Sigh...where to begin....

I got an email about 12 hours ago from my roommate's coworker to call him immediately as there was an emergency. I didn't know what the heck it could be but I figured it had to do with the apartment. I dialed him up and he was pretty much beside himself and had nothing else to offer other than the building was on fire, one of the windows in my bedroom was smashed out, and there was a hole in my ceiling created by the firemen. He didn't know anything more than that. I called the other roommate to let him know and he was pretty much upset even though I assured him that the majority of his belongings probably escaped unharmed.

I rushed out of the office and grabbed the first cab I could -- not an easy feat during early rush hour in Times Square but it was done...I called the roomie and let him know I was on my way and he pretty much informed me that my bedroom was ransacked by the firemen and that about 90% of the damage in the apartment was isolated to my bedroom. I got home and somewhat prepared myself before I entered the building. There was debris and glass all over the sidewalk from where they had punched out windows. I entered and there were people mopping and sweeping up on the first four floors of the building. Each floor seemed to have one of its windows leading out to the terrace smashed out.

I got up to my floor and immediately I noticed the glass everywhere on my hall as cleanup had yet to reach our floors. In my apartment we have two doors that lead into our apartment -- there's one in the kitchen that really is never used as it's primarily just used when people have moved their belongings in and out of the apartment. That door had been practically ripped from the hinges and was leaning off to the side. I made my way to the front door and walked in as that door had been forced open by crowbar and the lock broken. My roommate, Craig, who had called me came down the hall and gave me a big hug and took me back to see the mess.

This is the moment where I uttered today's Quote of the Day.

It was horrifying. The room, if not the entire apartment, smelled like an ashtray (and still does). One of the women on my floor, Jackie, stopped into see how we were doing and offered us some wine or beer...I opted for the much stronger vodka with apple juice (she had no orange or cranberry juice) and downed two tumblers of it in the blink of an eye. This actually helped smooth me over for about the next two hours so I could focus on getting the work of my bedroom done. Crash put out an email to the rugby team to see if anyone was available to come to and help out. Jose was the first to call and he made his way up to the Heights to help out as much as he could. I did receive calls and emails from other teammates as well but I think we had the majority of the situation under control by then.

All of my clothes were covered in soot or smoky ash and had to eventually be bagged up and taken to the cleaners so they can all (and do mean ALL OF MY CLOTHES) could be washed to the tune of about $200 to get that done. My bed...well...my loft bed is gone. The wooden frame, the mattress, the pillows, the linens were so smoke-logged that they are pretty much unsalvagable. I actually had to leave the apartment and head over to Jackie's because I couldn't bear to hear them taking my bed apart. The mattress I could have lived with...the entire bed is a different matter.

In Jackie's apartment I met the kids (I call them "the kids" even thought they are probably around my age) from 6A, the apartment directly above where the fire started. The kids lost everything. Furniture destroyed, clothes burned up. One guy has no floor in his bedroom anymore, just some slats remaining. It made sense then why they came into our apartment since one of my bedroom walls shares a wall with apartment 6A. In fact, the walls of one of my closets are partially black from where the fire was probably just on the other side and almost coming through. The firemen needed to come in and make sure that the fire hadn't spread here or up into the ceiling -- something they really couldn't accomplish in the other apartment. I stayed over there for a while as my roommates and Jose pretty much did the task that I couldn't sit through -- sifting through my belongings and throwing a large majority of them away as they were smoke-logged.

When I got back to the apartment the majority of the work was over and all we had to do was make arrangements as to what we were going to do in terms of sleeping arrangements for the night. Craig and Sammy had a hotel but wound up coming back and spending the night in the apartment. Adrian is spending the night at his current paramour's place (I believe) and as I was going to wait to make sure things got taken care of as much as possible tonight was offered the use of Adrian's bed for the evening.

After everyone left, I started putting the computer back together to make sure it worked (as you can see it does) and brought together a few scented candle to try to rid myself of the smoke smell which will probably never really go away fully. I ordered a few pizzas and scarfed one down along with ten chicken wings and half of a two-liter bottle of Coke before I felt sick to my stomach. The repairment did come through and place a big padlock on the rear door of the kitchen that we had already screwed shut for extra security. Also, we managed to get the front door to lock manually rather than just closing it behind us.

When all is said and done, I really have nothing to complain about. My losses are minor compared to the people in 5A and 6A who lost everything. Sure I'm going to have to buy a new bed and linens and pay about $200 to have my clothes cleaned. But I still have the clothes. And my computer. And 95% of my belongings.

And I'm alive. No one died. No one got hurt. Emotionally, maybe. Physically, no.

I haven't been able to sleep much tonight (maybe 2 hours) as there have been workmen combing the building doing repairs all night long. Living on the top floor, I've been hearing them on the roof and in the other apartments on my floor doing work. Sleep I can do later.

Here's the really sad thing about it all...tonight I really met my neighbors for the first time. They graciously opened up their homes, their refrigerators, and their hearts to people in their time of need. If anything, I think this will make us look out for each other and maybe even spend more time together getting to know each other. I've lived in this building for over a year and I only briefly knew that one of the women living next door to me was named Martina but that's it. If anything, I ask that people get to know their neighbors before there's a situation like the one I was in...you'll find that for the most part, they are really nice people...

As for me, I'm taking today off from work to try to get the apartment back in line as much as possible. I'm debating whether or not I am going away this weekend as I planned. If I do, I am cancelling the massages I had scheduled as I will need the cash to pay for my clothes being cleaned.

But I'm okay. I'm dealing with it. I've already had a breakdown already and worked my way through it. It's like that song...I get knocked down but I get up again...it's a minor setback that life has thrown me. But as with everything in my life that has been tossed my way I take it, I deal with it, and I make it work for me and for others impacted as well. It just the way I am...life has handed me lemons, I'm gonna make a few bitter lemons out it....

Let's go find the gin....

Addendum: This will give you an idea of what my apartment and building looks like the day after. Much cleaner than before....but you get an idea of what it's like and how many windows they had to break open and the damage done in my room.....