Did We Survive Hurricane Katrina or Not?

We received a check today from insurance for the repair of the roof and the upstairs walls and ceilings. Unfortunately, the check is made out to us and the mortgage company so we are going to have to run around and find out how to handle that. More delays.

We got a letter from Scott B. too. Scott B. is the guy who 'flood restored' our home. It cost us $8000 for him to rip out the sheetrock and disinfect. Now, we paid the guy and paid him willingly -- the other service to give us an estimate said it would be $14,000... So that's not the problem. The problem is that apparently when he got home to Michigan he went to the local newspaper and told them a story about how he heroically loaded up his trailer, drove to Mississippi, and provided his services at no charge to the hurting people of our community. No cost does not equal $8000. You do the math. Dave had stumbled across the article and we showed it to our friends and family. Dave emailed the newspaper and he emailed Scott B. I'm quite sure that my mother and our friend, Dan, also emailed the newspaper and told them the story. Who knows who else contacted the newspaper - but apparently it was enough to entice Mr. B. to pay $14 for express mail to send us a letter. Unfortunately he missed the point and found the need to insult us. "I am sorry that you feel you were owed something for nothing," he says. No, Mr. B. we didn't feel we were owed something for nothing - we just thought perhaps you should have mentioned that your idea of 'no charge' was a little bit higher than most people. We thought it was wrong that you should choose to use us so shamelessly in your bid for some free advertisement. You know, it's puzzling - there is absolutely nothing wrong with charging for your services... So why didn't you simply tell the newspaper you came down to the disaster area and did a few jobs? Oh and by the way -- you left a shirt and a pair of dirty underwear in our kid's bedroom.

Ah... Sigh. I definitely think a retraction printed in the newspaper is called for. Perhaps they could simply print a copy of the letter he sent to us today.