Last week my wife and I were able to go to Metairie and recover the last of our belongings. FEMA and the SBA finally came out and gave us clearance to remove what we could.
We did lose more of the furniture than I was expecting. All we salvaged was our bed, an end table, our night stands, 2 dressertop bookcases and a mirror. Everything else was severely damaged by water in the carpet. If my landlady had put up a blue tarp before Rita hit we would have saved the bedroom furniture and my wife's sewing table. What we did salvage had mold damage about 6 inches up and needs to be refinished. We lost all of our blankets and comforters and most of our sheets. We also lost all of our shoes we left and some of our winter clothing. We saved our coats, but none of the lighter jackets. We did save much of our other clothing, even what we left when we grabbed what we could before Hurricane Rita. I lost my wife's computer to a falling ceiling but was able to recover her harddrive. I have a replacement, but no time right now to get it running. My biggest loss was my books. All of my ColdFusion books were damaged and I saved a few. I lost all of my O'Reilly books except the one I needed at work regularly. My most heartbreaking loss was to my fiction collection. I lost all of my Louis L'Amour softcover novels. I had about 95% of what he had published by 1988 and about half of what was published after his death. My Issac Asimov, David Drake, Anne McCaffery and William Gibson collections were hit pretty hard too, but I did save a few of each. I lost my fly rod when it was crushed by the same falling ceiling that got the computer. My spinning rods were protected but I also lost my ultralight reel. All of my other tackle needs to be destroyed as my tackle boxes flipped over in the flood and took on water. I saved my fly tying tools, but the material I had got wet. My wife was able to save a lot of her sewing supplies, but lost 2 pair of expensive Ginger scissors and her sewing table. She also had her serger damaged, but that is fixable. She did lose all of the patterns she collected or borrowed. That was her greatest loss, as it hit her worse than losing her shoes. Overall, we lost a lot, but we did save a lot too. We are in much better shape than many people we know. Some were only able to reciver enough to fill a 64 quart ice chest while we needed a truck to recover what we could. Now I am looking for a storage place to put everything up. It is currently under 3 tarps in the back of the lot where we are staying in Prairieville, LA. Every place around here is full, but we are on the waiting list for a few places. I want to thank everyone who have helped us out so far. My wife and I were touched by the support we have gotten from the CF community at large. On a good note now, we are trying to finally buy a house. I need to get my credit cleaned a little so I can get my score higher, but I think I qualify for a USDA home loan. I'm also waiting on my VA paperwork for a home loan. I should qualify because I am displaced. Also, we are both employed and have a house where we can stay indefinitely. My employer is moving back to Metairie, but I think I may not move with them. So I am looking for a job in the Baton Rouge area. FEMA is the most agressive response so far. I just don't want to travel. Again, big thanks to everyone in the community and please keep praying for us. Also, was anyone here affected by Wilma? Please let me know. Russel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:178224 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
