Nibbled News

Cancelling coverage too early costs motorist

"As I approached the intersection, a stop sign suddenly appeared in a place where no stop sign had ever appeared before. I was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident."  

 When it comes to having adequate insurance coverage to protect our home, auto, life and family we all want the best plans that money can buy but at a reasonable cost.

Admittedly, we are all bargain hunters when it comes to this subject consistently demanding the most amount of coverage possible for the least amount of money.

Many folks accept this as a cost of modern life. Other people only weigh in the monthly cost of coverage and do not view the long term effect of prematurely cancelling their overall automobile insurance coverage. Acting hastily and cancelling some types of insurance could seriously jeopardize a person's financial situation.

My own insurance agent the other day told me about one of his long-standing customers cancelling his auto collision insurance. The vehicle was twelve years old and the guy involved wanted to reduce some of his monthly insurance costs. He felt he was a careful driver and did not want to continue to spend good money protecting an older vehicle.

The agent tried desperately to dissuade him from taking this course of action by offering him a number of less costly insurance alternatives. He outlined the costs involved if the man was involved in an accident. The man listened with a deaf ear. He was determined to take the collision coverage off this vehicle. 

The agent reluctantly cancelled the man's collision coverage and gave him his business card in case he wanted to change his mind. He signed the appropriate release forms for the agent. The client thanked him for his assistance and then left the office.

Ten minutes later the agent's telephone rang. The client whose collision insurance he had previously cancelled was calling him to report that he was involved in an accident just outside the insurance office's parking lot. The man was distraught and frantic. He asked the agent if he could help him.

The agent tried to explain to him that there was nothing he could do to assist him. He suggested the man call the police and report the accident. The driver had willingly declined the collision insurance coverage and was not covered . The car was substantially damaged and the cost to repair it would have to come from out-of-pocket finances.

Both drivers were not injured in the accident. The other driver was going to visit his own insurance agent to upgrade his own collision coverage when the accident happened. It was just one of those ironies of life . It happens.

The moral of the story: before you start lopping off monthly insurance costs make sure you have weighed all the pros and the cons. Sometimes a penny saved in one area can end up costing you big bucks in another. Try to think things through and get the big picture before you act.

Parents Often Create Delinquent Children

"Family: A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space."  - Evan Esar.

 Parents , sometimes,  by their own harried actions and momentary   inattentions, unwittingly encourage their children to become uncaring, inattentive and overly self concerned members of society.

This "outside -of-the- class" learning experience oftentime occurs at the most innocent of moments the biggest influence occurring while they are dropping their children off at school.

These ongoing lessons of asocial behavior are most likely to be reinforced when sleep-deprived, coffee sipping, text messaging parents hurriedly deposit their youngsters at the front door of their local institution of learning and then speed away full throttle in the hopes that teachers, coaches and advisors will baby sit and educate their young scholars.

I live across the street from a public elementary school and each day cannot help but notice the same time-strapped, busy parents depositing the youngsters at the front door of the building -- many times a few minutes after the final bell has sounded. 

The parents are all sipping coffee (super sized for the all important caffeine rush), texting or chatting  on their cell phones, ignoring safe driving procedures and speed limits and executing hair pin U-turns in the middle of the busy intersection. 

Parents who live within walking distance of the school have the added benefit of not only being able to sip their coffee and munch their cinnamon flavored donut in peace but also able to freely scatter their used coffee cup and donut bag anywhere along their stroll to school.

One lady recently walked two children to school, pushed a toddler in a buggy, sipped a coffee and during the stroll successfully changed a soiled diaper while in transit.

Although she was successful at changing the diaper the coffee cup was blown away from the immediate vicinty and she was unable to round up the errant cup for the obvious but excusable reasons.

Parents expect teachers to teach and socialize their children. They fail to realize that their own daily interactions with their children makes an important contribution to their behaviors and notions about their place in the world. 

The time to save Little Johnny from his weekly trip to the principal's office for being unruly happens when his parents are dropping him off at the front door of the school and not when a notification is sent to them to chat about his indifferent attitudes and behaviors.

Sales Receipts -- Effective Feedback Tools

" If a diabetic, on his way to buy insulin , is killed by a runaway truck, he is the victim of an accident. If the truck was delivering sugar, he is the victim of an oddly poetic coincidence. But if the truck was delivering insulin, ah! Then he is the victim of an irony." -- George Carlin.

Consumers often bemoan the fact that no one ever listens to or respects their concerns and complaints. Retailers according to these folks are out for just one thing: profit and the customer be damned.

In many situations there are no feedback mechanisms by which a customer can either complain about or praise the quality of the service or product they received from a particular retailer.

Many businesses today now offer customers the chance to either praise or critique the quality of service they received at their place of business. Astute consumers will notice that their receipt now includes a website address to which customers with a gripe or concern can express themselves and hopefully have their opinions heard, appreciated and ultimately acted upon.

The one irony in this scenario lies in the fact that not many consumers will visit the company website and express their concerns. They are either not reading their receipts fully or are dismissing the site as patronizing and not worth their while visiting.

Bookstores, large chain grocery stores, computer retailers, pharmacies and national retailers offer cash rewards and other incentives to those folks who will visit their site and tell them about their in store experiences. Many folks still resist the temptation to visit the site no matter how appealing the incentive offered.

Three weeks ago Sarah , a single mother with three young children, is one such person who often hesitated to express herself no matter how insistently her friends and family encouraged her to do so. She is a working mother and as such tries to maximize the dollar return she receives for money spent.

She had purchased a package of sweet and sour spare ribs she planned to cook for her family and inlaws. The top layer of the platic wrapped container displayed two ideal cuts of the ribs. The package offered a four dollar discount and she gladly purchased the meat.

When she opened the package at home she discovered that she had been scammed. The second layer of the ribs was laden with fat and the quality of the meat not top grade as she had expected it would be. She felt betrayed and ripped off by her favorite grocery store. She has been shopping there for many years and her customer club card describes her as being an "elite" customer.

She then decided to visit the grocery chain's online website site and express her dismay and outrage that the meat department would engage in such deceptive marketing practices. The in house meat department had processed the meat and labelled the meat as the store's own product. There were no middle men involved in the preparation of the ribs.

She expressed her dismay and opinions freely, frankly and forthrightly. She said it helped her to vent all the negative feelings she had against the store. At the time she was doubtful that the large national grocery chain would either appreciate or act upon her comments and critiques.

Recently she received a letter of apology from the store's regional manager in charge of customer relations. The letter heartily apologized for the poor quality of the meat she received. She was also offered a one hundred dollar gift certificate from the store and the private telephone number of the store's regional office should she have any other concerns or critiques.

In her opinion the letter was sincere and not merely patronizing. The manager hoped that this negative experience would not dissuade her from continuing her long term relationship with the outlet. He told her that she was a valued customer of the store. The incident would be investigated and the involved parties spoken to and handled.

Sarah was grateful that she took action and visited the site. She encourages other folks to also visit similar sites and offer their experiences and opinions in this public forum. She added that she will now scan all future receipts for web site addresses and will visit them if she experiences similar situations in the future.

People living on fixed incomes, retirees, widows , students and others know the importance of getting value for their dollars. They also must realize that they need to make their voices heard by way of these company web sites.

To stoically suffer in silence or gripe your dismay to family and friends is no longer acceptable in today's fast paced, consumer oriented world.

A Bad Day For A Birthday - February 29th

"People love to admit they have bad handwriting or that they can't do math. And they will  readily admit to being awkward. "I'm such a klutz!" But they will never admit to having a poor sense of humor or being a bad driver.'  ---   George Carlin

 

Folks born today, February 29, enter the world plagued with a social handicap. They face the difficult decision of determining exactly when they will celebrate their birthdays with friends and family. It helps if you were born with a sense of humor.

The slap on the backside the doctor gave them in the delivery room on that special recorded day of their entry into the world is easily forgotten. The actual date of their birth is a social reality that they must come to grips with and eventually accept. 

Many accept their fate stoically and with a somewhat reserved sense of humor. Others feel that fiendish calendar creators and mathematicians have doomed them to a lifestyle as carefree as Peter Pan's -- never growing old too quickly.

A friend of mine Craig celebrates his birthday today. He admits that he is 64 years old. The candles on the top of his cake belie the fact. His wife accomodates his wishes and carefully places 16 candles on his homemade cake. It's his sweet sixteen party and  he can easily blow out the candles with one deeply inhaled breath. 

Craig and a number of other folks he has met online share this birthday dilemma.  They have not as yet formed a local support group to celebrate their uniqueness but they do send online birthday cards to one another as freely and as easily as the rest of us do.

Being born on the last day of February might technically excuse a person from not really having to act their age. Biologically, these folks mature at the same rate as the rest of humanity. The only difference is the acutal chronological registering of their birthdate. What do you do when you have to wait four years to enjoy a slice of birthday cake and ice cream?

It would be a nice gesture if greeting card companies would create a special card noting that the recipient is a unique individual who just happened to be born on an unusual date. It's tough buying a regular card for a person who has recently turned eighty but can only celebrate the day every four years.

Happy birthday wishes to all those celebrating today!

Ever Try Reasoning With Your Dentist?

"You don't go mud wrestling with a pig because in the end you only wind up looking foolish and the pig tends to love the attention."  -- Anon.

Have you ever tried to engage in a somewhat intelligent and serious conversation with your dentist while you were sitting quietly  in his comfortably padded , genuine Corinthian leather oversized chair visibly trembling and waiting for the pain session to begin?

If you have ever tried this almost universal approach to personal anxiety reduction you would have immediately noticed that both the dentist and his well trained assistant have only one game plan in mind:  helping you through your current oral trauma no matter what it costs you or your ever vigilant insurance provider.

Last Thursday my friend Vic discovered that  a front crown on the upper right portion of his gum area had become extremely loose. He had difficulty eating solid food and the crown was rubbing against his gum causing him pain and overall irritation. The gum was extremely sensitive and required immediate attention.

 He tried to make an appointment with his regular dentist and hoped the visit would resolve his problem. He was told his dentist had the flu and was asked if any dentist would suffice. He answered yes any dentist would be alright.

On Tuesday he went for his appointment and discovered that the tooth had cracked and a part of it had broken away.  It would now need to be extracted crown and all. He did not plan on this happening since the last time a crown came loose the dentist was able to recement it successfully into place.

He was also told that it would be a good game plan to have his teeth cleaned and a few Xrays taken of his upper and lower gums to update his patient file information. He agreed to have these procedures done and luckily there was an appointment vacancy also available that very day.

The female hygienist performed her task in an efficient and friendly manner. She took extra care around the overly irritated and sensitive section of his upper gum. She finished the manual cleaning of his teeth, successfully scraped away the accumulated plaque deposits that had built up around his teeth and then offered him a fluoride rinse to complete the treatment.

He was then led to another dental office and told that the dentist would be with him shortly. A dental assistant entered the room a few minutes later and told him  she needed to take Xrays not only of the affected area but also his whole mouth. This was the dentist's orders. He complied.

When the Xrays were complete the dentist entered the room. He looked at the pictures and then  took his silver colored pliers and carefully removed the crown. He then relayed the bad news that the toothh had broken and the crown and post were useless. He would have to extract the remains of the tooth. The dentist then froze the area with a shot of novocaine and extracted the remains parts of the fragmented  tooth.

The dentist sat at a desk nearby and told Vic of the dental work he might require: permanent tooth implant ($3400); partial dental bridge to bolster gums chewing powers ($3300) ; and finally a back molar ($1100 for the root canal excluding the new crown.

Vic was shocked by this doctor's callous and unrealistic attitude towards his patient. This doctor and others in the building were all fixated on one thing: how much will your insurance carrier handle for you? He tried to explain to this money grubber that he was a retiree living on a fixed income. This made no impression on the doctor.

The next day Vic received a sympathetic telephone call from the dental office's billing secretary. A female associate tried to console him on the loss of his front tooth and asked him how he was handling the loss. He told her it was only a tooth and nothing more.  She assured him she understood his position and his desire to have the tooth replaced as quickly as possible.

The number of options she cited were far too expensive and unrealistic for a retired person lving on a fixed income. He said she was understanding of his financial situation but said she was going to forward a copy of the replacement cost of the tooth to his insurance company. The amount for the tooth alone was "$3800.

Vic said he was struck by the humor of it all. Surely, he reasoned, the materials used and the medical equipment involved did not warrant such  a high price tag. To him this was another example of how costly and unrealistic the cost of medical and dental charges and services have become.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sipping A Brewsky Helps It All Make Sense

Several months ago, a friend told me that when he was cleaning his garage he threw his back out. I told him it was probably over enthusiasm. Sometimes when you're cleaning you get carried away and throw out something you intended to keep."  --- George Carlin.

How many folks do you personally know who rush headlong through their daily routines without ever taking the time to reflect on their lives or the way in which the many absurdities of life actively impinge on their actions and overall happiness?

Few people ever schedule some personal quiet time in which they just sit, relax, listen to themselves think and appreciate the day for what it truly is: a unique opportunity to enjoy another day of existence in an ever changing, challenging yet ever evolving universe full of promise and hope.

Back in the day old men would sit on creaky wooden porches in their rockers and relax, philosophize and probably gripe about the hand life has dealt them. It was therapeutic in that they were able to let off some pent up steam. This was something that their fathers and their fathers fathers had probably done at the end of their own work day.

Marshall Dillon, the hero in the television series "Gun Smoke", knew the importance of taking things easy and relaxing at the end of his day. He visited the fictional Longbranch Saloon in Dodge City where he, Miss Kitty and Doc would sip  a brewsky and reflect on the day's activities.

When I was a university student I enjoyed a cold glass or two of beer to help not only commiserate about the day's activities but also to make some sense out of it all. The student pub was the place where one could easily relax, socialize and plan for the immediate or long range future.

Today beer sipping and quiet reflection have become a lost art. The possibility of becoming an alcoholic has been drummed into everyone's awareness. Beer manufacturers in their televised commercials seem to encourage foks to over indulge in their imbibing. When you're drunk as a skunk you can hardly stand up let alone think about the day's activities.

In these fast paced, uncertain times it is necessary to unwind, reflect and take life a bit easier. The pot bellied stove and the old fashioned general store have gone by the wayside. Quiet reflection and quiet time should not be compromised due to life's anxieties and demands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many Automobile Problems Just Happen

"WHILE I waited at a service station for my car to be tuned, a woman drove up in a clunker that rattled, wheezed and coughed to a stop in a cloud of smoke. She rolled down her window and asked the attendant if she could wait while it was being fixed. "Sure," replied the attendant. "It'll take awhile, but get your things. You can sleep over there under the oil racks."    --- Anon

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Sometimes a person's best friend is his automobile dealership's repair crew. These specially trained service technicians can make or break a customer's overall satisfaction with the vehicle they have purchased. They are at times a  company's first line of defence in ensuring customer product satisfaction.

 Highly calibrated diagnostic equipment can be used to zero in on a technical problem that is currently plaguing a car owner. Other times something as simple as inside product information can give this same harried owner a plan of attack when dealing with auto issues.

My neighbor Vic is a retiree and purchased a Chrysler Sebring a few years ago. This car has been the apple of his eye and for the past number of years he has serviced the car religiously according to the owner's manual. It is a line of mid size car that was sold by Chrysler from 1995 to 2010. It offers stylish good looks and is not a gas guzzler.

Recently, Vic's overall satisfaction with his car has been seriously tested. A cold snap in the weather has sent temperatures plummeting well below the freezing mark. This frigid change has caused his car to emit a snap-crackle-pop sound whenever he starts the engine The vehicle starts alright and there is no outpouring of dark smoke. Just the irritating sound.

He consulted his dealership mechanic about the problem and discovered that many Chrysler and Jeep products are experiencing this same noisy situation whenever the temperatures plunge beneath a certain level. Apparently the power steering fluid begins to congeal like jello due to the cold.  

Vic told me a number of the mechanics had considered recommending that customers experiencing this problem use General Motors power steering fluid as a replacement for their own. However they were not sure as to what the consequences might be on the overall performance of the vehicles. The fluid might damage the gaskets and other internal working parts  used in the Chrysler-Jeep products.

The weather has changed for the better and the temperatures have become a bit more moderate. Vic is now able to start his vehicle's engine without the accompanying noise. He doesn't mind the fact that he has to scrape ice off the windshield or brush away the snow. Its the unexpected winter complications that throw a monkey wrench into his daily routines that bother him.

 

Seven Percent Solution For Our World?

 

 

Prayer is co-operation with God. It is the purest exercise of the faculties God has given us - an exercise that links these faculties with the Maker to work out the intentions He had in mind in their creation.  ( E. Stanley Jones)

This is the time of the year when the winter blahs and blues seems to take its toll on many, many people. Feelings of depression slowly creep into a person's psyche. Many folks want to give up on the positive side of life and in its stead embrace a negative, hangdog pessimism.

The shorter days and the darker nights takes its toll on a person's mental health. There is a solution to this perennial problem. We are not doomed to suffer and flounder in a sea of doubt and pessimism.

The short video at the beginning of this blog offers a solution that many people fail to realize may be helping to shape thier lifes and destinies. It is an inspirational video clip. It tells all of us that we are not alone and that there is a benevolent , universal consciousness uniting us all.

Life is meant to be shared and the fruits and the joys in life may come to us through the efforts of others who care for us. Enjoy.

 

 

Safeway Lagging Behind On Product Quality

The traditional mom and pop grocery store has these days almost been  entirely replaced  by the mega markets promoting their bulk buying offers and huge discounts meant to entice and secure customer support and loyalty.

We trust that the modern day players in the burgeoning food industry will also adhere to the same standards of quality, freshness and safety that the local entrepreneurs subscribed to.

Sometimes this trust is naively placed into outlets that care more about profits then customer safety and satisfaction. Many times there are too many fingers in the operational pie to guarantee anything substantial for the consumer.

Last Thursday the 19th of the month  I visited my local Safeway outlet and purchased a package of extra lean ground turkey breasts. There was a two dollar deduction listed on the front of the prewrapped package.

The contents appeared to be pink and wholesome and I looked forward to enjoying it in a chili recipe to be served on the upcoming weekend. The freshness label indicated that the product was good until the 28th of the month.

Saturday evening I noticed that a clear liquid had somehow mysteriously formed and accumulated inside the package. I had not placed the carton in the freezer but on one of the fridge's inner shelves. This was a procedure I had done for years.

The package was opened gingerly and the excess mositure was drained away. The chicken did not smell tainted so it was placed on an electric fry pan. It slid easily out of the container. A few minutes after the heat was applied a white, odorless ooze began to appear around the fringes of the bulky slab of the ground chicken.

As the electric fry pan started to cook the meat more and more of the white goo encircled the meat. After a few minutes the fry pan was turned off and the chicken was thrown into the garbage bin. It seemed to be too risky an item to eat.

I suspect that the product had been previously frozen and thawed and then placed in the meat section for sale. I did not know how many times this had been done. A number of times in the past whenever I had bought the same product and frozen it at home for later use the same reaction had occurred in the fry pan but to a lesser degree.

There were no external markings on the outside of the plastic wrapped container warning a customer that the product had been previously frozen. The two dollar discount seemed to justify the fact that the product had been handled somewhat badly.

The product line, Eating Right, is not processed in the store. It is an item mass merchandised and handled by a national conglomerate. Somewhere along the line the product may have been frozen during transport and then placed on the shelf in the meat section for sale.

Chicken has traditionally been associated with salmonella. This alone should inspire large retailers like Safeway to place a higher emphasis on caution when selling this product for consumer use.

I wrote an email to the Safeway business ethics division detailing the problem I had with this product line. I tried contacting the local retailer via their customer complaint hotline but their site has been experiencing technical difficulties the entire weekend. Go figure.

 

 

  

Turning Viewers Into Entrenched Voyeurs

"I'm at the age where food has taken the place of sex in my life. In fact, I've just had a mirror put over my kitchen table." ~ Rodney Dangerfield

It seems these days that even  the most  dramatic, respected  and creative  television shows  eventually flaunt and promote unbridled, carefree and unprotected sex as the answer to their series flagging viewer rating.

This usually happens after the third or fourth episode when the viewer numbers have been compiled and the networks and advertisers are eager to boost exposure and sales. Network managers are willing to take a chance on new dramatic content and more receptive to innovative writing.

The Nielsen viewer ratings have been successfully compiled by this time and a television home viewing market selected within which a show's writing team can become "creative" oftentime using gratuitous sex to overcome writing lapses and lulls between commercials.

Two such shows that pop into mind are "King"and "Suits". Both shows are presented on the Showcase network.The plots and the writing  are first rate. Initially the sexual nature of the show's characters was downplayed and the legal angle highlighted. On the premium channel a viewer content warning is flashed between commercial segments indicating "adult content view discretion is advised."

"King" is a tough female cop who has been divorced a number of times and likes her sex hot and heavy. She is nearing forty, wears tight skirts and is desperately trying to get pregnant. She is the head of a crime division in a large metropolitan city. At times she lets her biological clock run her common sense. This aspect may make her appealling to all those female viewers in her particular life situation.

"Suits"  main characters are Harvey Specter" and  "Mike Ross". For Harvey a romp in the hay is an accepted pro bono aspect of the job.  Recently Ross has also been priming the pump for female companionship.  Specter is a talented, conniving, no holds barred successful attorney possessing street smarts and an over active libido. Ross is his protege with a photographic memory whom he is tutoring in the law firm.

Eventually though the main characters in both shows abandon their higher callings and are eager to tear off their clothing, hop into bed with  any available and consenting member of the opposite sex.  This allows three to five minutes of air time to successfully transpire. This on-screen action is supposed to turn the viewing audience into consenting adult voyeurs.

The popularity of both shows has attracted the attention of the non premium channels. The channels do flash the viewer warning adult content notice at the start of the show. So an at home viewer expects some adult content not out-and-out orgy action. What does a parent do when their children are in the same room with them while they are watching the juicier segments?

In this age of sexually transmitted diseases, herpes, genital warts, AIDs and the like dramatic televison shows should offer the viewing public richer content and more thought provoking themes and try not to merely pander the easily gratuitous side of life .

If this is an impossible task then at least have the main characters enage in protected sex before they dazzle the viewer with their bedroom prowess.