Marathon Maniac #3309
Good morning my friends, and TGIF
Work has been so crazy busy and demanding, that I'm totally exhausted. But I've been staying up too late at night, so that's my own fault there, and I have been running lots of miles.....been sleep running at times it felt like
Up at 4:00 this morning, and felt better as I finally went to bed at a decent hour last night. Got in a nice and easy 7 mile run without my garmin, and it was a mild 45 degrees out.
I had something at work yesterday that touched my heart, and expressing this story is not patting myself on the back, but reminding us all that they're are many people hurting because of the economy right now. Sad sometimes thinking about people hurting, especially around the holidays.
I was handling a claim for a nice woman who had her vehicle ran in to by a hit and run driver, and she had to go through her own insurance company. She thought since she had uninsured motorists on her policy, that she wouldn't have a deductible... $500.00 in her case. We finished her car yesterday, and I called and let her know that, and reminded her that she owes her $500.00 before she can have her car back. There was a very long hesitation, then she said she didn't have the money as she thought her insurance company had waived her deductible. I called her agent (when I really shouldn't) and asked if she owed her deductible or not...the agent said unfortunately she does.
I called the owner back and told her she does owe the $500.00, and she said there is no way she could possibly come up with any extra money right now, as she last her job a while back, and now works at a store for minimum wage. She then started crying and said she didn't know what to do, and that we could come get her rental car and she could walk home....I told her we needed the rental back, or we would have to start paying for it because her car was done. I made arraignments for someone to go to her work to pick her rental car up, and then she would have to pick her repaired car up when she comes up with the $500.00.
I started working again and then I really started thinking about this poor woman and her situation....even my eyes started dwelling up. She talked about not having money, and how this was going to be a sad Christmas not being able to afford gifts for her grandchildren, or anyone in her family. I had this very overwhelming sense of compassion come over me and I then new what I needed to do, and what God would wanted me to do (some may believe that way, some may not...that's ok)
I went to my boss and said I wanted to pay her $500.00 deductible and he said no, you can't. I told him how strongly I felt led to do this and I said please let me do this for her....he said no.
Later I said I needed to go grab a sandwich for lunch, and I went to the bank and got $500.00 out and put it in a envelope and wrote Merry Christmas on the front. I quickly went to where this dear lady worked and handed her the envelope and told her I wanted to do this for her, and said I hope you're life gets better and hope this helps you have a better Holiday season. She hugged me and we shed some tears of joy together, and it was priceless seeing her relief that she could come get her car back this morning. I told her to please please not tell anyone I did this as I could lose my job, and she promised not to.
If I were to lose my job over something like this, that would be pathitic......knowing I only did the right thing for another human being struggling with life right now
During this Holiday season, lets not forget others that may be struggling, and all of us can help somehow.....I don't have all the money in the world (I really don't) but I believe I will be blessed for my thoughtfulness and faithfulness
Will be intersting seeing her this morning when she picks her car up....and her not being able to say how she came up with the $500.00, and how blessed she going to look to everyone :-)
Hope everyone has a great day....TGIF
TimBo
Running has given me the courage to start, the determination to keep trying, and the childlike spirit to have fun along the way - Run often and run long, but never outrun your Joy of running!
Mornin' Timbo and everyone who is smart enough to still be sleeping.
What a wonderful story and a wonderful gift, Timbo! Do you really think your boss would fire you because you are being generous? If he did, I can only imagine the reaction if your story got into the local paper...
Spectacular pancakes, Steve! You're going to have to feed a lot of us! How is Noah with sharing?
Jlynne, I hope DH's surgery went well yesterday. Are you having fun as his designated driver? Do you wear a funny hat or something?
Nice job of avoiding the rain yesterday, Byll!
Thanks for the very positive update, C-R - glad to read the good news.
Ribs, you MUST do something about those gloves!
DG - salad for breakfast??
Twocat - You go through all that with the TSA, and today you're taking the train??? I don't get it...
BerthaSlayer - nice that you got to run with DH. Yes, autopause is a good thing!
3.3 racewalking miles at 4 o'dark this morning. 24F, almost no wind, and lots of gauze in the sky blurring the moon. Today I just did some knee kick drills and otherwise took it easy. I have a nice little 5K upstate tomorrow, so I just wanted to stay loose. I have an all-day conference today, that features a 3-year report on the health of the largest estuary in the state. The report has become controversial even before it has been issued, so the conference should be interesting. Tonight, we're having dinner in MA with some wonderful friends.
Good luck to this weekend's racers:
12/08 Mariposai - Jingle Bell Jog 2 miler, Omak, WA
12/08 Sarge - USATF National Cross Country Championships 10k Lexington, KY
12/08 Coastwalker - Frozen 5K, Laconia, NH
12/08 pfriese - Holiday Nightlight Run 5K - Midwest City, OK
12/09 Opie - Tucson Marathon, Tucson, AZ
12/09 Ileneforward - Holiday half marathon, Pomona CA
12/09 CNYrunner - Holiday half marathon, Pomona CA
12/09 Tramps - Blue and Gray Half Marathon - Fredericksburg, VA
12/09 mgerwn - The Christopher Martin's 5K Christmas Run For Children, New Haven CT
Jay
Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.
Trails are hard!
Tim--good for you . Not sure why the manager cares where the $$$ come from as long as he gets it
Me? No runs today, just a couple of piddlily little 1.5 mile loops the last couple of days.
Need a fast half for late fall. Then I need to actually train for it.
MM #5615
Good morning! Very nice, Tim...you're a good guy. You are too, Jay...I think...
I went 10.8 miles last night...1:23:33...I think that sounds right. I got lost in a strange neighborhood.
So...I think that God--when he wants some comic relief--sits down in his big Lazyboy recliner and turns on the "Mike E Channel". He would have laughed his head off, this morning. My son...Eric...the one that I've been getting up at 3:30, driving across town, picking him, and driving him to work before 5:00 every day this week is taking his drivers test, today. (It's at 10:20 CST if anybody wants to say a little prayer for him...I'm sure God will still be tuned in...) So, anyway--I called him on the way to pick him to make sure he was awake--he answered fairly quickly which was a nice change. I told him I'd be there in 15 minutes. When I arrived, I called him to let him know I was there--he said he'd be right out. 10 minutes later he called me back, "I can't find my wallet!!" The kid was going crazy. I told him to calm down and think about the last time he had seen it. "Last night when I was practicing driving!!!" Okay...I asked him where it was when he was driving last night. "In my pocket!!" I asked him if he looked in his pants pocket. "YES!" I asked him where he put his pants when he went to bed last night. "I wore them to bed!!" Okay...he wore his pants to bed...hmmm...okay...I asked him if he checked inside the bed. "YES!! I checked inside my bed!!" Okay...I asked him if he was sure he had it last night. "Yes! I remember taking it out and putting in my other pocket!!" "Your other pocket?" I asked. "Yeah--my sweat pants!" Okay...I guess that explains why he slept in his pants. I told him that it probably slipped out of his pocket and is still in his car...which was at my daughter's house because she is going to take him to the testing site today and he needs that car to test in. He said, "I know it's not in there because I checked the seat before I got out!" I asked him why he checked his seat. "Because my lighter and keys fell out of my pocket!!" I told him to get in the car. I would call my DD and have her check the car and if it wasn't there, they could stop by his apartment and look around. I told him to just relax--it would turn up. It was "fun" drive to work, let me tell you. So, I dropped him off and, since it's still before 5:00 and I don't have to be to work until 7:00, I raced to my daughter's house and shone (shone?) my light into the window. (I didn't have an extra key and it was too early to disturb them) As I was looking in the car, my son-in-law came to do the door, "Hey! What are you doing out there?" I told him what happened, I got the key, and opened the door so I could give a good look. Of course, while I was crawling around, I honked the horn...nice. But, there it was tucked down along the side of the seat. I texted him that I found it and I would leave it in the car...along with his lunch that he forgot in my car.
So, anyway that's the story...oh, and when I got to work, I went to make myself some instant oatmeal and dropped an open packet on the floor...nice.
Okay--that's it! Gotta go!
Oh--good luck to all the racers!!
Oh--hi Stumpy--I'm sure you're a good guy, too.
Ok...two great stories to read this morning.
Timbo, I think if your boss fired you over that act it would make good fodder for the 6 o'clock news.
Mike...Somehow I could picture myself in the exact same situation cept the faces and names change.
A 5.65 slog fest this am. No pep in my step but a jouful run just the same.
............ A.GoodThing timbro..MerryChristmas
..........mari//.......I'm not sure
what a HypnoTherapist does,
but I did
take my pants off every time someone said ''StreetCar''
==========
.........RestDay
............Claire Visit all weekend,
...............ChristmasChoir Concert this Sunday
just hope
the minister
doesn't say ''StreetCar'' during the Service
....................good running guys
..nothing takes the place of persistence.....
Nice, Tim. I suspect your boss wouldn't want the precedent of the company paying the cost but I can't imagine he'd object to your act of charity.
EZ 5 in a cold drizzle. Brrrrr.
Have a nice weekend!
Be safe. Be kind.
Tim...Very nice gesture...
TW...STREETCAR!!!
4 TGIF miles...legs a little cranky...
King of PhotoShop
All going according to plan. Today is a day off, and I have no idea what I'm doing. So strange to get up in the morning and not put on running clothes.
Tomorrow I work packet pickup in the afternoon. Will see jjchaney and others, and have some fun. And believe me, I am looking for gloves in neon green.
Mariposai, what makes you think I wasn't a model? Here I am in a print ad for Volvo. They wisely obscured my face:
First off, I want to say unequivocally biketm's offer was very generous. I also hope everything turns out well for all involved. Now on to the economics of the problem, or why Timbo's boss cannot knowingly let him pay the deductible.
Insurance companies have strict rules that prohibit having service providers pay for a claimant's deductible. Timbo's boss could lose his contract with the insurance company if they were to find out about Timbo's offer. You might think the insurance company is worried about the claimant's incentives. True, they are. If insurance companies allowed service providers to pay deductibles claims would increase and rates would have to reflect that; which they currently do not. But, that is actually not the major problem. The real problem lies with the service provider. Suppose you knew some providers offered to pay your deductible and others did not. You would naturally patronize those that did. Why? Your cost is just your deductible. If the provider pays your cost it is now zero. Alas, this leads to a major problem. Since all service providers have to pay their client's deductibles (to get insurance business) they have to make it up somewhere. That somewhere would have to be the price they charge your insurance company for their service. (The provider's cost is now that for a walk in customer plus the insured's deductible.) To keep that from happening the insurance company prohibits the providers from paying your deductible in the first place. That keeps your provider's costs down to what they would be for any other walk in customer. This, in turn, keeps the price they charge the insurance company down and that keeps your rate down in exchange for a higher deductible.
Now what about this isolated case involving Timbo? My guess is this is one case where everybody would be happier if they were ignorant of the facts. I bet nobody at the insurance company wants to have to enforce the rules against paying a client's deductible in a case like this. I bet Timbo's boss would prefer not to have to let him go over Timbo's generosity and last but not least I bet Timbo would like to keep his job!! If the insurance company finds out they are just in a very tough spot. They have an iron clad rule against paying client deductibles and they really have to keep it that way. Like I said, my guess is that in this everybody will be happier if Timbo and his customer can maintain a speak no evil policy which will allow Timbo's boss and the client's insurance company to hear no evil.
Live like you are dying not like you are afraid to die.
Drunken Irish Soda Bread and Irish Brown Bread this way --> http://allrecipes.com/cook/4379041/
Real nice Tim,there should be more people in the world like you!
Dont know what state you are in but in Mi.with no fault ins.alot of the repair facilities will waive your deductable,just sayin.
An real easy 3 this a.m. knee's are bothern a bit.
Good luck to all the racer this weekend and Happy running!
Darn you, 2Cat, for bringing logic into the story. Of course that makes perfect sense in this scam filled, high insurance cost world of ours. I hope that a cash transaction by a private citizen will stay below the radar.
Thank you Mike--you are too. I resemble that story. With DW playing your part and me as Eric.
Still no running. But my generator is running and everyone at the plant is happy. So I'm happy(er).
...I don't think it works if you type it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,er,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,WHOOPS, I gotta go..........
TW, I thought it was "Niagara Falls" that triggered a bizarre response.
Twocat sums up the issue nicely. I think Tim did something similar to this a few years ago. Best hang on to your money Tim. Spareribs
Thanks for that info TwoCat. I figured it likely had something to do with insurance/contracts, etc. but didn't know the actual ins and outs of it. That was a nice gift Tim. I'm sure you alleviated a ton of stress off that woman.
Big birthday weekend planned for DS, who will turn 13 on Tuesday. Tomorrow, my DH, dad, David and 3 friends are going out to RedRobin for dinner, then to a hockey game. I'll stay home and let the boys have their "guy" fun w/o me tagging along. Sunday we are having family over for a bday celebration and I'll make a cake for him. And we're having his favorite meal of ham and homemade mac&cheese. Each year I make some sort of novelty cake. I've made race cars, a pirates treasure chest, an OSU football field, a Seahawks football field, etc. This year I think I'll make a hockey rink since they are going to the hockey game. We should be having some dry weather for a few days, so plan on getting in some running both Saturday and Sunday. Today after work, I'll go run circles around the track at sons school while he's finished up bball practice. it'll be dark, but i'll bring a flashlight and hopefully i won't get lost. . .
Tammy