Alaska Chat II (Bethel, Sterling, Barrow: penalty, jail, cruise)

[Rance]

Do they say "yes master" when you give them a chore!

You should be spoiling them Warpt! And feeding them candy! So they go home all jacked up on sugar and bouncing off the walls!

[warptman]

Never thought of that. I think there is some Easter candy left. Great idea!

[Barkingowl]

That's a sad story Rance.

[Rance]

Yes it is. I'm very familiar with the place that burned. It's been there since I was like 8 years old or longer. I did not know the family living there but it still hurts me inside. I absolutely hate when kids get hurt or worse. And I cannot imagine living any sort of life after experiencing something like that. That man will have a tough row to hoe.

[karibear]

It's devastating enough to lose a place by fire, let alone have someone or something hurt, too. We lost our place about '86 or so. No one was at home, even all the animals were outside. But dealing with the insurance company made it infinitely worse. I ended up filing two lawsuits and still didn't get anything close to what I'd expected. To top that off, during the first suit they'd sent an arson investigator to see if it had been set, and who, if anyone might have done so. They tried to say first that my son did it, then that DH did it. Then eventually we rebuilt, and nearly 2 years later, the company that was responsible for the item that caused the fire called and told me they wanted to inspect the remains and their reps would be there the following week. I said don't bother, we got rid of that years ago and rebuilt. They were really tweake about that. I said the insurance office in Anchorage told me I could do whatever I wanted with it, and the state cops were giving me a hassle because it was an 'attractive nuisance' and there were too many kids in the area who'd love to go poking around in the remains. Like I was supposed to continue making mortgage payments on a place that didn't exist or something? And what was I supposed to live on during those two years, anyway - the insurance company only gave us 3 months' worth of housing expenses.

I hate insurance companies almost as much as I hate fires. I still get twitchy when I smell wood smoke. Brings back a lot of bad memories.

And if I remember correctly, it was March 24 when happened.

[warptman]

Parents almost lost the house a few years back. As did three neighbors. There was a old house that was around 50 year old behind it and a newer house right behind it. The old house was used by homeless people. They started a fire in it to keep warm, that fire raged out of control and went up in flames taking the house that was right next to it. the house to the east of it just about went up, too. The fire department did a good job of keeping it from going up. The house to the west lost its big bay window from the heat. The back of the parents house got real hot from the fire. I'm glad we never lost ours. The sad thing about it, one homeless person died in the fire that he started.

[Rance]

Hey Warpt...some pistol practice?

Bin Laden's Liquors

[Arcticthaw]

Originally Posted by Rance

Hey Warpt...some pistol practice?

Bin Laden's Liquors

Ha Ha, that's fun!

[Barkingowl]

Rance a friend of mine is a trial lawyer down here. He recently was representing the manufacturer of a mobile home that was consumed by fire. Several small children died & the mother was out to make some money from it all. Her argument was that the dwelling's windows didn't open in the kids bedroom so they couldn't escape & they burned to death. As it turned out if one of her children hadn't started the fire there wouldn't have been a lawsuit. Her kids could've gotten out the window if she hadn't put a dresser in front of it. So there were needless deaths due to negligence on her part. I think the lawsuit was dropped.

A friend of mine told me that his house had almost burned down because his wife left a candle burning on their kitchen table & they went to sleep. Probably one of the greatest acts of stupidity that I've heard in a long time. They were awakened first by the dog. They went back to sleep. The shrill tones of the smoke detector woke them next. The husband went downstairs to see flames creeping up the kitchen wall. He put them out with a fire extinguisher. He said they had many thousands of dollars of damage. I guess that even working smoke detectors & keen pets are a match for stupidity.

[cobolt]

Did you guys read about the multiple stabbing incident in Sitka?
adn.com | Southeast : Four slain in Sitka stabbing