Extended Warranties

this morning, as i drove into the parking garage at work, my odometer on my new (used) car rolled over to 36,000 miles. (actually it more changed than rolled... gotta love digital technology). for some reason i always get excited to see my vehicles odometer change to a 'milestone' number. this one was extra special, or at least i thought, because 36,000 miles seems to be the mileage that many vehicles original factory warranty is voided. that's when i got to thinking that as common and sad as extended warranties have become, they're pretty much a common practice for peace of mind.
"what if life came with an extended warranty!", i thought. wouldn't it be nice to think that if something happened to you in your life, it would all be 'covered'? what a fun thought, but what's the point, it's just not possible. i put the car in park, took one more look at the three zeros, turned off the engine, grabbed my bottled water and exited the car.

as i was walking from the car towards the building something dawned on me, life IS just like an extended warranty. extended warranties always sound all inclusive, like EVERYTHING is covered, but once you try to cash them in, there often seems to some sort of loop-hole, something that broke is still not covered, or some extraordinary deductible.

isn't that just like life? when something small happens, no problem...simple fix and you're on your way again. but when something large strikes, it's not that easy...you're left there fighting, wondering why this thing happened to you. what did you do to deserve this? it's proof that you can have all the preventative maintenance you want, but you're never prepared for the big one to strike. is your extended warranty paid in full?