Hey Crew,
Wow, wow, wow!
I just looked at the calendar. It will be 6 years ago on the 24th that my house in Woodland Hills caught fire. (Hint- arson) I rolled the hell out of bed, crawled down the hallway, got outside and trained a garden hose on the fire, and the F.D. showed up and did their job.
Here's the "funny" part. I did a "walk through" with the arson investigator, and pointed to the smoke stains on the walls, starting about 3' up from the floor, saying I was "lucky" that I got out when I did, maybe escaping death by 2-3 minutes.
He corrected me. He said that at that time (2:15 AM) MOST people sit up gasping when they hear the smoke alarm, and that's it- LAST BREATH. He said that I must have been "lucky" that I rolled out of bed, crawled, and got outside. Why? He said I had about 20-30 SECONDS to get out without dying. The smoke stains weren't the killer- seems a superheated toxic (clear) cloud rests 12"-16" BELOW the smoke line!!!
Fast forward a bit, and I had to do all the work myself (NO INSURANCE) I had to work 2 construction jobs just to make ends meet, then worked 4-9 hours a day on my home AFTER work, and live in my motorhome for 27 days before I could re-occupy my home.
I never forgot the "20-30 seconds" thing, EVER.
I came to a conclusion that I live by since that day:
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A "SHITTY" DAY--If you are ALIVE to have a "shitty day" that actually makes it a GREAT DAY!
So, have a great day!
C. P.