Congratulations.
I cannot begin to imagine how I would cope with such a calamity even without the financial burden.

Bob.

Way to go, Bob. Hope you're soon able to get the studio up and running too.

Best to you and your family.

Jack

Super Bob - congrats!! :-)

Good to hear you are back in business - must be a horrible experience to go through though...

/Ulf

Glad to hear that! Makes how long our house is taking seem short now.... :)

When do we get pictures/video of the new place?

Bob Greaves:
You might be interested in the following ideas I sent to a whole slew of governors:

THE SIXTH GREAT LAKE

Recently reading about the flooding in the Midwest and water shortages in the western states I have a solution that will put America back on top of the "can do" list of the greatest projects in the world.
The solution is to divert the flood waters from the Mississippi River by the use of dams on the west side of the river only (via short tributaries ala Niagara Falls) at strategic areas allowing the diversion of waters westward to maintain a predetermined depth of the Mississippi River. Each dam would allow the water to flow to predetermined areas via gravity fed riverbeds or huge concrete culverts to create a huge lake or system of smaller lakes like appendixes in a human being, all of the dams being linked together electronically for total control. The total number of dams, size, electrical generation feasibility, lake size, number, and location, how much water flow during non-flooding conditions, and correct barge traffic depth of the project would be determined by a college student project as they can think outside of the box. The Corps Of Engineers can then construct the project. The dams would be on the west side of the river only, which would not add any new fish control or silt problems. Some of the old dams may possibly be removed if not required for flood control. If there was an excess of water in the west with this project in effect the wastewater possibly can be vented to an existing river basin.
The scenario here is as the river level increases the "appendix dams" allow more flow keeping the river level the same while diverting the excess water to the parched areas of the west. The "appendix dams" would be large enough spaced together to handle 500 year floods.
This same technique can be implemented for the eastern states using the Ohio River.
The new secret oil shale extraction techniques, which the oil companies are all “gaga” over, need water, which can be diverted to Colorado by pipelines and pumps with this project. It is estimated that there are 1.8 trillion barrels of "shale oil" in Colorado and Wyoming. This oil is highly refined and the new extraction process does little damage to the environment.
It was estimated that over a trillion gallons of water was wasted flowing back into the Gulf which is suspected of creating the "dead zone". This huge project would solve the Mississippi River flooding, western states water shortage, electrical shortages, reverse the loss of silt buildup at New Orleans, maintain the proper barge traffic levels, and supply water for the new technique of oil shale extraction to reduce energy dependence on foreign oil producers. Since the floodwaters would be diverted to the west instead of flowing back to the gulf the fresh water supply in the U.S. would increase instead of remaining the same. The jobs creation involved constructing this project of 500 billion to 1 trillion dollars would be an economic nirvana for the next 50 years. This project would also eliminate the need to divert Great Lakes waters to the parched western states.

JJK

JJK,
Please, we have enough earmarks in our budgets now. ;-)

Good on you Bob Greaves. I have no idea how I'd have coped with such a loss. Wish you all the best and hope that all's looking up for you from now on.
Tom

Congratulations.
I think I would have rolled up in a ball and ended up in the nut house.