Eye of the Storm Part II: Post Frances

[JimVrhovac]

We have been off the boards for a while as it has been real hectic around here. As most of you will remember we lost our roof during Charlie but had minimal interior damage during the storm. We were real Lucky. We had roof shingles gone, screening damaged, fencing down, two trees down (but they landed on nothing important and my son needed the exercise chopping up the trees with an AX, yes and AX, the old fashioned way. He is going through a divorce so he needed some way to vent his frustrations so he took them out on those two trees.

BETWEEN STORMS we had the shingles ripped off and the roof dried in (tar paper on the roof) and were preparing to have a new rood put on.

THEN CAME FRANCES:
It was hard to decide weather it was dryer inside or outside the house. We got extensive damage to the inside of the house. 30% of the ceilings are down and all the ceilings in the house need to be replaced.

The adjuster was over today and we are going to move out while they gut the house and rebuild it. Look at the bright side... Ruth wanted to repaint the inside anyway and I could not talk her out of it. Thank god for insurance, even with the high deductables we have in Florida during a Hurricane.

Have received a lot of emails from you guys wondering where we were and your thoughts were appreciated. We are both find and looking forward to the cruise next month....

Ruth and I must be among the luckiest people in the world. Not for the material things, but for the other things. When it stopped raining monday we have a bunch of friends , neighbors, and patients that we have taken care of came over and we filled and removed over 100 trash bags of drywall and insulation from the inside of the house, cleaned it up and made it livable, and had a party at the same time.

It times like this that make us take stock of the important things in life GOOD FRIENDS and GREAT NEIGHBORS.

PS: Lost my password and could not remember how to log on the boards until I figurued it out tonight.

Jim & Ruth
Orlando, FLorida
JVrhovac@AOL.com

[gliles]

Glad to hear you are both ok, this too shall pass. How are the slippers? :rolleyes:

[RuthC]

Were you able to rescue the slipper collection?
And Ruth's jewelry? Is it safe?
Inquiring minds want to know!!!

Glad to hear that the both of came through this with sense of humor intact.
Good luck with the renovations.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Jim, your bravery and spirit are uplifting. We fared much better than you from a house perspective. In the fear department, I didn't fare so well. I found that storm the most frightening of anything ever in my life. I posted our experience on Sail's thread "Jazzsea...Heather...Joe".

I feel so terrible for you having made it through Charley only to be trounced by Frances. That 's just not fair, but you look at it all with such humor and good naturedness that I can only marvel.

For me it was never a matter of the money, but about looking at the ruination around us and seeing the pain and suffering that people throughout Palm Beach County and St. Lucie County especially are going through. So many magnificent old trees turned upside down, roots exposed, after years of holding fast. The whole thing breaks my heart but it sure does wake one up to smell the coffee!!

So glad you have come through it so well and that cruise is sure going to feel great. My very best to you and your family.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Jim and Ruth so glad to hear you are safe and have a positive attitude, but what a way to get your home remodeled:eek:

How are all the animals?

And yes I want to know about your slipper collection too?

[ger_77]

Jim, I'm so glad that you and Ruth made it through the second hurricane without incurring any personal injury - you can always repair or rebuild, you can't replace life and limb. I would be interested in seeing some before/after hurricane pictures of your house if you have any - let me know if you've got some posted on a site somewhere. I hope the cats, the slippers and the Zuiderdam tickets all made it through without injury or damage also. We're still thinking about you up here in the frozen tundra. With that in mind, just want you to know that I scraped off "frozen dew" from our windshield yesterday morning. I'm not going to use that 5 letter "f" word to describe it, it's just too darned early in the year!

Your Canadian Friends!

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Gsel]

Glad to hear you are ok, we have missed you. Will keep you and other Floridians in our thoughts and prayers.

[the2ofus]

Jim, we're so thankful that you and Ruth are okay.

Your comments about the important things in life are right on target. You are fortunate to have such a caring group of friends, neighbors and former/present patients! Tell Ruth that old adage about being careful what you wish for might apply here. Still, when all is said and done, you won't have to redecorate again for years, which might be a very good thing! ;)

[JimVrhovac]

CATS:
Prior to Frances I fitted the cats with balloons and wind sails and put them outside. Monday morning they were on the porch with broken balloons and torn wind sails saying: OUR LITTLER BOX NEEDS CHANGES AND WHERE IS OUR BREAKAST.......

SLIPPERS:
They are always stored in a special closet that is temperature and humidity controlled and they are all ok. Got the idea from the Humidore that I keep my Cuban (oops) cigars stored in. They were inventoried and checked before we started cleaning up the house. Priority items first......

JEWLERY:
They are kept in a fireproof safe that is bolted to the concrete slab. If we lost those Ruth would never speek to me again. Somehow that does not sound like a bad idea sometimes......

CRUISE TICKETS:
They came in yesterday after the storm so we did not have to worry about them.

It amazes me the devastation that these storms can cause and the goodness and kindness that they can bring out in people. We have a real problem down here with people not paying attention to redlights but after these storms there were so many redlights not working or just gone and everyone stopped and treated them like four way stops It was real refreshing.....

We will rebuild this little corner of the world over time and it will again become the paradise that it once was. We will have a lot fewer trees than we did but look at the boom for the florida economy......

JEG_77:
Something told me to take a complete set of pictures with the digital camera before the storm and we did. So far we have over 100 pictures of before, prior to cleanup and we will probably take some as we repair. Will send you a disk. Best one so far is my son Jimmy on the roof tacking down tarpaper in 60mph winds... He is still young and not so smart. The old man (me) just handed the wood up to him. Used that slats from the fencing to nail down the tar paper. Never did like that fence and it was half down from Charlie anyway.

Later,

Jim & Ruth

[Bill S]

Jim-glad you and Ruth are ok-you all have had more than your fair share of wind and rain! Take care!

[Ziggy7]

Jim & Ruth,

So glad you are both ok, I'm sorry for your material losses as well and you have a great atitude about it but I know its still a loss. Cant wait to see what your next cruise slippers will be :) Be safe and keeping all you Floridians in our prayers!

[dakrewser]

Jim -


Did you notice that while everybody and his/her brother/sister was volunteering yo go and help rebuild Half Moon Cay - no one (so far) has offered to come over and help you put up a new roof! Some people's priorities :rolleyes:
<Sarcasm, people, sarcasm. A touch of levity. No need to flame the messenger! :) >

[Ziggy7]

Jim -


Did you notice that while everybody and his/her brother/sister was volunteering yo go and help rebuild Half Moon Cay - no one (so far) has offered to come over and help you put up a new roof! Some people's priorities :rolleyes:
<Sarcasm, people, sarcasm. A touch of levity. No need to flame the messenger! :) >
hahahaha oh you are bad !!!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Ruth and Jim

When we didn't hear from you we figured and had hoped that the only problem was lack of electricity.

So sad about your house. But that can always be replaced and fixed up.

Lives can not be replaced.

Thank heavens you are both safe.

[LoveLifeAtSea]

Jim & Ruth ...

I can only add that I, too, am sorry about the damage caused by the storms to your home. Just glad that you are both okay and happy to see that your sense of humor is still in tact. I think it's our sense of humor that helps us survive crisis sometimes.

It really is great how doing times like this that true compassion and kindness shines through so many people, especially strangers.