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.
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.
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