Allstate canceled our home insurance policy effective February 20, 2008.
Since
receiving the cancellation notice, we have received several phone calls
from Allstate wanting to discuss our policy. I explained there is
nothing to discuss, we were dropped, and we had found a new company.
Friday, my new insurance company called to say I needed to authorize the change with our mortgage. I called and authorized it.
Tuesday,
the new insurance company called again and said the mortgage company
wouldn't cut the check from my escrow account. I called them back.
Apparently, a check had already been cut to Royal Palms
Insurance for $1,376.21. ($378 more than my new insurance company, and
about $250 more than what I paid with Allstate)
I looked up Royal Palms Insurance and it is a division of Allstate. I canceled the insurance.
When
I spoke to a woman at Royal Palms she said I would have had to fill out
a piece of paper stating I wanted Royal Palms Insurance. I never
filled out any such piece of paper. Allstate switched my insurance to
their company without my authorization AFTER I made it clear I would
not do business with them.
I'm canceling my car insurance too.
If you walked up to me and
asked, "Hey, did you hear Don Herbert died?" I would reply, "No, who is Don
Herbert?"
I don't remember anyone by
the name of Don Herbert, but I definitely remember his alter ego "Mr.
Wizard."
Mr. Wizard was staple TV for
a kid in the 80's. He was like a really
cool Grandpa who actually had interesting stories and didn’t make you pull his
finger. He taught experiments that amazed
you, and sometimes got you in trouble when you tried to recreate them in your
bedroom.
But, I learned something new
this morning; he left his mark years before I found him. He was also on TV in the 50's and 60's. What an amazing legacy--adults from mid-twenties
to mid-fifties shared time with Mr. Wizard.
For me, two experiments
stick out in my memory. The first one I
did often as a kid, and the second one I ALWAYS wanted to try but never got the
chance.
It was just another after-school
afternoon. I sat in front of the TV
wearing my pastel prints and jelly shoes.
Mr. Wizard asked, "Do
you know you can jump through a piece of paper?"
"What? No way!" I thought, "I am way too big to fit
through a piece of paper!"
But, I was wrong.
He folded a piece of paper
in half and cut lines in it. When he unfolded
it—it made a huge loop! A kid who was
cooler than me and got to be on TV, jumped through Mr. Wizard's experiment—WOW!
The experiment I never got
to try, involved water and sulfur. Mr.
Wizard filled a fish tank with water and put a few items at the bottom of
it. He then sprinkled a thick layer of
sulfur on the surface of the water. Again,
a kid who was cooler than me and got to be on TV, put his hand into the tank,
through the sulfur, and into the water.
He picked up one of the items and pulled it out of the water.
His hand was dry! It was covered with a thin layer of
sulfur.
I always wanted to do that
experiment, but I didn't know how to get my hands on sulfur. Kevin
said if I still want to try it, he will buy me some sulfur. I didn't realize you could just buy it. I thought it was a super cool thing only Mr.
Wizard had access to.
Today, to honor Mr. Wizard, make
your favorite experiment. Whether it's a
potato battery or a baking soda volcano—do it!
You owe it to the kid who still lives inside you, and you owe it to Mr.
Wizard.
I need a piece of scrap
paper.
