Monday, July 14, 2008

So. My Day Sucks. And Yours?

Tip Of The Day: Save for a rainy day, make hay while the sun shines, count your pennies – sure, that’s all fine and dandy advice. But the best way to feel (financially) secure is to buy a Home Warranty.

Tip For Tomorrow: I wish I could say I coined the following phrase, but I didn’t. Tomorrow’s post is a companion piece to my Fox 9 News at 5 PM segment – the best ‘stay-cations’ in the TC. Places to go and things to do if you don’t have the money to hit the road this summer.
Get it? Stay-cation? Because you stay home. Ha!

Further Elucidation Of My Cheap Deal: Well. Today’s post was supposed to be a light-hearted review of fun summer movies that have stood the test of time. But then, on my way home from my THIRD trip to the grocery store (don’t ask), I noticed something was terribly awry at the Cheap But Not Easy Empire.

The source of the awry-ness was (and continues to be) my garage door. It wasn’t closed all the way. Worse, it was hanging at an angle from the frame, a condition I’m QUITE SURE is not conducive for the effective opening and shutting of the door.

After swearing, shoving, cursing, banging, and taking the Lord’s name in vain, I finally got the door open. The only problem is that I lost a wheel from the door on the way up, which means I can’t shut it again. Which means the door has to remain wide open, or fall off completely. Deep sigh.

In short, my garage door is right properly f&%ked. Please excuse my bad manners, but I’m pretty sure this situation calls for Strong Language.

My first order of business was to attempt to reach the property management company for my townhouse complex. However, the delightful young lady at 411 couldn’t find the number for me in any of her records. So I stormed up to my office, The Land Where Paper Goes To Die, to see if I could find the last letter the management folks sent me.


Instead, I found this:


And I thought to myself, ‘Self? Do you think your home warranty covers the garage door? Dare we ask?’ Well, we dared. I called Home Security of America Inc (HAS), waited for what seemed like twenty billion hours, and finally got another delightful young lady on the phone. Let’s call her My New Best Friend.

I asked My New Best Friend (MNBF) if, in fact, my warranty covered such moveable parts as the garage door. MNBF said, in the most matter-of-fact-of-course tone, yes. Yes they do. Because I have their super-duper, uber-fantastic coverage policy, my door and all its pieces/parts are covered.

Seriously, I love this woman. Were I man, or swung that way, I would have asked her to be my bride ON THE SPOT. BECAUSE THAT’S HOW WONDERFUL SHE IS.

All I had to do was call a local garage door repair company, wait for them to arrive, call the warranty folks BEFORE the repair is commenced, and either pay the repair person (and be reimbursed by HSA), or have the repair person bill the warranty company direct.

Lesson learned, people: Buy A Home Warranty. For $465 a year, and a $100 deductible, you get piece of mind. And possibly a whole new garage door.

If you would like to purchase a home warranty and don’t know where to go, start by contacting a good Realtor. Like ME. I can sooooooo hook you up.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

So this is what you were doing instead of bringing me the Lost Boys DVD? (heh)

Also? Sniffle. I so thought that HaC, Lou and I were your best friends, but that's ok, we can be displaced by the Garage Door Girl.

Sniffle.

Kristie said...

Question about a home warranty: Can you buy one even if you have been in your house for say, 3 years?

The Cheap Chick said...

Yup! You can buy a home warranty whenever.

Michelle said...

Ugh. I hate days like that. At least yours had a happy endinng. Way to go with buying a home warranty! I hope today is a better day!

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry your day was so pissy. But, hey, new best friend. Maybe she can come to the ren fest with us?

Anonymous said...

"For $465 year, and a $100 deductible, you get piece of mind."

All that just for an Iron Maiden album? You must be a huge fan.

Personally, I'd recommend Powerslave instead.