May 16, 2009: Hmmmmm.........frustrating day!

A surprise yesterday evening!!! Our son-in-law's mother from Branson, MO arrived on our leaf-splattered doorstep......here in F'town to attend a relative's HS graduation last night.....and it was great to have a house guest to pour out our frustrations and emotions on a new "ear". Sooooo, this morning Dana remained until early afternoon......and enjoyed our appointments:

First.....around 9;30 or so, the DirecTV repairman arrived......looked at our satellite dish, rolled his eyes, got his ladder and began the process of taking down the bent and ravaged old(?) one and installing a new one.....and in doing just that, he put it in a little different area of the roof since he didn't have to work around our former trees nor our neighbor's former trees.

While he was up on the roof, drilling new bolt holes, etc., etc. the State Farm adjuster and her "Quality Control", more experienced person came with her. I immediately had the gut wrenching feeling that this adjuster not only looked REALLY young, but also was toooooooo "by the book" efficient!!!! After showing them some pictures which I had printed.....all of you have seen them already here on the blog.......I then went over my lists (which I had printed out) of the problems that the storm brought to us. We discussed the two printed pages of single spaced lined descriptions of the two fridges and one deep freezer's contents.....all of which had to be thrown away when the power went off!! They asked for an estimate.....and we had already come to a rough guesstimate of $900(LOTS of meat items in the freezer). They then headed outside where I walked them around the house pointing out many of the damages.....and soon, they got their ladder and joined the DirecTV man on the roof.........party going on????

After at least 45 minutes.....they returned to the ground level and came inside......they then explained that they would be out in their truck putting this on their computer, etc., etc. In the meantime, the DirecTV man gave us a copy of his work.....and unbelievably said that he believed there would no charge since this was a weather related problem!!! GREAT!!!

And then....we waited and waited and waited for at least an hour before the two ladies returned. Once again, I felt very strongly that the "adjuster" was lacking in a lot of experience and that the other lady was just with her to oversee her work. NOTHING wrong with that......except....duh...the figures the "adjuster" arrived at. We went over the estimates of the damages and what they would pay........and for starters, the weighted damage was quite obviously, the roof!!!! A few years ago when we had a hail storm and had it replaced, the contractor told me it took either 33 or 35 squares of shingles.....I cannot remember which, but it was one of those numbers. Well, today's "adjuster" said her measurements showed only 27 squares of shingles.....which I IMMEDIATELY questioned. I do not have the receipt from the work from several years ago....but I DO remember it was one of those two numbers!!!!! Soooo, I questioned her measurements.......Then I questioned the amount she had allocated for labor on this roof......it is a "hip line" roof....and the measurements around the perimeter of the house with the various wings add up to 475 feet.....another figure I remember from having new gutters installed......not nearly enough to cover the cost of laying the shingles, etc., etc.

Then, she was only going to pay for the part of the guttering that was damaged....and then I became a bit heated.....I told her that it would no way be able to match the dingy, off-white color that ours had become....and I would not stand for having two different colors of guttering up there!!!!!

And then....the estimates for the patio furniture, the BBQ grill, the on-roof turbine vents, the other vents that need to be inspected by the furnace man and by the gas people for the hot weater heater.....all vents/flues were bent and/or propped up on the roof, the fence, the trees which landed on the house..........all of it.....UGH!!!!

And the list goes on and on with her figures!!!! We were told that if the contractorS did not agree with these estimates that they would need to have their figures faxed to the head office and the "adjuster" would return to negotiate with them!!!!!!!!!

Sooooo, her amount came between $15,000 to $20,000.........which after going to Lowe's this evening, we know that the roofing materials and labor estimates by the "adjuster" do not begin to even be in the ballpark for accuracy!!!! This is NOT a good thing!!!!!!!!!! My gut tells me that we have problems on the horizon in the very near future!!!!!!!!!! Since this figure is "more than the adjuster is allowed to do on her own".....we will have to wait for an initial check to written..........hmmmmm........not what I had been told would be the procedure for this visit!

The 1st Lady's sorority was having a little social this afternoon for all of the members/spouses at a newly opened micro-brewery about 20 miles from here......so we decided to get our rears in gear and go try some sample beers there to see if that would make things better.....or worse for us. I certainly was not in any mood for this, but we did to.......and it didn't change a thing for either of us.......and the 8 sample beers, plus the tour of the brewery did nothing to boost my morale!!!!! Sooooo, we decided to go to Lowe's in Farmington.....and I became even more upset by our "adjuster's" figures.......

Sooooo, we went to Steak and Shake for a sandwich.......I ordered the triple steakburger with cheese and goodies on it with fries....and she ordered the Chili-Mac.....at least that is what I call it. Well.........guess what! My fries were quite cold....and her pasta with her dish was ice-cold as if it has just come out of the fridge!!!!! My burger was not anywhere near being even warm.......either!!!!! Sooooo, I hailed the waitress, they took the food back, and in a bit returned with the food...again. Her plate was the very same bunch of pasta with chili on it.....but, my burger was different as I had already taken a bite the first time.......HOWEVER......my burger was missing the lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle.......sooooooooooo, I called the waitress back over, explained in a rational voice about it and.......said I would continue to eat it, however I wasn't sure I would pay for it.....and I thought it might be a good idea to speak to the manager.

She arrived......knowing the full story already....and told me we would not have to pay for this twice-baked meal and did we want desserts on the house? No.....we didn't, however.....perhaps we should have because I really doubt we ever darken the doorway of that Steak and Shake again!!!!!

Home we went.......and now we await the dawning of a new and, hopefully, a brighter day. At least we DO have DirecTV working perfectly.....perhaps I should say that in a whisper???? Something might happen to that........

LIFE IS GREAT(?????)......And, I hope it is better for you than it has been for us!!!!!!! Tomorrow is another day: "Success comes in Can's......Failure comes in Can'ts"