Loyalty is more than a word

There was a story in the local news about a guy who robbed a local bank.  They put paint bombs into the bags with the money and at some point shortly after he left the bank they exploded.  They guy got caught when he was trying to use the now paint-covered cash to get onto a city bus.  Oh dear.

This time of year in the northeast is a tease.  It provides nice, sunny, fairly warm days followed by chilly days and the threat of more snow.  It's one of those things where you get your hopes up that you've finally turned a corner just to be let-down again - such is the roller-coaster ride of Spring.  We're going to hit 50 degrees here today, which is wonderful given the chill of recent weeks.  But the weekend outlook is for rain followed by a possibility of snow showers.  Yuck.

I called today to change my car insurance.  I've had the same policy, pretty much, since I got out of college in 1981.  Same company.  Same coverages.  It's just one of those things I haven't checked into and from time to time I see that Consumer Reports rates them fairly highly so I generally find no need to change.

Anyway, lately I've become aware that others around me - including my 25 year old son - are paying considerably less than I am.  When I say considerably, I mean that I'm paying double or triple which is absolutely crazy!  Anyway, I've been on friendly terms with my ex- recently so we went down the coverages line by line and I made the call today to fix things.

I'm sure I confused the insurance guy because he was asking questions about my ex-husband.  The end result, though, is that I'm finally down to a more realistic number.  Insurance is like gambling - when it comes to deductibles and coverages it's all about how much risk you're willing to take.  But realistically, when you have a car that's ten years old and has as many miles on it as mine does it just doesn't pay to have collision on it.  It just doesn't.

I also believe in loyalty.  I've been with this company for 30 years and don't want to go thru the process of starting all over again somewhere else if I can avoid it.  That's one of the main themes in the movie I was talking about the other night, "Up In The Air".  Loyalty.  There's something to be said for it and I've learned first hand what happens when we both offer loyalty and expect loyalty but find ourselves feeling betrayed for some reason.  Not good.

I've been dealing with a cold in recent days, or at least the rumblings of one.  My chest has been tight.  No energy.  I've actually been pretty hungry, which is a change (feed a cold, starve a fever?).  It gets worse when I talk too much so I'm trying to minimize that.  I've always got cough drops at the ready which have been helping.  All in all, it's more of a distraction so far than anything.  I hope it stays that way.

The dogs seem to be acclimating themselves well to being here.  They've proven themselves to be pretty good with change in the past and really enjoy running on the grass.  I'm getting reacquainted with them, as well, and the good news is that they can still make me laugh out loud.  Watching them play is just funny, and it's one of those simple pleasure that provides escape from all the other travails that the world can throw sometimes.  Anyways - it's nice to have them back again both as company and as family.

There are some big things coming up.  I've got a board meeting tomorrow night that ought to be a heap 'o fun.  On Friday there will be an interesting article in a local magazine that I'll wait to see before I comment on it.  And on Sunday there will be an interesting article in the NY Times.  Stay tuned for that...

At the end of next week I'll be at the Keystone Conference here in Harrisburg.  Keystone is actually the event that introduced me to the area and I doubt that if I hadn't gotten involved in 2009 (interesting story there) I'd be here now.  This year they've expanded in some significant ways - Dr. O and Dr. Meltzer will be here so it'll be nice to see them.  Anyways, if you're in the area and can make it by if even for only a day it's very well done.  If you're looking for anyone in particular, including me, the best place to find them is in the bar.  We'll eventually end up there.  :)

Back to the Loyalty thing.  I've had several tests of that concept in my life in recent years and I've found the outcomes to be both positive and not.  I know where my loyalties lie and I've found that when I feel a sense of betrayal (that is, when loyalties are broken) my reactions can be fairly profound.  The entire situation with HRC several years ago was one of those things.  And, my experience with a personal relationship last year was another.  In both cases I learned a lot about myself and my expectations when it comes to that particular concept.

I'm sure I've betrayed loyalties over the course of my life, as well.  I'm sure that if my ex- were here she'd have a huge "AMEN" to that.  I'm sue that a core element of loyalty is trust, and once trust is lost it's difficult (sometimes impossible) to get back again.  Anyway - it's a fascinating concept whether in big picture things like relationships or in little picture things like car insurance....Either way - loyalty counts for something.