Post what you are thinking at this very moment

[Hal-9000]

Hey GF I have an insurance story. You do that right?

I paid my home insurance policy on March 6th at the bank. Then I get a letter from Cumis yesterday dated March 18th saying - If you want to cancel your policy please call, otherwise here's an envelope etc to send in your payment.

I was going to throw it out and it bothered me for some reason. I paid on the 6th electronically, yet their letter was dated the 18th implying I hadn't paid yet.

So I call and wait on hold for over 45 minutes. Finally this young guy comes on, I explain what happened and say - I have one simple question. Can you see there on my file that I paid electronically on March 6th?

Very long story (and phone call) short, he says one screen says I haven't paid, and another screen with 'handwritten notes' says I paid on March 6 at the bank I use. He is utterly dumbfounded and doesn't know what to do

So I'm getting tired of it and know at least somewhere that my insurance company has a record of me paying. I speak to his supervisor and he says that my policy would have likely lapsed if I didn't call because Cumis was in the process of converting over to HB Group and for whatever reason my file wasn't updated by their accounting department.

Pardon me??? You have a 'hand written note' saying I paid and because of your shitty bookkeeping practices my policy would lapse???

I laughed so hard (in anger) I think the guy was going to hang up on me

but wtf man...that could have been horrible if something happened to our house.

[DemonGeminiX]

I have a treadmill and a rowing machine at home

Drop and give me 20!!!

[DemonGeminiX]

It's funny that when I'm watching conservative political commentators' videos on Youtube, a lot of the suggestions in the right side list is for either CNN or MSNBC.

[Hal-9000]

I finally stopped reading about serial killers and shootings, decided to read Treasure Island for the first time.

For a classic it kind of sucked

Sorry Mr Stevenson...

[DemonGeminiX]

In this day and age of break-neck speed paced books, the slow crawl classics are kind of tough to get into. I initially had the same problem with all of the Victorian/Gothic ghost story collections that I have. I had to stop reading Stephen King/Peter Straub/Dean Koontz books for a while.

[Hal-9000]

Now I have to find more reading material.


I look up adventure stuff, get pointed inevitably to fantasy stuff...
I look up mystery stuff, get pointed to Twilight-like shit...
I look up science stuff, get pointed to sci-fi and more fantasy stuff...

oh well, back to true crime searches I guess...can never get enough about Richard Chase drinking people's blood

[Hal-9000]

In this day and age of break-neck speed paced books, the slow crawl classics are kind of tough to get into. I initially had the same problem with all of the Victorian/Gothic ghost story collections that I have. I had to stop reading Stephen King/Peter Straub/Dean Koontz books for a while.

I recently re-read two favorites by King. The Stand and It.

And both didn't seem that great this time around. Everything from composition style to plot developments made me think - Why did I love this guy's stories and herald him as brilliant?

[Hal-9000]

In this day and age of break-neck speed paced books, the slow crawl classics are kind of tough to get into. I initially had the same problem with all of the Victorian/Gothic ghost story collections that I have. I had to stop reading Stephen King/Peter Straub/Dean Koontz books for a while.

I like Koontz's style in recent books (Jane Hawk series) but he really goes for the flowery prose now. He'll turn a 10 word sentence into a 100 word grammar exposition, just to say the character was scared

[DemonGeminiX]

Have you read any of Dashiell Hammett's or Agatha Christie's stuff?

[DemonGeminiX]

I recently re-read two favorites by King. The Stand and It.

And both didn't seem that great this time around. Everything from composition style to plot developments made me think - Why did I love this guy's stories and herald him as brilliant?

In my opinion. King's short stories are far better. His novels could probably fit into the short story/novella format if he cut out all of the fluff.

I like Koontz's style in recent books (Jane Hawk series) but he really goes for the flowery prose now. He'll turn a 10 word sentence into a 100 word grammar exposition, just to say the character was scared

Koontz to me is the consummate cookie cutter writer. All of his books, except for the Odd series, have been pretty much the same story with variations of the vulnerable protagonist up against a killer antagonist in a familiar place with similar pacing... and a dog somewhere in the mix. Dean has a thing for Golden Retrievers.

[Hal-9000]

In this day and age of break-neck speed paced books, the slow crawl classics are kind of tough to get into. I initially had the same problem with all of the Victorian/Gothic ghost story collections that I have. I had to stop reading Stephen King/Peter Straub/Dean Koontz books for a while.

Treasure Island was a tough go because of the writing style of the time. And not to reveal a huge spoiler, but after digesting the novel it's essentially a short story where they get a map, travel to the island, get the treasure and come back. That's it.

For me, books like Fellowship of the Rings are great adventures, because I felt exhausted after reading and the characters actually went on a journey that lasted months and it felt like it while reading.

[Hal-9000]

In my opinion. King's short stories are far better. His novels could probably fit into the short story/novella format if he cut out all of the fluff.

Koontz to me is the consummate cookie cutter writer. All of his books, except for the Odd series, have been vulnerable protagonist up against a killer antagonist in a familiar place with similar pacing... and a dog somewhere in the mix. Dean has a thing for Golden Retrievers.

God I loved Phantoms and some of his older creepy novels.

[Hal-9000]

Have you read any of Dashiell Hammett's or Agatha Christie's stuff?

I read some Agatha Christie in my teens/early 20's and remember liking them. No Hammet novels.

Have you read any Clive Cussler stuff? I keep seeing him recommended but he looks like an action-hero factory writer

[DemonGeminiX]

God I loved Phantoms and some of his older creepy novels.

I barely remember Phantoms. I sorta remember Ben Affleck's movie, but the book didn't really leave a mark on my memory.

[Hal-9000]

I recommended this recently, but try to find All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It's a tough, dry read at times but the author has a style I've rarely seen before. He paints a picture using sparse prose and it's brilliant at times.

Story is about a young blind girl in Paris and a young German boy and how their lives intertwine leading up to and during WW2. It's at turns shocking, beautiful, and completely interesting once the narrative gets moving.

Probably one of the best stories I've ever read