Protection from Underpaying Insurance Companies

In this day and age having insurance is an absolute necessity. Although many of us feel insurance is a racket, aren't we grateful that we had it when we truly needed it? Let me ask you a question…how many of people are affected by natural disasters every year? How many homes are broken into on a regular basis? Hopefully you've never had to experience the empty feeling of losing everything you own to a hurricane, tornado, house fire or someone breaking into your home. 

However, those who’ve had to struggle through that type of situation know how difficult it is going through that emotionally. What’s even more difficult though is dealing with the insurance companies who provide protection from many forms of property loss, but force traumatized individuals to spend countless hours scratching their heads trying to itemize the property they’ve lost while at the same time doing everything they can to minimize those values to mitigate what they have to pay out to their own customer. 

Is there any resource out there that protects consumers from insurance companies placing minimal values on their possessions that may have been lost due to fire, natural disaster, or theft? I don't think there is, BUT THERE SOON WILL BE!

More info to come very shortly!!!

Being A Man

There are too many young men these days who are being overly nurtured. They're growing up with a complex and horrible misunderstanding of what it truly means to be a man. The over-nurturing is causing these young men to grow into babies who are too afraid to discontinue their foolish actions and grow up. These misguided individuals believe that showing emotion makes a man soft. Therefore young men begin suppressing their emotions because by societal standards...showing emotions make you weak or less of a man. Showing no emotion according to society is what defines a man's masculinity. Simply stated, one suppressing their emotions is being fake and if someone is being fake or not maintaining their own integrity, how can they truly call themselves a man? There is no place for a man to be what's considered MOIST. Being MOIST is when a seemingly hetero man has homosexual tendencies or participates in suspect actions. ( wearing skinny jeans, nails, murse's, feminine hairstyles, etc.) These things are not conducive or tolerable for a man. In the end being a man comes down to truth and integrity. A man must stay true to who they are. Don't conform to the societal stigmas. If you're monogamous, be that to the core. Don't try to be something you're not because if you do, you begin to lose a true sense o your self and start slowly turning into the anti-man!

Atlantic Auto Brokers in Orlando Florida

I bought a 2002 Chrysler Sebring from them and subsequently had nothing but trouble from the day I bought it. Approximately 5 hours after I bought the car, it shut down on me on a major road with my wife and 6 month old son in the car and we were almost rear ended by a big truck. Come to find out the head gasket had blown, the water pump malfunctioned and was pumping water into the engine which was mixing with the oil, this on the day I buy the car.

They don't offer any warranties, but I wasn't going to let my $2,900 go to waste without demanding they fix the car since they obviously didn't do their job up front in making sure the car worked properly. They towed the car for me and had it for a week with multiple deadline guarantees as to when the car would be ready to pick up. At 1:30pm on Friday Jose tells me "they're almost done, and I could come pick up the car around 5pm.” I get there at 5 to find out that the mechanic (who's not Jose) needs another 4 hours to finish putting everything back together, and could I come back on Saturday to pick it up.

At this point I tell them I'm just going to have my tow truck come and pick it up and tow it somewhere that I know it'll get fixed right because they're taking entirely too long even though they were fixing it out of their pocket. At this point the owner Elias Samaan, starts yelling at me from in his office that if I demand to take the vehicle or I rush them to get it done and then I take the vehicle and something else is wrong that they weren't taking any more responsibility because I rushed them to get done. I bet if I had towed it to a Tires Plus or El Doctor Auto in Longwood, I would have had to pay for it, but it'd been done in less time.

After agreeing to come back Saturday, I arrive and they're standing outside with the convertible top down and the car running. It sounded good, time for a test drive. As I pull out the belts are screaming every time I touch the accelerator. So I go down the street and pull into a parking lot and check under the hood and the belts look horrible, like they put some used belts in there and on top of that, there’s anti-freeze spewing from the reservoir over everything. When I questioned him (Jose) about it he got all defensive and again said, "that's normal", to which I said, "that's crap!" I asked if I could speak to the mechanic myself regarding whether the anti-freeze spraying everywhere was normal and if he spoke English because I’d only heard him speak Spanish. Jose lost it and called me racist and offensive. I meant no harm or to offend anyone, but Jose got so offended that he went into the office and came out with a check (dated the day before) for my $2,900 and smacked it into my hand and made me take my money back. At that point, he knew he wasn’t going to get over on me.

There are many people who may read this and say that I got my money back so I shouldn't be trashing these guy's business. Well, I'm trying to save someone from going through the hell that I went through because they may not fair the same as myself. Also, there were no warning signs or reviews out there about these guys who are out just to steal people's hard earned money.

Elias Samaan (owner) is a snake who's just out to make a quick buck. He doesn't care about the welfare of his customers. He'll tell you..."I've been in this business for 22 years and I'm out to buy a customer, not just sell a car." If he truly cared about gaining or retaining customers he'd properly inspect vehicles before trying to sell them to the public. He's not going to change his ways until he's forced to or a vehicle he sold has a massive mechanical failure and someone loses their life.

I'd recommend not walking but running the other direction AS FAST AS YOU CAN. Because you'll regret buying a car from them for the rest of your life.

I would have reported them to the BBB, but they're not an accredited business through the BBB.

Atlantic Auto Brokers

616 W. Michigan Street

Orlando, FL 32805

407-487-1913

Don't Push Me.....I'm Close to the Edge

Yesterday afternoon a co-worker came to me and told me that the VP of the company made a sarcastic comment regarding the "engineering department" being to work on time. Now...I understand she's the VP of the company...and she has the right to say whatever she wants....but wouldn't it be smarter to know what you're talking about before making any kind of comments!!!

She made those comments to a co-worker yesterday in front of the President of the company which makes me look bad...like I'm just coming in whatever time I want to. When that is in no way the case! If she had done her due diligence and spoke to my direct supervisor than she would have known that my supervisor and I came to a resolution of what my NEW schedule is going to be since I have to either pick up or drop off my son at daycare everyday.

The VP is upset because she wasn't kept in the loop as to my schedule...but in all reality...I don't have to relay that information to her. I don't have any dealings with her and if she had a question about my schedule...why wouldn't she ask my direct supervisor about it? The co-worker who brought this to my attention told me because the VP also made a comment about starting to doc "engineering's" pay for not being here at the mandated times.

So in an attempt to be proactive, I decided to forward the VP copies of the emails between myself and my supervisor stipulating my new work schedule. Did I need to do that? NO! And my supervisor said the same thing....her exact words were..."It's none of her freaking business what your schedule is! If she had questions about your hours....she should come to me....".

You see.....it's not just me wanting to be out of this company...the way this company operates is completely backwards! You have people in certain positions overstepping their bounds, racially motivated comments made in jest...and to top it all off...none of us are paid according to our true value. It's all good....for now I have to continue doing what's necessary to provide for my family....which involves dealing with the ridiculous crap that happens at this company....but hopefully I won't be here much longer.

**UPDATE**

When I forwarded those emails to the VP I made sure to put a read receipt on them, and sure enough I got read receipt messages in my inbox around 1pm today. Has she acknowledged the emails? Has she responded to them with even the slightest sense of understanding or appreciation for the fact that I divulged to her the reasons behind my needing to alter my schedule? (Although...seeing as she's not my direct supervisor...I didn't have to inform her of anything if I didn't want to.) NO! She doesn't acknowledge the emails, she doesn't respond to them, she doesn't say thank you for letting me know....even a sarcastic remark would have sufficed....because that's what I expect from her anyway. But I didn't even get that. What did I get? I got icy looks, the cold shoulder, ignored, however you want to put it...that's what I got. Even when I went so far as to say hello to her...she didn't even speak. In my opinion...that's just RUDE!

How can you consider yourself an adult and not acknowledge someone saying hello to you or even acknowledge the fact that they sent you an email? How childish do you have to be to allow the fact that you weren't kept in the loop (although it's not a loop you were supposed to be kept in) to affect you that deeply that you can't even muster the common decency to speak to someone when they speak to you? Bottom line...I'm done going above and beyond for this company. I come in early when needed, I stay late when needed....I deliver drawings and packages in my own vehicle when needed...but the second I need a little cooperation in my schedule...I get attitude from a higher up who really has NO say in whether that adjustment can be made to my schedule. As a matter of fact....I'm done worrying about her antics and how she's behaved like a child throughout this situation. In the long run....I'll get the last laugh.

A Little Irritated

Why is it that whenever you try to take a step forward...something happens to send you a few steps back? I know it can't be just me who endures things like this! Something has got to give...trying to make moves to better take care of my family and it just seems like everyday presents a new struggle and a different mountain to climb. Lord give me a sign that I'm at least moving in the right direction!

Daycare

Today is the first day that my son went to day care....and what made it worse is that I wasn't able to be there for it. Because of my job, I wasn't afforded the opportunity to be there to drop him off. Some may ask why is a three month old be dropped off at daycare? Well the simple answer is that we can't afford for my wife to NOT work. So until that time comes, the wife has to get back to work this week, which means little man has to be placed in daycare. The daycare he's going to is an official one....not just someone watching him. This woman does this as a business and has been for the last 15 years. She only takes 1 baby at a time and at the most only has 6 children in her care at any one time. So my son will be the only baby she has. I'm confident that he's going to be OK, and that she's going to take care of him as if he were her own son. At the same time though...I wish I didn't have to send him to daycare. I think about how things could have been if we'd still be in Delaware. Mainly I think about how things could have been if I'd worked harder at my last job in Delaware where I was making more than enough money to provide for my family without my wife working. Unfortunately, I put the fact that I got laid off from that job somewhat on my own shoulders. Oh how different things would have been had we had our son in Delaware while I was making that kind of money. Now being here in Florida, while I do love it here, the weather is awesome, as are the beaches, but the rates of pay for employees down here isn't even close to commensurate with an employees skills.

I guess that's just the way things are and I'll have to live with it. But anyone who knows me, knows that I won't just leave it as it is and keep mindlessly working toward fulfilling someone else's dreams like I am now with the current company with whom I'm employed. Soon....and I mean VERY SOON....I'll be working toward my own dream and be able to provide for my family in a way that means I won't have to rely on someone outside of my home watching my son during the day. My wife will be able to be at home for him. That's a guarantee!!!

Remember..."You're Worth It!"

J. Earl Smith
@JSmith2523 on Twitter
knourworth@hotmail.com
www.smashwords.com/books/view/24495

Time Served.....Is That Enough?

A few months ago, I wrote a post disgusted at the way in which Chris Brown was carrying himself when he trashed an ABC studio in Manhattan, NY. I feel that the post was justified because at that time, he was acting like a spoiled rich kid with self-entitlement issues! (See post here http://tinyurl.com/3g5wcen)


But now my question is, when is enough enough? Chris Brown recently performed on The Today Show setting a record with 18,000 fans in attendance. However, that's not the story that Fox News decided to focus on. They attacked Chris Brown for his past mistakes and criticized NBC for allowing "such a person" to have as host Laura Ingraham called it..."top billing". She went on to say that by NBC allowing him to perform and that many fans showing up to support him, all of those people in effect were "rewarding bad behavior". You can see the Laura Ingraham story here (http://tinyurl.com/3vk4wzt).


Let's get this out of the way first....IN NO WAY TO I ADVOCATE WHAT CHRIS BROWN DID TO RIHANNA! I think it's abhorrent, deplorable, and down right evil to physically harm or abuse a woman.


But now that we're almost about 3 years past this incident between these two superstars...isn't it about time we move on? It certainly appears that Rihanna has moved on, and Chris is apparently trying to as well. But for some reason, certain media outlets just can't allow this to die down. They're still treating Chris like the events that took place in that car happened three weeks ago, not three years ago.


It kills me how so many in the news/media world have such STRONG beliefs and feelings toward Chris Brown even though he went through the judicial system, plead guilty, was sentenced and served that sentence. Now after he's completed his required community service, anger management, etc., there are still people who feel that he doesn't deserve to work again? He doesn't deserve to try to rebuild his career? He doesn't get to to back to having freeness of speech as an artist? 


Was it necessary for Fox to go out to where the "Today Show" was doing their concert to start asking fans if their being in attendance was "rewarding bad behavior"? Did they need to have a photo of a bruised and hurt Rihanna out on the street asking if Chris Brown deserves to have this kind of attention because of what he did to Rihanna? I think it's embarrassing that a station such as Fox would allow their show hosts to go so far as to call Chris Brown one of the most degrading misogynistic artists that are out today! Especially when there are many others much worse than Chris Brown.


Like I said before...I don't agree with, approve of, or support what Chris Brown did to Rihanna. And yes....I do believe he hit her. We don't know the full circumstances surrounding the events of that night....but regardless of that, he should have NEVER put his hands on her. At the same time though, isn't it a bit unfair and hypocritical to continue exacting more punishment on Chris Brown when he's already served his penalty as laid out by a judge? The media....ESPECIALLY FOX NEWS and Laura Ingraham....need to stop putting forth their own opinions and agendas (like how she plugged her book before ripping Chris Brown and NBC), and just report the facts. If you want to express your own personal views....write a blog or as you already did Laura Ingraham...write a book....but please don't put your biased thoughts and personal feelings/emotions out on a nationally televised show as if those are the facts and EVERYONE feels the same as you. And if there are people who feel different than you do, such as the 18,000 fans who supported Chris Brown on "The Today Show"....don't show up and try to rain on their parade and dissuade them from having their own thoughts, views, and feelings. After all....isn't this the land of FREEDOM? The land that millions around the world would give anything to get to...because of the freedoms even the most average citizen is afforded. Laura Ingraham....Fox News....you all should be ashamed of yourself for your shady reporting tactics and unwillingness to report facts and not opinions!


Remember...."You're Worth It".


J. Earl Smith
knourworth@hotmail.com
@JSmith2523 on Twitter
www.smashwords.com/books/view/24495