Benefits

We received word the first week of December that there was insurance money on Dad. When Chris called, they said it would be 2.5-3 weeks for them to process it and 2.5-3 weeks for the insurance company to process it.

When Chris called back, they said they sent it to the insurance company on Dec. 24, exactly three weeks later.

Okay. It’s the Christmas holidays. I don’t actually believe that the three weeks will apply now.

Jan. 6 the insurance company mails me a letter saying they have all the information and will begin processing the check.

I wait three more weeks from Jan. 6 to call them back.

Today when I called them, they said they contacted the company on Jan. 8 because they need to know if Dad actually worked for the insurance company long enough for the insurance to be viable. The insurance person said that on Jan. 11th, the company wrote back and said they would check into it.

Today is Jan. 28. She said she has not heard from the company.

So I called the company back (I had just called) and shared the information from the insurance company. The woman from Dad’s employer wasn’t happy, but neither was I.

First, Dad can’t be the first person to die insured from this company. So why didn’t they send the info to start with? If they did, why didn’t they immediately re-send it when insurance company either lost it or didn’t receive it?

So it is now 5 weeks from when the insurance information started and it looks like it will be another three weeks.

Plus, the IRA that was supposed to be finished yesterday is now “next week.”

I wouldn’t have this money if my father hadn’t died. I would give it all back to have him here. But he isn’t here and I don’t want to think about it any more. Please. Just get it done so that I don’t have to fill out any more paperwork, get any more signatures notarized, and once again receive a faux sympathy note from some company who doesn’t want to do the work they took Dad’s money to do.

Dream House

Found a remodel project that could have been my dream home–mostly untouched (though some ugly stuff) for 90 years… But the lady they brought in to do the auction bid it out from under me.

Here are pictures of what I would like… Though I didn’t know I would love the sleeping porch, but I did.

These are all from different restored Craftsmen.

Craftsman 6

Craftsman 5

Craftsman 4

Craftsman 3

Craftsman 2

Craftsman 1

craftsman kitchen detroit

This is from a Victorian (later) home, that just needs the fussiness reduced:
1916 Victorian dining rm take out ornate = beautiful

And this is a Tudor Revival that has the same sort of feel:
1916 Tudor revival like

KC said that there are LOTS of homes in Abilene that have this and aren’t painted. They have friends two blocks down from N3 house that bought cheap and put $100K into the house… It’s not finished yet, but she said it is beautiful. So there is hope.

Dream house wish list:
Craftsman or Craftsman-type
Should be well-built
Door frames not painted, wainscoting not painted, trim not painted.
hardwood floors, at least recoverable.
unpainted built-ins with leaded glass or some kind of cool glass.
Original fireplaces and/or originally updated gas fireplaces work.
Original windows and storm windows.
At least 10 ft ceilings (probably not going to find higher in a Craftsman)
Prefer:
red color (mahogany?) over oak, though oak is nice.
Trim that is more detailed
Sleeping porch (converted or not)
Cool outside details
Grand, eye-catching
General house:
4 bedrooms (at least)
lots of closets and/or big closets
at least two bathrooms, preferably large (which would be unusual)
2 car garage
large kitchen with gas
room that would be a good/great media room
open living/dining (and preferably kitchen, but I can deal)—big enough for all our furniture easily and a bit more
big pantry
good size yard with mature trees, preferably a mix of live oak and pecan
good neighborhood