I thought about this question a good deal when we lived on the beach in southern Oregon, threatened by not only storms and tsunamis but also by wildfires on a yearly basis. There was simply no question -- my wife and I would have have taken the check, sold the lot and departed. But we had no deep emotional ties to the area. Contrast that to the folks in Lahaina, a town that will always have a special place in our hearts. They had lived in those homes for generations, attached to their land with a depth and intensity that most people can't imagine. But in parts of town the lots are tiny, so tiny that the houses were just a few feet apart -- which aided the fire -- and under current laws the minimum setbacks literally wouldn't allow a house to be built. Will those setback rules be waived to allow Lahaina families to restore themselves on their own land? It's unclear at this time. There are more major complications -- a new shoreline setback law to protect the coast, modern zoning laws, a previous 40% premium on Maui building costs that will undoubtedly be higher in the Lahaina rebuild, and longtime shortages of skilled construction workers (who mostly commute from Oahu) and building materials (which must be shipped from the mainland) -- that serve as obstacles to restoring the town. As of last month, 14 months after the fire, exactly one Lahaina home had been rebuilt. One. And finally, the people themselves are not in the same financial position as those in Pacific Palisades or even Paradise, which was by no means a wealthy town. Many Lahaina families lived close to the poverty line. Now, in temporary or FEMA housing, they're even closer to the edge financially. Many will have no choice but to accept offers from redevelopers and leave their ancestral land behind.
Kristine, I'm quite sure it's because larger dogs actually scare the heck out of a lot of people. My wife could not imagine anything more terrifying than encountering a German shepherd in a hotel hallway.
Being politically involved, I read a good deal. I have never seen one iota of study-based evidence that increasing the minimum wage causes cost-of-living increases in general or higher cost of home ownership in particular. And certainly not homeowners insurance, which is the topic of this article.
When we lived in a beach house in Oregon, we were subject to the risks of rising ocean levels, increasing storm severity, Cascadia Fault earthquakes (the Big One is coming) and yearly wildfires both in Oregon and just across the border in northern California that sometimes ranged close enough to dump ash on our car. I kept waiting for our rates to rise exponentially, but it never happened. Our insurer routinely renewed us at a cost lower than what we had paid in our suburban San Francisco house. I have stopped trying to figure out how the companies set their rates or make their business decisions.
That is truly the most evocative description of "mushing" I've ever read. What a memory to cherish! My own memories of 45 years of trips up and down that coast (and six years living there, in a Brookings beach house) with wives, girlfriends, pals and pups are far more pedestrian but equally cherished -- teaching my elderly Chinese mother-in-law to skip stones on tranquil water, bowls of local chowder, watching two different dogs make their first ecstatic sprints down the sand after the seagulls (no huskies, just a Pomeranian and a Papillon), sleeping in a camper van overlooking Pistol River and Depoe Bay, a 7-mile beach run at Lincoln City, the ice cream at Tillamook and trying to catch the "green flash" at hundreds of sunsets. So when you say "favorite getaway".... I assume you mean...?
Kristine, I'm so delighted that you're already an Official Oregon Beacher. Sled dogs? What a mental image that brings up! Must have been magnificent and hilarious at the same time. Florence is special to me for parental reasons as well. The last hike I ever took with my own mom, before illness struck her, was on South Jetty Beach.
There's nothing at all wrong with no-go -- my mom felt that way, which was a source of bewilderment to her globetrotting parents and sister. If I may humbly offer a suggestion to a continent-bound, crowd-avoiding introvert who loves scenery and serenity, a leisurely drive along the northwest coast of the US in April or late September is nothing short of perfection. Just a half day north from San Francisco along the pretty Sonoma Coast and you're into the redwoods for an overwhelming, towering celebration of what life can accomplish. (We've most loved Prairie Creek in Redwoods National Park, but to each her own.) And if it's not summer RV season, you have the trails pretty much to yourself. Then you're on to the wild southern Oregon coast, where sparsely traveled 101 takes you past dozens of vast, empty beaches framed by sea stacks, otherworldly rocks hundreds of feet high. (Our sacred place is Pistol River State Beach, a windy expanse of absolute beauty where my ashes will be scattered.) Bandon Beach at morning low tide offers Circles in the Sand, where an army of sand artists with rakes creates intricate labyrinths. You can't imagine a more peaceful experience. Finally, many of the northern Oregon beach towns feature long flat walking beaches and local art, if you're into that kind of thing.
Dan, of course the article is biased -- it's a commentary, not a news report. I think the opinion expressed is well-supported, and I find the last paragraph inarguable. That said, I too am a satisfied enrollee in the AARP UHC MA plan, but not because it's AARP-endorsed. I had learned during my successful cancer battle that responsiveness from your health insurer is of supreme importance, and so before choosing an MA plan, I sat down with a patient financial/billing advisor at my new specialty care provider, UW/Fred Hutch in Seattle, and asked him who was the best insurer they worked with in terms of response time and acceptances/denials. His immediate answer was UHC. I went with his recommendation, and so far (three years) he's been right. No denials, even for some complicated stuff related to my type 1 diabetes.
Comments:
I thought about this question a good deal when we lived on the beach in southern Oregon, threatened by not only storms and tsunamis but also by wildfires on a yearly basis. There was simply no question -- my wife and I would have have taken the check, sold the lot and departed. But we had no deep emotional ties to the area. Contrast that to the folks in Lahaina, a town that will always have a special place in our hearts. They had lived in those homes for generations, attached to their land with a depth and intensity that most people can't imagine. But in parts of town the lots are tiny, so tiny that the houses were just a few feet apart -- which aided the fire -- and under current laws the minimum setbacks literally wouldn't allow a house to be built. Will those setback rules be waived to allow Lahaina families to restore themselves on their own land? It's unclear at this time. There are more major complications -- a new shoreline setback law to protect the coast, modern zoning laws, a previous 40% premium on Maui building costs that will undoubtedly be higher in the Lahaina rebuild, and longtime shortages of skilled construction workers (who mostly commute from Oahu) and building materials (which must be shipped from the mainland) -- that serve as obstacles to restoring the town. As of last month, 14 months after the fire, exactly one Lahaina home had been rebuilt. One. And finally, the people themselves are not in the same financial position as those in Pacific Palisades or even Paradise, which was by no means a wealthy town. Many Lahaina families lived close to the poverty line. Now, in temporary or FEMA housing, they're even closer to the edge financially. Many will have no choice but to accept offers from redevelopers and leave their ancestral land behind.
Post: Would You Rebuild?
Link to comment from January 12, 2025
Kristine, I'm quite sure it's because larger dogs actually scare the heck out of a lot of people. My wife could not imagine anything more terrifying than encountering a German shepherd in a hotel hallway.
Post: No “Go-Go” by Kristine Hayes Nibler
Link to comment from January 10, 2025
Being politically involved, I read a good deal. I have never seen one iota of study-based evidence that increasing the minimum wage causes cost-of-living increases in general or higher cost of home ownership in particular. And certainly not homeowners insurance, which is the topic of this article.
Post: The Twenty Billion Dollar Problem
Link to comment from January 10, 2025
When we lived in a beach house in Oregon, we were subject to the risks of rising ocean levels, increasing storm severity, Cascadia Fault earthquakes (the Big One is coming) and yearly wildfires both in Oregon and just across the border in northern California that sometimes ranged close enough to dump ash on our car. I kept waiting for our rates to rise exponentially, but it never happened. Our insurer routinely renewed us at a cost lower than what we had paid in our suburban San Francisco house. I have stopped trying to figure out how the companies set their rates or make their business decisions.
Post: The Twenty Billion Dollar Problem
Link to comment from January 10, 2025
That is truly the most evocative description of "mushing" I've ever read. What a memory to cherish! My own memories of 45 years of trips up and down that coast (and six years living there, in a Brookings beach house) with wives, girlfriends, pals and pups are far more pedestrian but equally cherished -- teaching my elderly Chinese mother-in-law to skip stones on tranquil water, bowls of local chowder, watching two different dogs make their first ecstatic sprints down the sand after the seagulls (no huskies, just a Pomeranian and a Papillon), sleeping in a camper van overlooking Pistol River and Depoe Bay, a 7-mile beach run at Lincoln City, the ice cream at Tillamook and trying to catch the "green flash" at hundreds of sunsets. So when you say "favorite getaway".... I assume you mean...?
Post: No “Go-Go” by Kristine Hayes Nibler
Link to comment from January 8, 2025
Kristine, I'm so delighted that you're already an Official Oregon Beacher. Sled dogs? What a mental image that brings up! Must have been magnificent and hilarious at the same time. Florence is special to me for parental reasons as well. The last hike I ever took with my own mom, before illness struck her, was on South Jetty Beach.
Post: No “Go-Go” by Kristine Hayes Nibler
Link to comment from January 8, 2025
There's nothing at all wrong with no-go -- my mom felt that way, which was a source of bewilderment to her globetrotting parents and sister. If I may humbly offer a suggestion to a continent-bound, crowd-avoiding introvert who loves scenery and serenity, a leisurely drive along the northwest coast of the US in April or late September is nothing short of perfection. Just a half day north from San Francisco along the pretty Sonoma Coast and you're into the redwoods for an overwhelming, towering celebration of what life can accomplish. (We've most loved Prairie Creek in Redwoods National Park, but to each her own.) And if it's not summer RV season, you have the trails pretty much to yourself. Then you're on to the wild southern Oregon coast, where sparsely traveled 101 takes you past dozens of vast, empty beaches framed by sea stacks, otherworldly rocks hundreds of feet high. (Our sacred place is Pistol River State Beach, a windy expanse of absolute beauty where my ashes will be scattered.) Bandon Beach at morning low tide offers Circles in the Sand, where an army of sand artists with rakes creates intricate labyrinths. You can't imagine a more peaceful experience. Finally, many of the northern Oregon beach towns feature long flat walking beaches and local art, if you're into that kind of thing.
Post: No “Go-Go” by Kristine Hayes Nibler
Link to comment from January 7, 2025
Amen, Kristine. My wife and I did Yellowstone and Grand Teton in late September. We felt like we had the world to ourselves. It was wondrous.
Post: No “Go-Go” by Kristine Hayes Nibler
Link to comment from January 7, 2025
I just ordered one!
Post: Golden Perks by Andrew Forsythe
Link to comment from January 5, 2025
Dan, of course the article is biased -- it's a commentary, not a news report. I think the opinion expressed is well-supported, and I find the last paragraph inarguable. That said, I too am a satisfied enrollee in the AARP UHC MA plan, but not because it's AARP-endorsed. I had learned during my successful cancer battle that responsiveness from your health insurer is of supreme importance, and so before choosing an MA plan, I sat down with a patient financial/billing advisor at my new specialty care provider, UW/Fred Hutch in Seattle, and asked him who was the best insurer they worked with in terms of response time and acceptances/denials. His immediate answer was UHC. I went with his recommendation, and so far (three years) he's been right. No denials, even for some complicated stuff related to my type 1 diabetes.
Post: Golden Perks by Andrew Forsythe
Link to comment from January 5, 2025