Raising the Roof!

Charlie Brown has kicked the football. The Washington Generals have won the game. The Independent candidate has been elected.

To put it another way, score one for the underdog.

After six months of nearly continuous turmoil, State Farm has decided to pay for my roof. I’m truly grateful. I just wish it had been sooner … and a lot easier.

For those of you scoring at home, the final tally looks something like this:

· One letter to the editor
· One Department of Insurance (DOI) complaint
· One file too thick for my filing cabinet
· One memory card full of photos
· Two engineering reports
· Two letters to lawmakers
· Two cars moved to another insurer
· Three fish sandwiches eaten during a consultation with a friend/attorney
· Eight or nine roofers’ opinions
· 10 bitter blog posts
· Numerous sleepless nights
· More sympathetic lunchtime conversations than I can count

After all of this commotion, I ended up exactly where my neighbor did, except State Farm cut him a check right on the spot.

The only conclusion I can draw from all this is that the process is designed to frustrate. Those with the least resolve and resources get run over like road-kill. The rest of us – those too stupid and too hard-headed to give up – can eventually be heard.

Thank you to my friends, family and neighbors for their support. Thank you to everyone who took their time to climb on top of my house.

Now it’s time to celebrate … by literally raising the roof.