Almost a month ago, I posted about how happy I was that I actually had the contact info for the guy who hit my car. I left a message that very night for my claims adjuster, something to the effect of: “I’m an idiot, I had his contact info, I’m sorry! I’m a moron, here it is [blah blah blah].” The next day I called and spoke to her in person and gave all his information.

This is important because I’m responsible for the deductible when I pick my car up from the body shop. What then happens is my insurance company files a claim against his insurance company, his insurance company sends my insurance company a fat check, and I get the deductible refunded to me.

I called the insurance company today to check on how things were progressing on that front, and found out my previous adjuster no longer worked for the company. I had a new adjuster, who wasn’t in, so I spoke to a third adjuster. She pulled up my file and surprise surprise my old adjuster put in none of the contact information I’d given her before quitting.

In other words, the last three odd weeks that could have been spent by my insurance company trying to get this matter resolved with the other company … were wasted. I’m strangely okay with this, particularly since the old agent whose responsibility this was no longer works for the company … maybe it was her last day when I called to give her this information.

WHFS 105.7’s live personalities have been making a big deal about calling their station “Free FM.” I haven’t noticed if other FM stations are doing this, but I figured it was probably the start of a campaign to try to convince people to stay away from satellite radio, perhaps triggered by the imminent departure of longtime “Free FM” mainstay Howard Stern for the new medium in a few short weeks.

Boy talk about disingenuous. I don’t recall the last time I turned on a network television station and had some anchor say, “This is Free ABC Twelve. Stay tuned for…” There are no direct costs associated with basic television or radio (beyond the cost of buying one or the other), but of course the whole purpose of advertising on each medium is to generate revenue by convincing businesses that people who listen to Program X then go out and buy buy buy.

So maybe it’s picking a nit, but until WHFS 105.7 goes commercial free, it’s really not accurate to self-describe as “free.” I actually like the way Jack 102.7’s “anchor” will describe its upcoming commercial segments: “It’s time to go pay the bills.”

Yeah, by doing everything in those commercials’ power to get people to go out and spend cash. That’s time not listening to programming, and it ain’t free.

When I was younger, I used to make fun of people who put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. But then something happened. I got old(er), and all of a sudden, a month flies by with the blink of an eye. Like, seriously, October just scooted right through, and we’re nearly a third of the way through November. Me, I’m still thinking it should be September.

In any case, I started thinking about what Christmas gifts to get for my folks and my sister. My sister is easy to shop for — thirty boxes of unsharpened pencils and a gift certificate to Staples. Oh, I jest. I used to buy her books, but I think she left most of them unread. And she’s a teacher. Actually, I think I might ask Epiphany what would make a good gift for a school teacher in terms of something practical she might be able to turn around and use for the classroom (then again, I might have that with the Staples gift card).

Oh, and I keep digressing. I found the perfect gift for my parents. Since they’ve been known to read this on occasion, I won’t post about it until after they’ve recieved it, but I found it, my eyes went super wide, and I slapped my head and muttered “Why did I never think of this before?”

It’s perfect!