This Week in the Woods
The Christmas countdown is in full swing at the Kimball household. We had a small family party last night and the kids raked in a couple guitars, fishing lures, an RC monster truck, and another lego forestry tractor (basically a skidder). They are currently playing with the skidders and I just over heard Gardner say “do you have time for a safety meeting?” Safety first, ALWAYS. See insurance companies, we are teaching them young…. now can we decrease the darn premiums?
We’ve enjoyed some nice, productive weeks the last few weeks. The weather has been very good to us but looks like a small thaw tomorrow. Hoping it goes right back cold. We need it for the jobs we have lined up. We finished up a job in Otisfield and have moved to a piece of land in Raymond that is going to be a subdivision. That has been a bit dramatic in that neighbors to the land had a truck parked blocking the entrance to the lot. When we showed up and asked them to move it, we were first told that we couldn’t be there until the new owners made a $300,000 road into the subdivision and then that the husband would have to move the truck when he gets home from work. I am always so perplexed when neighbors think they have rights to the neighboring property. It was for sale… they could have bought it if they wanted to control it, right? It is already an approved subdivision continuing from another subdivision that they live in. What do they think existed there before their home and neighborhood? A darn forest! Regardless, she is wrong and we were just there to do forestry, no road necessary. So we showed up the next morning to make sure the truck was moved because we had all the equipment packed up and ready to go. Truck was still there. Next step, tow truck. It wasn’t until the tow truck showed up that they realized we meant business. In all this charade cost us a couple grand in messing around. People blow my mind. Next dramatic scene was when the sheriff showed up on my landing with a noise complaint. It is courteous to wait until 7am but there are no noise ordinances in the town, and any other time I would have been courteous because I’m a fairly nice guy, but now I have to make up for lost time due to the previous events. Never a dull moment.
So we made a poor decision on snowy day a couple weeks ago… We always park our trucks in bad weather. But this day, we kept going… bad choice. Our truck took a little slide and got a bit busted up. This is the first time we have had any to make any claims to insurance so we are in for that jerking around. Of course this little fender bender comes one week after our beloved insurance agent left his job and at this point I don’t even know who my “person” is. I finally figured out who to call at the agency and between the agency, the insurance company, and the adjuster company, I have talked to about 10 different people who all have some made up job and no one communicates with me. No one can agree on repair costs and its a giant crap shoot just as I would expect. There are a lot of frustrating things in business and life, but none irritate me more than insurance of all kinds! It just plain costs so much and then when it comes time to use it, they make it so long and drawn out. We do not have a fleet of trucks. We have 1 truck. Guess what happens when that truck can’t run for an extended period of time because someone behind a desk can’t get their act together…. Chrissy called and said, hey if you want your next payment paid, you might want to prioritize getting an adjuster over there so we can get it back on the road. It took them TWO AND A HALF weeks to send an adjuster. Two and a half weeks of arguing with the garage through emails over what the repairs were. Unacceptable. We’ve been trying to sell our old Peterbilt with no success which apparently was a blessing because we were able to dig her out and fire her up so she can haul some chips and pulp to Maine mills. As if that’s not enough headaches, dad’s brand new truck had a break down. Why not, right? She got fixed up fairly quickly and we’re back running now and just praying the old girl we’re running stays strong until insurance can get their act together!
We hosted a big ole company Christmas party a couple weeks ago! The crew of 3 packed my house and we loved every second of it. My guys are family. As a matter of fact, before Chrissy’s family party last night my kids were crying that Brandon, Nate, and Grampa weren’t coming. Those men are their heroes.
We’re really looking forward to some potential collaborations to come in the New Year. We’ve been meeting with others in the industry and believe that we can create mutually beneficial relationships. We would say we are “cautiously optimistic” about the coming year.
Hope you enjoyed reading our drama…. Have a Merry Christmas!