The "I'm feeling glad." thread.

[sandydandy]

So today marks the three year anniversary of my DUI conviction. Which means tomorrow it will fall off my driving record. I spoke my insurance broker all excited about getting standard insurance rates, but unfortunately this particular insurer won’t break a policy without penalty. But we’ll see if the saving outweigh the penalty then we’ll do it. She’s going to talk to the underwriter to see what can be done. Otherwise I have to wait until January of 2022 for the policy to renew. She said January is when the real difference will be felt as that’s when the record of the six month suspension will also fall off, leaving me clean. When that’s gone it’ll be like this never happened at all.

So three and a half years and small fortune later is when I can finally go back to where I was before it happened. So what was the point of doing it you ask? I’m still trying to figure that out.

Still won’t be able to rent cars or moving vans for the foreseeable future, as they’re able to look six years into your driving history. Oh well.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Uh... happy anniversary?

[sandydandy]

Something like that.

[George]

Congratulations, sandy. They say time heals all wounds. I hope it does for you with regard to your insurance and other conditions you're still having to live with.

I was going to make a smart remark such as "just stop paying your current insurer and find a different one." I don't know how it is in Canada, but here in the USA car insurance companies advertise heavily asking customers to switch to them.

But then I remember trying to cancel a policy for someone who was deceased and whose policy was paid beyond their date of death. They didn't want to hear about it. They wanted their money for those next three months (which, by then, was in the past), even though the person had passed away about a month before the previous quarter had ended. Insurance companies are like all the rest - they don't give a damn about "customer satisfaction" once they have you as one.

I had a good friend who worked for a well-known auto insurance company as a claims adjuster for most of his thirty years with the same company. He said the stress finally drove him from the job. He switched to another insurance company for a short time and now has left the industry all together. His job was saying "no" to the company's premium-paying customers who wanted their cars repaired.

That reminded me of this guy.

[HondaKid86]

Taking delivery of my first JDM car has been the sea change I've needed for years. Finally, my keyring feels "right". And for a car guy, that means everything.

I'm spending time tinkering and making small improvements, which usually grants a dose of oxytocin as long as things go well. I've noticed that my writer's voice has changed — it's more relaxed and less severe. I think this was a key to happiness. Which is always dangerous when it's something material or mechanical — so I need to save up and import a backup.

I haven't been home in ten months. Nonstop travel in a gig I like. This car has made the last stretch bearable. Grateful.

[Crazed_Insanity]

[FaultyMario]

Bruno is regional champ in sports climbing.

Granted... not a lot of kids made the trip, because pandemic... and there were not a lot of kids in his age bracket... and because the age brackets are made up of two years of birth, it's always easier for him in odd-numbered years.

But still.

I'm feeling glad. He's happy. We're all happy.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Nice!

Why can’t you post a climbing pic rather than a walking pic?

[Cam]

[FaultyMario]

Why can’t you post a climbing pic rather than a walking pic?

Because of the healthy distancing rules I was only able to snap 2 or 3 "action" pics and, out of those, this one captured the vibe nicely. All the adults in the above pic are judges, btw.