Like it or not, people are not always free to
choose any place they want to settle. And even if
they could, where, pray tell, would you have them
settle that is not prone to SOME form of danger or
natural disaster? The West suffers from
earthquakes and droughts. The Midwest suffers from
droughts and tornadoes. The South suffers from
hurricanes. The Northeast suffers from blizzards. 

Are you are actually blaming Southerners for the
damage incurred in the hurricane? Do you blame
victims of drunk drivers (they chose to be on the
roads with the drunks!) or murder (they chose to
go outside where the criminals are!) or fire (they
chose to have electrical wiring in their house!)?
To compare the purchase of a house in a town that
has not seen a hurricane in 25 years -- I do NOT
live in Florida, for the record -- to parking a
car in on a vandalism-prone street is comparing
apples and oranges. Apples and lettuce, even.
Buying a home involves careful thought and the
weighing of options, odds, and career choices. No
place is perfect, but you make the wisest choice
you can. Parking a car in a crime zone, on the
other hand, is a spontaneous, careless judgement
more or less guaranteed to end in disaster. If you
can't see the difference, I feel sorry for you.

As for the insurance issue, I have always been
open about why I do not have it. Namely, it costs
more than I actually make per month. I'd love to
add it to all the other policies I have -- car,
fire, flood, health, dental, etc. But that's a
little hard to do when the money isn't there. To
add insult to injury, even the most generous
policy still has an enormous deudctible, typically
5K, which my damage does not reach. So even if I
had it, it would have paid me NOTHING. I know. I
have looked into trying to buy this insurance for
years now. So your assumption that "insurance
would have solved all this" is erroneous.

Your implication that I am spending madly on cels
as I tear up cheap offers of hurricane insurance
is not appreciated. Anyone who knows me can tell
you how laboriously and slowly I have collected
those pieces by putting away tiny bits of money
every week, working with payment plans, and in
general choosing items that are good deals. Almost
all the cels you see on my site I have owned for
YEARS -- I rarely add anything new to my
collection because of, guest what, cost.

I have already stated that I am shutting down this
fund -- something started by friends to try and be
kind, not to start any sort of pissing match over
who has things worse -- so I'm not sure what your
point is by continuing this, unless it is just to
make me feel worse than I already did.
Congratualtions. You succeeded. Do you feel bigger
and better now?

I thank those who started this campaign to try and
save one of the few hobbies I have. But even if
the critics here have been rude and insulting,
they are also right. As I have said from the
beginning, I am lucky to have what I do. 

Pardon me if I avoid coming here in the future. It
is true what they say -- no kindness goes
unpunished. I am sorry for all of those who
thought they were doing right, only to have their
efforts turned into this. Thank you, again, to
those who were so kind and generous. I believe in
karma. It will be returned to you someday.

Good luck to all, and may your collections grow
strong.