Tag Archives: instruction

Dealing With The Insurer’s Authorized Repair Shop

Posted on by

If you have been following my articles about dealing with the aftermath of an auto accident you know that I got my car back from the repair shop late last week and had some issues with how it was running.

After the accident I had the choice to go either to a shop on the auto insurer’s recommended list, or to a shop of my choice. The difference was that

– the recommended shops agreed to charge no more than the repair amount approved by the insurer after appraisal (and would be paid directly).

– going to a non-recommended shop meant the insurer would send me a check for the appraised repair amount, I would have no guarantee the shop would accept that as payment in full, plus if they uncovered additional damage while repairing it I would need to get an additional appraisal and another check, delaying full repairs.

Given the extent of the damage to my front end

Car damage

I decided to go with an insurer-authorized shop run by a major (though not Subaru) dealer a mile from my house since I didn’t want the hassle of taking responsibility for coordinating with the high probability of additional damage being discovered after only a visual assessment.

Also, I had damage from a minor accident several months ago for which I had claimed and received a check but had not bothered to repair yet since it was not impairing the car’s functions – this seemed like a good time to have that done as well since they would not charge more than the  appraisal (though I would need to pay it since I had been paid by the insurer).

Here are some things I learned from the experience:  Continue reading →

When Real Death Comes to Virtual Life – Part 1

Posted on by

It has been one hell of a week+ for me emotionally: four people whose lives have touched mine in various ways died in the space of ten days. Three of those used social media (mostly Twitter and Facebook), and that is how most of their friends have learned of their passing – and we learned of the fourth via the mailing list of a group of which he was a part.

It would take a much longer series of posts than I currently have the time or energy to compose to cover all of the ways social media users and their friends/family need to consider handling their digital assets and communities when the user dies. But for now I will note some specific technical tips for when (not if, increasingly) you find yourself mourning the loss of a loved one and are left with how to communicate about their departure with their social media friends.

[Note: I originally planned to cover both Twitter and Facebook in this article, but it’s already lengthy about Twitter so I will do a Part 2 about Facebook later]

Continue reading →

What’s That Event?

Posted on by

When you create an event on Facebook, presumably you

  1. Want people to pay attention and attend, plus
  2. Want others to know that their friends are attending so they might consider it as well.

But failing to title your event in a specific way may sabotage its visibility!

Continue reading →

Update: Increasing Facebook Page Views

Posted on by

A few months ago I posted my research on what types of Facebook posts are allowed to be seen by more of your Page’s fans without your being forced to pay Facebook. Since Facebook frequently changes how they treat your posts I just did another quick experiment with posts to my band Ginger Ibex‘s Page to see whether my prior conclusion still holds.

Here’s the result:

Continue reading →