Surreal

Today my 360 finally bit the dust. Upon returning home from work I booted up the previously invincible bastion of hopeful Microsoft PR executives to find myself greeted by three red rings and small whiffs of smoke.

Unfortunately I forgot to turn the system off or unplug it before I went to look up the Microsoft helpline. As I was dialing the number there was a loud bang and the distinct noise of violent sparking. When I rushed to the living room the carpet was on fire. I do not have a fire extinguisher on the premises.

Due to highway traffic, the firetrucks didn't arrive in time to save my apartment, or the apartment building. It was a mixed blessing that I'm such a hermit, as standing in the crowd of displaced people was extremely uncomfortable under the circumstances, but being identified as the responsible party would have likely made the situation notably worse.

The rough estimate I heard being thrown about was somewhere around 2.3 million dollars, but that was only the building and facilities themselves. Including the personal losses of all involved should push that higher.

I'm not sure what to say at this time other than the experience has been increasingly surreal, and it's hard to digest that I'm in a similar position to Tyler Durden. Lacking all my worldly possessions, it's simultaneously painful and oddly liberating.

I might go by a lottery ticket, it's not like I have anything to lose at this point.