Saturday, January 28, 2006


This is the face of your friendly insurance adjuster!
BEWARE!

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

It's "hump day" in a normal person's work week. Every day is that in my work week. I have been working in the insurance industry since August in an attempt to support the lifestyle of my husband and I until he is done with school and we live in a location with more opportunity.

What do I mean by more opportunity? I love to teach. The career of a teacher is not only rewarding but a hell of a lot LESS stressful than any other job I've had---maybe because it is so rewarding...or something. I have so many thoughts and feelings in me right now that I know I am not going to make any sense here. So fuck being poetic or anything like that. I should also share that I hate my husband's laptop computer. I'm typing on the pile right now and the cursor keeps relocating within my text even when I conciously keep my meaty hands off the mouse pad thingy.

I hate my job. It's not the kind of hate where it's just a drag to go, but it sucks the everliving life out of me in every way imagineable (I don't think I'm spelling that correctly, it doesn't look right with the e before the a, but I don't want to check; mostly I'm writing this is a disclaimer in case it is wrong and in case anyone actually reads this rambling and makes a mental note of it being wrong). I deal with people when they have damage to their vehicles. Vehicles are a big part of people's lives--they use them to get to work, to transport children, to have fun, to get groceries, to go to the doctor, to deliver papers and pizza and all kinds of crap. When something happens to prevent any one or all of those things from happening, folks aren't usually in a good mood. That's where I come in. I'm the lucky one who assesses your coverage---you'd be surprised how many people have no idea what kind of (if any) insurance coverage they have on their vehicle!! This is always when people regret that high deductibles they selected in order to pay cheaper premiums.

Just so you know---your premiums cover more than just damage to YOUR vehicle, assholes!! You are also covered in the event that you cause damage to someone else's property (signs, guardrails, cars, bikes, houses, lightpoles, garage doors, dogs, toolboxes--just to name a few that I've had to afford coverage for). Your coverage also includes medical bills for YOU and your passengers in an event of an accident. Maybe you also pay for car rental or roadside assistance. There's also bodily injury coverage in case you injure someone in another vehicle or a pedestrian--this is above and beyond their medical bills by the way.

Did you know that Minnesota is a NO FAULT state---which has NOTHING NOTHING NOT A FUCKING THING to do with liability (stated simply: who is at fault for the accident). No fault simply means that in ANY accident in Minnesota, each parties medical bills will be paid for by their OWN insurance company NO matter who is at fault. This is decided by your legislature NOT by insurance companies. This is to protect you in the event that you were hit by someone without insurance and you have medical bills or in the event that liability is not immediately determined---then your shit is paid for--and not by YOU!

I'm tired of police officers showing up to accident scenes and telling people that Minnesota is a no fault state so it's nobody's fault. Fuck you officer! Learn some basics in insurance before you start giving people wrong information.

So once I find coverage for you fools, I do an estimate on your vehicle. I hate cars. People place far too much value on their vehicles. What you have a 1992 Pontiac Grand Prix and you think it's one of the nicest vehicles in the Fargo-Moorhead area??? Have you recently been a recipient of some work on "Pimp My Ride"....DOUBTFUL! Be realistic. Nearly every insurance policy states the obligation to restore your vehicle to its PRE PRE PRE PREEEE-accident condition. If your '92 grand prix is a piece of shit before you get in a fender bender, it is NOT my responsibility to restore it to 2006 condition. You pay '92 premiums, so I'll restore you to '92 condition, shithead! Stop bitching about insurance companies writing for used parts on your estimate! If your vehicle had not been in an accident, would you say your fender was a piece of shit? So why is a fender off off your same model year vehicle or NEWER so bad?

Once I write your estimate then I have to deal with the shop you choose to have your repairs made---another thing in Minnesota--it's the law that you have the right to choose your repair shop. You do not have to go around collecting friggen estimates and all that bullshit. I wish people would catch up.

I hate dealing with mechanics and any other people who are in the car or car care business. Ya'll make way too much money and are slimey as shit (except for about 4 of you that I've dealt with in my job and unfortunately you are a minority).

Summary: I love people, but I HATE customers. Don't be such assholes to people who are trying to help you. I have a bitch boss who micromanages and forgets that I have my master's degree and am only in this shithole until husband finishes school and we flee this God-forsaken territory for a better life.

I can't reconcile the fact that this IS temporary because everyday I feel sick going to work and cry a lot at the end of the day. It's such an unnatural feeling to know so much about cars and to look at random vehicles when I drive through town for NONwork tasks and assess damage to vehicles with dents or missing pieces. I HATE THIS! I'm a damn english teacher.

I have applied for jobs that I would rather not do to help keep my sanity and my marriage---food service worker at the elementary school? I'm your girl! Welder of patio furniture? Sign me up! Manager of an income-subsidized apartment building--HELL YEAH!
Husband and I actually have an interview on Sunday with the apartment people and I don't want to get excited in case it doesn't pan out because I honestly can't take the disappointment anymore. However, if the interview goes well, it sounds like we'd move in and start ASAP. Wednesday is the first of February and that means this week could possibly be my last week as an insurance adjuster. If we get offered the job on the spot on Sunday, that's it. I'm calling my boss's voicemail 5 seconds later and telling her to shove it. There is not way in HELL that any teaching position is going to bother caring about an insurance job as a reference and I don't have to put them on my resume. This company has shit on me soooo many times I can't even begin to share--maybe for another late night post when I'm furious and don't know what to do about it.

Corporate work is for people who have no soul.