IRL Tour of 14 Branchland Court

The IRL Tour of 14 Branchland Court followed the Applebee's date between Catherine and Chris on 31 August 2014. As on the date itself, Catherine's cousin Al tagged along. As Catherine would later relate, "We were going to escape to the 'mechanic' where Catie's car was, but Chrissy wanted to follow us. When he offered to show us 14BC, we took him upon it. We followed him even though Al knew where we were going. Chris seriously drives like my demented old grandma who doesn't have a license anymore because she kept going the wrong way up one way streets." For about ten minutes the trio trudged through the weedy, garbage-strewn lawn outside of Chris's burned-out home. Catherine's description: "The place is.... Bad. Much smaller than I thought it would be, too. Its overgrown and there is broken glass everywhere. Everywhere you look there's STUFF, all garbage. Bob's old workshop is full of rubbish. His greenhouse is doing slightly better but not much."

After this stop, the three made their way to the rental house for a tour and a meet-and-greet with Chris's mother and their dogs.

Transcript

[Garbled, Chris and Catie talking in the background]

Catherine: ...from what you had told me...[?]...it doesn't look all that bad, it just in need of a new roof but it looks like it's a lot more damage – you must be... that must have been devastating!

Chris: Yeah, it was devastating. At least we all got out safe.

Catie and Al: Yeah.

Al: So what's under this tarp?

Chris: Oh, that's, uh, material for the renovation.

Catherine: Ah so...[garbled by Chris speaking over Catie]...better not touch it.

Chris: The other triangle ones over there on the other side dumpster, rafters.

Al: So, how long's it been here? I see that there's the leaves and everything on it...

Chris: Oh, It's been here for, like, uh, about a week or two.

Catherine: Oh, just a week or two?

Chris: Yeah.

Catherine: Yeah.

Al: How long ago was the fire again?

Chris: It was last January, on the tenth.

Al: So it's been what, like, seven, eight months?

Chris: Yeah, it happened at like two a.m.

Catherine: That must-

Chris: Dogs woke me up, and I saw the fire, I- I was like, oh my God, fire!

Al: So...shit, so you just ran out of the house, then?

Chris: Well, didn't- I didn't think of that initially, but I called 911, they advised us to get out of the house. My mom tried to py- tried to put out the fire with the esstinguisher...

Catherine: Yeah?

Chris: If she had a second one, she would have won that battle!

Catherine: Think so? Oh, don't go in!

Chris: [?]

Al: Is that all locked up, then?

Chris: Yeah, it's locked up. I don't even remember the combination anymore for that thing. I used to have it for when I was putting the box- collecting the boxes...

Al: So after the fire, you got what was left out of the house, then?

Chris: Yeah, we salvaged a lot! There were a lot of things that were still...very good shape.

Catherine: What kind of things?

[garbled, as everyone speaks at the same time]

Chris: Hundreds, and thousands...

Catherine: Oh, there's broken glass, I'm not going to stand there!

Chris: Yeah.

Al: You've got hundreds-

Catherine: Come right here and not stand on the broken glass!

Al: I got boots on, I'm fine.

Catherine: Well, you've got boots on, I haven't.

Al: Yeah, well...damn.

Chris: Oh, it's the same shoes as you wore in the picture!

Catherine: Yeah! They're my favorite shoes. I'm probably going to have to get rid of them soon, they're starting to get um... [garbled]

Chris: They've got a nice selection at Target or Walmart-

Catherine: Mm-hmm, usually. I used to get my shoes at the [?]-

Chris: Yes, they're the upper end, that.

Catherine: ...discount- discount shoe warehouse.

Chris: Yeah.

Catherine: Yeah, it's a good place. If you- if you know how to shop, you get them pretty cheap.

Chris: Yeah.

Al: So, Chris, you said the fire was eight months ago, but they only delivered that stuff like, a week or two ago?

Chris: Yeah, a whole lot paperwork had to be processed, everywhere.

Al: Yeah!

Catherine: What sort of paperwork?

Chris: Oh, you know, the- whate- I don't know all- I don't know specifically, but-you-know, between state farm and Arcam Construction [sp?] and...Rainbow Cleaners...

Catherine: Okay.

Chris: Yeah.

Catherine: So...I suppose...[?]...I was born to speak all mirth and no matter, it's a quote from Shakespeare. This one's Shakespeare as well.

Chris: Yeah.

Catherine: I like Shakespeare.

Chris: I know you do, you told me.

Catherine: Yeah, it's a little strange, but...

Chris: Yeah, and the li- and the Tudors, you like dressing up for Halloween.

Catherine: Mm-hmm, I love dressing up for Halloween; Halloween is not too fa- too far out.

Al: Yeah.

Chris: Yeah, you know...

[garbled]

Al: So, what happened- what happened with all the windows and all?

Chris: The firemen did that, they broke the windows so they could get in... yeah, 'cuz of all the clutter we had...in the house.

Catherine: [unclear, perhaps: Yeah, you got- you've got to throw some of those things out?]

Al: So what's the story with this? It looks like an old car.

Chris: Uhhh, no, uh, actually it was a- it was- it's in newer condition than you think.

Al: How long's it been sitting here?

Chris: It has been sitting here since the fire, actually, uh, couldn't get it started to move it...da battery died, it needs a new battery.

Catherine: Oh, that's an easy fix!

Chris: Yeah it's an easy fix, but then it's got worse problems than that. We're gonna sell it.

Al: Yeah. How much you trying to get for it?

Chris: Mm, I don't know, My mom my- my mom...I don't know, that's her department, but...guessing, guessing maybe five, two to five grand.

Al: Two to five grand? How long's it been since it's run?

Chris: Ugh.

Al: Since the fire, you said?

Chris: Yeah, pretty much.

Al: Well, Chris...how old's this car again?

Chris: Ugh, I forget. Um...

Al: Probably about fifteen years, or so?

Chris: Uhh, a lot le- I'd say...less than that.

Al: All right. Well, if it hasn't run in almost eight or nine months, a lot of the gasoline inside the motor can clog it up and damage the motor so the engine might be damaged. I don't know if you'd get two or five grand for it.

Chris: Eh, well, you never know, we're gonna try sell it.

Al: Yeah. I don't know, I hope- I hope...

Catherine: I suppose you'd have to get what you could for it.

Chris: Yeah.

Al: I hope you get some cash for it, so, yeah...

Catherine: Yeah.

Chris: Well, maybe you could help me find somebody.

Catherine: There's always Craigslist!

Al: Yeah. But you get a bunch of weird people on Craigslist, too.

Catherine: Yeah, I suppose you do. I mean, I don't use Craigslist very much, but...

Al: So what's this? Is this like, an old dog pen, or bed-

Chris: Yeah, yeah, Patti, my dog Patti, who, uh, died quite- quite a few years ago, she lived- she lived in the pen. I moved the doghouse with my muscles and how strong I was, moved it right over there to where we buried her.

Catherine: Oh, right there!

Al: She bur- what?

Chris: We buried her underneath where that doghouse is.

Al: Right- right over there where that doghouse is?

Chris: Yeah.

Catherine: But that's- I guess it's best not to tread on it.

Al: Yeah, probably not good to walk-

Catherine: Oh, you've got a little gazebo back here!

Chris: Yeah.

Al: Ah, ye- did you ever spend time here?

Chris: Yeah, in- young- in my younger years we did spend time in the gazebo. And then my par- and then my parents got older than they did and couldn't [garbled] tend to the yard as well.

Catherine: Well, you could've-

Al: Maintenance- when you have a property, maintenance is a huge issue, so...

[garbled]

Catherine: Did you step up and help them a bit [Chris speaks over Catie]

Chris: I helped, I helped a bit, yeah.

Al: So what did you do to help them around maintenance, around the house?

Chris: Eh, I pull- I pulled weeds and mowed some- I did mow a lo- I'd mow the lawn, I mowed the yard, yeah.

Al: What's underneath here?

Chris: Uh, just old furniture.

Al: Furniture...

[garbled]

Chris: Like I said, a lot of stuff. Eh, get rid of all this, I'm sure.

Al: Yeah.

[Catie in background, indistinct]

Al: Hey, uh, Chris, so what's this?

Chris: Oh, that's the workshop.

Al: Well, what's it say here out front?

Chris: Oh, that's a memem- in memory of my father, here, that's his- it's a, it was me and Mis- me and my father's "dreaming studio"...[Al talks over Chris]

Al: Hey, Catie! Come take a look at this!

Catherine: What have we got here?

Al: So that plaque, that little sign there on the door, who made that?

Chris: He did, my father.

Catherine: Oh, that's lovely!

Al: So your father did?

Chris: Yeah. He kep-

Al: When did he make it?

Catherine: Oh, it says 1989 [Chris chimes in: 1989] right there on the bottom.

Al: Oh! So you would have been how old then?

Chris: It would have been...uh, definitely seven.

Al: Seven years old...so this was a workshop, you said?

Chris: Yeah.

Al: So what did you and your father do here?

Chris: Oh, we ended up building a few things in there.

Al: What- what sort of things did you build? Do you remember?

Chris: Oh, you know, wood- wood things, whatever.

Al: Like carpenter stuff.

Chris: Yeah, kind of.

Catherine: Like cabinet- or cabinet making?

Al: Yeah.

Catherine: Yeah.

Al: So, what, have you done anything in there since then?

Chris: Ugh. Wha-Uh- um, uh, erm since uhh-fter we stopped using it we essentially been using it for storage...for...a number of our things.

Al: Yeah. So how long's it been since you've used it as a workshop?

Chris: Ugh, it's been like, uh...um, sometime after nine- sometime before ['92?] or after 2000, before we moved to Chesterfield and uh- that's his garden- his garden, though. He came back here in his la'er- in his later years within the past decade to, uh- y'know-

Catherine: Ooh, more broken glass! I'm- gonna step carefully.

Chris: [garbled]...yeah, they broke the glass out of the screen door, there.

Al: So, wait a second, like, the glass here is falling outwards, like, did somebody break from the inside out? Or...

Chris: Mm, yeah, I guess so.

Al: 'Cuz like if they were outside and they broke the glass it would fall inside the building, so it-

Chris: Yeah well, also, we moved things out, so we might [have] kicked some glass out here.

Al: Ah.

Catherine: Oh, there's [marbles?] everywhere!

Al: So, when you left the house during the fire, what- where did you get out of? The front door?

Chris: We went out- we went out through the front door.

Al: Oh. It's good that you could get out that way, so...

Chris: Yeah, he had his own little setup in there of all the, uh, little [people?] and Christmas things.

Al: Ah, so your father set that up?

Chris: Yeah!

Catherine: Can we see?

Al: Cool!

Chris: He enjo- he enjoyed records.

Al: Oh, jeez!

Catherine: Oh, wow! That's quite- that's quite a collection!

Chris: There's qui- there's quite a number of records.

Al: Yeah, [such very beautiful-?]

Chris: Like I say, [there's? He's too excited to hear] a real record case! Thousands of records.

Al: Thousands of vinyl records.

Chris: Yeah!

Al: So those are all your father's?

Chris: Yeah, all- they all were his.

Al: So, have they just been sitting out there then, since he passed away?

Chris: Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. Hey we got- there's- like, boxes of them more back at- between the storage unit and a few at the house we're renting.

Al: So you've got a storage unit?

Chris: Yeah.

Al: Does that help, to store some of your stuff?

Chris: Yeah, a lot of it.

Al: Yeah. Do you think you'd ever consider selling those records?

Chris: Yeah, yeah, I belie- yeah, we're thinking about it, either donating them or selling them.

Catherine: Ouch...ouch!

[Chris and Al ignore this]

Chris: Selling them will be a lot better...

Al: I actually- I actually collect vinyl records, Chris...

Chris: Oh you do?!

Al: Yeah.

Chris [noticeably thrilled]: You-ba-dee-you'll be a big help to us, Al!

Al: Yeah. I-

Chris: She's a lot more than heaven-sent since she brought you along, now! Haha!

Al: Well, I might be willing to buy some [of] them, but it would have to be a fair price, and I- 'd be only the ones that I would want, but I might be able to help you out with some cash.

Chris: I appreciate that. Thank you so much, Al!

Al: Yeah, no- no problem, yeah.

Chris: Hmm. Well, yeah, after we get moved back in, then we got all the boxes in- in the utility room area, which is close to that door you just passed...

Catherine: Hello?

Al: Yeah.

Chris: We'll be able to [flip them out?]

[Catie talking on the phone in the background]

Al: Well, yeah, don't sell 'em to anybody else, make sure you keep 'em, let me know first before you get rid of them.

Chris: Oh, I'll hafta- I'll hafta get your- get your phone number into my phone-

Al: Yeah.

Chris: -and your address, [get yours] over there...

Catherine: Al!

Chris: We'll go on- we'll go over there now...

Al: How m- how-

Catherine: That was the mechanic, he says he's going to close up sooner- oof! Sooner than he thought he would, said he's got a family emergency. We've got to get going now, as I need my things.

Al: All right, well I can just give you a ride- I can just give you a ride home, anyway if you want, so...

Catherine: Yeah.