At seven o’clock a.m., on March 20th I woke up to the sentence, “Another of our guests today is Robert Rusbuldt, President of the IIABA”. It was Fox and Friends. There was Bob, talking about the Washington scene and about mega issues that would affect the economy. While making no hard references to legislation affecting independent agents in the broadcast, clearly his views on the economy will affect agents positively and his presence will give him the wattage an agents’ advocate need to have influence in D.C.. It was a very good shot for the head of the national association who, by the way, is a New Yorker from upstate, and who has commanded the IIABA so handsomely over the years since Paul Equale left. Bob’s relations with the Republicans in Washington are powerful and he has been considered for leadership posts in the nation’s Capital, from time to time. We know Bob as a standup guy, and as someone who has represented agents’ interests very well, even early in the morning on national television…The PR team in the IIABA office, notably Sue Nestor, with whom we have had the pleasure of working some years ago, is formidable. The IIABA is the dominant agents association in Washington, while states either have a mix of influence or one association, PIA or IIABA, outpacing the other. The competition is probably a good thing locally, or, long ago, agents would have decided to merge. Competition is one anodyne to indifference–so is the “disclosure” issue, lately. Although we have held from time to time that the combined talents of the two would be an irresistible power house, in our current one party state, this view may not prove popular…More than three thousand taxis fare well with John Filice at US Surety / Fleetwood Agency.We’ve known John for many years both as a gentlemen and a top professional, who insures a huge block of New York taxis and provides many other services to agents and brokers. John is one of the many insurance men who belong to the Columbus Club, up on 69th Street. On any given night the diners might include Tal Piccione, Mike Orlando, Tom Tizzio, Anthony Bonomo, Bill Fishlinger (mother was Italian) Tom Moran (same), Don DeCarlo, Joseph Plumeri and the list goes on and on… and even includes this writer. Over drinks, John Filice shared an article with us from a most interesting source: Rolling Stone, on the AIG situation.Worth a read, despite the unnecessary vulgarities, together with the letter that Jake De Santis published March 24 in the NY Times. Perspectives do vary in this case.    
Speaking of clubs, a recently article in the New York Post did a round up on which ones are the most exclusive in New York and which ones are the most accessible. New clubs, like the Core Club, pride themselves on being inaccessible (although each time we’ve been guests we must admit there have been rather unexceptional individuals just like us). Conspicuously missing from the list were the Lotus Club, the Downtown Club, The Grolier, and the Cosmopolitan Club among a few other “society ladies” missing. In our travels we have been to every single one on the list for one reason or another, and find more and more that these clubs are quietly clamoring for members, and more important, for a lunch crowd.    
We note with interest the closing of several clubs over the years that catered largely to insurance people at noon time in downtown Manhattan; one of them, the Drug and Chemical Club comes to mind immediately once at 85 on John Street. It is long gone as is the Forty-Five Fulton and others like them when lunch times were truly a break and there were no cellular phone to interrupt your discourse. The Good Old Days, for sure, before twittering or whatever mission drift mechanism gets in the way of conversation and thinking. The new style of work that has taken over is not fully prized by the people who are stuck in its perpetual up and down escalators of messages, texting and twittering. And plain old fashioned rudeness. I suppose we are better off as a consequence of all the toys, but I still miss exploratory, speculative discourse, longer lunches and a little quiet, uninvaded privacy.    
I often wonder what happens to all the extra time and stresslessness all the gadgets are supposed to give us.    
Are you free for lunch?