Today is day 7 of cleanup after the fire. We are back in the house, but until we can afford remodel permits we are at a standstill. The gas company at least is coming out today so we can have hot water, but no furnace (electric fan/thermostat). We remain on generator power until we can afford to have the electrician rewire pretty much the whole house. Even though only one 20A circuit was involved, the old wiring here is no longer up to code, so we will have to update much of it before passing inspection. My $100 repair has now become a $1000 nightmare.
Since we already spent our savings on my son's funneral last month, we are just going to have to scrimp and save again. Our roommates are no help--one lost his job and the other had her hours cut, both within the last 2 months. They are both disabled, and can't help with the cleanup, either.
Oh yes, and my car was stolen a few weeks ago. We got it back, but they tore up the driver door and damaged the tranny. It's driveable, but will need work soon. That's what our savings was *supposed* to pay for.
The good news? The fire department did save the house, and no one was hurt. I have gotten several requests to speak about mental health and suicide, and we did get the car back. Tomorrow I am volunteering at a local community center to give out Thanksgiving baskets, and will see a friend I haven't seen since high school. He's a survivor, too. He came back from drugs and gangs to become a prominent local minister. It will be good for my aching heart to spend time with him.
I want to send a special shout-out to the American Red Cross, who kindly bought us a generator, gloves and masks for cleanup, and replaced our damaged meds. I also didn't know until this happened that our local disaster rep was my neighbor. So I made a new friend. Thank you, Linda.