Well, I'm back on line again after the fire

[thegrindre]

For those who didn't know, I survived a devastating fire. My apartment burned down and I lost everything, (I almost lost my life. I was sleeping when it started.) 15 families were involved and nobody was hurt, physically. One cat died is all.

The local community has pulled together and has taken care of all of us so far, including the Red Cross, and we have all been relocated into new apartments.

I'm now back on line with a bigger and better PC. Yeeha! This one is a real monster. Unfortunately, I've lost all my MSTS and Trainz stuff along with everything else I had on CDs and am having to start all over from scratch again. Sheesh!

I made it out alive, though. Thank God for that.

[Grandma Ruth]

Rick, thank God you're all right. What a terible experience I'm so pleased to hear you and everyone else (except the cat!) survived. :D

[WPandP]

Very sorry to hear about that, but I think it admirable that you exhibit such a positive attitude in the face of such loss. I guess the cat was on life #9, right?

I've wondered before about how much of my creative self would vanish if my house burned down - I have so many old projects and things I've made, which would be unrecoverable. At least with items on the computer, we can (and should) make off-site backups of our work. Yet how many of us do that?

Is the MSTS and Trainz stuff you lost shared content, like might you be able to download it again? Did you post any maps or routes you might have created? If so, you might be able to get some of it back from those you shared them with.

[Hawk]

Good to see you back Rick.
I'm glad you're back in your own bed.
I was wondering when I'd hear from you again. I assume you didn't call again after that one phone chat we had.

[Knave]

I was kinda wondering how yer computer upgrade turned out. I guess you have a good excuse for not posting.......

Seriously, Thanks for making it out alright. Must have been a real burner to take down a building big enough to hold that many family's. You weren't lucky, you was blessed. Blessed you weren't the cat...........

A friend of mine lost everything in a house fire many years ago. The fire chief told him to not just bulldoze a hole to push the rubble into. He said to sift through the rubble carefully and there would be some things protected from the flames by the ash of what burned first. They found family pictures with a little singes along the edges. Other things of value showed up as well. Then and only then did he bulldoze a hole and push the rubble into it.

Good luck Rick. Let me know if there is anything I can do.

[thegrindre]

Hey, ya gotta, "take it like a man". I can't waste my life away crying over what I lost... I gotta be thankful for what I have. :D
I'm not sure yet if I can/may recover anything when they bulldoze the place down. I'll be there for that, though.
It was two buildings that went up. The fire started in building 9 and jumped to 10 with the 30 plus MPH winds blowing. I was in 10. They had 8 units per building, btw. The guy below me had just moved out that morning.

As far as MSTS stuff goes, I guess all that is gone but I did upload all my own content for Trainz and will get all that. All my pending projects are gone, though. I've got years and years of PC stuff/projects I've lost. 98% of everything was backed up, too. It just wasn't put anywhere safe like a safe deposit box or something.

Oh, well, if this ain't a fresh start, I don't know what is...

@Ed = Hey, you have all my/our RollerCoaster Rides zipped up in one neat little package. Send me that zip file, will ya? If you can find it, that is. Thanks...

[wsherrick]

Hey, Grinder. I am glad you are okay. Nobody knows just how terrible losing everything is until it happens. If you need ANYTHINGI mean anything at all contact me. If it is in my power I will try to assist you if needed. I mean that sincerely.

[Hawk]

I think I've got all that stuff on a cd. I'll look through them.

[Gwizz]

While not knowing what had happened to you, I racked leaves today thinking I didn't need those drying under my lumber pile should a fire start.

I have thought about puting together a CD-DVD case with back up info and pictures etc. and leaving it close to the front door or in the car. I could pick it up on my way out should a fire start.

Glad you are alright. Sorry about the cat.

[Ace of Spades]

Glad to hear you're back in the saddle, Rick. You have your life, which is what matters most. Hang tough!

[ChrisW]

Wow, glad you're okay! Could've been much worse. It's things like this that make us realize what's really important. Like those backups that weren't offsite or in a fireproof safe... 8)