So the amusing speculation about why oaks explode when there in no rain or lightning still remains a mystery.  So many things in life are.  I am positive that the change of our beautiful 85 degree weather to 105 over night had something very much to do with it.

Laila Zaccaraiah, my agent at Allstate, mentioned that I was the second call that day regarding an exploding oak.  I had even seen an old oak fall on a barn in hot weather before.

Heat causes things to expand and if the liquid sap in the tree expanded more rapidly then the dry crust of the tree could handle then maybe it was too much for the oak and the tree had to give somewhere.  Down goes the branch on Gustavo’s car.

So feet back down to reality.   Who is going to pay for his car?  I remember hitting a deer once when I was driving in the back country between Paso Robles and San Simeon to the horse farm owned by Mrs. William Randolph Hearst.  Boom.  No way around it.  The car insurance company paid 100%, no deductible out of my pocket.  It was an “act of God” they said.  I think they took the deer fur off the bumper.  It wasn’t my fault.

Regarding my homeowners policy: au contraire.  If we had maintained the tree properly which we did by removing excess dead wood from the frame and kept the oak healthy, then it wasn’t our fault.  No liability, no payment.  If we neglected the tree and it was sickly, then it was out fault and the insurance company would pay for it.  Problem was then we look like neglectful people.  All that means is a recipe for the insurance company to raise our rates.  Catch 22.  Still no way to fairly get Gustavo’s car fixed.

I asked Gustavo to call his car insurance company.  Hopefully they will shed some light on the situation and help out.  Meanwhil I’m feeling bad about his car and a $3126 bill.

My father used to say.  Don’t bother paying insurance.  Take every penny that you spend on insurance: that’s about 8-10% of my income and put it in investments.  You’ll have a lot more money. I wonder if he was right.