<p>Wow, talk about karma, coincidence, serendipity, whatever.
What a neat twist in your (adjective- of- your- choice) week. </p>
<p>Hope you have a good visit with the General.</p>
<p>Just another thought, althought it makes me sick to think of looking at all your stuff in the trash, run out to the trash can and take pictures before it gets picked up. Use your cell if you have to. If nothing else, with the extent of your loss, if the insurance doesn’t cover it, you will have record for your taxes. </p>
<p>Plus, someday when your book comes out, these will be part of the record of the LTS saga.</p>
<p>Also, excellent news on the general. One big loss, another big gain.</p>
<p>
I’m sure that you can help him as well, LTS. Don’t underestimate how unusual and special your devotion to truly fighting this disease is.</p>
<p>LTS: you have been adamant about not telling your coworkers and business associates about your cancer–and yet, you are thrilled to find out that a former general is also battling cancer. I imagine that some of your contacts would be just as thrilled to talk with you.</p>
<p>Perhaps it is time to go public?</p>
<p>Just catching up. So sorry to hear about the flooding. What a bummer to have to deal with. </p>
<p>But, wow, you made it to the dinner, and what a night!</p>
<p>My best to you and the General!</p>
<p>dmd, I don’t know about that yet; last ngiht, the matter was introduced as he is WINNING; I am not winning YET, by definition that I am not in remission yet. </p>
<p>Plus, I want to verify that this is lung cancer. It makes a hige difference if the cancer is one of those with a 90% cure rate, and caught at stage one. Just because the gentleman I asked said “lung” doesn’t make it so; he could be wrong…I don’t think he’s wrong (he said it too quickly, didn’t have to think about it) but I am sort of a “trust, but verify” person…</p>
<p>Wow…I just verified, it is in fact lung cancer. That’s incredible. And he’s winning/won.</p>
<p>LTS, On the matter of your soaked/destroyed books, I wonder if you would be interested in sharing some of the titles. I work in a library that has a book sale room and we often have obscure books that I would be happy to buy and give to you for free. They sell for a small fraction of their new price and it would be FUN to look for them. Of course, there’s a good chance that only one or two would be there. I very much understand about your attachment to books, I’m the same way.</p>
<p>LTS, I’m glad you’re getting out of the apartment. Reading between the lines, I suspect that you think your landlady may have tossed the books because she doesn’t like the titles. Given her insistence on barraging you with her political views when it is clear that you don’t share them and are not interested in having a discussion, I wonder if she is one of those passive-aggressive people who are “nice” on the surface but not underneath. She has taken far too many liberties with your possesions.</p>
<p>Reading your feelings about losing your books, I’m reminded of the title of a book on my shelves: “Some of My Best Friends are Books.”</p>
<p>I’m so happy that you went to the dinner! What a great evening it turned out to be. We’ll be interested in hearing about your conversation with the General/fellow cancer conqueror.</p>
<p>LTS
I’ll join the LTS book drive as well. The local library has book sales and a local bookstore is going out of business. Maybe we can work to get you at least a few of the books you love back on your bookshelves. It is so sad the landlord threw your things away.<br>
And I’m hoping too that you find a new place this weekend. I’m also so glad to hear your daughter is coming to help you.<br>
as always I’m amazed at your strength and courage. take good care.</p>
<p>Yes, passive aggressive may explain it; she once told me that she was voting for Hillary because the “two for the price of one” deal of both Clintons in the WH was awesome; I didn’t engage, apparently 48% or so of voting dems think so too, so, it’s not a crazy, far-out-there idea; no point in even responding. She is likely as polarized in her political beliefs as I am in mine, and no amount of discussion is likely to move either person, so, why invest the time. Easier just to throw the other person’s stuff away under the guise of “helping”. But perhaps that’s unfair, as she truly has been trying to help, and she has been very responsive. I am probably just angry and sad from the cummulation of so many stresses. </p>
<p>As to replacing the books, thank you, but, in many cases, it was as much the experience how I received the book, or the journey of that particular book and the experiences related to it as the book itself. For example, Jihad Incorporated, Steve Emerson handed to me personally, in his office, three weeks after my diagnosis. McMafia was a gift. Bush at War, brought from my personal library in the home I own. An Ordinary Spy, a gift. Brave New War, a gift. The Merchant of Death, gift, and signed by one of the two authors. And so on…very few of the books did I actually go out and purchase…they can be replaced of course but how to replace THAT author personally handed me THAT book?</p>
<p>LTS…fascinating about the General/POW and his battle with lung cancer…seems you were “meant” to attend this dinner despite the obstacles of the week…(which were indeed unfathomable…stepping into a foot of water in the dark…!!) yikes. I am sure you will go public if and when your instincts lead you there. Everyone is so different in these matters. I am one of those people who is likely to discuss personal matters too readily…and I think your restraint is laudable…after all, you have a pretty great inner circle of intimate friends who are engaged in this battle with you, a medical team that is showing us the right stuff in terms of personal engagement on your behalf now…and it can be exhausting to update people in the second tier or aquaintance level of friendship. And of course, you have your private little circle right here! :)<br>
thinking of you!</p>
<p>Faline2, thank you, never have I had the experience of walking into a room and feeling out of place, and as if I were not good enough. All of the other women were wearing very beautiful formal gowns, etc. and they were all so pretty - how I would normally dress for such an event. But there I was, stuck in my daytime business wear, and on top of that wearing a wig. I wanted to leave immediately, and then I wanted to cry. I am glad that I did neither. I was so shocked when the gentleman from Israel said “lung”…</p>
<p>showing up at a party when everyone else is in formal wear and you are still in office attire…ummm (I have had plenty of bad dreams along this line), stepping out of bed in the dark into a foot of water…after midnight…, coming home to find a landlady is laundering your dry clean only clothing to be “helpful” …</p>
<p>LTS…I think this is all a bad dream! I am pretty sure that Bobby is about to step out of the shower a la Dallas and that JR is not dead either! Yeah…that is the explanation!</p>
<p>although I am seriously happy about your meeting this General who has already taken on a major lung cancer battle…and look forward to your contacting him and exploring his experiences with him. btw, I am a Col’s daughter, 25 yrs in military family…Vietnam was the centerpiece in my upbringing…</p>
<p>Maybe I’m being petty at this point, but whatever the liability for the possessions destroyed by the flood, the landlady is personally liable for what is destroyed by her own actions. It sounds like the books were not really salvageable – but the formal wear is another matter. </p>
<p>Also… don’t be so quick to assume that she is not financially liable for the rest. I agree that you shouldn’t trouble yourself worrying about it – you need to get a private adjuster or an attorney taking care of that for you – but she could have liability if her own conduct led to the flooding. I’d be inclined to want to check to double check on construction permits for the basement apartment – if she took short cuts along the way that contributed to the problem, then it really could be something that she has greater liabiity for than at first glance. (And if it is personal negligence on her part, her insurance will probably still cover her – so it does not necessarily mean its coming out of her pocket – so don’t hold back because you feel she is “trying” her best.)</p>
<p>Calmom, I hear you - I really do - and you’re right - but it’s as much my fault too. I’m 50% reponsible for the problem. I should have had renters insurance; I should have bothered to learn something about sump pumps; I should have taken the time to learn what happens in the rainy season here; I should have taken the time to understand what homeowner’s insurance covers. On the other hand I have been a homeowner so long I forgot about one’s position as a renter though, and, we don’t have basements in Florida, or at least not in South Florida, but still, my bad. </p>
<p>And I really don’t have the strength or the stomach for the battle on top of the more serious battle I still fight. Just thinking about, I feel like crying again. It’s the loss of the memories and the experiences that matter far more than the value of the material items. My daughter’s gift, for example, she babbled on and on about it, she was so excited for me to have it. I would have treasured it until the end of my days, because it made her so happy to give it to me. Of course I could probably recover the $25 or so that the gift is worth but it isn’t the same thing at all…Then, a formal skirt that is now ruined because it should not have been washed, I remember when and where it was purchased, and the things my daughter and I talked about as we waited in line so I could pay for it: a wonderful memory of happier, healthier times. Just looking at that skirt and I just start to cry. </p>
<p>I need to move on, get off this. It is too distressing. The way forward is to find new housing, focus on what is good and happy and positive, and get this matter into my rearview mirror as quickly and decisively as possible.</p>
<p>Faline, many thanks to your parent who is the Colonel, for service in uniform. I started to assume you meant your father, then realized, your post doesn’t exactly say, it could be your mother (???).</p>
<p>LTS, I am so sorry for all the memory-laden possessions you’ve lost. Like you, I attach meaning to possessions. It is really too bad that this happened, and you have every right to feel sad about it. And it is not your fault that this happened; no one can think of everything, and surely it was not your responsibility to learn about sump pumps! </p>
<p>Please call a hotel now, ask for a weekly rate, explain that you need a temporary home while you look for a new rental, explain that your luggage was ruined and you will be bringing your things along in Hefty bags, and ask them to have a bellman meet you at your car and take the bags up the back way while you check in. Make an appointment with a personal shopper at your favorite store so that you can quickly replace at least part of your wardrobe. You don’t want to be short of suits/shoes for next week, and you don’t want to miss any evening events for lack of a gown. Then you can look for a new place as you have time, without pressure to find something soon. And remember that you need to be in town - didn’t you say that you’ve missed evening events in the past because you didn’t have time/energy to go all the way out to the (now flooded) rental to change?</p>
<p>“Faline, many thanks to your parent who is the Colonel, for service in uniform. I started to assume you meant your father, then realized, your post doesn’t exactly say, it could be your mother (???).”</p>
<p>you are only too PC for words, LTS. Although I must say women do make me very proud at all our service academies in this generation…that was all before my time. My father…is a proud graduate of VMI, and among the last of the living graduates who went to VMI AFTER service in WWII as enlisted men first. He was George Marshall’s aide for one memorable day on his best day in Lexington…</p>
<p>I once had a great teacher I loved dearly in my college in Wisdom Literature who used to write/publish on Job and make us all believe that there was a big message about faith in the tale…although I confess I didn’t have the forebearance or patience for truly applying myself to why Job had to experience so many dramatic trials-- but the loss of these personal items in such an unsettling experience as a middle of the night invasion of water, well…like Job, I am still waiting it out to see what I am going to learn about faith in that experience! So far it just plain feels unfair! I want to believe in all the promise of such a great literary genre called “wisdom literature” though, and I sense that is also the kind of person you are. And the landlady seems a bit like a ninny to me when largesse is what is called for in this circumstance, when an innocent tenant is harmed in any way.
Although I agree with you that as soon as you can…it is time to keep walking and find a new nesting place to call your DC home and shut the door on “the night of the creeping water.”</p>
<p>Faline, too cool, congrats and many thanks to your father. Last night Robert Gates mentioned he is giving the commencement address at VMI today and I wondered what he would say, what it would be like, and how proud all of the parents must be, and of course how excited the graduates must be.</p>
<p>Yes, the landlord is a ninny, but, it’s truly not her fault. She is not an experienced landlord and doesn’t own a lot of properties that she rents and she honestly, truly was trying to be helpful when she washed my stuff, etc. The books are another matter - perhaps even there she had my best interests at heart; she was trying to reform me I’m sure. :)</p>
<p>and another</p>
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