Apartment living

I'm still a little fuzzy on the details, but it seems there was a fire in our apartment building last night.

Yes, apparently fire trucks and ambulances rolled up around 3:00 a.m. to respond to a small kitchen fire in one of the units above us. Taylor said that he saw EMS take a person out on a stretcher to be transported to a hospital via ambulance. I am somewhat surprised Taylor didn't throw on his jacket and boots and run outside to get in on the action. Of course, I slept through all of this, only waking when the fire department turned on their large industrial fan to blow smoke out of the building. I thought it was a garbage truck--imagine my surprise to find out that the building had been on fire and we were all still inside.

This morning there was no damage visible from the outside of the building, and I haven't seen any news coverage on the event. Still, it serves as a reminder of the inconveniences (and dangers) of apartment living. Had that fire been directly above us, I might be out of some of my possessions this morning. It is scary to think that, to some extent, my safety and personal property are in the hands of my neighbors. In apartment living, one unattended candle or electrical short can change the lives of dozens of people.

Fortunately, Taylor and I have renters insurance and a fire safe containing most of our valuables. Not to say that we have rubies and emeralds stashed away, but we have our birth certificates, social security cards, lease, insurance policies, etc.--all of the things we would need to start over in case of disaster. When we were purchasing our insurance, our agent said that he is always surprised by the number of renters who don't even ask about this kind of insurance. Many people think that the only insurance out there is for homeowners, or they believe that their small collection of possessions isn't enough to rationalize the policy's cost. All I know is that if all of our possessions (or even just one or two) were destroyed in a fire or other disaster, I'd want it replaced. The peace of mind is worth the investment to me.

After the events of last night, home ownership has never been more appealing to me. More on that later.