So, now we have entered the 'Inventory your life's possessions and throw most of them away' part of AFTER THE FIRE.
This is even more frustrating than standing there with your children watching the house burn. There are so many things out of my control, things I have to wait for other people to do, to say, to agree, to disagree, to argue about....It is possible I might lose my mind just trying to get this done.
There are over 313 items cateloged for the garage. That is only the items we were able to identify...that is they did not melt into a pile of goo. For whatever reason, I have to look up each freaking item and find out a replacement cost. Are you kidding me?
My sons Lego sets. Well, all of the kids lego sets. There are aprox 70 of them. I can only prove a few of them since only C2 saved her books. The rest were in giant boxes destined to be thrown away. C1 and his friends sat in the warehouse for two days sorting. Every time the identified a part of a set, they had a picture taken and wrote down the name. Last night I spent 3 hours looking up prices and cropping pictures to put into a document showing a child at either xmas or bdays holding it up in surprise. Plesae tell me there is a better way.
We cataloged 32 skeins of mostly sock yarn. Several hand dyed. Most not having labels anymore since I buy them in hanks and then re rwind them. How am I supposed to remember what they where, where I purchased them and how much it costs now. How do I do this? Am I supposed to take them to the two stores I shop at or the traveling shows..do I weight each one to calculate how much of a full skein it was? What about the hand dyed ones. How do I put a price on my time and effort? How much am I worth an hour?
My knitting bag...It was a gift from my mother..its no longer made..I cannot even find a picture of it..how do I justify, other than the fact that I owned it, that it costs x amount and I need to spend x amount.
How much is a 'pretty shell' that my daughter got for me worth? She was 5. I dont remember where it came from, other than her. I'm sure she didn't buy it..hope she didn't steal it,but it was a gift. How do I put a price on that.
A seam ripper. Do I really have to look up the replacement cost of that? A plastic tape measure that rolls up? A small porcelin dish I bought at the Trail of History. I dont have a recipt. I cant even remember how much I paid for it? Half used package of green tissue paper. Box of staples, leather belt, a wii game, coffee mug, camera case, one candle, blue candy bowl, metal vase, box of envelopes, candle holder, picture frame, metal planter, wood bowl, baby shoes, little wooden owl, 2 tea cups, glass vase, antique car, porcelin bank..half a box of plastic forks, half a bottle of suave shampoo, Pledge, a million unsharpened pencils, screwdrivers, melted fishing poles, melted tackle boxes, possibly 12+ hot dog trays(they melted into a lump)...I could go on forever. I had a bag of 100 tea lights. Probably 50 left. I bought them two or three years ago....how do I put a value on that. How much did I pay, from where and how much to replace...
Everything that is deemed unsalvagable, I am supposed to write up on their personal property inventory customer worksheek, or type it on line. Them I am supposed to research it, and find a replacement cost. There are also spots to list where I bought it and how old the item is. Ummm..My baby shoes..bought 40something years ago...I dont know how much to replace them since they are no longer made!
How much is my time worth versus how much is my stuff worth? Am I expected to put my life on hold, my familes life on hold, put my children through more than they have already been through just so I can get 1.50 for a 'pretty shell' my daughter bought me..or a buck for the wooden owl that my son saved up two days for to buy from a thrift store for me.
Why do they do this to us? To anyone who has suffered such a loss. Haven't we suffered enough...We have lost 95% of our personal belongings. They kids have lost almost everything. And now I have to put my life and their lives on hold so I can put a value on it? How can I do that? Why do they do that..I know why...cause most people wont research every last item...wont look at receipts...wont question the cleaners when they say its 6625.94 to clean all of our items. I am more than willling to go to the warehouse down town to prove I DONT own 12 backpacks! Most people dont look...they say clean it..I say...the drapes for the boys room I got on sale at Target for 8 bucks. Please dont charge me 32 to clean them.
Problem is though, if I rock the boat...yell or demand a solution...then things will either slow down or who knows what. Paperwork will start getting lost? Hell, my own SF agent who we have had for 15 years never even called to acknowledge our loss. He is so FIRED! But I cant do it now...it might makes waves.
GUESS WHAT SF...THIS IS MY LIFE...I WANT IT BACK...EXACTLY THE WAY IT WAS. I WANT MY STUFF BACK, BROKEN CHIPPED, MISSING PIECES...CAUSE IT WAS MINE. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO FORCE ME TO PUT MY LIFE ON HOLD TO PROVE THAT A SHELL MY DAUGHTER GAVE ME WHEN SHE WAS LITTLE IS WORTH SOMETHING. ITS WORTH THE WORLD TO ME..YOU CANNOT WRITE ME A CHECK TO MAKE IT BETTER...ITS GONE...I CANNOT TURN BACK THE CLOCK 7 YEARS AND RELIVE THAT MOMENT. AND NOW I DONT HAVE THAT SHELL, OR THAT OWL, OR THAT HAND MADE CLAY HANDPRINT...AND YOU WANT ME TO LOOK ON EBAY TO TRY TO FIND IT SO I CAN PUT A VALUE ON IT.
Later this week, I get to go to the warehouse and look at all of the hand made xmas ornaments I've had since I was a kid. Made by the elders of my dad's family as place settings. They cannot be salvaged. What is the cost of a pair of skis made out of popsicle sticks, hand painted and glued together with ski poles with my name on it from 1982. Or the Holmes for the Holidays ornaments? The hand painted light up xmas tree ornaments? How do I place an value on an un replaceable item?
Why do I have to prove my life to them? Why do they make me feel like I'm trying to steal something...trying to get something better than what I had.
Why do I have to prove my worth to a bunch of strangers?
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