Careless smokers

So yesterday, we believe a house guest of our otherwise wonderful upstairs neighbors set our building on fire with an errant cigarette. It was 103 and the house was made in the 1920s making it stuffed with straw as insulation.

Miraculously none of our stuff was damaged by the fire or the water.

However, the clothes and electronics we managed to snag in the hour after the fire scramble still reek of the smoke even after washing. I left the door open so they could get in without breaking our lock, so there is some water damage to the floorboards right behind our door.

As it happened on a Friday, none of the claims guys will get to our case till Monday. This means two days of just sitting around. Waiting.

I can't wait to do the walk through with the adjuster but at the same time, I don't want to do it. We've already talked with the restoration guy and he'll take our couches, chairs, mattress, permeable stuff etc. clean em and give em back.

What about my book collection though? I hope they'll be able to take the books too. There's a number of Easton Press books as well as books signed by authors. We even have a book so rare that we've only seen it for sale once. At $2500 and in worse condition than mine.

We're currently holed up in his mothers house, but the place is... uncomfortable. Even the chairs and tables here are not at the right height and cause pain when typing. She also keeps the house warmer than we are used to. It's bad enough trying to sleep with the thought of vandals getting in and breaking stuff for the hell of it, I really don't need the burlap-like sheets to keep me awake too.

Yeah, yeah, ungrateful me. Part of me wonders if we'd be better off in a hotel though.

We can't legally find a new place. He's on unemployment and I'm a student. Not that I would really want to, but it's scary to not know how long this will last. Could be anywhere from a week to several months.

All because someone didn't want to put out their cigarette properly.

Wowsers Shian, that's rotten and I'm glad it was not so much worse. I hope everything gets resolved/settled for you quickly and to your satisfaction.

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope it gets resolved quickly and favorably for you!

Yet another reason why I hate the "disease" (I call it that) that is Tobacco Addiction.

It is a disease that has infected such a huge portion of USA's population, and they refuse to do things that have been shown to work in other countries (like putting absolutely disgusting images on cigarette packs).

Not only do cigarettes pose an immediate fire hazard like in Shian's case, but secondhand smoke DOES cause cancer (though it is rare and requires repeated exposure), and that's not to mention the litter (cigarette butts everywhere), and the contamination that it adds to the environment (ever threw a few cigarette butts in water? That crap becomes a very sickly brown stuff that reeks with a God-awful stench), and the health risks it poses to the smokers, and the air pollution that it creates everywhere.

Also, anyone who smokes, their living areas are absolutely coated with this brown coating that refuses to come off. My mom IRL smokes, and her computer equipment is always covered in this brown dusty crap that WILL NOT come off whatsoever at all, no matter what kind of cleaners you use. Her keyboards are tan colored instead of white, and the gaming room, as well as her room, has this permanent tobacco smell.

And then you got chew... nasty, disgusting people spitting that crap everywhere, the people with the rotten teeth, etc, etc, etc.

Tobacco Addiction is a disease I really wish the government would get more serious about stopping it, but I know it'll never happen because the tobacco industry has swollen to ridiculous levels, and I would bet that they provide a lot of funding, taxes, etc.

Heck, marijuana does less damage to your body, is less addictive (look up the CDC's drug charts), and it is banned, while tobacco is perfectly legal.

Never understood that myself.

Edit: BTW, Smoking Cigarettes is also radioactive. Smoking a Cigarette exposes you to Polonium-210, a mild but still radioactive isotope. Wiki Polonium sometime, if you don't believe me.

My bad, but still dosen't change the fact there was evidence of smoking upstairs.

Quote:

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Official verdict from the FDP's investigation: The fire was caused by the natural decomposition and composting of nearly 100-year-old straw insulation plus 100+ degree heat resulting in spontaneous combustion inside the wall.

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So... the rest of the house is still filled with 100 year old straw. This is a wonderfully unsettling feeling that my apartment might spontaneously combust as soon as it reaches over 100.

Call it a hunch, but I think you'll be moving in the near future. :p