Fires, Insurance and rambling

My cousin is an amazing woman... she was the one I wrote about in this post .

She and her husband were married over 4th of July weekend.

This past weekend - Sept 6 - my cousin and her husband moved into a new condo to start their lives together. The unthinkable happened - Sept 10 (4 days after they moved in) - some men were refinishing the floor in their condo and it exploded. The three workers were very seriously hurt (one has burns over 80% of his body - all three are on ventilators and in comas - not doing well), so we have been praying for them. Apparently the company had the employees trying to save money by using a combination of chemicals that was unsafe. My cousin and her husband are ok - but literally everything they own is gone. Including ALL of their wedding presents, wedding photos, clothes, memories... etc.

Thank God they are both okay.

Wayne was the one who had let the workers in - and had just left to run an errand when this happened. I'm in tears thinking of what could have happened.

There are some links to the news articles at the end of this post. If you could keep them in your prayers - and the other families who have been displaced (their condo was the only total loss - but the others in the building lost some things as well - and had to leave their homes) - and the workers who are in such terrible shape.

Also - As some of you may know but I just recieved binding authority this week as a Property and Casualty Insurance Producer - and my whole life the last 3 weeks has been insurance while I completed my onboarding. My point here is to make sure you are properly insured. Most of the people I know in our complex do NOT have renters insurance, and lately I've realized that so many people are under insured. Jewelry, fine art, guns, etc have special limits that lower the amount you would get in case of a loss (jewelry in most states is $1000 - do you have more than $1000 in jewelry???). Also - consider if you own a home or have a measure of wealth - to carry an umbrella policy to cover your liabilities. I will get down off my soap box now... but make sure you are properly insured!! (BTW - this isn't a sales pitch since I can only bind insurance in the state of Maine...)

Links to articles about the fire:
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080912/NEWS/80912044

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6382159

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080910/NEWS/80910024/1020/NEWS0402

http://www.goleader.com/08sep11/

http://www.tricountyredcross.org/2008/09/red-cross-responds-to-scotch-p.html

I'm DONE!

The training is over and for all my complaining it really wasn't as horrid as I made it out to be. Boring - yes! It was helpful though and I did learn a lot. I think it could have been one week... but that's ok!

So - now I'm just waiting for my appointment and I'm ready to released out into the world to bind P&C insurance policies.

Well... not exactly since I'm not working as an agent, I'm just going to be using my new talents and skills to cover the office for my client when she's gone - but still.

Are you properly insured???

Brain... Fried.... Overload....

I have completed one week of insurance hell. It actually hasn't been too bad. I've been able to get out early all week and I really have learned a lot. I have learned I'm pretty darn good at it - which is a bit of surprise to me (and I guess to everyone else). My instructor told me today that when she first met me she wasn't sure if it would be my thing - but after this week she's impressed with how effective I am with MY style. I should be training them...

Having such ease with computers really does help since I find myself a heck of a lot faster than the others - but it also makes the day a lot more boring.

I like the people I've met and although we have different goals from our endeavors (they are going to actually be full time agents) we seem to be pretty cohesive as a group.

I'm also surprised at how much I remember from the studying I did for that ridiculous licensing exam!!! I really thought it went out the window as soon as I passed - but I did store some in my long term memory!

So - this week was a bit of a surprise. I always am shocked when I'm good at something (I was so nervous I vomited Monday before I left!!), and it's nice to participate in a training that is actually useful!

Julia starts school after Labor Day. So, next week is my last week of training, and then we'll get Julia in school.... then I should be back around more often! I had 1300 blog posts on Google Reader to catch up on, so I dumped them all and I'm going to have to work my way back into my favorites!

Enjoy the end of summer!

whoo hooo!

I just received word that the check has been cashed and my license might be arriving soon!!

I'm so excited and proud of myself! Now if I can just get through binding authority I'll be set!

Loooooooooooooooong week

I swear last week was more than just 7 days. 20 to 30 feels more like it. Julia's birthday party seems like it was weeks ago.

I am fighting a cold/flu thing and I haven't reached the point where it's knocked me out, but I'm tired, achy and have a cough thing going on. It feels like I have permafog in my brain.

I did manage to pass my P&C exam on Saturday, so that is a huge relief.

I am disapointed about the Patriots loss, but man that last drive for the Giants was worth losing to. Eli Manning was a superstar last night. I would have loved to see the Pats have a truly undefeated season, but you have to stay in the game to win it.

That's it from here. Exciting, no?

The big test

I know you are anxiously awaiting news of my test.

Most of you already know, but I did not pass the test.

In other words - I have a giant FAIL next to my name.

SUCK.

I passed the property exam, I passed the casualty exam, I failed the Maine state endorsement exam.

The biggest bummer is that I have to take all three parts again.

So, Tim Horton's and I will continue our late night rendez-vous until I pass this fun.

Hello?

Hello!!!!!!

I'm here.

Barely.

I am studying like a mad woman. My licensing exam is Saturday afternoon.

I'm hoping for the best - but it is 300 pages of highly specific, technical info broken down into a test of 150 questions.

I think I'm doing pretty well - it's just a lot to absorb. So if you need to know anything about insurance - lemme know.