They have you, and it's hard to do anything about it.

About all that flood insurance most people who got flooded didn't have.

Turns out, even those who had flood insurance are being denied.

You see, if it's a backwater flood, the insurance doesn't have to pay out.  You have to be able to prove you had water before the river crested and the pooling caused the water to flow back.  Only flash floods, storm surges, or burst pipes are covered under most flood insurance.

They have you any way you go, this insurance industry.

One lady who was denied is an attorney, and she is documenting that she had water in her house early enough that it does count as a flash flood, so she will probably win out.  Those who don't know to fight, or who didn't flood until after the rain stopped, may have been paying those premiums all of those years in vain.

It makes me sick and angry to think about.

If you have flood insurance, check to make sure they can't deny you on a backwater flood, and change it if you have to.  It will cost you more, but it will be worth it if the worst happens.

This is as bad as when the insurance industry managed to not pay out for storm surges brought by hurricanes, having them reclassified as floods all of a sudden.  Really?  The water a hurricane pushes onto the shore isn't part of the hurricane?  It's a separate flood you have to cover with separate insurance?

It didn't used to be that way.  Nor did you have a "named storm deductible" like now.  At least this wasn't a named storm, if you have flood insurance that will cover it, they can't make you pay the extra deductible.

A friend of mine, the one i will be going to see in September when i go on my yearly sanity retreat, was recently told she and her husband needed a new A/C unit, and that the home warranty wouldn't cover it.  When i told them to fight it, and ask about the buy out at least, her husband read them paragraphs of their own documents and it will be covered.

Read your policies, know what they cover, and if you want more covered, know you will pay extra for it but it might come in handy.

In better news, my yearly sanity retreat is coming up.  DiDreaming and Dayeanu will drive here, and from here we will go to San Antonio to meet up with Grace and a few others.  We are still hoping Little_Ninja, will be there, so we will have music.

Today is:

Black Ribbon Day -- Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania

European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism -- European Union

Flag Day -- Ukraine

Great Feast of the Netjeru (all gods and goddesses) -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Health Unit Coordinator Day -- US National Association of Health Unit Coordinators Inc.

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition

National Spongecake Day

Nemeseia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (local festival to the goddess Nemesis, date approximate)

Ride the Wind Day -- internet generated, a day to get out and ride with the wind in your hair, in whatever transport you choose, or fly a kite

Sento Kuyo -- Nenbutsu-Ji Temple, Adashino, Kyoto, Japan (memorial service for graves that no longer have families to tend them; through tomorrow)

St. Eoghan's Day (Patron of Derry, Ireland)

St. Rose of Lima's Day (Patron of embroiderers, florists, gardeners, needle workers, people ridiculed for piety; The Americas/The New World, especially Central and South America, Latin America, Peru, and the West Indies; Lima, Peru; Philippines, Santa Rosa, CA, US; Villareal Samar, Philippines; against vanity)

Tvimanuor -- Traditional Icelandic Calendar (the name means "Double Month", and the origin is uncertain; perhaps because winter is coming and it's time to double up on the preparations)

Valentino Memorial Service -- Hollywood Cathedral Museum, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles, CA, US (annually since 1927, a memorial service celebrating Rudolph Valentino on the anniversary of his death)

Vertumnalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (in honor of Vertumnus and Pomona)

Vulcanalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival to the god of fire)


Birthdays Today:

Kobe Bryant, 1978
Jay Mohr, 1970
River Phoenix, 1970
Queen Noor of Jordan, 1951
Rick Springfield, 1949
Shelley Long, 1949
Antonia Novello, 1944
Patricia McBride, 1942
Richard Sanders, 1940
Tony Bill, 1940
Barbara Eden, 1934
Sonny Jurgensen, 1934
Mark Russel, 1932
Vera Miles, 1930
Gene Kelly, 1912
Edgar Lee Masters, 1868
Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, 1785
Louis XVI, 1754


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"She Loves You"(Beatles single release date), 1963
"The Bat"(Mystery play), 1930
"Gasoline Alley"(as a daily comic strip), 1919


Today in History:

On the feast of Vulcan, Roman god of fire, Mt. Vesuvius begins to rumble, 79
Visigoths storm Rome, 410
Edward I executes William Wallace, Scottish patriot, for high treason, 1305
French explorer Jacques Cartier lands near Quebec City in his third voyage to Canada, 1541
Rabbi Joseph Caro completes his commentary of Tur Code, 1542
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of Huguenots in Paris begins, 1572
The first one-way streets open in London, 1617
Steamship service begins on the Great Lakes, 1818
Great Britain abolishes slavery in the colonies, 700,000 slaves are freed, 1833
Automobile tire chain is patented, 1904
The World Council of Churches is formed, 1948
Lunar Orbiter I takes the first picture of Earth from the Moon's orbit, 1966
Bryan Allan, in a Gossamer Condor, completes the first man-powered flight of one mile, 1977
Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the US, 1979
Hans Tiedge, top counter-spy of West Germany, defects to East Germany, 1985
Hungary opens the Iron Curtain and allows thousands of East Germans through to West Germany, 1989
West Germany and East Germany announce that they will unite on Oct. 3, 1990
The remains of Anastasia and Alexei, rumored to have survived the 1917 assassination of the Russian Czar and his family, are found, 2007
Heavy winds knock down the Anne Frank tree in Amsterdam, breaking off approximately one meter above the ground, 2010
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is overthrown, 2011
Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner, announces he will not contest the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency charges of doping, a result of which will include being stripped of all of his tour de France victories, 2012
Libya's ruins of Cyrene, a World Heritage Site near Shahhat, is damaged by real estate developers, 2013

Flooded with Difficulty

Just over a year ago, we were finally able to refinance the house.  Multiple previous attempts had not gone as planned, so it was a thrill when it finally went through.

One of the difficulties we had was with flood insurance.

We bought it 16 years ago, when we weren't even required to have it.  Since then, they've changed the flood zone.

What is supposed to happen is that you get to keep your old zone, and pay that rate, if you already had the insurance.  It's called being "grandfathered in," harkening back to the way some former Confederate states tried to use to keep newly freed slaves from voting by passing laws saying you couldn't vote unless you could prove your grandfather had been registered to vote.

We provided the documentation, and everything went well, and our flood insurance is now escrowed and paid and it's all good.

Except when it's not.

The home equity loan is with another bank, and they have decided to pitch a fit.  First they didn't believe we had insurance, even after we showed several proofs, including that the primary mortgage company had paid the bill.

Now they are upset because of the "discrepancy" between our flood zone risk assessment they had done, and our actual zone on our coverage.  Because we are grandfathered in and allowed to keep the old zone and payment, we are having to do pretzel bends and handstands to show them all this.

Over an hour of calls yesterday got some stuff taken care of, but i need to make more calls today, and our insurance agent has to send a bunch of forms to the gov'mint and get them to certify that we are, indeed, correct in all of this.

In the end, i just hope the home equity bank believes the new documentation, or i'm tempted to flood them with me camped out in their lobby until someone there gets it!


Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Mozambique

Barnesville Pumpkin Festival -- Barnesville, OH, US (pumpkins are just the start of the fun; through Sunday)

Fairmount Museum Days/Remembering James Dean Festival -- Fairmont, IN, US (celebrating Dean and other famous people from Fairmont; through Sunday)

Ghatasthapana -- Nepal (start of a nine day Hindu festival, the longest and most auspicious festival in the Nepalese annual calendar)

Haustmanuour -- Iceland (beginning of traditional Autumn Month, during which all the summer chores are finished, including livestock rounded up, before winter begins)

International Ataxia Awareness Day -- highlighting the difficulties of living with the many forms of ataxia

Join a Cabal of International Bankers Today Day -- internet generated, and only for people without a conscience

Kamarampaka Day -- Rwanda (Republic Day, marks the 1961 abolition of the monarchy)

Math Storytelling Day -- the brainchild of Maria Droujkova

National Comic Book Day -- internet generated, but go read one, they are fun

National Crabmeat Newberg Day

National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims -- US

National Food Service Employees Day -- because everyone wants to eat out once in a while 

National One-Hit Wonder Day -- US, remembering those who had only one hit on the rock charts

National Psychotherapy Day -- US (a day to wear turquoise and encourage education about who psychotherapy can help)

National Teach Ag Day -- US (streamed live from CHS Inc. headquarters)

National Youth Day -- Nauru

Old Holy Rood Eve -- OS calendar Holy Cross Eve, the last day to pick blackberries (after this, the devil poisons them because when he fell from heaven, he landed in a blackberry bush)

Preston County Buckwheat Festival -- Kingwood, WV, US (something for everyone at this fun annual event; through Sunday)

RAINN Day -- The Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network encourages all of us to get involved in stopping sexual violence

Rosh Hashanah -- Judaism (began last night at sundown, through tomorrow at sundown)

St. Cadoc's Day (Patron of the deaf; against cramps, deafness, glandular disorders, scrofula)

St. Finbarr's Day (Patron of Barra, Scotland; Cork, Ireland)

Toad Tempting Day -- Fairy Calendar

Virginia Peanut Festival -- Emporia, VA, US (and you thought all peanuts came from Georgia! come enjoy peanuts and carnival, quilt show and fireworks, the Virginia way; through Sunday)

World Ataxia Awareness Day

World Maritime Day -- UN (this year's theme is “IMO Conventions:  Effective Implementation", chosen to focus on IMO's efforts to carry out commitments made, because making them and then not carrying them out does no good)

World Pharmacists Day -- International Pharmaceutical Federation



Birthdays Today:

Lee Norris, 1981
Catherine Zeta-Jones, 1969
Will Smith, 1968
Scottie Pippen, 1965
Tate Donovan, 1963
Aida Turturro, 1962
Heather Locklear, 1961
Michael Madsen, 1959
Jamie Hyneman, 1956
Christopher Reeve, 1952
Mark Hamill, 1951
Cheryl Tiegs, 1947
Michael Douglas, 1944
Robert Walden, 1943
Juliet Prowse, 1936
Glenn Gould, 1932
Barbara Walters, 1931
Shel Silverstein, 1930
Phil Rizzuto, 1918
Dmitri Shostakovich, 1906
Walter Wesley "Red" Smith, 1905
William Faulkner, 1897
Jean Phillippe Rameau, 1683 (baptismal date, as actual birth anniversary is unknown)
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, 1358 (Japanese Shogun)


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Beauty and the Beast"(TV), 1987
"Stepping Out"(Play), 1984
"Winterset"(Play), 1935
"Dorothy"(Comic opera), 1886


Today in History:

St. Ferment is beheaded in Amiens, France, after voyaging there to preach the gospel, 303
The Battle of Stamford Bridge marks the end of the Anglo-Saxon era, 1066
Columbus begins his second voyage, with 17 ships, 1493
Vasco Nunez de Balboa becomes the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the west coast of the Americas, 1513
The first printing press in the Americas begins operations, 1639
Old Style date; two very accurate clocks are set in motion at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England, the start of Greenwich Mean Time, 1676
Ethan Allan, American Revolutionary War hero, is captured, 1775
Benedict Arnold joins the British, 1780
The first all-black university in the US, Howard University, is created by Congress, 1867
Yosemite National Park is established by Congress, 1890
Charles Follis becomes the first black to play professional American football, 1904
Birth of the remote control -- Leonardo Torres Quevedo successfully demonstrates the invention of the "Telekino" and guides a boat from the shore in the port of Bilbao, 1906
Jimmy Doolittle performs the first blind flight from Mitchel Field proving that full instrument flying from take off to landing is possible, 1929*
Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, is integrated by the use of United States Army troops, 1957
In a referendum, the people of Norway reject membership of the European Community, 1972
Belize joins the United Nations, 1981
The last of the Magdalene Asylums closes in Ireland, 1996
The Vitim event, a possible bolide (comet nucleus) impact in Siberia, Russia, 2002
China launches the spacecraft Shenzhou 7, 2008
The Wildlife Authority of Uganda announces that, since 1999, the population of some of the animals in the country's game reserves have doubled in population, 2010
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia announces that women will now be able to vote and run in municipal elections, 2011