Life always has something in store. This is a blog about the little interesting things in life. I work in the insurance field and travel the world when possible.
I’m finished here in Oklahoma/Kansas!!!! WooHoo!!! Well I guess because that means that once these are finished I’m also finished with my billing. I’d really like to make a little more $$.
When I think about what needs to be paid for: stock up on wine, a new photo printer but not just any photo printer this one is the new Epson 2400,a new computer with mega amount of memory for my photos, a new tripod, pay off a credit card or bill, trademark the names for my businesses and get the USDA testing for the 4 types of cookies. Wow, this list is long but most of these things are not on the list that we made to do in 10 months.
No room for home improvements at all, no new flooring or stove, no new paint on the walls or fixing up the Ferrari or Jag. So it is exciting to think that the businesses that I’ve dreamed of for years can be launched but depressing that our payoff plans have gone to hell in a hand-basket.
Twinks and I left at 7:30 a.m. for a little place just past Dodge City, KS. I had Map Quested everything but didn’t bother to check how long it would take to get there. I figured an hour to 1-1/2 hours should be plenty. Well 2-1/2 hours later I arrived. Now this was after a breakfast in which my milk turned out to be soured, like really spoiled. I’d tried to eat the cereal anyway but just couldn’t force it down.
So my first claim threw the other three late and later. Finally by 5pm we got back to the RV hot and tired. Fortunately it was cooler today so never got over 90F but that was hot enough. And of course my last claim had 2 separate buildings the back being a two story so we had to get the ladder up the interior stairs in the garage then set up on a small balcony.
On the way to my last claim I was driving along when Twinks stood up and barked at me. I stopped the truck and got her out, and she let out diarrhea. Glad I stopped when I did. I don’t need a repeat of the Seattle incident! (I've written about this in a prior post)
So if I complain about today no one will listen, no one was killed, or hurt. Just a bunch of hassles.
Tomorrow is my last day of inspections. I’m always thinking about being extra careful on my last day in a city. Don’t want to get distracted and then get hurt.
After the humiliation of going into Wal-Mart the battery charger gave a little charge to the batteries then quit and said that a cell was shorting. This means that the batteries were bad.
Yesterday I had a claim in Guymon, the 1st I’ve had in the town. Since I was meeting a realtor I thought he would be a good one to ask about who could help me with the batteries. Now the batteries in the RV are a Deep Cycle not just any battery but I needed help quickly.
The realtor called his friend who owns a parts store, Jeff Graue, who told me that he would come by when he had someone to relieve him at his store.
Just after 4pm Jeff came by and took a look at the battery situation. He wasn’t sure how he would hook up 1 12-volt in the place of the 2 6-volts but he called another friend and then assured me that they would have everything hooked up this morning while I was doing my inspections. He said that I could come into the store on Monday and pay what I owed.
Sure enough, when I returned from my inspections the new battery was installed and the AC and fridge were working great.
As Thelma Rick wrote in her “This I believe" essay, “… I believe in humanity”. Many people are good in this world and Jeff Graue is a gem!
The adventures just keep on rollin’ in. So after coming down on the poor city of Guymon and Wal-Mart yesterday, here I have to eat my words.
I first got a Trader Joe’s paper sack, cut some eye holes in it, then put it over my head and headed on into the dreaded store. One must admit that while other stores in the area are a little drab, this store is clean and modern. Too Bad. But I went in anyway.
The reason? Let me give you some background.
As I’ve written before I’m living in my RV. The 5th wheel runs off battery, propane and electricity. The interior lights, except for the light over the dinette all run off battery. My understanding is that the fridge and AC also need battery power for the ignition but can run off battery or electricity. The RV has a converter built in that runs off electricity and will charge the batteries when they get low when we are plugged into electricity.
Well I realized a couple of days ago that the lights in the RV were getting dim, like really dim. I then also realized that the converter wasn’t running at all.
When I got in from inspections today it was about 100 F but the AC didn’t kick on when I turned it on. I checked the lights and they barely were on so I thought that maybe I was out of propane. I checked the cook top and gas lit so it wasn’t the propane. Then I remembered about the battery.
I ran out and parked the truck by the plug and plugged the RV into the truck to charge the batteries. I came back in and called the RV repair at home, the only person we trust, Ed. Ed told me that the converter was bad so I needed to go to a Wal-Mart and pick up a battery charger and extension cord then charge the batteries that way. That would be a cheap fix until I could get home.
Hence, the trip to Wal-Mart. I did go in and purchase the items needed to keep me going. I swallowed my pride and ego, but just a little. I still have lots more pride and ego!
I came back to the RV and our man Ed walked me thru hooking everything up. Now I find that the batteries are bad so I may need to get some new ones. Problem is Dale said I can’t lift them. Hope to keep these going until Monday when I can get out of here. If I go to Oklahoma to visit family quick then I’ll have a cousin help me out.
Fortunately it is nice in the evening so I don’t need the AC and as for lights well I’m working with flashlights and computer screens for light.
My claims are in the panhandle area of Oklahoma and southwest Kansas for now. I live in an RV park in the panhandle, a little town called Guymon, Ok.
The RV park has farm land on 2 sides and a couple of houses to the west. We are on a main road over which probably 50 vehicles travel a day. Across the street is more farmland. The farmland is more for cattle than anything else. I saw about 8 cows today in the field. Everything is flat and very few trees anywhere.
This area is interesting to me. Most of you know that I was born and raised in L.A., graduated from Cal State L.A. I’m just a city girl who still loves the “big” city. So when Dale and I took over the family farm in Shafter it was quite a shock to move to a small town. But the small town was only 2 hours from L.A. and 4 hours from San Francisco so I could survive even though I hated the small town mentality.
Here most people in surrounding towns have heard of Guymon. Funny, I look at the place and wonder why anyone would live here. The town is really a sad town in a way; stores, like in many places, have closed up. The stores that are left are the “Dollar Stores” and stores that sell stuff that I can’t imagine who’d buy it. There are only a couple of grocery stores but there is the Walmart. I’m guessing that Walmart has done what they have done in so many cities; chase out all of the little guys then go in and take over. Those of you who know me well know that I hate Walmart for the way they treat the women and their business practices. I refuse to shop there except that there is almost nowhere else to shop.
I’ve driven around most of the little towns here now and find that houses are also just sad looking, older, in need of some TLC.
The alcohol rules are so crazy too. I’ve never had to live with them before and wouldn’t you know I only brought 2 bottles of wine along. Usually I bring at least 1 case but this time I was in a hurry and didn’t think ahead. There is virtually no selection and tax upon tax has been added onto each bottle making them much more expensive than at home. GURR!
Thank goodness this storm isn’t big so I’ll be out of here soon.
It’s getting hot here, hot breezes in the afternoon like a furnace but at least the evening is cool. The RV windows are all open letting in a nice breeze. I get tired of the racket from the AC. So now I have candles lit, drinking some wine and writing. The claims here are no different from anywhere else in the U.S. Yesterday I went to one place where the older couple was angry when I didn’t find a bunch of damage. They had sustained hail damage in the storm 1 year ago and although everyone around them got a new roof they only got money to patch. Now they want a new roof. Well guess what? They will get a new roof otherwise they will be on the phone with their insurance company screaming and I’ll need to write the estimate for a new roof anyway with an adjuster mad at me. I had to find damage to justify the new roof which took a little time. Today I had a claim for some farm property which turned out to be spread out over 5 locations and multiple buildings. It took all morning. Lots of inspecting metal roofs. Tomorrow is more of the same but 3 claims in 3 different places. I should carry my big camera in the event I find something to photograph, but I really want to inspect and get back before the temps get too high.
Well Justin called today from Dallas; he’d introduced himself to the head of the Catastrophe Dept and let her know that he was my son. He met several other people; one even came up to him and introduced himself. Unfortunately for me Jenavieve was not able to find a babysitter for the kids which meant that Justin had to get back to California in order to arrange that. He will come back if we continue to receive claims. So for now I’m on my own. It is much quieter when I’m alone but I do have Twinks, who has settled into our regular routine and that gives me company. The campground is very quiet, not like the KOA in New Orleans where we got to know our neighbors. But I’m here to work so it really shouldn’t matter. I’ve only received a couple of claims a day for the past two days so I anticipate that we will move on soon. I’ll be done inspecting mid week so I’ll maybe go home if there isn’t more work.
So we arrived in Oklahoma and found a campground outside of a little town, Guymon. It isn’t a KOA but then the sites are only $16/night with full hookups. Justin organized the claims and we started to inspect on Wed, but we soon found that he was regretting the decision to miss the claims conference. So as in any CAT flexibility is the key to success and after returning back to the RV from inspections we changed our course again. I found a cheap flight that left Amarillo at 7:30pm, a 2-1/2 hour drive, arranged a hotel and we were out the door by 3pm. As we drove south the sky became darker and darker, then lightening started up. Justin got on weather.com and found a big thunderstorm right over Amarillo with more on the way. Then about 45 minutes away from the airport traffic stopped completely. A trucker told us that a big rig had gone over on its side blocking the 2 lanes. Justin then got on the highway conditions where it was saying the road would be blocked for 2 hours. We decided to just stay put as we didn’t know any shortcuts and couldn’t move anyway. About 15 minutes later the sky lightened up and traffic started moving at a crawl. Not much later we were past the overturned truck and flying down the road. We got Justin got to the airport with 1 hour to spare. Now he is earthquake certified with an additional class on structures and roofing and he has the estimating program in his computer. Tomorrow he will have the basic class required by Crawford. He will be able to work on his own. Funny, if there is a large earthquake then I’ll need to assist Justin until I can get my own certification. We have discussed this but I didn’t seriously consider it. My son has about passed me up.
Couldn’t sleep until 6am when the alarm was set to ring, too concerned about all the miles left to drive. So I got up and started getting ready to drive by 5:30am.
We’d been driving for a couple of hours when I got a call from CAT. There is work in Kansas and really, like I’d told cat she said, I can just get certified after an earthquake hits. HUM, she had replied that they really wanted for me to get the certification now so they could get me out right away in the event of an earthquake. So could we please just turn north to Kansas instead of south to Dallas? Of course I said yes.
We headed north and Justin got to work on campgrounds to the north, canceling the KOA in Dallas. It appears that there was a massive hail storm last night throughout Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.
We have already received claims in Oklahoma and Kansas just along the border so we are in a campground in that area just outside Guymon, OK.
There is a very nice breeze and with the windows open and a couple of fans going we are able to enjoy the present temps.
But I’m really tired after a very short night and a day’s worth of driving. So off to bed for me.
