Lunch is whatever you can grab between stops…if you are lucky.
You're working out of your vehicle. Laptop. Measuring tools. Reference guides.
The office is wherever you're parked.
Every inspection is a puzzle.
You're documenting damage panel by panel. Photographing everything. Writing estimates in real time.
A thorough inspection on a heavily damaged vehicle can take 45 minutes to an hour. Multiply that across a full day's queue. Looooong ass day!
Communication is the job.
Carriers want volume updates. Policyholders want their cars back. Technicians need clear direction.
The manager who can speak fluently to all three — without losing the thread — is worth their weight in gold.
You're managing people under pressure — far from home, working long hours, in unfamiliar markets.
Morale matters more than most people realize.
The best deployments I've run had nothing to do with the storm. They had everything to do with how the team felt showing up on day 14.
Get comfortable with estimating software.
CCC, Mitchell, and Audatex are the platforms carriers and shops live on.
Most employers will train you — but walking in with basic familiarity puts you ahead of 90% of applicants.
YouTube and free trials exist. Use them.
Get your adjuster license.
Most states require one. Texas is the most common starting point — a Texas license opens doors in many other states.
It's not a hard exam but you have to take it seriously. Online courses will get you there in a few weeks.
No license, no work. Start here.
Adjusters/Appraisers use a hail matrix to document damage.
Size of the dents. Density — how many per panel. Location on the vehicle.
A hood with 40 dents tells a different story than a hood with 4. Both could be from the same storm.
Hail is measured by size — but size alone doesn't tell the whole story.
A 1" hailstone hitting a soft aluminum panel does very different damage than the same stone hitting a high-strength steel roof panel.
The vehicle matters as much as the storm.
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If no established heart disease and both are tolerated/covered: prioritize weight loss efficacy.
If side effects or cost are a problem: those win, because reality beats theory every time.
1/ Now that most of the 18z guidance is in, I can say that based on current trends/outputs, Friday still looks like a potent day with bimodal peaks. Saturday also looks to have some severe weather, but likely not as intense as Friday. What is known/uncertain about these events?
For me it’s just trying to understand the images and how they correlate to what you are saying. Not sure about any of your other followers. I get it tho. They don’t make it easy! Keep up the great work!
I’m in the CAT space by the way so tend to hang out trying to get a read on things. An edge 🤣