Daniel, may the next 60 days pass smoothly and without incident.

I got the not!Tep spam as well.

D is now being passive aggressively snarky via email, which at least removes any doubt I had. When asked if he wanted back the lovely hand-painted Russian box he'd given me, he said "Keep the box, it's yours. But can I have back all my time and effort? ;)" @@

Argh, just had a meeting reminder pop up and I have to go do something for it. Laters!

Daniel, I hope that everything goes well over the next couple of months.

And now I'm going to make a plug for Edward Jones Investments. Not because I use them now or plan to use them in the future. But because I had an account with them for about 10 minutes after my dad died, and then transferred to another firm. But when I found out last night that I needed some tax info from them, and called them at 8 am today to see about getting it, the owner of the local branch called me back 15 minutes later to say the documents were printed out and should he mail them or would I like to pick them up? And then he wished me well with my crazy-assed mini-investments in wind energy. I feel like a boyfriend I dumped for not being exciting enough just stopped to help me change a flat tire on the freeway. Nice people at Edward Jones (at least the Carrboro branch)!

I need some advice because I've never had this happen: very soon (like, next month) my van will be paid off (YAY!!). It's only valued at about $1500 for replacement if it got totaled and if I got lucky. It will cost me $1200 a year to keep the full coverage on it.

Do I keep the full coverage or drop it down to the state required PLPD?

Calli, with all the downright shitty things in this world, it's refreshing to hear of people who are helpful like that. Your little story is balm to my heart right now. Especially given that I kind of have the urge to get a Hallmark musical card playing "Time in a Bottle", along with a decorative bottle, fill it with cat pee, and send both to D, anonymously, on smonster's behalf.

erin_O, I don't even know what to say about rioting. It's just beyond me.

Aims, what's the difference in cost between full coverage and the state minimum, that's the real tell.

Drop it, Aims. You could put the difference aside in a rainy day fund if you want to, but between the upfront cost and the deductible? Probably not worth it. (Not to mention that what the insurance company feels is replacement value may not equal your estimate of replacement value.)

Definitely drop full coverage, Aims. If the van were valued higher, I'd wait but once it's paid off, your money is best spent elsewhere.

Calli, that's great. We missed you at walk/beer/walk last night!

Especially given that I kind of have the urge to get a Hallmark musical card playing "Time in a Bottle", along with a decorative bottle, fill it with cat pee, and send both to D, anonymously, on smonster's behalf.

I have the BEST FRIENDS. I haven't responded to him yet, and probably won't, but if anyone has the perfect response I'd love to hear it.

I'd drop the coverage, Aims. I don't have full coverage on any of mine. But that could be my personal anti giving any of my money to insurance companies bias.

I missed you guys, too, smonster! Next week I'll definitely have it in my calendar in indelible ink.

I have full coverage on my paid-off car, but only because I was able to pay it off relatively early. It's a Honda, and it's still under warranty, so it would be worth the bother to get it repaired if it was not quite totaled in an accident. When the warranty goes I'll probably reassess the insurance.