RECORDING

Recording continues at Project Sound in Haverhill. Engineer Jason Duguay is a Godsend. The recordings are coming out terrific and I have fun with Jason while we’re working. So far we’ve got down “No Reply” for Across Their Universe - Lowbudget Records Does The Songs Of The Beatles; and four songs for my first solo CD—“You Don’t Know Me,” “Come on Home,” “Why Do We Go To War?” and “Gimme Some Coffee.” The later two included excellent guitar tracks by Mike Loce. Besides being an amazing guitarist Mike also writes CD reviews for the Noise. At the moment Jason and I are working on “Forgive Me” (another song from my concept piece Why Do We Go To War?). This song has been the toughest one to crack yet. It’s the first song we’re recording that I have yet to play out. It will be a test to see if we can bring life to this one the way we did with the others. 

TENNIS ANYONE?

One of my favorite extra curricular activities is playing tennis. Anne and I are enrolled in a class that ends soon, but we’ll be signing up for more lessons soon. I’m an advanced beginner working to make it to the intermediate stage. My serve and backhand have both improved a lot this past season, but there is still a ways to go.  Anyone interested in getting in a game before it gets too cold out should contact me.

STORY TIME 
Here’s another excerpt from a book I’ll publish one day…

BUYING CAR INSURANCE
THE TRICKS OF THE TRADE

by T Max 

9/12/99
Consumer Protest Column at the Weekly Planet,

      I recently bought a new car and felt the need to upgrade my insurance coverage. I called AAA Insurance and asked them to please add Comprehensive to my existing policy (which consisted of the minimal compulsory insurance). It was a pretty simple task for them to make the change, although I had to wait on hold for the obligatory half hour before I got to talk to a sales representative. Vickie then asked me to hold on three times during my simple request conversation (note: I haven’t started complaining yet). A month later my new policy came in the mail. I might have just filed it away with my other insurance policies, but decided to take a look at it. It seemed that Vickie took the liberty of adding Optional Bodily Injury To Others, Collision, and Bodily Injury Caused By An Uninsured Auto to my policy, pumping up my bill an extra $968.  These items were not requested and were not mandatory. And guess what? The Comprehensive coverage that I asked for was NOT added on.  I was pretty annoyed that I was going to have to go through telephone torture again. This time when I got a sales representative, I asked to speak to a supervisor. Laura Mann took my call, politely listened to MY problem, let me know that Vickie had already been canned, and put me in touch with her right-hand woman—Mary Waters. Irene was a pro. She knew the ins and outs of auto insurance and how to deal with a disgruntled customer. She quickly won me over. Step-by-step we reconstructed my policy. She even offered me ways of lowering my payments. Finally she gave me the new yearly figure I would be paying—$1,422. I liked Mary so much that I wrote a letter to AAA praising her manner. Less than a week after I mailed the letter, my new policy landed in my mailbox. I really felt that this time I could quickly file the policy away. But I glanced at it—and sticking out like a sore thumb was $89 worth of Optional Bodily Injury To Others. The total on the bill read $1,511—that’s $89 higher than the figure that Irene gave me. How, why, and when was this extra coverage added on?  I can’t believe that wonder-woman Mary would have added something extra on to my policy. So how did these extras get added to my policy a second time? How many other people get this same treatment and never notice it? And why do I have to go through telephone torture one more time? Instead of shedding my verbal anger on anyone at AAA, I wrote a simple letter to supervisor Laura Mann asking her to please correct my policy.

      Can you imagine purchasing a screwdriver at a hardware store, and the clerk throws an extra wrench in your bag and charges you for it?  It would never happen. How can an insurance company get away with it?

Sincerely,

Timothy Maxwell

T Max/the Noise
24 Beverly Drive
Georgetown, MA 01833 

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