False Alarm Lights Fire Under my Ass.

[mbarrick]

Just as I was about to leave for work the fire alarm went off in the building. It only rang for a moment and shut off so I presumed it was a false alarm, but was a bit nervous nonetheless. Since I can see the building from work I decided to head in to the office. I was reassured as I got outside by the fact there was no smoke coming out of the building (Sandi and Nicholas can tell you all about how much smoke there was from the fire). However, when I was about half-way along the block two fire-engines came tearing down Georgia and stopped in front of the building. I turned around and went back. I stuck around until I was assured by one of the firemen that it was in-fact a false alarm: one of the plumbers set off the alarm with a welding torch.

So with the adrenaline rush fading into nausea I headed into work. After about an hour of answering e-mails and attending to the usual collection of morning "fires" I decided to call Elaine to see about finishing off getting our apartment insurance. I figured we would have to make an appointment or something but she managed to get it finished it by phone, so now our apartment is finally properly insured for fire, water damage, theft, and such. Yes, we procrastinated on this for too long, but now it is done and I'm glad.

Comments

yikes!

[kitsune-13.livejournal.com]

good to hear you FINALLY got insurance, and that you didn't ignore the alarm. I prolly would have been a nervous wreck if I would have been in your shoes this morning.
Thank cripes it wasn't a real fire.

Re: yikes!

[mbarrick.livejournal.com]

I actually felt kind of ill for about half an hour after I got to work. Damn plumbers.

[sycochk.livejournal.com]

that reminds me that i have to get insurance, do you know roughly how much it is monthly?

[mbarrick.livejournal.com]

Ours is costing $57/mo, but yours could be cheaper. It depends on stuff like how old your building is, what it is made of, what kind of alarms it has, and stuff like that, and of course how much insurance you want. We're insured now for $60,000 - based on Nick and Sandi's experience. They were insured for $40,000 at the time of the fire and paying about $45 if I remember right, and it turned out not to be enough to cover all the stuff they lost.

Most bank websites have thingies where you can fill out your information and get a quote. We had trouble actually buying online because none of them would accept a building more than 50 years old, but it should work for you.

insurance costies

[kitsune-13.livejournal.com]

I've had insurance thru my bank for over 15 years (whew- no deductible after that long). It's thru Coast Capital Savings. They automatically withdraw it from your account once a month (provided you bank with them). They're less expensive than the Royal Bank Bastards.
After the fire we upped our policy to $60,000 with $12,000 for additional living expenses, and $1 million in liability, and $5000 per person for voluntary medical expenses.

At the time of the fire, our isurance was udervalued- we were covered for $42,000. We lost about $80,000+ .

I seriously suggest getting insurance.