"the" Mrs. Astor

Monday, June 12, 2006

Where Oh Where Has My Insurance Gone...



Hurricane Alberto, coming so early as it has, should remind us of the precarious place and circumstance under which we live. After last year and the unending misery the hurricane season caused a reasonable person would think prudence and good sense would prevail. But, sadly, it doesn't; Florida is full of fools and run by fools.

I looked at a current book of real estate offerings received in the mail and absolutely shook my head in disbelief at these four, lovely homes offered in Key Largo. You can almost imagine yourself in a white, linen suit and Panama Hat lounging around the veranda waiting for a neighbor to drop by for a gin and tonic.

There's one tragic mistake, though. If predictions are right, it is quite likely that none of these homes will make it through a Category 2 hurricane, let alone a larger monster. Developers have pushed the building of residences so fast and so close to the ocean that the great real estate "bubble", long predicted about to burst because of over-building is losing air through another, slower leak: the inability to find insurance.

Suddenly, insurance companies are pulling out of the Florida market or even canceling policies. Recent news reported mass selling of homes on The Keys as insurance has become impossible to get or too expensive for the long time residents. So, in step all the fools with no sense, but lots of money. Florida attracts them like no other. And in the end, just who will foot the bill for clapboard fantasies like these pictured here? Why taxpayers, of course, who will idly stand by while the State and Federal governments provide insurance to fools.

But let's make no generalization here. It will only be for rich fools who love the sound of crashing waves in the sunrise. A drive to the airport here will provide quite a sight: a sea of poor and middle income homes with blue plastic covers on their roofs. There is no help for them and when the winds pick up again little will be left this time. Except resentment, perhaps; but that a big perhaps. The middle class are the biggest fools of all as they actually have something to loose like a roof, a son or daughter in Iraq, a gorgeous mango tree in the yard. They still turn out the vote for the Bush brothers, who are always there for the rich fools.

Don't buy one of these homes, unless--of course--you're a rich fool.

9 Comments:

At 10:37 PM, Blogger Black and Tan Mark said...

Somehow a mild winter in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains seems a small price to pay for peace of mind. DC is less than an hour away from there - DuPont Circle, I hear ya callin'....

 
At 12:58 AM, Blogger Countess Bedelia said...

Bwahaha...you both should be here in beautiful New England. It only rains and rains but doesn't blow us away!! And we still can get insurance.

And Mrs. Astor, leave Mark's other ankle alone. I have been the long distance Florence Nightingale for the first ankle....I will not survive the second one.

Just kidding, B&T. *hugs*

 
At 2:11 AM, Blogger The INFOSEC Consultant said...

Countess, don't get too smug. Hurricanes have taken out New England barrier islands in the past and will again in the future... We went through a quiet period and now things are returning to "normal". Here in my mountain fortress I feel quite safe, however in Engelberg I was reminded that last August they had a flood that put 4 feet of water in the hotel's 1st floor lobby (that is the European first floor, not the ground floor!)

 
At 2:13 AM, Blogger The INFOSEC Consultant said...

A. please check Mark for signs of fever, anyone who would trade Miami for Washington is in distress. Hurricanes are drama and Miami is addicted to drama -- nothing more.

 
At 6:35 AM, Blogger Rick Bettencourt said...

I'm with Countess...New England or bust! I can't stand the humidity anyway. Not that we don't get it but Florda's too hot for me honey. It does awful things to my hair. : )

I know what you mean about insurance though. I work for an insurance company and we pulled out of Florida faster than a gay guy at Hooters.

Rick

 
At 7:29 AM, Blogger Ian Gutierrez said...

well... same old story...
under the Bush Reign, everything´s about "Magic Beans"

 
At 7:31 AM, Blogger Alexis du Bois said...

Countess, I wouldn't dare intrude upon your incessant whitling away at my base of support.

Pimpernel, remind out genteel New England friends that my Grandmother lost her house in Westerly, RI and my grandfather all his greenhouses in 1938. When the 20-foot surge went over Long Island it killed thousand of chickens. Today those fields are million dollar homes; they'll go just as fast as anywhere else.

Rick I sorely miss New England, but only in the summer. The heat here just convinces boys to take off their clothes.

 
At 2:13 PM, Blogger Black and Tan Mark said...

Mrs. Astor,
Fear not - I have no intentions of leaving; of course, if Hurricane Andrew's big brother comes a knockin', all bets are off at that point. Hopefully there will never be a Palace diaspora.
B&T

 
At 2:33 PM, Blogger Showtune said...

OH TO HAVE MONEY! UGH.

 

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