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Newt
USA
657 Posts |
 Posted - 10/17/2002 : 08:13:08
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Cat Adjusting: A contact Sport; the spectators compete and the team watches, I,m on the bench. Ghostbuster is the nearsighted coach.
If I had to support this hobby I would need to take up something illegal. Like stealing flowers from the cemetery and selling them on the street corners, may have to get a thrifty nickle paper route, I could sell them at the nursing homes.
Welcome to CADO Amy, keep your day job like Ghost Buster says, and just hang out here in the
"Insurance Projeks". If You are looking for someone doing nothing so you can help, you came to the right place. My main sqweeze just yelled at me, breakfast is ready, and wanted to know if I wanted to eat it or wear it.
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ALANJ
USA
159 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2002 : 08:29:44
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| Let me know if anyone in the NO area wants to get together and discuss our future. I'm always up for a cup of coffee. |
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Linda
USA
127 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2002 : 10:42:08
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Welcome Amy!
This is the best place in the world for adjusters! If I can ever help, just email or call me. |
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Ghostbuster
476 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2002 : 10:00:09
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What can WE do to improve the future of storm trooping? (This was the original thought of this thread.)
Well, other than having our evil sister-in-laws brew up a magical concoction in the old black cauldron to make the storm Gods do their stuff, we are left with taking proactive measures to change the basic rules of the game to insure our very survival. These measures include; Forming alliances with other media outlets such as the various claims publications to bring about a concerted public relations campaign for our mutual concerns. We still need, (yep, you guessed it), a trade association to act on our behalf, at the start, to lobby the various legislatures for laws that will protect ours and the publics interests. On an individual basis, we each need to resharpen our skills pencil and knock off the rust from this historic spell of inactivity, as best has we can afford it.
Kiddies, here's three elementery things that can occupy our spare time. Do you realize just how powerful this particular media venue is? This site draws tremendous interest and ATTENTION from our industry. I would venture to opin that we are the true heartbeat of any of the media outlets. Publications like the venerated 'Claims' magazine, while they have the power of being able to grace the coffee tables in the lobby, lack the immediacy and intimacy of having a columnist, (that's any of us that take a turn on the soapbox), whomp out a column on a minutes notice. Folks, we have the readership of a big time magazine. That's just what we are, a magazine without paper! And, the more readers or 'hits' on this website, the more influential we are. We are in the big leagues and that is why we should reach out to the print media folks and impress apon them our mutual needs and interests. They derive their existence from a continued industry need for an adjusters services just like we do. In other words, they're in the same lifeboat we are, they may not want to admit it, but there they are huddled up in the stern. An alliance, or just to start, a simple dialogue over coffee and donuts can make new friends out of strangers.
I'm still saying it but the rest of you are still holding your breaths and turning blue! I may have to just start it up myself and see who else steps forward on this trade association thing. But...I have faith, I recall the old show tune lyric that goes, 'Show me ten men that are stout hearted men and I'll soon show you ten thousand more!' The right idea without the right amount of people behind it means nothing in a democracy driven by public opinion and lobbyist money. Ours is but a lonely voice crying in the wilderness if we can't make it heard by the right ears at the state and/or federal capitols. One large voice speaks LOUDER when it comes from the combined voices of the many. The basic unwritten rules and customs of the insurance industry have been desecrated by the carriers and we all have been adversely affected as well as the the public. Our survival and the publics confidance in our industry can only be rectified thru legislative means. Thru the means of a trade association, we can effect our common goals.
Yeah, yeah, yeah...it's expensive to go spend some time training on a different estimating program or converting to digital photography or overhauling the your trucks brakes and suspension. Even doing pushups and exercising is a pain in the keyster. I am as lazy as anyone out there but a knife that is never used gets rusty. So, out of your recliner and out the door and walk/jog around the block and make your heart beat a little faster. When you get back, get under there and change your oil or rotate the tires or wash and wax it. Next, go in there and write a practice estimate on the computer. Go to Walmart and buy one of those Samsung $128.00 digital cameras and wage war with the camera and computer trying to get them to cooperate with each other. If you really can't afford to go off to a training seminar, go to the library and check out the old Thomas book on construction estimating and read it a couple of times back to back. That won't cost anything.
And, above all, have faith. If she's not home, have grace or hope, or have a beer...but keep your morale on an even keel. Always remember, if it was all that bad, I'd have left already. And, I'm still here.
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JimF
USA
1014 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2002 : 10:30:39
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Ghost here is a reprint of a portion of an email which I received this morning from one of the good ones (former cat adjuster) who left for the greener grass of a staff position.
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We now have super fast on-line Internet access at work. Beats the hell out of this laptop I have here - it's the one I bought when we were in Canada.
Anyhow, I now visit CADO daily when I get bored. In fact, I've probably hit the site more in the last 2-3 weeks than in the previous year. Overall, I don't know that I can say too much for the site. Most of it seems to be the same old people telling each other how great the site is & how great they are. Kind of like the old saying, "There are people who have something to say, and then there are people who have to say something."
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Ghostbuster
476 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2002 : 11:40:43
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Boredom...all-American boredom. Since the advent of the remote TV control, our attention spans decreases every day. No longer can enjoyment be found in the everyday hum-drum. We must have constant ever more stimulating excitement to keep us from getting itchy thumbs and going 'CLICK'! It's become a reflex action. No sooner than the end of the next sentence than the thumb starts to twitch, 'CLICK'.
What's needed is for all those bored souls out there to add their two cents into the these posts. Just look at all the 'hits' on the carrier/vendor thread with only a fraction of the writers compared to the readers. Without backing out of this post, what was the ratio, 75 posts to some 4000 hits? Go ahead and correct my numbers but the point is the tremendous NON participation by the great majority. You guys have opinions and war stories, let's hear from you.
Domestic Hint
(Just remember this little rule, it's your rude and incessant snoring that is preventing your wife from being the cuddle kitten she was during courtship. The poor dear can't get a good nights sleep and is crankier each day because of it. Either, get it fixed or sleep in the spare bedroom. The happier she is, the happier you will be.) |
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CCarr
Canada
1200 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2002 : 14:20:58
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To JimF, you have a propensity towards showing other peoples' emails that you have received. This time you did it again, through your post to Ghost, with your third person acidic comments culminating in your last line; " .... there are people who have something to say, and then there are people who have to say something".
Ghost has been gallantly beating the drums of a tune, that he is looking for a chorus to join in with him on. It is a noble and humble effort, and one in which I subscribed to, but with different lyrics.
JimF, you were respectfully cautioned in another email on 09/14/02, one you received and chose to forward to me, and you were asked, " .... that you consider all things before closing a door you may wish to walk through again ....".
Further, you went on to say, by copy of another email you sent to me and others on 09/15/02, about 10 hours before your infamous and childish request to Roy to remove all your posts - this request that you also widely distributed by email - to say; " .... and perhaps it adds to my veracity to now be able to say, that I walked away from a website I loved (CADO) before I kowtowed to the powerful or abandoned my principals ....".
So, I ask now, with 11 posts under your new handle, and the suggestion of other posts made under an anonymous moniker, whether you just have to say something, or do you have something to say?
Ghost, this sort of thing, is why I have also repeatedly suggested that our open discussions as a group about our future or the state of our laundry, should be kept in restricted forums; due to the silent audience you speak of and that I agree it out there.
We can all do a lot of surfing on the web or any kind of web research, I for one, have not found another site - corporate, organizational type, or any kind of association - where I could enter and read the the type of material, banter, discussion, disagreements arguments etc; that is readily available for viewing by the world at large on this site. I could read what they were about and all the "good" they profess to offer for their niche, and read about the benefits of membership in that "group" and the criteria for membership.
If and when you get a chorus to join in, for the cause you have invested a fair bit of time to expound on, a cause that I think is vital to the future of the independent contractor, the freelancer; so you can get the message out about the value added benefit of your tribe, I think the forum of that discussion and many others should be restricted to those with a vested interest in the plight of the independent contractor. |
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JimF
USA
1014 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2002 : 14:36:31
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Memo to Clayton Carr: My postings under the one and only screen name I have for use on CADO now number 12 with this post. I have no other "anonymous monikers" nor have I made any other posts since the second week of September of 2002 to CADO other than as JimF.
But while I have no other anonymous monikers nor have made no posts under such, I do not necessarily disagree with some of the messages of some of the posts made by those posters electing to use such to protect themselves from the personal vituperative attacks which have become all so common of late here on CADO.
I posted the excerpt from the email to reinforce one of the problems which Ghostbuster and I have both discussed in the past which relates to both the fullest development of the CADO site as well as a cat adjuster trade organization.
I support fully what Ghostbuster is trying to achieve and I truly believe that he at least understands that (even if you can't or won't). I would even go further in my thinking to suggest an adjuster owned vendor company where all the employees are also equal stockholders. That is the concept which I think offers the best alternative to having any real say in the futures of cat adjusters as well as cat adjusting.
And with your 130 posts (second only to Cousin Newt at 152 posts) to my 12 posts, it was clear that the friend's email excerpt was not pointing a finger at me.
Whether the poster's subject matter is plagiarism or those who just have to say something, it seems to me that your typical personal defensive response to such provides justice to Shakespeare's comment: "the gentleman doth protest too much methinks" (with apologies to Shakespeare for the slight paraphrase).
Clayton, let's face it, you don't like me, so why don't you just ignore or not open my posts as I suggested to you a long time ago? We both would be well ahead if you would adopt that as your modus operandi, as would the larger CADO audience. |
Edited by - JimF on 10/19/2002 15:11:36 |
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CCarr
Canada
1200 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2002 : 14:53:19
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Well there, very good and well done JimF. This is the first time you have categorically stated that your posts have been limited to that of "JimF". I accept that.
Also, accolades to you for sharing a constructive thought on the framework of what the beat of Ghost's drum is about.
So, doesn't it feel better to get that out?
Reviewing your edited in version of your above post, I by "edit" must state that I am at a loss to understand your last paragraph; which of the Bard's stories was that line from? |
Edited by - CCarr on 10/19/2002 14:58:16 |
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JimF
USA
1014 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2002 : 15:05:04
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Hamlet a play by William Shakespeare
III, ii, 242
" The lady doth protest too much, methinks" |
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CCarr
Canada
1200 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2002 : 15:26:36
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Wow, your post #12 keeps growing.
I'm sorry but I had to look up "vituperative", and now that I know what it means, I agree. But, in reflection, were you not one of those in the past that from time to time commonly exercised vituperation (I do hope I used the noun the right way)?
Alas, you are wrong, with one of your latest edited in comments, concluding that I don't like you.
I certainly don't understand you, I don't know you other than what I read of yours on CADO, I have disagreed to varying degrees with some things you have said on CADO and in your emails to me; but I have no feelings of dislike for you - I find that a rather wasteful emotion.
As for your repeated refrain to ignore you, last edited in to add that it would in your opinion be to the benefit of CADO, I can not. You are too interesting to ignore. You have a cunning literary style, that just compels me to respond to occasionally. |
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Ghostbuster
476 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2002 : 15:33:13
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Now, now, chilluns, let's not get all prissy here.
We have now illustrated how powerful we are, and how weak the print media of 'Claims' magazine is. Even IF they had a loose cannon on staff, it would take them a full month for the mouthing off to come out, given their publishing dates. They are but a mere echo in yesterdays wind compared to the full blaring bugle we do in the space of a few minutes.
This is where the action is. (Gee, I feel so sixties right now. Where are my nehru jackets and plaid polyester bellbottom pants?) It is high time we start taking advantage of our influence to our best interests. Each of us thru our individual characteristics is a key componet. Each of us has a variety of strengths and foibles that play off each other. No two gears are alike yet each functions together in the transmission to produce the forward motion, or, at times, even going into reverse. The accompaning whine from the gears is a normal part of the cacophony of the inner workings. (And let me tell you, we do know how to whine.)
Our future lies out ahead. We are the machine. We have the force. What we lack is to become a vector. (What the samhell is he talking about now?) A vector, you say, what is a vector? A vector is a term from the high school physics course you took and slept thru. It is a force with direction. We have the force, now we need a direction. What direction do we need? Where do we go?
If we just sit here like a lump of cold grease, the future will run on past us as we set and congeal. If we take charge and we can apply our force to the elements of change and take the future with us. We can ride the wave or let the wave ride over us. What do you want?
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Ghostbuster
476 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2002 : 15:49:29
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Oh, I forgot, Clayton, the one thing we cannot allow ourselves to indulge in is the ol' smoke filled back room where secret deals are done. We are not the secret society of the Skull & Bones that creates the industry and polictical leaders for us. We must air and wash all of our dirty laundry out here in the open plaza. The fewer secrets we have, the faster an informed consenusus can be reached and acted apon.
It ain't always a pretty sight, but then, like sex, creative acts aren't supposed to be. It's the end result that counts. |
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RJ
32 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2002 : 16:07:49
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Ghostbuster:
I would like to continue with getting back to the beginning of this thread as you pointed out.
“What can WE do to improve the future of storm trooping? (This was the original thought of this thread.)”
First of all a union or trade association just does not appear will work. You stated that a large number of voices would have an impact for change as opposed to a single voice. While you are right I just don’t see the number of Cat Adjusters, that is dedicated, committed, and always on standby, available 24/7 would exceed 5,000 nationwide.
Let’s take NACA for instance, it was formed in 1976 by a group of highly qualified catastrophe adjusters. If any organization would have the kind of recognition required to take a stand it would be NACA. However, membership is just not there and NACA has had a 26 year head start on any kind of an organization that could possibly evolve here.
Now while I, along with many others, know and are very well aware of the many inequities in our industry towards Cat adjusters, the solutions may not be new laws, rules or legislation. Lest we forget the “Golden Rule” he who has the Gold Rules. I firmly believe that the future path is in developing technology.
The future of the entire insurance industry will center around new technology and like it or not all adjusters (staff & Cat) will have to adapt or retire. As an engineer, retired general contractor and a dedicated Cat adjuster for over a decade my wife and I have seen and know first hand the evolution & incorporation of technology into our industry to this point in time.
As you are now probably saying to yourself I hate new technology. Some of your objections might include a high price tag, it is difficult to learn and/or how to use or a common complaint is that most of the time it will not work with my computer which means you have to go out and buy a new computer that will function properly. Rest assured that our new technology will not be expensive, difficult to use or operate and in the vast majority of cases will not require the purchase of a new computer ( unless you are still on a 486 or earlier computer).
At this time our company is currently developing some of that new technology for the insurance industry. We anticipate making a major announcement in the third quarter of 2003 of this new technology with an anticipated release date the first quarter of 2004.
What I can say at this time about this new technology is that we believe every carrier, adjusting firm (vendors) and adjuster will at some point in time incorporate our new technology in their operations for the first time ever as an industry standard. Our preliminary research shows that the carriers will save millions, reduce operating costs, vastly improve customer response times and service while eliminating the majority of, well there is just no other way to state it, fraud. The adjusting firms will also benefit by reducing operating costs and improved customer service which will improve their profitability.
Now to the benefit of the cat adjuster: our new technology will be easy to incorporate into almost everyone’s existing equipment. The cat adjuster will be furnished a training cd with our product that will allow an adjuster to be up to user & operator speed in 30 minutes or less (no costly & time consuming training school, classes ect. to attend). This new technology will reduce daily file handling time an average of Two hours, allowing the adjuster more time to handle additional files. It will also reduce a cat adjuster’s direct annual operating costs anywhere from $1,500.00 to $3,000.00 above the expense of using our new technology.
Our commitment to the future of the insurance industry is one that will benefit every level of the industry from the carrier CEO’s through underwriting and throughout all levels of adjusting. This will be our contribution to the future of the entire insurance industry.
RJ |
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Ghostbuster
476 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2002 : 16:41:20
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Thanks, RJ, but where is the protection for the storm trooper? Your missive preaches a brave new world, but where is our place in it if the carriers can train a shaved ape in 30 minutes and send them out to the field?
The NACA story is one of the ol' smoke filled room where the vendor owners got into positions of power to maintain the status quo and preclude any boat rocking, except for the party girls on the cruise ships during the annual festival.
But, still RJ, that was a nice commercial. |
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Our Future
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