RIP Bob

I'm not in the habit of writing obituaries or in memoriams, but an old friend passed away recently and I felt a special need to share it with all of you.  You see, Bob and I had been good  friends back in the day, but I hadn't seen much of him over the past few years. Ironically, I had been thinking about Bob over the holidays but I never bothered to pick up the phone.  The last time we spoke a few months prior, he was outside his office downtown grabbing a smoke. Bob was just beaming as he told me of his son Henry's acceptance into a top- rated high school on the north side of Chicago. No easy feat with the highly competitive academic requirements. It was great to hear from him and to hear the genuine sound of joy in his voice at his son's accomplishment.   And while we had grown apart over time, we nonetheless could still pick up a conversation as if it was just yesterday. It was especially sad for me to hear of Bob's passing, of course, because he had recently been in my thoughts.

At the funeral home there was no casket to view. Just the small but elegant wooden box holding his remains from cremation.  I saw people I hadn't seen in a long time, we all sat close together upfront near the podium, right behind Henry and his mom, Anne.  A group of Bob's co-workers were a few rows behind us.  After his family said their goodbyes and told some funny anecdotes about Bob, his  sister Alexandra faced the room and asked if anyone else would like to say a few words about Bob.

   

There was a long and somewhat awkward pause, so I got up and said a few kind words about how Bob had been such a good buddy for letting me crash at his place when I lost my keys during a night of misguided drinking.  I felt like an idiot afterwards, with all the things I could have said. But following, many others paid their respects  with consistent references to his generous nature,  his kind character, and his devotion to being Henry's father.  It turned out to be a really nice tribute for a guy who didn't have an easy life, battling severe physical issues, who somehow managed to pull it all together with the help of his family, friends, and co-workers. But most of all, it was Bob. He was the one who took on the challenge and met it head on. Nobody else.

So here's to you Bob, it really was great to know you and we are all proud to have been your friend. 

Word of the Year for 2011 - Robust

While it might be a little late, I'd still like to nominate robust for the Word of the Year 2011.

The adjective's  ubiquity has been  unequaled in its use this year as a modifier for everything  from robust computer platforms to robust cell phones, and the trend shows no sign of stopping. A quick search revealed more than  147,000,000 results on Google alone. Did you know that you could have Robust Statistics?  And you could have some robust coffee while perusing those stats. And if you ever need to know how to design a robust monitoring system, fear not, for it too is out there for those willing to take on such a challenge.  Too technical for me.

I'd rather sit back and read a report about the robust earnings my investments were making, if only it were true. And if you really wanted to get technical, you could speed up your robust features for a better understanding of  the convergence of visuals and imagery. Even the restaurant industry is reporting robust action in the highly competitive pizza and bakery markets.  And hospitals are taking  robust measures to battle disease and save lives. How about a robust shopping cart for your blog?  As you can see, the possibilities of robust pursuit are everywhere around us.

So here's to you robust, you've truly earned top billing in my book for Word of the Year. You and all your bad ass Robustness,  BTW , by Thomas J. Sargent, Winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Economics.

Now, don't you feel smart knowing you have made a robust decision ?

State Farm Not There

About two weeks ago, our town was hit by a storm that brought high winds and a class F1 tornado. Fortunately, no-one was injured, but a huge Pine tree that shaded our back yard was uprooted and landed on our house. To make things worse, we were without power for a few days until Com Ed got its act together, but more about that later. Surely, you must have heard the branding jingle that plays during all of State Farm's TV commercials, you know the one – "and like a good neighbor, State Farm is there". You've probably heard it a million times. Then, they show you how the agent magically arrives on the scene with a poof and a wish. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. I didn't hear from my agent until three days later, and I had to make several calls before I got through to the Catastrophic Claims Center in Jacksonville, FL. After a 45 minute wait on the phone listening to their stupid jingle, I finally got  through. The southern gentlemen who fielded my call explained what I should do to get the tree removed and what State Farm's limits typically were for a situation like mine. Although he was pleasant and knowledgeable, he did complain that they were working seven days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day. As a member of the ranks of the unemployed, I felt no sympathy for his cause.

  But it gets better. After going into my agent's office and telling him that I had not yet received a call from my adjuster, he promised to get on it right away for me. A short while later, I received a voice mail from my agent giving me the adjuster's name and phone number and he assured me that I would be receiving  a phone call from my adjuster shortly. The rest of the afternoon elapsed with no call from the adjuster. Finally, I called him that evening and was of course, directed to his voice mail. I did not hear back from the adjuster until almost a week after the storm, and when he did call back, he was less than enthusiastic about handling my claim. He took the necessary information with the demeanor of a robot, and then he informed me that State Farm doesn't cover Pine trees. What? RU kidding? We also had some damage to our roof and siding that I told him about. His response was the same. As we wrapped up our conversation, he told me that the earliest he could come out to assess the damage was July 20th. I thought he was joking but he was not. When I asked him if there was any possibility that he could come sooner, he said only if he had a cancellation. I told him that State Farm should hire more adjusters. He told me that they had thousands of adjusters in the field and that he had already made 97 phone calls that day. Not my problem I thought, but there was little I could do at that point other than to accept his schedule. 

  In short, the whole thing has left me with a bad taste in my mouth and no warm feelings toward State Farm. And Com Ed, the local power company wasn't much better. My neighbor still has a downed line in her yard, yet they restored power to her any way. So much for safety. All in all we survived, but it was in no way in part due to State Farm's rapid response they so often tout on TV. Here's a novel idea. Instead of spending millions on TV campaigns and PR, why not take that money and hire more adjusters and claims reps so they can actually deliver the kind of service they promise. And this whole incident underscores what is wrong with American business today. Put simply, the management just doesn't care. As long as the good old boys in the board room at State Farm get their million dollar bonuses, they don't really give a shit about their policy holders, and that's how I see it. And State Farm is supposed to be one of the most trusted names in the insurance industry. 

Can you imagine how they would respond to a hurricane or an earthquake? Let's hope we never have to find out.