Virtual Front Porch

Her insurance company continues to be so very helpful. Their response has been ASAP with living expenses, finding a house to lease until her new home is built. The insurance company used it's influence to get a top of the line contractor and crew to start building a replacement home immediately.
The insurance company has committed to replace her Steinway Grand Piano that was lost in the fire.
This is an example of being proactive. My SIL had taken detailed pictures of everything in and outside of the house. The insurance agent had a thumb drive on her policy file and another thumb drive was in the bank safety deposit box.
It will take some significant time for my SIL to recover to good enough. At least, she will be coming home to a new home with all new furnishings and a new Steinway Grand.
My sister-in-law remains in the hospital and is not considered critical. She has a new cell phone and calls her twin sister (my wife) several times a day.
My wife likes the lease house and mentioned she is thinking about making an offer on it. The property is zoned for a very big work-shop.

Being very proactive in the insurance issue is always good. Most people just do not take pictures of the things they have. They rely on memory, and or old declaration pages on their policy. I am impressed with the speed that her insurance company is moving. Not always the case down here I fear. May her recovery go smoothly and she get back to as good as possible shape.

Nikki, that is a terrible run of luck. I hope she makes a full recovery.

Here in Canada there are many products that come with a warning label that cautions may cause cancer for some reason or another. The caution always originates in the Excited State of California.
The latest victim of silliness is coffee. Am I going to stop having 6 - 8 cups of coffee every day? Not a chance. I just will not drink coffee when I am in California.
For me, the bottom line is this. I am not going to live forever. I want to enjoy my time while I am alive. It has been demonstrated that stress will in fact shorten one's life and will take the enjoyment away. So, my solution, Stop reading warning labels that originate in California.

Here in Canada there are many products that come with a warning label that cautions may cause cancer for some reason or another. The caution always originates in the Excited State of California.
The latest victim of silliness is coffee. Am I going to stop having 6 - 8 cups of coffee every day? Not a chance. I just will not drink coffee when I am in California.
For me, the bottom line is this. I am not going to live forever. I want to enjoy my time while I am alive. It has been demonstrated that stress will in fact shorten one's life and will take the enjoyment away. So, my solution, Stop reading warning labels that originate in California.

I got nauseous on Thursday while awaiting surgery. Wife pointed out it was because I had gone 24 hours without coffee. Good point! Back to my bucket of coffee a day and feeling 10' tall and bullet proof.
Now to keep busy doing nothing for a few weeks. Maybe this time around I'll get my nuts and bolts sorted out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... i3erdgVVTw

My "adult beverage" of choice contains the German purity law and Health warnings, I think the Germans got it right!

The Reinheitsgebot, sometimes called the "German Beer Purity Law" in English, is the collective name for a series of regulations limiting the ingredients in beer in Germany since 1516. The regulations were set in place, not so much to protect the beer but to prevent brewers from using grains that were used for making bread. Wheat and Rye remain popular in bread making in Germany. The Reinheitsgebot has become more supported in North American Micro Breweries. It is a bragging point not unlike wearing a Rolex.
I used to make most of our bread and treats for our dog. I would get the spent grains from a Micro Brewery in Richmond and add it to the dough mix for our bread and cinnamon buns. .
Powdered milk and flour were added to the dog treat mix. Before baking the still soft treat cake was pre scored to make separation into Dog treats easier when it cooled and dried. Our last pooch used to watch the oven and bark in anticipation and impatience.

Here in Canada there are many products that come with a warning label that cautions may cause cancer for some reason or another. The caution always originates in the Excited State of California.
The latest victim of silliness is coffee. Am I going to stop having 6 - 8 cups of coffee every day? Not a chance. I just will not drink coffee when I am in California.
For me, the bottom line is this. I am not going to live forever. I want to enjoy my time while I am alive. It has been demonstrated that stress will in fact shorten one's life and will take the enjoyment away. So, my solution, Stop reading warning labels that originate in California.

I got nauseous on Thursday while awaiting surgery. Wife pointed out it was because I had gone 24 hours without coffee. Good point! Back to my bucket of coffee a day and feeling 10' tall and bullet proof.
Now to keep busy doing nothing for a few weeks. Maybe this time around I'll get my nuts and bolts sorted out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... i3erdgVVTw

I have been putting off sorting my nuts for over a year, now. Now that the weather is well into spring it is less likely that I will be putting my nuts away, where they belong before the next rain day.
Surgery is serious. I am wishing you a rapid recovery. My sister-in-law has just started to walk yesterday. I do not think she will be going home for some time yet. My wife and daughter went to visit the SIL.
My wife and daughter were coming home from Victoria on the 21:00h BC Ferry. When the ferry arrived at Tsawwassen there was one car left blocking them on a car deck. The elderly driver was not to be found. There has been a suggestion that the man jumped or fell over-board sometime during the 90 minute crossing. https://globalnews.ca/news/4115489/seni ... -bc-ferry/

I have my rototiller for sale on Craigslist. An Asian Female voice called about the tiller and asked how deep? I said six inches. She said she did not know six inches. I told her to ask her husband or boyfriend. There was a short discussion in their room and she started laughing and said how much in centimeters. I told her 15 centimeters. The number is bigger but it is the same deep, I said. The female voice, still laughing, said she will be coming later after she calls. I did not touch what she said, it was just too easy.
I had a toolbox and a compressor posted on CL. Both were sold in under two hours.

Some persons believe that bad luck comes in three events. I have never bought into this BS, but there are times that make me wonder if there might be something to that belief.
First event, my sister-in-law has her house burn to the foundations, 100% loss
Second event, my SIL has a head-on collision, a week after the fire, that saw her air-lifted to the hospital where she remains and may not get out before the end of this month
Third event, possibly from the stress of it all, her husband just had a heart attack and remains in the hospital in rough shape.
I hope this is the end of the bad luck for them. Their big dog is 13+ years old and stressed because everything familiar has changed or gone missing.