I just got out of the county ICU and Burn Center yesterday night, where for a couple days I wa hooked up to every instrument in the word while they removed the skin from my hands...: My entire home and worhshoppe burned down this week, taking nearly every object inside with them. The fire started at my tech bench and I could not contain it, even at personal risk to myself, and I have no idea what is what at present. The entire area is full of melted plastic, metal, scrap, black slime and whatnot... :fire:
Over 200 FC unit, dozens of Twins. thousands of games, and just about every FDS title, including keys, gold disks and the like, (most in duplicate) went up in the blaze. I have solid blocks of them that I will photograph for you allm once I can, as my camera iwas nowhere to be seen, and could be a blob of plastic and glass . One at least of the games was unique, and to be honest, I am so devastated that I am at a loss for words.
As things progress, I will replace or reimburse any customer items, paid orders, or service jobs in my possession. I am not closing my doors, but I am halting all operations (for now), with no known time at which point I shall resume. Likely in the fall. I will remain on the boards, but I will be unlikely to be selling or buying anything. I will however continue to work on the NESpander and RetroIdeo products. (My NESPander prototypes were burned up as well.)
Honestly, everything I loved just turned to ashes, so I'm at a loss for what to do at all. Maybe I'll move to Nippon or H, find a nice lady and just retire.
There is little else I can do at present, and my $50,000+ Famicom collection,including actual unique games and items, my C1, my entire Sharp collection, my virgin SBFCs, and all that I had poured my heart and soul into for years is gone, dust, cinders, or melted plastic. I hold out hope that some is salvageable, but the fire claimed about 2/3 of my building.
My collection, and my inventory all essentially went up in smoke, After I was released last night I went to inspect the damage... Looking at was once my life is truly and utterly depressing, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do, or if I will ever resume doing this. Photos will follow when I can replace my camera. I can't even find my wallet and car keys and was taken away stark naked as my clothing (that I was wearing) ignited, and I choose not to be burned up.
I have moderate to severe second-degree burns on my hands and arms, mostly from trying to put out the fire and to stop it spreading. I thought I had it out, and as I went outside for clear air and to treat my burns, I looked back and saw giant red columns of flame and thick black plumes of smoke rushing out at me. I had to rip my shirt and pants off (that had caught on fire) and thus, i was stark naked when I ran out to the front to call for the firemen.
My phone went up too, as did my wallet. My netbook was thankfully in the car, as were the backups of my literary work. Everything depends now on what the insurance company does, as I am up the Styx with a spoon and no copper coins.
I have a temporary pay-by-the-day phone on which any of you you may ring me. Just ask for the number.
Right now I honestly have no emotional capacity remaining at all... I have severe burns on my hands, and I am not even sure if I will be able to do this kind of work in the future. If now, I will live up to my word and release my documentation on FDS service. I had not intended to do so for years, but if I am never going to do it again, I will tell you all how to do it.
I will also never stop playing these games, but I think that if I do decide to rebuild my collection, I will do it from inside Nippon.
In any case, if you have anything with me, your equipment is covered. I may take a vacation to Nippon to recover, and if I do, I will be sure to get you something in addition to replacing your damaged system. If there is anyone living there (who smokes) that wouldn't mind a visitor for a while, that would be fantastic. :bomb:
Holy crap, man. I am so sorry to hear that. Glad to hear that you got out alive but, wow, I can't even imagine...
This is very awful i'm so sorry to here this. i'm happy your still alive. No one can put into words how you feel again i'm do sorry
Xious, I just got your PM. Very sorry to hear this, but I'm glad you're okay. Hoping for a swift recovery for you.
Wow, you are an unlucky person. A vacation to Nippon would probably be nice in your situation.
I'm not even sure what to type. I don't want to tell you what you already know, but that's terrible. Every collection is unique, and I couldn't imagine knowing it's gone. But never mind your stuff, I'm glad that you're alive. I think now is the time to get away.
Omg, I am so glad that you survived! That's all that truly matters.
Sorry to hear man. Glad that you're alive and I hope you recover soon. :star:
Wow, that's awful. :'(
I'm glad you were safe at least. And I hope that the insurance company will pay for the damage. Good luck with that.
Some stuff i can never replace. Assuming I get a decent payout, i will be visiting Nippon and may pick up some things, but it will never be the same, especially things like the NOS Shougi II : Extra Puzzles (that is $35,000 over on Tea4Two).
I had just received what was essentially yhe last few disks that i was missing from a full FDS set too. Now that are all yellow goop. I'm not sure what kind of collecting I will do in the future, but it will be many years before I have the spirit to care again/ I may still do the occasional servicing to be nice, but you folks may just get my guide to fixing this stuff and I may retire from doing it after this loss.
I think the only things i really want to do now are finish my novels, my game system, my ZQuest game and travel. Who knows, I might move to Osaka and then we can sit and play games together, and I can find nice Japanese lady to marry like you did. That's the way to go. Maybe I can set up a shoppe there too, where it makes more sense.
I just can't believe that the last several decades of my FC collection just got destroyed in less than a hour, and I still need to make up for customers everything they had on order or in for repair. That includes your stuff Kiddo... I will either replace it, or just send you some money once I can.
Once I have a camera again i will take and post photos so we can all cry together. Some games just got much rarer.
Once all is said and done, i will likely liquidate any of the charred or slightly melted games for people who just want to play them, or just start doing 'raffles' here or something. My heart has nor gone cold on the subject of doing this, as I have gone from having the most robust FC inventory in the world to ashes and dust.
I will of course, be focusing on developing new stuff, so that at least has not ended, and my circuit designs (and books) were all spared, as I had them backed up elsewhere. :bomb:
I"m sorry for your loss. I can't imagine what ti's like to lose everything that way. :(
bad times! I'm sure you feel terrible, but at least you're alright, and you can start to rebuild. In the meantime, there's always emulation at the very least.
I'm sorry to hear all this. It must have hurt you so much. Glad that you are still there and hope you recover soon!
Life can be a cruel bitch. :'( Here's to your recovery, personally and professionally.
Absolutely terrible, awful news. Best of luck to you in this rough time. I dont know what I would do if my collection, especially rare items burned up....... Id probably sit there and go along with them.
Glad to hear you're safe and that hopefully insurance will get you some money back. Sounds like a really terrible experience.
It's not a nice story, but of course you have to accept the things that life does to you. Perhaps this is a chance to make a clean break with "owning" items and an opportunity to gain some different perspectives on what you really need to make you happy.
OMG...
The history and archive lost is one thing - but that's part of you gone. I know you will rebuild your life as you must rememebr this is all 'STUFF'.
Please remind yourself of that again and again each day until you come to terms with it.
The one thing you couldn't afford to lose, you didn't and this is a painful chapter in your life - but you still have that lief to recover from this.
If you don't mind, I would like to say a prayer for you at this time.
I'm very sorry for all that you've lost in this tragedy, but glad that you're doing alright. I think a vacation would indeed be the best thing to help you recover.
Next time, don't burn yourself trying to save some plastic. You can always get more Famicom gear. You can't just get another arm. :)
Wow, sorry to hear that! I hope you are recovering ok! I hope you can bring your spirits up as well.
Recovering slightly, bit by bit. As to the items, I agree, most is replaceable; I may someday even try, but there were other articles there that were unique--that can never be replaced that were part of a historical heritage and are now gone forever, with little documentation...
As an historian at heart, that is the most painful part of this.
I am also still searching the wreckage for some of my artwork and other creations that I can't just replicate.
Anyhow, I am taking a vacation. Today I will be attending a Japanese cultural festival; or maybe tomorrow, as it is already mid-afternoon and I wanted to be there in the morning. The timing of this to coincide with everything else is absolutely bizarre... A Japanese festival just after almost everything I owned from Nippon went up in flames. Something like the Universe's last laugh.
I'll likely focus over the next few months on writing, designs (both electronic and art), lovely women and dark, rich stouts & porters. I appreciate all the kind words, and I will try to remain active on the boards, although it's hard; very hard, when I get flashbacks to well, my Flashback area. Somewhat ironic that as well.
I should have at least n inexpensive camera by next week, with which I shall display the damage. :bomb:
OH MY GOD.
I was just about to PM you to see if you got your items back that I FINALLY mailed to you (I feel like I should have waited a little longer now!), and how to purchase some items from your store.
I'm so sorry this happened! I hope you continue to recover physically, financially, and emotionally.
I'm sorry this had to happen to you! :( It's events such as this (unfortunately) that really let you know that life is more important than any material possession(s).
I'd like to contribute via donation one day for you to go recoup some losses (if possible)!
Hope your recovery is a smooth process.
Riley
I'm very sorry to hear this, Xious. Hopefully the insurance company gives you enough that you can get away for a while and clear your head.
Thankfully you're still here. As valuable as the stuff lost may be, it's still just stuff. You can't be replaced!
Beyond the monetary loss, it sucks that something you poured so much into was destroyed like this. :/ But hey, do take that vacation to Japan and have some beautiful women serve you beer. :)
Hope things are going better for you and you are healing well. I'm sorry to hear of your great loss, I know it must be devastating.
Hope things are going okay for you and you're getting everything sorted out. I couldn't imagine having everything burn up. Maybe you can get in some traveling when you feel up to it.
Xi, was your site hacked as well? Ugh. The lack of respect displayed by some people really burns me up.
Only the front page is down. I can get onto the Contact Us, Catalog, and everything else.
:'( I have no words for how awful this is for you. I'm glad you're ok and hopefully your burns will heal quickly possibly with the help of lovely Japanese women attending to your burns. Hopefully by some bizarre miracle you might find some stuff survived. If you ever feel the need to come to Australia for a holiday i'm sure i could put you up for a week or so as long as you don't mind listening to my husband go on about stuff and can handle a couple of crazy cats and a crazy toddler too!
I'm sure if you wanted to rebuild the collection many here would be happy to help by donating :-* ;D
Yes, it was. I found agood SSH tool for my new Android device and restored the site from anserver-seated backup. My hands are much better, and I did not need to mummify them to be able to function today, which is a vast improvement over just three days since.
Furthermore, to quote 'Jurassic Park', 'Mister Hammond, the phones are working.'. You may once again ring me at 260-FDS-DISK, and reach me in my temporary low-rent lodgings. I will probably be getting back to designing things in the coming weeks and shall likely focus on making new product rather than product restoration for the present.
I don't know when I would next be in Australia. My brother has a beautiful place in Melbourne (as I recall) that I have never once been invited to so much as look at from the roadside, so that's a very sweet offer.
Other than that, I am just keeping myself entertained. I've taken on an apprentice and I gave him his first rattan practice lesson the other day. You might have laughed to see a middle-aged, disabled man with burned hands get two kills on his student and only take one hand hit ne the first and a leg hit on the second, blindfolded. :bomb:
Hey man glad you're okay. Who cares about stuff just as long as you came out without any major damage. Next time just buy lots of fire extinguishers.
*edit*
This does remind me of a long time ago I left my hot glue gun plugged in overnight by accident. I was busy working on stuff and suddenly the glue gun literally burst into flames. Luckily the power brick has some sort of surge thingy and cut out the power and the glue gun put itself out and just left a huge scortch mark on my compacted sawdust dresser. Also nothing got damaged, only lost a cheap power brick. Even the dresser was okay it just had a big black mark on it due to spontaneous combustion of the glue gun.
Actually I have been wondering how the fire started.... ???
I read the initial post but didn't read the rest of the thread. I just wanted to say how truly, deeply sorry I am. I am sure the nightmare you are going through is nigh indescribable. You still have your life though and that is the most important thing. But, I am sure that is of little consolation. God bless.
Just read this, I sad to hear that you lost so much stuff :'(
Just sent a PM regarding the items I sent you, hope it cheers you up a little.
Sorry to hear that! I had my own fire as well....November 18. Complete loss of my shop and residence which was above the shop here in Japan:
(http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r538/Perspective334/Fire-2.gif)
I wasn't there at the time so there was never any risk to me personally. It started a few shops down and spread through the entire market. No one was hurt but it destroyed about 20 homes/shops.
I'm a little further along in the process than you are so maybe I can give you some tips. There's always good and bad in everything. Be thankful you have insurance. I did as well and that's a life saver. Secondly, you might as well look at it as an opportunity to take the insurance money and build something. With my shop it started small and got bigger over time. I'm going to move back to the US, but if I were to stay in Japan I would have the chance to make the kind of shop I always wanted but was too encumbered to make. Maybe you'll take a trip to Japan, decide to move here, start up your own shop (I can help with that if you need advice), and suddenly find yourself on a path that you never dreamed of. That's not trying to sugarcoat the situation, it's a way of telling you that you might as well think positive because it's a choice and if you don't you're going to be kicking yourself for a long, long, long, long time.
I know about the history angle.... I kept pictures of everything I sold...thousands of items....and pulled pictures from Japanese sites to items that I didn't have pictures of. In all, I had about 25 Gigs of pictures, maybe 20-25,000. It was hands down the most complete photo database of Japanese video games on the planet. All gone now. But life goes on.
Send me an email if you need help with anything. I'll be in Tokyo at the end of March but mostly I'll be where I live down in Kyushu. I'll move back to the US in the summer.
Laters,
Eric
Eric - so sorry to hear... I was wondering what happened as your online store seemed to have shut down.
Agreed, there is an upside to all this and I hope it is all a blessing in disguise of sorts.
Apparently there is a warning in the bible against amassing material wealth and becoming to attached to it. Something about '3 risks' like fire, rust and moths :S
Whatever your stance, none of this is worth your life and I'm just glad you're both still here.
Has anyone heard back from Xious since February? Phone number is dead, and his website is stagnant.