Why it wasn't covered on insurance, a lesson learned the hard way.

I had a friend at one of my favorite forums ask me how long I had to wait on the insurance. I replied and this is what I ended up writing. So I cut it and decided to post it here, because it is more appropriate here than there. (I can direct her here to answer her question in length.)

I thought that since it was parked in my driveway it would be covered on my renters property insurance. I thought wrong.

I have had it in my yard covered with a tarp in winters past with no problem.  This year it wasn't covered.

When I strapped it up tight last year the seat mildewed, and I replace it this summer. I had gotten scotch gaurd but hadn't treated it  yet, and it had been there so long, no one ever bothered it. I didn't ever imagine someone would steal it from me.

Someone has explained to me since it was stolen, about something called comprehensive, non running or something, but since it is so old (its a 1992) I don't even know if it could have been covered that way.

When I drive it to sell ice cream, I had full coverage but that runs over $200 a month and I can't afford it all year on the non driving month's fixed budget.

The first year I had it I lived in a larger home and it was in the garage. The insurance agent did tell me if the house were to burn down or something it would have been covered, I don't know now if that would have been correct or not.

The second year, I rented out one of those commercial garage spaces, they call them MaxiSpace here, they have electricity, so it was my "ice cream shop." I kept my freezers over there as well.  It ran me almost $300 a month.

I couldn't afford that all year round, especially with the seasonal insurance as well.

It is an up and down business. You never know what the weather is going to be like, on a given day, or even a given season. Last spring, we didn't have much of a spring here at all. You never know which neighborhoods are going to be good or not, and how much competition you run into.

The last few years have been tough, not only because people are holding on to their money a little tighter, but lots of unemployed people, think "oh this would be easy and slap stickers on there vans."

Us seasoned ice cream people call them "the sunny day fly by nighters," lol. Most of them do it for one season and realize it is way more work then they realized. It doesn't matter though, in most neighborhoods, even if I had lots of regulars, who loved me, ice cream is a first come, first to get a sale business. Although I have had some regulars who have bought from me, even when some other truck has just come by, just because they really like me, that is customer loyalty. :)

Some people probably wonder why I do it at all.

Tommorrow I am going to do another video explaining that in detail. But to make a long story short. I have fibromyalgia and I suffer from severe depression among other problems, too. I take lots of medicine it is hard for me to get going in the morning.

It is an afternoon job. I set my own hours. It helps me keep money in my pocket all the time. It gives me so much joy when I am behind the wheel. I had a stereo on the inside with two little speakers, and listened to my "own" music, while I played the ice cream music outside.

I always played really upbeat, inspirational motivational music. I could be depressed and have to "force myself" to get going and it would only take me maybe 3 or 4 blocks and 2 or 3 customers, and I was happy and flying high. A natural happy high. 

It was medicine for my soul.

I adore the young children, they are so sweet, they always make me smile and I love being outdoors.

The guy who stole my truck, stole much more than the monetary value of my truck. He stole my joy, appreciation and love of what I did, and the tool and power that I had to do that on a daily basis.

In the news, I know this story isn't bad, compared to all the other horrible things we hear each day. To a lot of people, the 6,000 I paid for it may not be a huge amount of money.

But I can count on less than the fingers of 1 hand the times in my life I have ever spent that much on 1 thing, all three times it was a vehicle, and the time I bought my ice cream truck was the only time I paid it all at once.

(It was when I got the back pay after fighting 13 years to get my disability payments, then waiting almost two to actually see the money, once I knew I won).

The other two times, I spent just a little more than that, were two times in my life when I got a brand new car. A honda back in the 79 which I paid 6200 for and
I don't remember how much I paid for a Chevy Sprint I had in the 86.

I know you got a way longer answer than you bargained for, but since I am planning on doing this video tommorrow, explaining all this out is sorta therapy for my soul on the whole issue. Now all I need is a teleprompter. LOL>

I have to do another one, because the David Rose from Q13 is doing a segment on Washington's Most Wanted on saturday night, and I want him to use something other than the "raw emotion and too close to my face" video that is on YouTube right now.

I also want people to realize, "the joy" that I got every minute I was behind the wheel in that truck. I want them to hear me explain that, what I just explained above in my own words.