Hey guys, tired of looking at that old blog post of me and Pat? I am!
Just so busy around here at Casa Tipton-Kelly during these halcyon days of summer of 2023 that I'm having a difficult time updating my blog posts on a timely basis. My apologies possums!
One day last week whilst I was doing my morning walk around the development where Bill and I live, I came upon the completion of the tear down of my neighbor Harvey's house. If you'll remember several months ago he had a horrible fire which destroyed his whole house. Harvey lost everything. He, his daughter and two guests were able to get out uninjured though due to the alert their neighbors gave them. "GET OUT! YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE." Harvey was barefoot and in his shorts (underwear). The fire was caused by a faulty charging mechanism on his electric golf cart. That fire exploded propane gas tanks he had stored in his garage.
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| Harvey's house before the fire |
Harvey's house was the only other house of the fifty-seven house in our development that had this stone facing. The original owners, Christine and Lorraine, chose that stone facing. Lorraine complained that there "wasn't enough color" in the stone. Well, that's not a problem now.
Last week I talked to Harvey, who I encountered while his house was being demolished. He gave me two pieces of advice:
1. Make sure you have enough insurance (he did, his house will cost $630,000 to replace. But he told me he's demolishing what was left of his old house "our of his own pocket.")
2. Take a video or pictures of everything you have in your house just in case your house is destroyed. By the way, our greatest danger here in southern coastal Delaware is a hurricane. We haven't had "the big one" in over one hundred years. I hope I'm long gone before and when that happens, which with the increasing weird weather we're having because of global warming.
I checked my insurance and I have enough to cover the replacement of our house although as you know, something things are irreplaceable. And God knows I have a LOT of things. We won't go there now. I'm not Pat.
Thinking about what Harvey is going through now makes my head swim. I just can't imagine losing everything but like they always say, you still have your life. President Biden was in Hawaii yesterday surveying the damage from their recent wildfires. Again, I just can't imagine being in something like that, a wildfire sweeping away your whole life in minutes.
Situations like this often remind me how lucky Bill and I are. All I wish now is to life out our remaining days in peace and pain free comfort. The pain free (for me) is going to be a challenge (my arthritis) but Bill is pain free. He just gets tired a lot but otherwise we're doing well here folks.
Have a great day everyone!
6 comments:
Ron,
Give Harvey our best. What an ordeal to go through during the golden years. Harvey and the household were lucky that the neighbors were on top of it. Lord, I would be ashamed if I had to rush out of the house in the dark of night. I would have to rummage around for some clothes to put on. For God's sake, we don't want to be like John Eastman when the FBI came to his house and he was standing outside in his boxers. My follow-up question of the event is why is he demolishing his house out of his own pocket? Wouldn't the insurance cover that? I kind of like the stone facing. I am not a big fan of siding. I might reevaluate with the advances in siding. But I love stone. One thing I can't stand is a flat, bland outside of a house. And please let the black and white outside color scheme/trend pass more quickly.
Here in Denver about 30 minutes North of me-near Boulder-there was a forest fire a few years back that burned a lot of homes. The homeowners found out quickly that their current homeowner's policy did not cover a full rebuild. There were several thoughts on this. One individual stated that folks just cover enough to mitigate an event-fire in the kitchen, weather damage, or a person hurt on the property....But not full replacement cost. The cost of insurance would be too expensive and the odds of it happening in next to nothing. As they say, it only takes one event. A lot of folks were scrambling to ensure they had full replacement costs at today's prices.
There has been great talk lately of FEMA, and insurance companies telling folks hey we rebuilt your home 3 times already. You need to rebuild at a different location. Look at the catastrophe with the insurance companies moving out of Florida. With climate change and the crazy weather patterns, insurance companies are cutting bait and leaving. And Desantis is too worried about railing against being woke to give a damn. I believe this type of re-evaluation is going to happen more and more. California we are looking at you. Those catastrophic events that would happen every now and then are happening more and more. The verdict is not in on Maui. The scuttlebutt is that the electric company may be to blame. They knew the winds were going to whip up and they did not throttle the electricity.
And yes, I caught the dig with Pat in his lean ala Bring You Joy, Marie Kondo method. I am lean to a point. I have stuff but not enough to have a weeks long estate sale. One could pull up a dump truck and have my place cleaned out in a couple of hours.
Take care, Ron!
Have a great rest of the week.
Best of health,
Victor
XO
PS-Mention to Harvey that homes today install gas lines for backyeard grills, firepits, and what not. There is no longer a need for propane tanks on the proptert.
Harvey has given you good advice. Every year when it comes time to renew any insurance policy make sure EVERYTHING is covered. I am wondering why Harvey is having to pay for the demolition and cleanup of building site. That is question to ask my agent. You never get the total replacement cost of the contents. I argue this all the time with my agent, I ask if replacement of all my clothing is covered under the policy. He says yes. I say BULLSHIT! I said I knew for a fact it isn't. If you have a fine arts rider those things are inventoried and appraised. You got weigh out the cost of the premium over the years and decide if it is worth it to insure or not and take the risk. My buddy Joe lost his entire home a few years ago during a high winds alert event when the winds blew down into his chimney and down onto the log grate and re-ignited what was thought to have been the cold remnants of a wood fire. The winds were so strong that that their force blew over the steel spark and fire guard that had been used for 30 years to prevent just this sort of disaster, a fire during the night while Joe was asleep. The morning after all that was leftof his beautiful home was smoldering log timbers and a massive stone chimney. Joe's fire rated safe that doubled as a gun and ammo safe was destroyed from the intense heat. All his receipts and documentation of the contents of the house were destroyed. Joe told me all he got in the insurance settlement was aproximately 10 cents on the dollar of the estimated amount of the worth of the contents that were incinerated. It took in total 18 months to settle the claim. He received only 75% of the cost of building the modern replica of the original. Everybody in the area had their homes appraised and insured for full replacement costs. The main underwriter pulled out of the area because when managing the risk they were told by the state that the insurance carrier was carrying too much risk in case of a catastrophe of huge proportion. So yes folks you do need to make sure of what is really insured and how much you would actually get in a settlement. All your business suits, fine leather shoes and belts, socks and designer undies are worth only pennies in reality. Same goes for those plush bath towels and that bed you sleep on. Thanks for that great update. Ron is on the beat in the neighborhood reporting all the news that is fit to blog. Haha! Be safe, be careful, be happy. Woody in Ohio. Oh, and it is 95 at the moment in this corner of Ohio and feels like 103 so they say. Also I like that new photo in the sidebar.
Woody,
Again, thank you for your very interesting story of your friend's loss. I know that no amount of money could replace much of what I could lose in a fire or a hurricane. I would just have to be thankful that I had those "things" for most of my life. I would prefer to keep them until th end of my life of course. I guess therein thing would be the replacement of my house. This is the best house I've ever lived in my entire life. I'm ahead of the game alway at 81 years old and I still have all of my "stuff." So many memories.
You like that new photo of me and Bill? I wish I had taken more over the years of us together but the years just went by too fast.
Ron
Vic,
That wasn't John Eastman who was routed out of his bed in his underwear by the FBI at the crack of dawn. It was that other slithery traitor Jeffrey Clark. Did you see their Fulton County mug shots? What horrible people. Traitors. Rats cornered.
Home insurance isn't heap same as car insurance. But we need it. I am thankful I can still buy both insurances.
Ron
Ron--Yes, that is correct concerning Clark--Caught my mistake after posting---My point/concern is still the same--Yes, home insurance is one of those necessities of life as with car insurance---I was talking to someone the other day about why doesn't car insurance carriers have a national database---The powers that be can determine when one has car insurance to register their vehicle and when they drop it a few months after---We can do away with that insurance rider of "uninsured motorists---I learned something new a few weeks ago when I took my car in for an oil change---They relayed to me that they can see what services I have done on my car even if it was not completed by them---Explain I asked---They said auto repair places can voluntarily report services to Car Max-I think that is right-and repair shops can access the data base and see what has been completed in the past---I never knew that---She was reading off things to me that I know that was not completed by them---Who knew---Those mug shots really are sad---I always pull back and think---Here these guys/gals who blindly-not really, but you get the point-followed Trump and look how they ended up---Careers ruined---Reputations shattered---Livelihoods in question---Many have worked hard to get where they are---Now they are in peril---Sad day for them and for democracy---
PS- My question is still outstanding---Why is your neighbor demolishing his home on his dime instead of the insurance company.
1:06 PM
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