: Any damage to the writer???

Lost eyelashes, beard and some hair... Ego suffering a bit, as well...

> How close were you when the kero went?

Right there - I was just standing up from squatting over it.

> Still got yer eyebrows?

Oddly, yes. Maybe the aerodynamics of my cap helped save them - or maybe it was pushed down low enough to cover them! But, as I said, no eyelashes... The plus side to that is that they don't rub on the lenses of my glacier glasses any longer

: I had something similar happen with a new bbq. Propane leak
: and a match. I was engulfed in big blue flames, lost hair off my arms,
: goatee, eyebrows, and head

So some of these stories, or at least parts of them, come out fine in the end!

: Sorry to hear about the damage to neighbors' structure and of course your Yak
: .

Thanks. But, really, everything is turning out pretty well. Other than the yak and the barn he didn't lose anything important (like, the 1960's go cart that he has which was right in the middle of the area that burned came out of it with 3 flakes of ash on it! I know, that has more sentimental value than anything, but it is really cool!). I mean, the ceiling to his shop is gone, but all of his tools (and he has a lot of them) made it through it! He also says that his insurance company is really good so the few things that are lost should be replaced and the barn rebuilt easily enough...

But, how do I place a value on my yak? What is my time worth and how much of it did I spend? Hmm. Yeah and hmm. Hmm and yeah...

: I hope that you get to building soon. Anything barn,yak,paddle, anything. It
: is such good therapy.

Well, I'm going skiing, is that close enough? Oh, and I got a huge load of climbing holds in the mail today (_incredible_ sale at sierra trading)... Maybe I'll work a bit on my climbing wall...

thanks again and cheers!
c