I'm not up on all the techno lingo. I think of voicemail and answering machines as
the same thing. We have an answering machine with Lianna on it.
silence
P: You mean it's not a electronic pre recorded message?
D: Nope
P: uh oh....
D: Uhoh what?
P: I left a message earlier for you about all the plans and meeting time, did you get it?
D: no, and I need to ask you what on earth you're talking about, I'm sorry but I have to
admit I have no idea what meeting time you mean!
P: Well, someone in the area is probably panicking that a Pastor called and is meeting them with
5 college guys for them to feed tonight and house!
D: What guys?
P: Didn't you sign up to house the 5 guys from Fairhaven Baptist College?
D: Yup but when is that?
P: Tonight
D: Tonight??!?!??!?!? I thought it was in July!
P: (after a short silence) Do I need to try to find someone else?
D: er no, I can do it.... I am very flexible and can make this work. (thinking: The beds are all
made up with clean sheets, the house is relatively clean, while I go pick them up the girls can
do a few things and I can always pick up any food I need on the way out to get them) Yup I
can do this.
P: Great , see you at 6:30, oh, by the way, did you have a good time last weekend?
D:(very confused, mentally trying to plan tonight) Um what was last weekend?


I really did know that it was the MO Beach weekend but with the panic in my brain I couldn't remember that wonderful, relaxing, peaceful weekend!
Then later I checked my email and found a note from pastor confirming our call and I wrote back letting him know I had received it. I wrote him a sentence that after sending I realized sounded really stupid. I started laughing about it (after, while I waited for the college guys to show up a couple hours late!) Why, after a conversation like that would I write, "I'm sorry about the confusion, I am not usually like that in fact, I can't ever remember forgetting something like that. "..Can't ever remember forgetting..."?

We finally did connect and were blessed with 3 guys ( one was flying into Boston from CA later and the other going to get him so they found a closer place for them to stay) who we had wonderful fellowship with. We all chatted, the girls were asked to play violin and piano and we heard about the college. I hadn't heard of this college before but after housing the guys, meeting the girls and listening to the service the next morning I am very impressed and will be looking into the school.

When we left church Sunday after a spaghetti dinner one of the girls said, "I wish they were staying another night. That was really a blessing". To which Dad replied, "It always is a blessing to have people come through and stay with us."

Many 'firsts' in this event.....................

(note to my wonderful son: No, the questions posed in this blog aren't meant to be answered by you if they regard me!!!! LYB)