Yesterday, while my dear old dad painted a second coat of Chestertown Buff on the walls of the bungalow kitchen, I ran around like a chicken trying to find home insurance for my Mexican friends who are closing the deal on their first house tomorrow morning.
When I went to buy my home insurance in 2000 there wasn’t any hassle, but things must have changed in the last four years. State Farm wouldn’t insure the house because the roof was old (although it had been given thumbs up during a home inspection.) AAA wouldn’t insure the house because it still had a fuse box. Farm Bureau would insure the $160,000 house for the outrageous sum of $1015. Of course, the agent couldn’t use their preferred provider because the family had never had insurance before. And the rate of $1015 would only stand provided their credit score was acceptable. If it wasn’t, the price jumped to $1360. Yep. The old if you’re poor or have financial trouble then we are really going to stick it to you racket.
I came back at the end of the day, defeated. Then Mina says, “Well, maybe we should try the place in Lake City, American Family, where my brother has five cars insured.” I wanted to shake her. "Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place? As Mina and her husband are buying the place jointly with her brother, it made sense that he should go to get insurance at a place where he is already a client in good standing. It made so much sense she forgot to tell me.
Anyway, the gist is, they found insurance, for $600 through American Family, and they did it on their own.
And my kitchen is painted in a lovely subdued color that no longer hurts my eyes, but it’s a bit nekkid as it’s still curtain-less. I’m putting it back together now and will resume cooking tomorrow, if all goes well.
8:59:08 PM 
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