Mimes and Insurance

So the Yelp event was awesome. But, I'm also an idiot. As someone who basically speaks for a living, I was dealing with a slightly hoarse voice as of late. The crazy volume levels at Oz Korean BBQ have left me almost completely without a voice. I've been miming my way through insurance today when I wasn't at home resting.

When I DO speak, I sound like someone who has been smoking for 50+ years. Not a very pleasant phone voice, at the moment. So I'll be doing my best to not talk (which is a challenge for me) and relax my poor, strained vocal chords a bit. In the meantime, trying to pantomime my way through  my last appointment of the day should be interesting!

My first adventure in Eliteness

It should come as no surprise that I'm a big fan of food. I'm also highly opinionated about food! Ask any of my co-workers in the deep, dark insurance mines where I reside most of the day, and they'll point you in my direction if you're looking for a good place to eat. So, not surprisingly, I've taken to Yelp like a fish to water. So much so, that I've been Yelp Elite for the past two years

I'm ashamed to admit it, but despite being an Elite member for 2011 and 2012, I've never actually taken advantage of any of the perks that come with it. They'll often put on events and gathering of various types, and they always seem to fall on days or times that don't work out for me. What a waste, right?

That streak stops tonight!

Tonight's event takes us to Oz Korean BBQ, a place that I've been meaning to try for quite some time. Grill your own delicious meats right at your table? Yes please! And to be able to do so for free with additional goodies thrown in for good measure? You might need to pinch me, because it sounds like I might be dreaming.

So if you happen to be a member of the Elite community yourself, give me a nudge and say hi! I'm always happy to meet other foodies. As long as you don't mind that I'm staring down grilled meats while I speak with you, of course.

Things I'll splurge on

Just like with cars, clothing, or for folks like myself, food and insurance, people are always willing to spend a little more for certain things. They'll pay more for quality, or for a specialty item, or for an awesome personal agent (wink wink, nudge nudge). In my case, one of the things I'll splurge on is cookware.

My recent obsession has been with Le Creuset cookware. Non-stick stuff drives me batty since it gets damaged so easily and in the long-run, you can potentially endanger your food and your own health if the non-stick materials start to flake or if you overheat it sans food. It's not likely, but it can happen! Plus, I've run through skillets like you wouldn't believe. Le Creuset ends all of this insanity. Plus, it's beautiful!

Presenting, exhibit 1:

My awesome fiancee got me my very first Le Creuset item for V-Day. You wouldn't think that this would be an ideal gift for a guy in his twenties, right? Well, for this guy, it was. I was bouncing off of the walls. I'm thrilled with it, and I'll probably be using this as long as I'm cooking. These suckers last.

And don't think this will be the last! My registry is chock-full of these, and I'll be supplementing my collection to fill in any gaps after the wedding.

Everyone has their thing! In my opinion, the quality and longevity makes this pay off in the long run. Now, I hope you feel this way about your insurance too, but I'll forgive you if you're not quite as obsessed as I am.

Recommendations

Either in the land of the foodies, or when dealing with insurance, the power of the recommendation is an amazing thing. Many of my clients come to me via referral, and I'd imagine that the same can be said for any given restaurant. Sure, clients come about by other means as well, just as folks will occasionally wander off the street into a restaurant, but it's not nearly as likely.

So, I come to you with a request: recommendations. Sure, if you happen to be a client of mine, I always appreciate if you send someone my way, but what I'm really looking for here is a food recommendation or two.

Here's the situation: date night Friday has become a weekly deal with my fiancee. I happen to love it, because on top of spending some quality time with her, it gives us a chance to try out new places around town. Our goal is to avoid repeats if we can.

So here's what I'm looking for! Any restaurant in the Sacramento that you feel would be date night worthy. We're open to the whole gambit of things, be they dressy, hipster, dive-y... pretty much anything you can imagine. I think we just want the food to be awesome. Recent trips have taken us to Selland's Market, the Magpie Cafe, the Shoki Ramen House and Paragary's, if you need an idea of what we like.

Heck, if anyone is super-fast, I'd even appreciate a recommendation for this evening!

On Burgers

Sometimes when I get really hungry working in the deep, dark insurance mines, I daydream about food. A thought came to me earlier today: to me, one of the great, unappreciated forms of art is the hamburger. Yes, just about anyone can make one, but to make one WELL is the trick.

Is calling a burger a form of art a little much? Maybe, but consider the sheer variety in what you get when you talk about a hamburger. You could be talking about anything from a McDonald's Happy Meal cheeseburger to a Double Double from In-N-Out, to a local monstrosity like the Squeeze with cheese from The Squeeze Inn. The differences are vast!

Just this weekend, I visited a place called Nationwide Freezer Meats and I experienced one of the better burgers I've had in quite some time! The bun was delightfully toasted, the veggies solid, and the meat itself was incredibly tasty. It's the last part that makes me wonder about the term "art". I just couldn't put my finger on why it tasted so good. If given an exact method to recreate it, I somehow doubt it would be the same. Did it have something to do with the spices used? The seasoned grill? The quality of the meat? I'm not sure if' it's really any of those. It's that certain intangible quality of the burger that made it work, if you ask me.

So, work of art? Maybe you disagree, but think back to the last REALLY good burger you had. Put yourself in that moment and reconsider things. You may see things like a certain food-crazed insurance guy.

What Would Work For You?

I've been musing on this thought for the past few days, but my question is tough for me to answer. The reason? I'm incredibly biased. Being an insurance guy, it's tough for me to put myself in non-insurance guy shoes, so to speak.

So I'll ask you the question: what would make you interested enough to get a quote for auto or home insurance?

Yes, I know. Insurance is boring. Most people don't want to talk about it on a day-to-day basis unless something brings it front-and-center in your mind. A bad claim, or a large increase in price, for example. But what would make you investigate on your own?

For example, if I treated you to a delicious meal from one of Sacramento's gourmet food trucks while we discussed the quote, would it be worth your time? If I made a donation to a charity for the opportunity to quote, would THAT be worth your time?

In all seriousness, it's one of the things I've never been able to figure out. So, you tell me! Heck, I might even see about making it happen for you if it's reasonable.

A Recurring Food Truck Lunch Stop: How Does It Happen?

Having my time split between running around the office and running to various appointments and meetings, my food truck time has been WAY down as of late. And frankly, that saddens me. I love me some trucks. Mini Burger Truck, Drewski's Hot Rod Kitchen, Wicked 'Wich... I miss you all!

And the worst part about this for me? Having to watch them all stop at other offices all week long. I work in an office building with hundreds of insurance-related employees, and presumably, they get hungry on occasion! I know I sure do. But thus far, our experience with food trucks has been minimal. Back when we had our old building manager, they kicked a truck out without hesitation.

We have a new building manager, and he's shown that he may be a little more open to things, but the question remains: what are the steps to make it happen? I, sadly, don't have the pull to get mass E-Mails sent out to the building. I can probably get clearance for a truck to make a lunch stop, and we're not in Sacramento city, so timing won't be an issue... but how can I get them the exposure they'll need to make it a SUCCESSFUL stop? I don't want this to be a one-time thing! I want this to be so awesome, that trucks want to stop by every week.

So, food truck owners, employees and enthusiasts, I ask for your help. How can I make this happen?

Food Insurance

If a thing so wonderous as "food insurance" existed, I would buy a truckload of it.

I'm always terrified that when I try creating a new dish, it will end horribly. I always fear the worst for whatever reason. So if this mythical "food insurance" existed, and I could pay to prevent my food from coming out as a wreck, I would do so pretty much every time.

Sadly, I just have to cross my fingers and hope. For example, this evening, I created my first pork roast! Things ended up pretty solid, but I was worried the whole way through. I still don't fully trust myself in the cooking world, I suppose. However, the pork ended up tasty and tender with a pretty good sear. I also went with a veggie/apple mix that was first sauteed, then baked with the roast. Some rosemary sprigs went on top to add a bit of flavor, and it all worked nicely.

So I guess I technically would have ended up over-insuring my food? It figures, given my profession and overall nervous tendencies when trying to make food I haven't made before. But oh, what I'd pay for that peace of mind.

The value of an insurance advisor

It's been a strange start to the year! Historically, I've had a pretty loyal client base, but recently I've seen a wave of cancellations. This isn't all that strange, as people cancel all the time for a variety of reasons. They sold their home, they moved out of state, their situation changes and another company is better suited... that happens. But to switch 6-9 months after the intial sign-up, with no real issues or complaints? This is new to me.

I don't fault my clients for this. In the end, they act in their own best interest, and I can completely respect that. But for so little time to pass, it leaves me with a big question: what exactly IS the value of my service?

I suppose that answer varies from person to person. For my (obviously biased) part, I'd gladly pay for a go-to person I can count on as opposed to having to count on a call center exclusively. To put this in food terms, I'll pay extra to get a great meal from a local restaurant, even though I could go next door and get a similar fast-food meal for a lot less. But, I suppose that there are reasons the fast-food places thrive.

It makes an insurance guy wonder. Do folks at small burger joints get a bit offended when they see people walk down the street to get a McDonald's burger? Different priorities for different folks is what it comes down to, I suppose.

The post-Holiday food lull

Ever make the mistake of stepping on the scale right around the end of December, or the beginning of January? Boy was that a mistake I wish I hadn't made.

So for the last week and some change, with very few exceptions, it's been food lock-down. Healthy options, no burgers, lots of fruit, etc. This doesn't sound so bad, but I apparently get a lot less creative with food when I'm aiming healthy. I have eaten the same low-fat burrito 4 times since the beginning of the year. That's a ton considering that I've taken 7-8 lunches at work!

My last trip to the scale wasn't quite as painful, so things are looking up, but man, I can't wait for this self-imposed lock-down to ease up a bit. Insurance guys need fuel, and I understand that the best fuel is a nice, juicy cheeseburger. That might not be coming soon, sadly.

Hand insurance

Funny enough, it looks like my family has decided that enough is enough. As you may have read in several of my earlier posts, my left arm seems to take a beating when it comes to cooking. I've sliced myself several times by several different means, be it by knife or mandolin slicer. I had a couple scares, and I ruined a couple of towels!

So this Christmas, by family gave me a wonderful gift: the gift of hand insurance.

Is there such a thing? No, not really. But there is such a wonderous tool as the cut resistant glove.

Apparently, my family knows me well. And they want me to have all 10 fingers intact for my wedding this year. I tried it out yesterday, and though I haven't accidently chopped myself yet, I feel a heck of a lot better about things. I was starting to get a little gun-shy (knife-shy?) when mincing onions or dicing a potato or two, and this restores a bit of confidence. It does feel a little odd though. It's like preparing food while wearing a mitten! But if that's the cost of keeping all of my digits intact, so be it.

Reasons to review your home coverage

Taking a break from my normally not-so-serious posts, I thought it might help helpful to talk about some of the situations I've been running into at work. Hopefully, something like this can help someone out there avoid a rough situation!

Not long ago I had a client of mine make a claim on their home insurance. Unfortunately, they did not do a lot of research when they put the policy in place. I do my best to cover all of the bases when I start a new policy with a client of mine, but it's impossible to cover every single scenario. They sped through the process a bit, and never really read their policy, and unfortunately, it came back to bite them.

During this claim, they ran into a limit on their jewelry coverage. Our company has a pretty high amount of coverage, but pretty much every company out there has some sort of limit unless you modify your policy. They did not take the time to go into this initially... and then when it came time for a claim, they were stuck without coverage for several items.

I, for one, don't want to see ANY clients of mine go through this! Please, take the time to discuss the details on your policy with your advisor! Read your policies, and if you have questions, ask them BEFORE something goes wrong!

Heck, if you'd like, you can even ask me!

So what do you get YOUR local insurance guy/foodie for Christmas?

Apparently the answer is one of the follow:

-A apron
-A pizza cutter in the shape of the USS Enterprise
-A Food Network calendar
-A bunch of Pyrex bowls and servers
-Work shirts and ties
-Hilarious pens in the shape of Angry Birds

Yes, someone actually got me a Star Trek pizza cutter. Yes, I was also thrilled. It's good to know that people know the way to my insurancey/foodie heart though.