20 MINUTES INTO THE FUTURE

I received the following in an email:

No one likes war. War is a horrific affair, bloody and expensive. Sending our men and women into battle to perhaps die or be maimed is an unconscionable thought. 
 
 Yet some wars need to be waged, and someone needs to lead. The citizenry and Congress are often ambivalent or largely opposed to any given war. It's up to our leader to convince them. That's why we call the leader 'Commander
in Chief.'

 George W.'s war was no different. There was lots of resistance to it. Many in Congress were vehemently against the idea. The Commander in Chief had to lobby for legislative approval.

 Along with supporters, George W. used the force of his convictions, the power of his title and every ounce of moral suasion he could muster to rally support. He had to assure Congress and the public that the war was morally justified, winnable and affordable. Congress eventually came around
and voted overwhelmingly to wage war.

 George W. then lobbied foreign governments for support.  But in the end, only one European nation helped us. The rest of the world sat on its hands and watched.

 After a few quick victories, things started to go bad. There were many dark days when all the news was discouraging. Casualties began to mount. It became obvious that our forces were too small. Congress began to drag its feet about funding the effort.

 Many who had voted to support the war just a few years earlier were beginning to speak against it and accuse the Commander in Chief of misleading them. Many critics began to call him incompetent, an idiot and even a liar. Journalists joined the negative chorus with a vengeance.

 As the war entered its fourth year, the public began to grow weary of the conflict and the casualties. George W.'s popularity plummeted. Yet through it all, he stood firm, supporting the troops and endorsing the struggle.

 Without his unwavering support, the war would have surely ended, then and there, in overwhelming and total defeat.
 

 At this darkest of times, he began to make some changes. More troops were added and trained. Some advisers were shuffled, and new generals installed.

 Then, unexpectedly and gradually, things began to improve. Now it was the enemy that appeared to be growing weary of the lengthy conflict and losing support. Victories began to come, and hope returned.

 Many critics in Congress and the press said the mprovements were just George W.'s good luck. The progress, they said, would be temporary. He knew, however, that in warfare good fortune counts.

Then, in the unlikeliest of circumstances and perhaps the most historic Example of military luck, the enemy blundered and was resoundingly defeated. After six long years of war, the Commander in Chief basked in a most hard-fought victory.

 So on that historic day, Oct. 19, 1781, in a place called Yorktown , a satisfied George Washington sat upon his beautiful white horse and accepted the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, effectively ending the Revolutionary War.

 What?   Were you thinking of a different George W?

Last year about this time my knee started taking a turn for the worse and I started using a walker on longer jaunts simply because it was easier.

I showed up for work at the State Fair like this and it caused a couple of raised eyebrows but nothing to get excited about.

I did not miss a minute of work and one day during last year's fair I got a letter of commendation for selling the most tickets ever in one day from one booth.

My job at the fair consists of sitting in a ticket booth for 10 hours a day so I did not foresee any potential problems with working at the fair this year.

During the summer I got one of these Jazzy motorized chairs which makes getting around a lot easier, and it has absolutely no effect on physical therapy for my knee (doctors do not recommend surgery or replacement).

It's getting closer to fair time and I had not heard from my boss, Jerry Hedrick, lately so I called him this weekend.

He returned the call Monday and told me he had lost my email address and did not have my new phone number so he had been unable to get in touch with me.

This -- despite the fact he had been in touch with two good friends and my sister-in-law who all work for him and know my new phone number.

Bottom line is he didn't know if I was going to want to work this year so he hired someone else.

Factual line --he found out from one of them I had been confined to a wheel chair during the summer and just did not want to go that route.

Which is all well and good.

But I lost all respect I had for Jerry today when he lied to me about it rather than tell me the truth.

Sorry folks -- no State Fair stories from me this year.

I just got off the phone with Crystal Leonard of Farmers Insurance --at least she said that was her name.

I had called Farmers at 800-445-7911, asked to speak to Crystal Leonard and this is the person they gave me.

I talked to Crystal about Farmers claim No. 1011768858 and the dealings I had with their car rental company, Enterprise Leasing of DFW.

Farmers paid $250 toward the car rental.

If the agreed upon fee had been used my total bill would have been $366.21.

Enterprise, for an unexplained reason, upped the rental rate $6 a day and I was billed a total of $432.96.

Crystal said she would get to the bottom of this by calling someone "higher up" with Enterprise.

A few minutes later Crystal came back on the line.and said:

"It does not matter what rate Enterprise decided to charge you --Farmers paid $250 of that total in either instance so it could not have cost you a penny more."

And the girl was serious!

Said Enterprise management explained it to her in detail.

I think young Crystal has a long and promising future in either government work or politics.

Be 4 warned.

If you are insured by Farmers and ever have to file a claim you are likely to be in a world of trouble.

Especially if you used the same agent I did

Mike Pierce, 2625 North Josey Lane, Carrollton TX.

At least they have already stolen from me -- to the tune of $57.96 -- which the three companies combined to steal from my bank account yesterday.

Granted, the amount is not a big deal.

The principle, however, is.

Sometime back an uninsured wrecker backed into out car, ruining the hood.

Our coverage with Farmers Insurance fixed the car and paid $25 per day toward a car rental while ours was being repaired.

Farmers arranged the leasing through Enterprise Car Rental, 6515 E Northwest Highway,Dallas.

The manager of that unit, Adam A, Scott, wrote out the contract calling for $14.55 per day car rental fee plus $15.99 per day for insurance coverage. A total of $250 was billed to Farmers and we were responsible for the rest on a 10-day rental.

We paid Enterprise, through a debit card with Bank of America, $50, then another $75 and when the rental car was turned in they debited out account for an additional $57.96 -- which I questioned.

I contacted Bank of America, sent them a copy of my rental contract and they agreed and refunded my account the $57.96.

Enterprise protested and sent the bank a copy of the contract (which clearly shows the rental figure of $14.55 per day with no modifications) and a summary sheet showing I had been billed $20.55 per day.

I called Enterprise and Mr. Scott had been fired.

He was replaced by the new manager, Merhawi T Gherezg, a graduate of the University of Houston.

The new manager explained I had been billed at a higher rate because Farmers only agreed to pay UP TO $25 per day for the car rental, not the insurance. If he had used the lower figure they would have paid less and I would have paid more.

In other words Mr. Gherezg altered a contract to put the screws to Farmers Insurance.

But Farmers said this is not so -- they paid $25 a day toward the entire cost of me renting the car.

I called the Enterprise district office and spoke to an agent who would only give his name as Edward.

He advised he would get a copy of the contract, study it and call me back the next day.

That was over a week ago and he has yet to call.

Today BOA refunded the refund they had given me to Enterprise despite the fact they have a copy of a contract of me renting a car for $14.55 per day and a billing summary showing me being billed for $20.55 per day.

Enterprise has repeatedly been asked to produce anything signed or initialed by me or my wife authorizing being billed at a higher rate than the contract calls for.

They cannot -- and Bank of America could care less.

I most likely would have fared better with BOA if my last name had been Mendoza and I could not have produced a green card.