b.rox

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I recently got our energy bill for the period covering the recent cold snap: $500! Granted that was some record-setting weather but still… $500! Ouch. I’m still in shock. Or perhaps I should say I’m floored.
Some of my friends assumed this high bill was indicative of high energy costs here in [...]

Michael gave me a lift early Sunday morning to pick up the car from where Xy had abandoned it on Airline Highway the night before. It wouldn’t start. While we were unloading her Xmas shopping a cop pulled up and chastised us for leaving the car there overnight. He waited while I called Progressive Roadside [...]

I feel like I’m exhaling and relaxing for the first time since — when was it? — late July. That’s when the idea of moving first entered my head.
We’d learned our daughter had lead poisoning and then a few days later I had a close encounter with one of the guys from the corner. Ordinarily [...]

I’m gearing up to sign a bunch of papers in about an hour and a half. First we’re closing on the sale of our old house. Immediately after that we’re closing on the purchase of our new house. The latter is predicated on the former. I have power of attorney so I can sign for [...]

House update: Our initial offer was $9K below the seller’s asking price, which got us to a nice round number. We also specified they cover $3K of closing costs. They made a counteroffer, bumping the price back up $3K. We are accepting this counteroffer and making a deposit. Now we just have to sell our [...]

I really hate our whole healthcare/insurance system, which is why I get excited when I hear about reform and discouraged when it seems to go off-track.
This is on my mind today because of the inane interaction I just had with my health insurance provider, Humana.
Back in June, when we were traveling, our daughter got an [...]

When we moved to New Orleans ten years ago we set up a bank account with Hibernia. We wanted to bank local, and we heard Hibernia sponsoring the local NPR affiliate, so we figured they were as good a choice as any. They had branched out to Texas and Mississippi and Arkansas, but their headquarters [...]

The damage to our car from running up on that curb has been repaired. The bill? $4,008.53. Xy’s response: Time to get a new car. My response: At least we met our deductible.
On a related note, the future of Saturn appears uncertain at this point, so I’m rather discouraged about ever getting satisfaction on the [...]

Here’s a new one: I got an automated call from eTrade, asking me to call them about my account; checking the website, I saw I have a negative balance of minus one cent — generated by a one cent margin call; I was on hold forever, but when I finally talked to a customer service [...]

Back in June 2006 we had some extra money lying around from our insurance settlement. I’m hesitant to name dollar amounts publicly. Let’s just say it qualified as “a lot” in my book. More than a month’s salary, less than a year’s. I hope that is sufficiently vague.
So I decided to invest in the stock [...]

We got our 2009 Real Estate Assessment from City Hall Friday.
Last year, I didn’t understand property assessments, but now I think I do, kinda sorta, so I’m actually able to make some sense of this notice.
Last year, our assessed value was $720 (land) + $1000 (structure) for a total of $1720 — the entirety of [...]

I left my daughter with a bunch of strangers this morning. Kind of an odd experience, but not as upsetting as I might have thought. The folks at the daycare seem to know what they’re doing, and the whole scene inspired confidence.
This is teacher prep week, so Xy’s not quite back at work full time [...]

I guess I’m in a very small minority with this opinion, but I actually support our Louisiana state legislature’s efforts to give themselves a huge salary increase. It’s not because I think they deserve a reward them for a job well done. It’s not because I like big government or higher taxes. It’s because when [...]

Thanks to Carol G for getting me in touch with the very helpful Christopher Elliott. He’s the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. Today he published my case. I found it in the Arizona Daily Star, though not, strangely enough, in our Times-Picayune which usually carries his column in the Sunday Travel section. I [...]

We got the receipt from Tulane University Hospital & Clinic’s Healthcare Payment System. For the record, we racked up $2,484.00 in room charges (two nights’ stay) and a whopping $16,499.28 in “ancillary” charges.
But we have group insurance through our employers. We actually paid $250 and just got billed for $170 more.
I can’t even begin [...]

This story in the paper made me feel ever-so-slightly vindicated about our decision to renovate.

A new study of home prices around the New Orleans area shows that buyers rewarded sellers who gambled and rebuilt in devastated areas like Lakeview, eastern New Orleans and Chalmette. Renovated homes in those areas recovered much of their pre-storm value [...]

We got our “gold letter” from the Road Home today.
The letter states that we did not qualify for any compensation. Or, as they so cleverly phrase it, “your compensation grant was zero.”
This is because they estimate our damage at $34,050.53. Our insurance company paid us $82,294.03. Both these figures are stated in the letter.
Couple interesting [...]

Xy and I had our initial appointment with the Road Home program this morning. Yes, that’s right, initial. We’re only just now getting started. For once this tardiness cannot be blamed on governmental ineptitude or bureaucratic bungling. It’s our fault. We’ve dragged out feet and postponed this because we don’t really expect to get any [...]

My friend JB was having trouble with his debit card on his recent visit to the Crescent City. When he called his bank, he was informed that Visa debit cards haven’t worked in New Orleans since Katrina. [Edit: I surely misunderstood. It must be just this particular bank's Visa debit cards.]
I found that somewhat astonishing. [...]

I tremble in abject fear every time we get a letter from our insurer. So many people have been screwed by these insurance companies. We’ve done well by our local agent (Dan Burghardt), but I get the feeling the big companies that actually provide our flood and homeowners’ insurance (Fidelity and Lexington, respectively) would like [...]