Rant of the Day

Vaughn McMillan

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My turn for a rant. Or maybe two. :rolleyes: :D

As some of you may have heard, there were a number of homes in my area that were damaged or destroyed this past weekend in the LA area due to mudslides caused by the latest storm. Here's a video showing some of the damage:

http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/?watchId=e859fab6-3d30-40a0-9bf7-53dc6924a706

Now the rant(s)...

In the video, Mrs. Sclafani (the blonde resident who lost her home) seems to feel the city (or someone) is responsible for the damage to her house. She's downright indignant about the fact that her house was not protected any better than it was. Well, I hate to break the news to her, but when you live in a house on a hill at the edge of the National Forest, stuff happens. Fires. Floods. Mudslides. It comes with the territory. Yes, there are lots of men and women working to keep your house from harm, but there's no guarantee they can prevent it. Deal with it. Get over it. Move on.

I also live in a house on a hill at the edge of the National Forest. But I accept the fact that stuff happens, and if it happens to me, I'll deal with it, get over it, and move on. And when I bought this house, I tried to make sure it wasn't in an obviously high-risk location. In the video, you'll notice houses that are built below the street level. That's seldom an ideal location, but it's especially risky on a hill at the edge of a National Forest.

I get frustrated by the "entitled" people who insist on living in homes built on risky sites, but then they whine like a seized bearing whenever something bad happens to their house. I've heard that some of the residents near the fire zones are looking into suing someone (the state? the Forest Service?) because they feel the responsible parties didn't fight the fire as aggressively as the should have when it first started. Gimme a break. Just because you built on the edge of the National Forest doesn't obligate the state or Forest Service to guarantee you a fire-free life. Bob Stockbroker and Betty Homemaker should leave the fire fighting recommendations to the professionals. :bang:
 
When I lived at the Jersey shore I encountered the same 'entitlement mentality' voiced by those who lost multi-million dollar oceanfront homes in storms. Sheesh.
 
Yeah, I heard that news report where the mayor of the town wants the Forest Service to pay for the damage to the homes. That was strictly political BS. I don't think anyone expects the Forest Service to pay for anything, but the mayor can say she tried.

Well, I hope it political BS. I'd hate to think anyone really expects the FS to pay for their house. If so, they're living in a fantasy world.

Mike
 
My dad ran a wrecker service for over 20 years. Always bewildered me to watch an idiot that "jumped" his car in a deep ditch filled with stumps cry when we drug it out (this was the '60's and 70's). Yep, more damage sustained coming out cause we couldn't "fly" it out. If they hadn't put it in there, it wouldn't have to come out! Your rant is spot on Vaughn. Everyone wants everyone else to be accountable (except them of course).
 
Kinda the same as living in a flood plan and crying when your house is under water.
That's one of my hot buttons. We have government subsidized flood insurance which allows people to build in places where they shouldn't be building in the first place. Without the flood insurance they couldn't get a loan on the place.

Given that we have the flood insurance program, I'd only give people one bite of the apple. If their home was flooded and they got paid off by the insurance, they would not be able to participate in the program any more. If they decided to rebuild, it would be totally on their nickel.

I know of places where people have collected multiple times for flooding. Each time they rebuild and it floods again a few years later. Nature's trying to tell them something.

Mike
 
good rant, why is the\at mentality taking the world over ????
You make a choice to live there - so take the responsibility of your choice
Sheesh ! that gets my goat ! grow up and take the hits life deals or just die quietly I say

karl

ps loved - whined like a seized bearing
 
I am always upset at how many of us have lost our way. Some behave as if they are small children and someone else should be watching out for us, be responsible for our decisions or be available to take the blame for our problems. . . .


  • I fell through your skylight while trying to break into your house and rob you; I'm gonna sue!
  • I live in a two story house where I know a hurricane will most likely come through, every year.
  • Your dog barked at me and scared me into somehow breaking my wrist; you owe me.
  • I lost my job for being stoned and backing a forklift off the dock; got any spare change?
  • I swerved to miss a deer in the road and hit a tree; Forestry Service, pay up.
  • I rebuilt my house in Malibu after it slid into the ocean for the fourth time; the city should fix that.
  • etc., etc., etc. . . . pitiful.
I do feel sorry for folks who come on bad times but it is not always someone else's job to pick you up. . . . . Oooops! I forgot, this was Vaughn's rant . . . . sorry.
 
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  • I fell through your skylight while trying to break into your house and rob you; I'm gonna sue!
  • I live in a two story house where I know a hurricane will most likely come through, every year.
  • Your dog barked at me and scared me into somehow breaking my wrist; you owe me.
  • I lost my job for being stoned and backing a forklift off the dock; got any spare change?
  • I swerved to miss a deer in the road and hit a tree; Forestry Service, pay up.
  • I rebuilt my house in Malibu after it slid into the ocean for the fourth time; the city should fix that.

Dang Glenn, you've had one heck of a run of bad luck, huh? Sounds like you need to be more careful out there, Bud. :rofl:

Mike, I agree about the Mayor of La Cañada...she's playing for soundbites, but I suspect it's partly due to her constituents feeling entitled to get something out of it. :rolleyes:

Next earthquake we have, I'm suing the USGS. :p
 
HA! At the end the reporter describes how it's a private road! Jeez....

Yep. :rolleyes: And the debris basin that protects that road (and probably public roads below it) was built and is maintained as a preventative measure to protect city property (the public roads), not a compulsory requirement to protect the homes.

We live a few hundred feet (uphill) from a debris basin that protects the lower part of our street. The neighbors say that back before it was built in the '70s, that section of street would get deep mud and big rocks flowing down it, and any cars parked on the street would get washed down to the bottom of the hill. Our houses were built in the '60s. People knew about that possibility when they built here. And when their cars washed down the hill, they simply dealt with it. As far as I know, there's nothing in our deeds that says the city is required to protect our houses or cars. They built the debris basin to reduce their need to repair the street. The fact that it's helpful to us residents is just a bonus, as I see it. And if the basin overflows tomorrow and we can't get into or out of our house, we'll just deal with it, camp here for a few days, and see if any of the neighbors need any help.
 
Kinda the same as living in a flood plan and crying when your house is under water.

In general I would agree. Having witnessed massive flooding two years ago, I have a much different perspective now. In 140 years of record keeping, our record flood occurred in 1929 and reached 20 feet. However, two years ago, 100 year old basements that had never seen water were experiencing water lapping at their houses eaves. 2008 saw the river reach just over 39 feet. The insurance companies classified it as a 500 year flood. Guess what...they're predicting a similiar flood this year due to record snowfall.

What ticks me off is those who refuse to get flood insurance but then insist the government bail them out when they are flooded.

Interestingly enough, our city is looking to make a massive buyout of flooded out homes. They're looking at making a few parks. :D
 
matts reply, reminded me of this real estate sale some time ago near me.. its a paper company property that went belly up. the property is a commercial piece on a waterway. the waterway has contamination in it from years of improper waste treatment methodes.. well in order to purchase this property you have to clean up the mess left by the paper company. so not many companys want to purchase a already bad contamination area right? so, no takers,, it ends up being purchased by the city, for pennys on the dollar.. and WE the people pay to have it cleaned up....but if a another company had purchased it they would have to clean it up.. where is the justice???? government has the reins and we are but pawns in the game. same goes for insurance companys, like glenn said, the insurance companys dictate what goes to much..
 
I dont see this as a rant Vaughn:D To me you just stating fact that frustrates many of us so i think we share the rant.

I agree with every single post here. I wish these issues never got the press they do, they drive me dilly oh along with the NN.:rofl:

Chuck the flood plain issue is one that i simply cannot get my mind around. How do you live or build in an obviously dangerous place. :doh: Then pay for special insurance to do so.:eek: Then expect your fellow citizens to bail you out when disaster that was predictable comes along:doh:

So Vaughn i think you gonna have to pick another topic to record a rant. It looks like many agree with you.:thumb::rofl:

Larry as for the insurance companies i better keep my head low or i will be sleeping in a flood plain on my own.:rofl: I live constantly with the brotherhood of insurance illuminaties chief defender.;):D

Glenn I like your point on huricanes. I watched the series on Greenborough rebuilding on Discovery. I thought to myself yup going green is good but surely rebuilding to challenge the force of nature once again and doing it at a real high price was pretty pointless. I mean there are 50 States in the United States thats a lot of territory. Surely there is land where there aint this kind of guaranteed risk.?

In some ways i am starting to think that the whole "Natural Disaster Recovery Business" is becoming a "New Global Industry" providing "good feeling" jobs sponsored by taxpayers. Dont get me wrong i believe in helping out ones neighbor, yeah i would even help out the NN, but i dont see why i should if they build in a known unsafe place.
 
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