# Sidetracked



## Hawkeye (Sep 12, 2014)

I won't be posting as much for the next while. My house caught fire last night. I think all the machines survived, but it'll take maybe six months to get back into the house.


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## bosephus (Sep 12, 2014)

I will send my prayers and best wishes .. i went threw this 4 years ago ... only my house survived with less damage and my garage / shop and tools was a total loss


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## BRIAN (Sep 12, 2014)

So sorry to hear you have problems , our thoughts and wishes are with you.

Brian & Christine.


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## 12bolts (Sep 12, 2014)

Man thats no good. Hope its not as bad as it first looks Thoughts are with you Mike

Cheers Phil


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## gredpe3 (Sep 12, 2014)

Glad you lived to tell about it.Sorry for your loss.Material things can be replaced,LIFE is precious.
Eddie


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## Don B (Sep 12, 2014)

That's very unfortunate sorry to hear that happened, hopefully it won't be as bad as you think, good luck getting things cleaned up and sorted out.


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## middle.road (Sep 12, 2014)

Our thoughts and wishes also. Everyone OK? to heck with the machinery. Hoping for a smooth and easy recovery & rebuild.

Dan & Danielle


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## johnnyc14 (Sep 12, 2014)

That sucks Mike, I hope you and your family are OK.

John


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## drs23 (Sep 12, 2014)

My thoughts out to you as well. I've been through that nightmare as well. Wish nothing but the best resolution for you and yours.

Dale


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## Bishop (Sep 12, 2014)

Sorry to hear this Mike, that's terrible. If you need anything just let me know I'd be happy to lend a hard. 

Shawn


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## Pontiac Freak (Sep 12, 2014)

Glad you are ok, hope you get back in the house soon.


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## LEEQ (Sep 12, 2014)

So sorry to hear of your trials, best of luck getting put back together. I hope our support helps you and yours feel at least a bit better.


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## chuckorlando (Sep 12, 2014)

Man that sucks.  Hope you come out the other end smelling like a rose though brother


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## ScrapMetal (Sep 12, 2014)

My best wishes to you Mike.  I wish I were closer so as to be able to offer more help.

-Ron


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## GarageGuy (Sep 12, 2014)

Sorry to hear about your fire.  Hope everyone is OK, and the re-build and restoration go smoothly.  It's hard to imagine now, but hopefully there will be a silver lining down the road.  You're in our thoughts and prayers.

GG


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## Hawkeye (Sep 13, 2014)

Thanks again, guys. I'll end up with a new house. Maybe the place I find to live in temporarily will be suitable to buy and I can just sell the current one when it is finished.

The next step is to find someplace to live. According to the insurance adjuster, I can stay in the hotel. They should be coming up with an advance pretty soon. I hope he'll get this computer replaced soon. I get a bit woozy using it - a bit of fuming from the smoke layer on it. I managed to get the lettering on the keys visible with some isopropyl alcohol. That stuff works a lot better than vinegar.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Sep 13, 2014)

What a terrible thing to happen, but at least you're in one piece to tell the tale. Fingers crossed it all gets sorted out soon


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## alloy (Sep 13, 2014)

My thoughts are with you. As long as you and your family are ok that's what counts the most.

Good luck getting everything back together.


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## Hawkeye (Jan 31, 2015)

I got a bit of a break today. My house has been de-smoked and the burnt flooring replaced, but the rebuild work is still weeks from starting. I took delivery of 22 boxes of my stuff that has been cleaned. In one box were two books that I wouldn't let them throw out. The really important one is a 1944 printing of the text book used by the Henry Ford Trade School. The other one is a 1967 high school machine shop text book. Both have some smoke discolouration on the outside, but the pages are good and there is no smoke smell.

I refer to these books regularly, so I'm glad to get them back.

A friend of mine has to shut down his commercial machine shop. I'm meeting with him tomorrow to pick up a bunch of off-cuts and look over any equipment we can make a deal on. Possibly the tool & cutter grinder or maybe his buddy's surface grinder. Should be interesting.


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## road (Jan 31, 2015)

Glad your ok  Mike.  A house fire is a scary thing.  

Hope things work out for you. I lost a lot of possessions in a house fire that cant be replaced. 
The owner had no insurance either.  What little insurance I had got me a new place and a few $ to cover my expenses nothing more.


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## Hawkeye (Jun 19, 2015)

It's been nine months and I finally moved back into my house last Monday, which happened to be my 62nd birthday. I got the rental place cleaned out yesterday, so now I can start settling in and getting things into a workable arrangement.

Unfortunately, my machines have yet to come home. The insurance adjuster is negotiating to get a reasonable hourly rate so I can afford to take time off work to recondition the machines and tooling. Their first offer was $15/hr. If that's their game, they'll be paying the $80/hr that the only company around here that does anything like what's required charges.

Still a long trip home, but at least I'm back in the house.


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## Tony Wells (Jun 19, 2015)

Glad to hear of the progress. Tough going, it sounded like. Maybe things will settle down now. Thanks for the update.


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