Weeks later I still can’t believe this happened. Below is what that wall looked like in the pic above before the fire. I was kind of proud of my office. And as you might guess I put a flipping ton of money into it. Spent 15+ hours a day of my life in the darn place.
Allstate has told me my insurance covers everything. In fact they are tearing the entire house to the studs. All the walls, floors, ceilings, cabinets, counter tops, appliances, windows ….. GONE! They said my bathtub might be the only thing left.
Folks tell me I should be happy about this, I basically get a new house. I can do whatever I want. Since I have some financial means I can just pay to improve stuff on top of what Allstate will pay. It is a win/win.
Sure doesn’t feel like a win/win at this point. But I guess this time next year it will.
In other updates the folks at ServPro, which Allstate hired to box-up everything, move it to a warehouse, and demo the place are shit all stupid. Two weeks in they are not done boxing up everything. Now I have about 1,000 books, but those should be easy to box up. A ton of cloths, but those were all taken for cleaning by another firm. More electronics then you can shake a stick at, but that is all gone.
So that they are still boxing stuff up, well I can’t wrap my mind around that.
As my neighbor said yesterday you, me, and my 28-year-old son could have done it in a few days taking time to pour more than a few beers from a keg in the middle of the rubble.
And in a strange twist of fate, ServPro, who are supposed to be “experts” with
water in homes, let my place flood.
They knew my sump pump was not working (no power). I pointed this out to the project manager on purpose the first time he stepped into my house. My father did as well. He said they’d bring a generator (they did not).
You might have seen on the news that Southern IL/St. Louis metro area got a lot of rain the last week plus. Well my house is now fire damaged on one floor and flooded on the other.
Clearly I’ve documented everything and brought in witnesses, but most of my books lost (gosh knows what else). Normally I’d be livid, but honestly not read any of them (already read) in 10+ years. Just never sold them because (1) I hate to sell a book to a used bookstore for pennies on the dollar. I instead tend to give away books to anybody that shows interest in one, that has more “value” to me. (2) I think a lot of full bookcases look nice.
Would have liked to have given them to a charity, but honestly as I said in
another Diary I own way too much shit. Too much of a carbon footprint. Too much plastic shit. Stuff I horded I could have given to somebody else that would actually use it for its intended function.
If there is one design theory I am going to follow it is eco-friendly and minimalist. I just don’t need those books (and so much other stuff).
So Allstate will just have to pay me thousands and thousands of dollars for them. Either I will put it back into the house, or more likely I will do what I did this weekend. Start giving $25-$50+ to a lot of campaigns.
Starting to get a little excited about the remodel of the house. Found a contractor that was highly recommended by folks that I trust and have high standards. Set-up a few new boards on Instagram to save ideas and products. And Boards I already had like “Kitchens & Cool Workspaces,” “Things I like/Want,” and “DIY Household Projects” that I have been saving images to for years, well that effort is going to pay off in spades. Much of the work from a design point-of-view is right in front of me, just have to figure out costs and make decisions.
In the good news phase of things, since I plan to only purchase like a fraction of the things I had, I can do it for far less money then I had figured in my head. Just priced out the office, and because again I am buying far less and the price of electronics seem to drop daily, I can do it for far, far less than I had estimated in my head. Stuff costing less, much less than what I figure is like something that NEVER happens for me :)!
And finally many have asked about the status of Mather, my wonderful cat. Doing
as well as can be expected. I didn’t put her in a kennel, because I walk by the one in my town daily and the dogs never, never stop barking. This would freak Mather out. Let her stay in my huge bedroom until the flood.
Moved her to the house behind me. Amy and Nate were the first to call 9/11 and maybe and/or did help to save my life. As far left of a liberal as I am, they are even more so. Also many cats and dogs in their house. To say they are animal lovers would be an understatement.
She isn’t super happy, her new cat carrier is about her favorite place. So happy I didn’t get one of those all cheap plastic ones and spent more for this one, because she seems to be pretty darn comfortable in it.
Wanted to stay around until ServPro got all my stuff out of the house and started the demo of the house. But alas no telling when that will be and I am FUCKING going crazy living in a hotel (and it is a nice hotel). So headed across the state to my parents for the next several months.
I like to joke there is an elevator in the “main” house so they have room for me. And by “main” house I don’t mean the house they own across the street for my father’s 15,000+ books. So I’ll have an office to work in if dad can make space for me :).
Oh and it will also make for a nice photo Diary, because my father’s office is like one of the more amazing things you’ve ever seen if you like books. Books from the floor to ceiling. Ran out of space ages ago (before he bought the place actually) so they are stacked 5-6 feet high in every room. Books in the kitchen. Books in the bathtub. Books, books, books.