Hitting the Wall

After Day 16, I’ve hit the wall. I was informed as such this morning. I’ve heard this expression used for people who are running a marathon or doing some other kind of athletic activity that would instantly break my leg or dislocate my shoulder, but never in terms of work. Especially when the most physically taxing part of my work is adjusting the height of the desk chair that keeps sinking. You may soon read a tweet that says “send Dramamine”.

To catch you up to speed, I’m working 21 days straight to assist with the onslaught of auto insurance claims across the South. I’m working 745am to 7pm daily. I get 45 minutes for lunch and I’ve had one day off. I’ve been part of our “Catastrophe Reserve Team” for about as long as I’ve worked for the company. I’ve helped out after hurricanes and nasty hailstorms here and there. I get a little extra pay for it and it’s a chance to shake up my work life a little. Thankfully, we have people who do this all year ‘round for their permanent job and I just get “called up” when things get bad.

It was one of those “Permanent CAT” employees who informed me that I had, in fact, hit the wall. After about 2 hours of attempting to focus on my computer screen and finding myself increasingly hostile to the people on the other end of my phone, I announced “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!!” My words weren’t as effective as the Gipper’s.

I remain kind of brain dead. I’ve seen photos of houses and cars reduced to nothing discernable and talked to their devastated owners. I’ve heard harrowing stories of people inside Ford Excursions being picked up and thrown 20 feet into sycamore trees. I’ve had customers tell me that we need to inspect their cars in the afternoon, because their relative’s funeral was going to be that morning. I’m emotionally spent. If I am, I can’t imagine what the ones going through it first hand feel.

I’ve also learned that when in the line of impending, near death storms, finding cover is not always the first priority for some. There are those for whom adding insurance to their 1988 Cavalier becomes pertinent. For others, they take their laptops to cower in the bathtub and lower their deductibles online. That’s the team I’m working on. We are investigating what’s fraud and what’s just good planning, even if personal safety is thrown out the recently blown out window.

After 16 days of this, my mind has turned to mush. Thankfully, I only have 4 more working days to get through after I complete this one. I don’t think I will ever be so glad to see Cincinnati and know I’m soon crossing back into the Bluegrass. Until then, I’ll slug through and hope I stay on the West Berlin side of the proverbial wall.