Interesting day

[KBCraig]

Well, Wednesday was quite a day.

I was working my midnight-10 shift. About 2:30 I got a call from Mary --in NH-- that our house was on fire. No, not the house in NH, the house in Texas! A neighbor had called her, she called me, I called the neighbor, I called 911, and the local police called me back.

The police just told me that it looked like a complete loss, and there was "probably nothing usable inside". He said the VFD were rolling up the hoses, and there really wasn't any reason for me to come. So, I waited until 8 a.m. and then burned a couple hours of annual leave, not knowing what I would find. I thought there might be just a lot of smoke and water damage, but surely some things would be salvageable.

Well, no. The "complete loss" was very complete, and "probably nothing usable inside" was accurate, since there was nothing inside except ashes and charred stuff.

Seriously... I had no idea toilets would disappear in a fire.

[KBCraig]

Oh, and of course everyone is fine. I was the only one living there. All the "stuff" can be replaced except for 30 years worth of photos, but even there the memories can't be destroyed.

The insurance company cut an advance check so I can replace necessities, and put me up in a nice hotel. After a week or so I might move to a furnished corporate apartment, but I'm a little too overwhelmed to think that far ahead.

There's a lot to learn about the aftermath of a fire, and insurance. I would rather have gone my whole life without knowing those details.

[Kat Kanning]

Do you need anything, KB?

[Tom Sawyer]

Damn, glad your family was in your new home.

My brother's place was burned by a lightening strike. His wife just had left the house... good thing because the room she had been in was the one hit.

Sorry for this KB. Where's that silver lining anyway?

[KBCraig]

The only thing I really need right now is time to make a loooooong list of personal property. The house is covered, and so are the contents, but you have to itemize the contents.

There's not nearly as much as if the whole family had been living there, but because I've been working on the place I have a lot of tools. Had, I mean.

I am very thankful the family wasn't there.

[KBCraig]

Where's that silver lining anyway?

The silver lining is that without me even thinking of it, much less asking, there were people drawing up a request for an immediate hardship transfer. I told them to hold off, because I hadn't even left work and gone to see the house yet!

I spent more time and effort yesterday fending off offers of help than I did actually dealing with the aftermath of the fire. That's a pretty good problem to have.

[MaineShark]

I spent more time and effort yesterday fending off offers of help than I did actually dealing with the aftermath of the fire. That's a pretty good problem to have.

Indeed.  Can't eliminate the bad, but it can always serve as a reminder that there's a lot of good in the world.

[Russell Kanning]

Wow

[Alex Libman]

Commiserations from Tent City, Lakewood, NJ.  (A while ago, we've had some fire trouble here as well...)  Hope your insurance comes through without a hitch.

[jerryswife]

Sympathy to you.  Jerry and I suffered a house fire in 1992--we had spent 6 years renovating a civil war era church, and had just about finished when it burned to the ground.  It was devastating at the time, but also one of the great life lessons.  We lost a cat, but our favorite cat was mercifully rescued.  We lost most all of our stuff --but you know, stuff is just stuff and is replaceable.  We once again have way too much stuff.  The outpouring of help and comfort from friends and family was overwhelming and wonderful.  I was a kind of "I can do it myself" type of person but the fire taught me that maybe I can't do it all myself and it is a blessing to let people help, a blessing for both the giver and the receiver.  I used to think that a fire would be one of the worst things that could happen to you (besides loss of loved ones of course) but it really is just a nasty bump in the road and life goes on and you learn and grow and make the best of things.

Good luck and may you find a silver-lining in all this.

[KBCraig]

Pat K said that living in a hotel with a new iPad as a newly homeless person is just a first world problem.

Heartless bastard!

Becky, Pat K doesn't get any more pie, m'kay?

[Alex Libman]

I object to the word "homeless".  Nobody is "homeless".  I am a brain.  My home is inside my skull.