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  • What Happened to the Marina

    I realized I talked about starting some new jobs, but never really explained what happened to the marina.

    Well...



    Yeah. We don't have a main building anymore. The official story is mice chewed through one of the fridge's electrical systems, starting the fire.

    My family didn't really believe it when they got the call that the marina was on fire, because the fire trucks often filled up from the lake at their ramp. But I did. I recall thinking: "You're both in denial. Why would any fire department drill through the ice to get water in an emergency? In February? It's too thick. They could drive the damn trucks on there." I was just hoping it was a small fire. Obviously, it wasn't.

    I drove my mother up to the closest intersection. We could see it was on fire before we got there.

    My aunt broke her ankle trying to see us. She slipped on some ice. So while the marina was burning down, she was in the ER. My father was just standing there, watching, and I was now the voice of the business. I watched photo after photo and even video after video pop up of the fire over the local facebook group. I assured everyone that we were alright, a group that tried to go anti-fireman (because they weren't trying to save the building) that we knew ahead of time that due to there being several hundred gallons of gas right by the building, and lots of chemicals inside of the building, the firemen wouldn't try; it was too dangerous. We valued the firemen's efforts to save everyone and everything else.

    I did get irritated at one woman who kept asking about the building next door, also a business, also historical. I finally just said: "if that place catches fire, you'll hear a big boom first, because that means the fire has reached the gas tanks."

    That never happened. All that was left standing was the metal structure at the edge of the lake.

    A brief rumor went out that we caused the fire ourselves, which was quickly snuffed out. My father and I combed the wreckage, salvaging what we could. (I didn't do much, as he didn't want me near it much, but he couldn't stop me from pulling out my toolbox. And taking pictures while I was there.)

    Our living room was temporarily turned into our online parts store station. We were back up and running within the day. We got the word out, as soon as we had word from the insurance, that we would be getting all of the insurance money, and we'd be fine. We'd be rebuilding, and stronger than ever.

    Someone heard that we wish hadn't. One of our neighbors decided to sue us because of overlapping property lines, trying to steal more. They came up with more reasons, up to loss of enjoyment of property and even us destroying a family heirloom. (It was a tree. On our property, according to the taxes we paid and both counties involved.) This ended in mediation, which ended in our favor. We used one local lawyer, they used three lawyers from a big nearby town.

    And they fenced their tiny, eight-by-ten section of property, and gated it. Put signs on it, and put a car in front of the gates. And had a lawyer watch the construction of the fencing. We're not entirely sure why.

    Right now the entire lake hates them. I found out about the fence and lawyer because they're openly being made fun of on Facebook. The family is keeping quiet. We're publically taking the high road. Privately? This is sweet justice.

    So yeah, I left the marina because for a while, I had no job, and it's been chaos ever since. I work there sometimes for a little bit, as they're operating in a different building (a storage building.) But for the most part, I've moved on.

  • #2
    yikes, glad the hear that no one was hurt, insurance covered it all, and that the idiots lost in court

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    • #3
      Quoth prjkt View Post
      yikes, glad the hear that no one was hurt, insurance covered it all, and that the idiots lost in court
      Seconded. Things could've been so much worse. Hope your aunt's doing better.
      I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
      My LiveJournal
      A page we can all agree with!

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      • #4
        Wait, am I understanding this correctly?

        They sued you because your building burned down?! And this apparently impacted their "enjoyment" of their property?!

        What awful people!

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        • #5
          We learned, as we were preparing for the court case, this was a "thing" for them. They would just regularly (legally) steal neighbor's land. When we tried to get all of the lines settled (the business is right by an overlap between two counties, so both counties tried to map it, and disagreed, hence leading to this issue), they refused entirely to sign a legal document admitting to any property line agreement, even when we admitted we were giving them property.

          They brought their own surveyor in, who gave us MORE property. (If there was anyone Karma hated more than my family...) I wanted to be a fly on the wall when they were told their OWN surveyor gave us more property than our surveyor did.

          From what we can gather, once our building burned down, they smelled money. While we were getting the word out we were fine, the insurance was going to pay out and we'd be able to rebuild, they heard "we can get paid."

          The full list was: harassment (over this issue), loss of enjoyment of their property (because we apparently used their sliver of property and did not prevent people from using it... even though we rented it from them), destruction of a family heirloom tree (this one disappeared quickly), tresspassing and probably a few more along the same lines.

          We counter-sued, with harassment being at the top of the list. They got a lot quieter after that. (They had been sending email after email saying they'd drop their case if we just signed a document giving them "a little more property.")

          My father became a little detective. I went out on a water bike, and I took pictures of the properties from the water, which he lined up with old pictures to show a building the marina had built and torn down. He found out they regularly used adverse possession to take property from their neighbors, and was going to try on us. (But since we both paid taxes on the property, good luck.) He even found the original property line descriptions, and the tree stump was still there. He countered their every move.

          My aunt is doing alright, I believe. She and I aren't speaking due to unrelated drama, but she's walking now. She got a clot in the leg, and had to go to the ER again. She has regular panic attacks, so she had several panic attacks regarding it, so more ER trips. Then her cat died, which I feel sympathetic about.

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          • #6
            Wow. Glad everything's turned out for the best.
            This was one of those times where my mouth says "have a nice day" but my brain says "go step on a Lego". - RegisterAce
            I can't make something magically appear to fulfill all your hopes and dreams. Believe me, if I could I'd be the first person I'd help. - Trixie

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            • #7
              Some people are scum. You get fire insurance money and they deserve it? Hell to the no.

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              • #8
                Oh, Update!: Their fence isn't up to code, as several people have let us know. So we can make a report, and someone might on our behalf.

                They really don't have friends...

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                • #9
                  That mess with the neighbors reminds me of an old parable someone wrote titled "How much land does a man need".

                  A farmer had some land that he made a modest living on. A neighbor decided to sell some and and the farmer bought it, and made a bit more every year. After a while the farmer decided to buy more land, and more land, many of these later deals were not "ethical or moral". He made many enemies, drove away many friends, even his wife became distant to him, not caring about anything except more land.

                  One night, the farmer died. He was buried in a 6 by 2 plot of land. Taking none of his wealth with him. That is all the land a man needs in the end.
                  I might be crazy, but I'm not Insane.

                  What? You don't play with flamethrowers on the weekends? You are strange.

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                  • #10
                    Quoth Gilhelmi View Post
                    One night, the farmer died. He was buried in a 6 by 2 plot of land. Taking none of his wealth with him. That is all the land a man needs in the end.
                    Ever listen to the country song "Trailer Hitch" (I believe it came out around a year ago)? It deals with the subject "Can't take it with you", and the title comes from one line "I've never seen a hearse with a trailer hitch".
                    Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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                    • #11
                      Quoth Cooper View Post
                      They really don't have friends...
                      You think?!
                      I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my keister!

                      Who is John Galt?
                      -Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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                      • #12
                        Quoth Cooper View Post
                        They really don't have friends...
                        Yeah, stealing land and frivolous lawsuits do tend to irritate other people...
                        I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
                        My LiveJournal
                        A page we can all agree with!

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