From about February to April, just a couple of months, I worked for an idiot who thought he could both control me and try and get me to do unethical things such as not helping those who weren't "like us". It didn't take me long to figure this guy out. I had a plan though; if I quit I wouldn't get unemployment. If I got unemployment, I could stay home, apply for great jobs, or even train for an even better job. That's what I did. I managed to piss the man off enough that he fired me. Then, because I could, I added his image and personality (as well as most of his actual name) to my next murder novel. He was killed, fileted, and fed to pigs; how's that for getting back at the boss without actually doing any physical harm? I can't be arrested for it!!
Plan A was to stay on unemployment the entire five months, train to become a Claims Adjuster, and by the end of the five months, hurricane season would be upon us. I would use my new skills to obtain a great entry-level position and make much more money than I did working for that man anyway. Claims Adjusters make really good money. If you didn't know, maybe you should look into it. HOWEVER, that all being said, it wasn't as easily done as it was easily said (or thought). I did actually get all of my licenses. I am an actual Claims Adjuster, but I'm not employed yet, and it's been six months.
With my unemployment gone, I have to find actual work now, and the hurricane season in the USA didn't exactly amount to much. Most claims positions are for those who have experience. A newbie like me only gets hired during catastrophic events; this is sad, but it's true. We rarely ever get picked up without having at least a year's experience. How is someone supposed to get that experience? They get hired by a company such as State Farm, Progressive, Allstate, and others, and they train them, and use them as backups, giving them experience during fast and furious times. A person can work 12-hour shifts 7 days a week, but make bank doing it. Some people make $500 or more a day. Good money, right? If you can get hired.
I went through the Pilot Auto Academy to learn how to estimate cars. I took the State Farm certification tests, and I paid to be licensed in nine other states other than my home state. I was told if I did that, I would be a shoo-in - - IF there was a big enough storm to warrant hiring me. I was literally (and still am) on over 20 storm rosters, just waiting to be hired by Eberl, Pilot, American Family, CNC, Crawford, Allcat, Renfroe, and others. NO ONE HIRED ME.
Well, OK, it's time to think it over and do the next best thing; Plan B. Instead of learning just how to estimate cars, I decided to learn how to also estimate property. This means houses, buildings, interiors, and exteriors of these and others, and it is a pay hike as well. If I can go into the field I can make even more. Some of these field adjusters pull in over $200,000.00 a year. I didn't see that happening, but the average person pulls in $80,000.00 a year, and that's not bad. Plan B it was. I am now learning Xactimate, the software one needs to be a successful property estimator.
The problem is, no one wants to HELP YOU do that. You have to do it all on your own, and once you do that, take the certifications, and get your own Xactimate subscription, suddenly they come out of the woodwork to offer you meager and low wages that a person who didn't have the training may be interested in. No, thank you. I've decided on Plan C. MY PLAN...MY WAY...and they can either pay me what I demand or not, I really don't care.
I'm going to go back to work for the State, but I'm not telling anyone which department I'll be working in because I don't need or want the hassles. I'll say this, I am an investigator. I've been an investigator for years, and they appreciated me right up to the time the director wanted me to be unethical. I refused, and he fired me. That was in 2016. This was a complete guy, but he fired me for the same thing - - I didn't have to murder him in one of my novels, but I may later. God decided to take the man home, and those who worked in that agency remembered me from years back, and they called me to see if I could come back and work with them. THEY appreciated my honesty. THEY appreciated my ethical manners. I accepted.
So, Plan C. I will work for the State. I will receive adequate pay. I will receive good if not great insurance benefits, and I will be working primarily from home in my jammies. I will have to do some face-to-face interviews, so I'll throw on clothes at that point. For the most part, I'll work 8-5 Monday through Friday, and do the claims stuff on the side; after hours, on weekends, etc. Believe me when I say once I've got the training down I'll be 100% ready to do 3-5 claims a week and charge $200 each time. If the clients don't want to pay that, they can find another estimator. That's the best thing about working on your own and NOT needing their money.
The State job won't start until around 11/6 so I can both study Xactimate, take the certification exams, and be ready to go. I can possibly crank out another novel! Ha! You just never know...maybe it will be about those employers who think they can hang people over the cliff, dangling them with promises of being hired, all the while talking in their Zoom meetings about how many people they ghosted! IF that were the case, you can bet the "hero" of my book will find a few pigs, sharpen his or her blades, and spell their names correctly in his/her little black book - - which could be paisley if he or she wanted it to be. Just sayin'.
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