Folks,
If you have not already heard, we were in the direct path of Hurricane Michael. The entire western eye wall passed directly over our house on Wednesday, Oct. 10. All people and the shop rats (i.e. the dogs) are safe, but the house has been damaged and the shop took some minor damage, as well. Keep reading and I’ll fill you in on all the details.
NOW HEAR THIS!
THIS WEEK’S BIG NEWS: HURRICANE MICHAEL!
OK, on Oct 10, we took a direct hit from hurricane Michael. BB and I are fine, and so are the shop rats (the dogs). No one in our family was hurt anywhere in the affected region. However, We lost power, cell service (BTW: VERIZON SUCKS!!!), internet, water, garbage — everything! We did not get it back until the evening of Oct. 21.
I want to make a special thank you to Dave Hobbs. He really carried the day for us immediately after the storm. He brought us the supplies we needed to protect our house and evacuated our library so it would not get damaged in the event of more rain. I also want to thank ‘Bob,’ a special friend of ours who came down with Dave and helped out. These two guys were of great physical and mental help in a very stressful and critical time for us immediately following the storm. THANKS, GUYS!
I posted a notice on this blog page and on our Face Book page before the storm. When we went out of town for supplies, I also tried to post updates on our Face Book page to keep as many of you informed as I could. I also tried to get GoDaddy to park the web store so no one could order until after I had the shop running again. Unfortunately, Go Daddy did not do this and I had some customers order without knowing what had happened to us. If this has affected you, I apologize.
INSURANCE WOES
I am currently fighting with our insurance company. Either I have a new or bad adjuster, our my insurance company is going to try to play games with us. If that happens, I’ll let you know. However, until it happens, I am going to try to stay positive and just assume my insurance company will act in good faith toward our claim.
HOUSE REPAIRS
I have had two adjusters and ServPro come look at the house. The first adjuster left off a lot of damage on his estimate. The second adjuster seemed a bit more competent, but we are currently waiting to see his revised estimate.
In the meantime, We have gotten an estimate to repair the shop and roof the house and shop. I also have a general contractor coming out Monday to look at the house repairs. These contractors are in high demand right now, but, if we are lucky, we might be able to have a crew on our house by the end of next week. We have damages, and to us it is bad, but others are in a lot worse condition. A good crew can have us fixed in 4-6 weeks. I hope to have them on our house next week, but I feel guilty because we have connections to the construction community and I feel I may be putting myself ahead of others who need the help more. Still…
REPAIRING THE SHOP
One area where I am not feeling guilty for taking advantage of my connections is with the shop. I thought we’d be weeks getting the shop fixed, but I am going to have a crew on it starting Monday. It will be done by Friday and we should be in full operation by Nov 5! Folks, given the extent of the damages in our county, this is going to be akin to Patton moving his army to help the encircled troops at Bastogne. And no, I am not exaggerating.
ON THE BENCH
The bench is on hold for at least 2 months. Once things are normal again, we’ll discuss new products. Until then, mark time.
OUTSTANDING ORDERS
If you have an order with me, I had planned to start working on them Monday, Oct 29. However, since the shop will have an open wall most of next week, I will not be able to start filling orders until Nov. 5. That said, the shop will be 100% operational by Nov. 5 and I will be working 0630 until 1100-1200 every day to fill orders. I will email each of you with open orders to give you more information.
RETURNED ORDERS
OK, I have returned orders from the following people. If you see your name in this list, or you know how I can reach any of these guys, please email me (info@tigermodeldesigns.com):
Peter Seril
Jerome Branca
Ian Smith
Pierre Senelle
Victor Raul Volturno
Owen Nelson
MY PERSONAL WORLD
We are doing better…now. So long as the insurance acts in good faith and we can find a contractor in a timely manner, we may still have the house whole by the holidays. But again, we are MUCH more fortunate than a good many of my neighbors. I thank the Lord for His protections and blessings on our home and family, and I ask all of you who are of a mind to pray for the people on NW Florida. It is literally like we were hit by a 50 mile wide F3/F4 tornado! I will try to put up a special post with pictures later, but — until then — you can find a lot of them on our FaceBook page.
THAT IS ALL
Well, that’s all I have for now. So, until next week, stay safe and try to build something (preferably something using TMD resin).
— Joe
Joe it took me 4 go rounds with Allstate to get our claim up to level playing field.
Go line by line to make sure EVERYTHING it right. Keep on them and don’t give in and you can get what is yours!!!
I know, brother. I am luckier than most. I worked as a certified adjuster in Florida for several years, so I know the games my insurance company is going to try to play. Plus, my father saw to it I know how to build a house from the foundation to the roofing and everything in between, so I know what has to be done to fix my house CORRECTLY! By the way my insurance company is treating me, I suspect I already have their attention (and not in a good way, but, oh, well…) God has this, I just have to trust. 🙂