Well, Shit

So.

My homeowner's insurance has close to doubled since last year. I have a named storm deductible of 5% of the appraised value of the house. (So they send the cheap ass adjustors out to dick you over how much it will cost to fix your house, then hold back the first ten thousand dollars.)

Additionally, each househould in the state (I believe) is being assessed $355 to help pay for the insurer of last resort, which is required to maintain non-competitive rates and pick up the significant homeowners who have been and are being dropped by their insurance companies.

Where I live in Mandeville, the corps of engineers has been so slow to remove dead and dying trees that the pine beetle has set in. This bug can kill a tree in a week, and it spreads like crazy. So, the corps being so slow to get to my yard did not arrive before the beetle. And they won't cut down a tree if they can blame it on something else, as in this case. So I've got four more trees to remove (80 foot pine trees run about a thousand dollars each to cut down and remove). And alread we've lost three trees (the ones that landed on the house) and paid to have five others removed.

Flood insurance (keep in mind, this is a second, costly policy) is also going up. And my aunt (minimal flooding in Katrina) got her new policy, and guess what the exemptions are--flooring and sheetrock. If your house has ever flooded, you know that these are the two things that must be replaced--even with a little bit of water--say ten inches--you still have to rip out four feet of sheetrock, rehang it, float it, paint it, etc.

I should be happy to report that I should be soon hearing about a book, but I have a hunch that this is one tree that won't tip in my direction.