Hard to believe almost a month has passed since I last posted, but it has!! The kitchen is basically done now, and looks wonderful. Nick is here now, and loves the house too.

I'm staying at mom and dad's will we get married, so running back and forth and am extremely busy! Have most of my stuff at our house, so at mom and dad's (in my old bedroom), I'm surrounded by stuff that has yet to be packed. I SHOULD get it done... sometime. Hopefully... before the wedding.

Of course, too add to the excitement, we have to have probelms with our insurance. May I save you the trouble and grief that we've gone through by suggesting that you NOT choose STate Farm Insurance?

The reason being is that the agents (at least the ones I dealt with) are rude and so completely unhelpful its a wonder that the company is even in business. That it could be rated #1 is impossible to me.

The agent I foolishly chose (because I knew he was the insurance agent for one of my friends) seemed nice enough, but that didn't last very long.

My friends groaned when I told them he was the agent I'd chosen; they said he was an idiot, and they wish that they had chosen a different agent.

Well, I tried to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, but it wasn't long before I realized why they thought he was an idiot.

Our house happens to be heated by wood, which, in Wisconsin, is normal enough. But he wanted to take pictures of the stove to submit to the underwriter. However, he needed them soon, he said, and I had to work, so I told him to just drop by the house and take the pictures.

Well, he called and said that he couldn't find the manufacturing information on the stove, and that he'd searched the house as well, but hadn't found anything. I didn't exacly appreciate the fact that he rummaged through my home, but tried to be patient. I told him I'd find the information for him.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find it and couldn't get ahold of the former owners, as they were out of the state, and staying at a hotel until the sale closed on the house they were buying. I explained this to the agent, Ken, who was not happy about it, but I said there really wasn't much I could do, unless he wanted to try and speak to their old insurance provider. Which he said was impossible.

So I heard nothing from him for a few weeks... and then the bomb dropped at work that our insurance rates were doubling. So I gave him a call to see if I could get health insurance through State Farm. He returns my call, and tells me that in the first place, he NEEDED that information, and if he didn't have it by the end of THAT DAY, that the policy would probably be cancelled. That was the ultimatum. He said that the underwriter was pushing this, and he had no choice. I told him I didn't know what I could do, but that I'd TRY and see what my real estate agent could do.

Then he drops the bomb. "Yeah, when are you going to replace that roof?"

"Um... I'm... not. Why do you ask?"

"Because," he whines, "it looks like its in really bad condition, and I thought you said you were going to replace it when I gave you the policy. I wouldn't have started this policy if I thought you weren't going to replace that roof..."

"No," I say, a bit icily. " I never said I was going to replace the roof. What I do remember saying is that the roof was less than ten years old and that the shingles were still in good condition. THAT'S what I remember telling you."

He stammres for a bit, obviously flustered at my calling his bluff. "But... but... but that chimney looks DANGEROUS," he says. "And the roof looks like it got too hot and there's scorch marks on the roof by the chimney."

He truly is an idiot. I tell him that the "scorch marks" are rust stains from a cheap chimney guard that rusted quickly in the winter and unfortunately stained the roof when it rained in the spring. It has been replaced. Looks horrible, but roof is sound. It is not a burn mark.

He is not listening. He interrupts me and says that it needs to be replaced and he doesn't think underwriting is going to approve of the roof. He had no problem taking almost $700 dollars from me at the time he said he could give me the policy, but now he seems to be hedging.

I called my real estate agent and she worked a few miracles and got a hold of the previous owner's kids, who were able to get ahold of their parents. But this takes time, and I didn't get the info till the next day. Apparently, the stove's serial # tag had fallen off, so he'd nailed it to the wall of the garage, where it wouldn't get lost.

In the meantime, I'd tried to call state Farm and explain what was going on, but the girl I talked to said she couldn't really do anything except record my complaint about the agent. But I told her I was worried about what this Ken guy was saying about the roof, because I couldn't lose the policy because he was telling underwriting that my roof needed to be replaced (when in fact, it did not). She blandly told me that all I could do was call another agent. There don't seem to be 1-800 help numbers for State farm, like most insurance companys have. It seems you can only call your agent or a different agent, but calling a different agent doesn't make a whole lot of difference...

So the next day, as soon as I'd gotten the information, I called agent Ken, and he wasn't in the office, so I left a message with a bored sounding secretary.

By this time, I was fed up with Ken, so I called another State Farm agent in another town who someone said was pretty good. This guy said that he'd talk to Ken and see if he was willing to give the policy to him and said he'd call if he needed any more info and that he'd be glad to help me. HE said THAT about a month ago.

So, in the meantime, I've not heard from the new agent, and so I called at least three separate times to try and get it all sorted and never got my calls returned. He was out of the office, on the phone, out for the day...

WEll, then a few days ago, I get a nice letter from the STate farm Underwriter, informing me that my policy has been cancelled, due to the poor condition of the roof, per agent Ken's opinion. WHAT!!!???

I drove to the new agents office, because I had no luck trying to contact him by phone, but, he was out. I left a message, but he didn't call, and so I called the next day and actually caught him. However, he unapolagetically said he couldn't do anything, since the underwriter had already made a decision. Of course, he didn't have a number, but he suggested that I could try directory assistance.

I did find the number, but of course the underwriter was unreachable. I left a message. She hasn't called back of course. I hadn't really expected her too.

But I did call the Better Business Bureau. Apprently, they try and help resolve stuff like this, so maybe it will all turn out. In the meantime, since my policy cancels (ironically enough, on Dec. 4th - the wedding date), I'm hunting for a new insurance company.

Currently, I'm rating American Family -- they're to call me back tomrrow with a quote. Hopefully, its a go and I won't have to worry about it. I've called some smaller agents, but they dont' want to carry us, because we live in the country and are "too far" from the fire dept.

So... if you're reading this, and you're an insurance agent, and you have a little sympathy for my situation, feel free to send me info...

That has been my big adventure of the week.

That, and the shirts that I picked out two months ago for the wedding (for the guys) are too small for one of the groomsmen, who just now decided to try it on... apparently he's alot taller than I thought and so therefore larger around as well... and can't even button the LARGE shirt I bought. *sigh*

Mabye I'll have the guys go barechested like those calendar cowboys... hehehehe... okay, okay, so we CAN'T do that... but we'll figure something out. :P

WEll, I've got to go... work calls.