I really don't know what much to say other than thank you- and I'll do my best to thank each of you in turn when I'm able. It was the second time in about 14 months we were displaced by a flood- this time it was at least five times worse and so many friends of mine lost so much- from Grandmothers' houses burning down and pets dying and all possessions lost and a shit ton of cars wiped out. So many without power. My mom has no power and is running a fever, she had to throw out most of her memories of my dad the other day as most of that stuff was in the basement and the basement is a total disaster. Drummer in my band in Rockaway lost the rehearsal studio he built over the last few years, his drums, the band PA, his entire basement, his two trucks- and he sent his wife and kids off to Florida because of the looting and lack of power. The gas situation is worse than what you've been hearing even though we've heard relief is on the way. My sister dropped me off gas thankfully- but the lines I've been seeing run at least ten blocks long and then you realize that you're only looking at one line of several connecting lines. I'm talking 16 hour waits in some places. Of my own situation- what I was able to salvage myself, a few trinkets on the very top shelves of closets, some clothes that we were able to wash immediately in ammonia, the car (which got a giant crack in the side last night by some moron catching a football), and a few handfuls of turbo/pc-engine CD games which my f*cking Saint of a wife started stuffing in baggies right before we left. Alas she didn't finish them all, not all the bags were sealed, and most of the ones that were submerged littered the floor out of case during cleanup. I didn't look to see which ones were saved yet- it's too aggravating to think about which ones I lost and I've really got my hands full. What I did manage to do last night at the house of the friend who so graciously is putting us up for the time being- as Mike suggested to me- was to wipe down the hucards and turbochips with rubbing alcohol and set them aside in a box to dry. I'd have put them on paper towels but I don't have the space for that. As Mike said all the systems and controllers, power packs etc. are gone. My music recording studio that was the second bedroom is gone- all my equipment, video equipment (cameras, greenscreen, etc) gone, all the furniture is gone, virtually all my books, comics, video cassettes, players, dv tapes (including the footage of my wedding which I never got to editing and which contained the last video images of my father), television, bluray player, photographs, my wife's dolls (except for a few teddy bears she took to a friend's house the night of the storm for comfort), comics I made as a kid, posters, frames, treadmill, pots and pans, collectibles, etc. etc. etc. all gone. As for flood insurance- we didn't have it. It's not easy to get in that area- especially since after the last time. I obviously won't be going back to the area- we finished gutting the apartment out last night- and of all that I've lost and all the depression doing this again has caused me- for some reason it was the anguished look on my wife's face as she dragged her wedding gown- something she'd never wear again anyway- out to the hulking heap of trash on the sidewalk that broke my f*cking heart the most and I had to steal away to choke back tears.
We talked to FEMA. They helped us out a bit last time- This time they didn't bother looking at my photos and they didn't ask for receipts for anything. They looked around quickly and declared it a total loss- hopefully they'll help us out but who knows how much considering how busy they are and because so many in other neighborhoods like Rockaway, Breezy Point, Broad Channel, and Coney Island lost much more. f*cking Manhattan was hit bad. Friends of mine lost their businesses. I've talked to people who've lived here for forty plus years who've never seen something this bad in NY.
Again though- thank you all so much. I've seen money sent to me from members here that I don't even know- and I know that the newer members here may not have the best impression of me from what they've seen. I've contributed more to this forum from my early time here, and of late I've either been nonexistent or poking my head back in to add my two cents to some fighting street stupidity or other- so yeah I'm pretty floored that some of you cats give a f*ck and it really means a lot. This whole thing was weird to me at first because I'm the type who's usually too proud to ask for anything- so a big thank you to Mike and to Rove for really getting this underway- and again- I mean to repay you all in some fashion when I'm able. Thank you all so much.
