Busted By Murphy's Law Again
So, terrible news. There's been a little glitch in the house sale. Because it's very old (1912) with knob and tube wiring and the roof will need to be replaced in the next five years, the potential buyers are unable to find anyone who will insure it unless it's rewired and reroofed. And without insurance, the bank won't give them their loan, and they can't buy the house. This is a pretty serious glitch, because since I can't afford to pay for the work, it means nobody else will be able to buy the house at any reasonable price either. I'm totally screwed.
I had absolutely no trouble finding homeowner's coverage when I bought it seven years ago, but three major hurricanes later, squeamish insurance companies have clamped their sphincters shut with the violence of a stainless steel long-spring bear trap. It's harder and harder to have houses insured around here, especially older houses. In a way, I may have indirectly lost my house to Katrina, yet there's no way in hell I can qualify for a FEMA trailer. Shit: me and my house, both uninsurable wrecks that fell through the cracks.
Anyway, my intrepid friend and realtor Marla is furiously exploring all possible options. Meanwhile, with the house sale put off indefinitely, I find myself in dire financial straits. So I broke down and put a PayPal button on the side bar. This was a really hard thing for me to do (and not just because I have pathetic chemo brain dementia and couldn't for the life of me find the instructions for installing the damn button in the template and finally had to call on my sons for help).
I sincerely hope nobody feels offended or pressured or resentful, or in any way put upon by the presence of the donate button. I would much rather earn money than beg for it, so if anybody knows anybody who might pay a decent wage for writing cancer humor or whatever, please send them my way. Meanwhile, my heartfelt thanks to those who have already helped, and to those who can. This was a last resort, but I just need to do whatever it takes to get myself through this series of disasters with my remaining shreds of sanity intact. So that maybe someday the take-home lesson for everybody will be: See? You can survive your very worst nightmares and come through ok!
The author, trapped in the stainless steel sphincter of the insurance industry.
I had absolutely no trouble finding homeowner's coverage when I bought it seven years ago, but three major hurricanes later, squeamish insurance companies have clamped their sphincters shut with the violence of a stainless steel long-spring bear trap. It's harder and harder to have houses insured around here, especially older houses. In a way, I may have indirectly lost my house to Katrina, yet there's no way in hell I can qualify for a FEMA trailer. Shit: me and my house, both uninsurable wrecks that fell through the cracks.
Anyway, my intrepid friend and realtor Marla is furiously exploring all possible options. Meanwhile, with the house sale put off indefinitely, I find myself in dire financial straits. So I broke down and put a PayPal button on the side bar. This was a really hard thing for me to do (and not just because I have pathetic chemo brain dementia and couldn't for the life of me find the instructions for installing the damn button in the template and finally had to call on my sons for help).
I sincerely hope nobody feels offended or pressured or resentful, or in any way put upon by the presence of the donate button. I would much rather earn money than beg for it, so if anybody knows anybody who might pay a decent wage for writing cancer humor or whatever, please send them my way. Meanwhile, my heartfelt thanks to those who have already helped, and to those who can. This was a last resort, but I just need to do whatever it takes to get myself through this series of disasters with my remaining shreds of sanity intact. So that maybe someday the take-home lesson for everybody will be: See? You can survive your very worst nightmares and come through ok!
The author, trapped in the stainless steel sphincter of the insurance industry.
posted by Lymphopo at Friday, May 18, 2007
13 Comments:
Hello,
I'm a longtime reader delurking here to say thanks for putting the paypal button on. You're a great writer and deserve to get paid for your work. I'm just sorry that everything has been so crappy lately. Hang in there!
Good lord. You never catch a break do you? Are you sure your middle name isn't "Job"?
Ever think about putting ads on your site? I have no idea how lucrative they are but I see people doing it so it must do something. That way,it's like you're getting paid by corporate America to write. And it's less like "begging" and more like entreperneurial fundraising, and perhaps even a little bit of sticking it to the man. I'll happily click away on any ads I see and spread the word.
Busy, you care enough to donate yourself and your thoughts, joys, hard times, and roses to whoever cares to read about them. That's generosity for you!
I hope you are back on track sooner than you can imagine at this moment.
Liz, seriously, I was gonna pay another online trainer $125 a month starting next month, for a monthly diet/exercise program, when I get back from vacation...and this guy has scads of people lined up for his services. I'm sure you have more traffic to your blog than he does to his site...!!! Please oh please be my Gym Mistress!
What Beck said. I would love to pay you for personalized online coaching on exercise, weights in particular.
Liz,
Last week my uninsured boyfriend sprung for a trip to the dentist when he awoke to find the left side of his face swollen to three times it's normal size.
Turns out it's only wisdom teeth but it'll still cost us $2000 to have them removed.
We've been walking around since then boo-hooing about how now we can't go on vacation and how we thought we were nearly out of debt and then this.
When I read your blog aloud to him today I finished by saying, "Hot damn, things could be worse."
Suddenly, when you whom we reguard as a friend is in trouble we found a few extra dollars.
I second the idea about putting ads on your blog. Have you read dooce.com? She and her husband and baby all live off the money made from the ads on her site.
Oh, that's right, there's also www.payperpost.com !!!
And don't forget, there's always the old grannyvibe site you can revive and put some *real* granny porn on there, that should bring in some cash quick!
I did what I could, Liz, for now. I know you don't know me from Adam, I'm just another random colorful art-loving free spirit who has always enjoyed what you have to say, even though it's not a back-and-forth exchange, and I gave you last week's income from selling my artwork on eBay.
You are a writer. You have been a garden writer in the past. Contact the women at GardenRant It's a thought. It seems like I had a better one for you, same vein, a few days ago but it wandered off.
Ads on your blog are not a bad idea. Blogger makes it easy. It can't be any more difficult tech/code wise than the donation button.
Hi --
I'm a longtime reader and glad you gave us a chance to support you. I hope it all works out for the best.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to help. I just wish I could contribute more.
Maybe you can consider what you collect payment in part for blogging rendered. It's not like this little blog, which means a lot to a lot of people, doesn't take any effort on your part to create and maintain.
I hope you get enough altogether to make a difference -- oh, and a book deal with a big, fat, whopping advance. I for one am way more interested in your memoirs than some celebrity's, and incidentally, any publishers/editors/agents who might be reading this, I'm a massive book buyer, absolutely massive, and I always buy hardcover first editions of authors I know personally (even if it's only via the internet), so you should totally listen to me and take this hint 'cause I represent your most desired demographic for this kind of thing.
Man, that was a heavy hint to drop! I'm spent.
My sister forwarded me your blog because your insurance dilemma sounded way too familiar to her--she'd just heard me rant about it. My house was built in 1921, knob and tube wiring. Insured fine since 1988, until a lapse in December. Then, NO WAY could I get insurance unless I rewired the house--estimate for that was a whopping $25,000 to $40,000! That's as acurate as they could get before they got started. And that doesn't include all the plaster repair work when they were done ripping new holes. A helpful insurance agent pointed me to someone else who managed to get my house insured through Lloyd's of London. The premiums are nearly the same as before, which sounded good until I realized that was because the deductible is $5000. Still, it is insured.
Liz--this is the pits! I thought your house had sold.
How much equity do you have in the house--is it worth it to just walk away and declare bankruptcy?
Or you could declare bankruptcy, not sell the house (if your equity is less than $40,000), and then rent the house to someone else ...?
I've been down this road twice, and managed to pull myself out with the help of friends ($$loans) and a good lawyer who kept me from going bankrupt. Now I balance my budget by drawing on a home equity line of credit against the house, plus disability, plus child support, plus a small amount of income. Somehow, it all works, but I know how scary this is.
I will be sending you some money if I can figure out paypal. Otherwise, I'll e-mail you to get a mailing address.
I've also investigated ads for my blog, if you want more info on that. The short version is: blogads seemed like the best one to use, and you need at least 3,000 page views a week to sign up with them.
I don't have that many yet, but you probably do.
Hang in there,
Jeanne
www.assertivepatient.com
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