Why planning ahead is bad

[wmw999 2,122]

you know how when you're packing all your stuff for a move, you pack the most important stuff first? Well, when your storage unit floods, that's the stuff that's at the bottom, in eight inches of water .

We're moving, and storing stuff until we have a new place;
It might be several months, so it's stored, with nice labels on the boxes and everything. Today was the last day here. I was cleaning the kitchen (the last room to clean), and he took the vacuum to the storage unit. Only to find water still leaking out.

It's only stuff, but the wet stuff includes all his old logbooks, all my pictures from three generations, our favorite books, and of course the tapes of my son when he was a baby. Most of the pictures are salvageable to some extent; most of the books aren't. We don't know about the tapes yet.

But my son and ex husband both came to help when I called, and the old locker is mostly empty (except for the TV, that's almost certainly toast), and all the dry boxes are in a new second story unit.

It's only stuff. Our gear was coming with us, but in the end gear is only stuff, too.

But consider what can possibly go wrong... Because it can

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Ugh that sucks. Are you going to sue the storage company?

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[JohnMitchell 14]

Something to think about. Never put irreplaceables on the bottom.

I had two other friends, former coworkers, that had similar experiences last year in Colorado.

[Suslique 0]

:( *hug*

i think tapes and photos might be recovered? don't throw them away even if you think they are damaged permanently.

'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?'
'That is the only time a man can be brave.'
George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

[oldwomanc6 38]

So sorry to hear that this happened.

Sure, it's only "stuff", but it's the stuff that makes up memories that's so hard to lose. That stuff can't be replaced. It's OK to grieve for it.

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[skymama 35]

Aw, I'm sad for you!.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[Andy9o8 0]

FlyingRhenquest

Ugh that sucks. Are you going to sue the storage company?

Exactly. In times of loss, focus on the important things.

[wmw999 2,122]

The storage company's insurance doesn't cover rising water; our homeowner's does, but there's no way we're getting to the deductible. Ya know -- if we didn't suffer enough damage to get to the deductible, then it wasn't that bad, was it?

We live in a low-lying area. This particular one hadn't flooded before, but such is life. The new unit is on the second floor; maybe the roof will come off in a hurricane
The pictures are fine, we lost some books (including my mother's annotated copy of Miss Manners -- reading like that was like visiting with her). But that's just stuff. Even the TV is going to be OK if we can get the inside of the screen cleaned.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Nataly 38]

Awwww MAN...

So sorry to hear this... I've lost a few priceless things over the past several years (including tons of video footage and my first logbook to thieves who probably threw that stuff out the first chance they got)... And I know that in the grand scheme of things I'm so lucky on so many levels but damn... Losing stuff of sentimental value really sucks.

I feel your pain.

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
- my boss

[wmw999 2,122]

Well, after a couple of days of cleanup and running a dehumidifier, we lost some posters and photographs (none critical), went through and sorted and cleaned out a lot of other photographs (I'd been putting that off), and gave away some water damaged stuff that we decided not to store after all (including the TV --lucky guy
Now we have an interior second-story storage unit. Maybe a hurricane will rip the roof off . The pictures are being scanned in, and the videos are coming with me

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[JohnMitchell 14]

Was the storage company liable for damages? Or could you make a claim on your homeowner's insurance? Or possibly the monetary value wasn't worth it?

[wmw999 2,122]

Homeowners would cover it, but it wouldn't be worth it. We might be over the deductible, but not by enough to be worth the hassle.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[akarunway 1]

http://www.biglots.com/p/c/storage-and-organizaton/20-gallon-aqua-sky-latch-tote

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.