Chelsea's Reflective ramblings from 2014
AND HOW a HOUSE FIRE created CHANGE
So 2014 for the most part was just not my year. I suffered the tragic loss of 3 people in my life (Will probably post more about the in a different post) the 3rd person passed away yesterday New Years Eve 2014. She was my cousin, she died of cancer and she left behind 3 children & her loving husband and family. The 2nd person to pass away was a man I visited every day in hospital for a month & visited him several times in Hospice including the eve before he passed, he too died of cancer. The first person I lost was my friend Austin. He was only 20 and he passed away in a car crash when he was heading to work early one morning in May during a freak snow storm.
The other incredibly frusterating thing that happened was I had a "Small" House fire. Frankly the fire was the easiest part. One evening after a bubble bath - a candle I thought was blown out was stored in a metal cupboard where it reignited and set the cupboard on fire (Which naturally was the fire part) and it scored the wall.
The fire was not scary - not really. When the smoke detector first went off I assumed it was the stove as I had the kettle on for a cup of tea. So I was smart enough to carry around a boiling kettle and quickly came across the bathroom blaze. I quickly tossed the boiling hot water at the flames and jumped into the full tub (luckily I don't drain the tub right away) and was able to put it out fairly quickly.
I remember my parents were freaking out (natural of course) like OMG call 911 - fire - smoke AHHHH. AND I am like NO ONE CALL 911 I GOT this. And I sort of did (PLEASE NOTE I DO NOT RECOMMEND YOU FOLLOW MY COURSE of ACTION. PERIOD! This was a small, very, small, contained fire that was mere inches from a vast water supply. Frankly if those were not the circumstances I'm sure it would've been different...
So not only did I go face to face with the wall of flames but I chased the smoke out my house (again CALL 911 air cleaning is part of the whole fire fighting tool that I stubbornly recjected.) I also assisted with removing the wreckage of the once was metal cabinet from the wall. This thing literally would break off (in still smoldering) pieces as I pried/unscrewed/ yanked and tugged it off the wall and deposited it outside on my porch where there are still scorch marks from it.
I also was totally determined that with total will power I COULD MAGICALLY clean the scorched/ash covered and smoke damaged bathroom. SO away I went playing a literal cinderella scrubbing and wiping and moping and just spraying and just doing pointless things...
ASH cleaning 101 kids NO WATER/No liquids...
So I spent 15 hours roughly in that little bathroom (Smallest room in house) trying to undo the massive mistake I had made. I literally spent so many hours in that stupid bathroom my skin was permanent shade of gray (2 baths, 1 total body scrub shower, one rinse shower...) My nails were stained black for a week and grossly I was coughing up black ash for awhile afterwards (AGAIN DO NOT DO WHAT I DID...)
Eventually when it came to me trying to clean the smoke stains from the ceiling I admitted my defeat in a fit of tears and allowed my mom to call insurance.
WHICH IS where the real hellish nightmare began. You know in school they always teach you about Fire precaution, fire safety plans, what to do if you catch on fire, how to put on stove fires, evacuation plans, you know how this BEFORE FIRE and During Fire but they fail to teach you about the practicality of POST FIRE 101 How to deal and what to do.
I was never taught about how to make a total/thorough Home inventory (Even pointless not so valueable crap) because oddly enough a bathroom is sort of one of those places where you put a huge assortment of things. It's the room of so many things with so many purposes. First aid, personal care items like soap/shampoo/brushes & ORAL care stuff like mouth wash/retainers/dental floss, then you have cleaning supplies, first aid kits, medications, and Beauty things like MAKEUP (including your entire collection of nail polish & EXPENSIVE perfume, stuff like body lotions. And then you have decor stuff & permanent fixtures (like towel racks.)
A persons bathroom is like a giant Narnia like vortex where every inch is consumed with a VARIETY of things.
Now you're suddenly juggling phone calls from Insurance, inspectors, restoration, restoration crew. And suddenly a rag tag crew have arrived with boxes and you have to hear them tossing/throwing or grimace as they sort out, pack up, toss out, and haul away your stuff. AND YOUR MIND is still reeling going WOAH my house still smells of smoke. OMG wait where did my beloved OPI James Bond Sand collection bottle of Pussy galore go. Where was my first childhood tooth kept (in my bathroom or the bedroom) and your stuck trying to make an inventory of your things from memory, guessing by deduction or from the pictures you took of the Kitchen posing as your new bathroom area...
See with restoration part comes confusion - misplaced items that are now neither here nor there, and were never added to official lists yet from your own inventory & Photos & even video proof you can 100% say that yes that item was in that bathroom, no the item that was in my makeup dresser was in no way fire damaged warranting decimating due to contamination & I SWear UP AND DOWN It's no where else in my house, and the last time I saw it was in that dang bathroom pre fire...
Also without an Official Inventory with no videos/photos of proof of existence nor receipt type info, date purchased, and value worth there comes DISPUTE and red tape... Mostly red tape and a bit of dispute and crap like Depreciation of value...
Like The $100 bottle of missing Juicy Couture is listed as questionable even though I had pictures of the soot covered bottle because the restoration company somehow lost it or didn't properly document all of our contents. Thus it cannot be replaced. My mom's cacti that sat on the window sill below her handmade as a child irreplaceable Window clings were also listed as non existent... Though I actually remember listening to the workers smash the hand painted cactus pots into boxes as they cleared out the bathroom.. Kinda hard to forget the sound of breaking plant pots...
Another big issue was our toilet not just the fact my Main living floor upstairs went without FOR THREE MONTHS (yes it took that long to go from a smoke ruined room, to a gutted out shell, to back to full restored status with working plumbing (literally toilet/bathtub is last things to be done...) Our toilet had literally been replaced within a 1 year period of the fire... We had receipts/plumber too, and pictures of make and model. It was a specialty higher up model for my dad to easily use... NOW did we get our toilet restored with same make & model - NO we got the really tiny in comparison apparently crap model downgrade (literally has flooded & clogged to the point where we've called a PLUMBER twice & had 2 minor floods SINCE JULY) And yet we're told well Ma'am sorry we were only designated a certain amount to spend on the toilet... Budget...cough.red.tape.cough... UM what about the contents insurance? "that doesn't always cover permanent plumbing fixtures..." OH cool so the like you know several hundred we invested in that toilet were basically just for short term kicks and you you gave us the 200 dollar Sale item? SWEET.
So this my friends is where I am putting into effect one small portion of my over all plan of what I am calling Chelsea's YEAR of CHANGE. MAKE a freaking DETAILED & thorough PERSONAL HOUSEHOLD INVENTORY with word documents/photos/videos/and including info like date purchased/where/receipt/warranty.)
SO next time the horribly unexpected and nightmarish situations should EVER occur (or you know something like a flood or w.e) and you have no choice but deal with INSURANCE/REstoration you can have proof and lists to back everything you claim up!!!!
SO KIDS lesson of the sad story that was Chelsea's 2014 Never ending nightmare - Don't use candles in the bathroom or SNUFF them out and stare for a few minutes... OR follow me on my journey of creating a PERSONAL HOUSEHOLD INVENTORY WHICH IS just one tiny part of CHELSEA'S YEAR OF CHANGE!
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