Need To Vent....

[Jaggz]

OK, here I was this morning just working away on a project - - without notice - BAM!!! Lightening hit somewhere in our neighborhood. Luckily everything stayed on here at the house, but all of a sudden my LAN connection went down. Look-up and see that the DSL modem lights look a bit odd. Power cycle the modem - no luck - call AT&T - 45 minutes later..."were sorry, but you modem is out of warranty, but if you purchase one through us we can have it to you in 2-3 business days". Ahhh!!!!

OK...decide to run down to CompUSA and pick one up from them. Step into the garage - - mash the button, Nope - no garage door opening. Looks like the circuit board is fried!!!! Manually open the door and close it behind me - head to CompUSA - out of DSL modems, but they try and try to sell me a cable modem! So head to Walmart - no luck there either. Radio Shack - BINGO, pick-up modem take it home, but still no LAN connection. Look at router - everything looks OK, but no Ethernet light on router either. Change cables about 5 times.

So now I'm so frustrated - I drive back to Wal-Mart, buy a new wireless router, come home, configure and back-up and running!!! Yeah....Oh yeah, called garage door opener manufacturer...part will be here in 4-5 business days!!! All in all - this lightening storm cost be about $250 (I know, I'm lucky compared to what could have happened)!

Thanks for your shoulders to cry on.

Jake~

[Wes]

You can live without a garage door opener. Live without broadband?!? AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

Glad you're back up and running.

[bburton]

Lightning strikes can be a very funny phenomenon: even when only nearby what they choose to take out and what doesn't get touched often makes no sense. Glad you diagnosed the situation quickly and are back up and running.

You might run a quick check of all your other electric appliances, e.g., disposal, etc.

[mobilezen]

Wow that's a pretty crazy story!

[Torrey]

Hearing a story like this, I'm glad I pulled all of the plugs on my computer equipment this morning before I left for work.

[Jaggz]

Well, just found one more thing - - the satellite is out too, but that isn't the worst part. I climbed-up on the roof to make sure nothing else was hit - - low and behold, the cable between the house and satellite dish was burned completely through!

I really should be thankful that it only zapped what it did - this could have been so much worse! I also thought it was quite ironic that I had just completed backing everything up this morning in two different places on two different media (ext hard drive & burn image to DVD)!

[suzyjazz]

Originally Posted by Jaggz

Well, just found one more thing - - the satellite is out too, but that isn't the worst part. I climbed-up on the roof to make sure nothing else was hit - - low and behold, the cable between the house and satellite dish was burned completely through!

I really should be thankful that it only zapped what it did - this could have been so much worse! I also thought it was quite ironic that I had just completed backing everything up this morning in two different places on two different media (ext hard drive & burn image to DVD)!

I'm sorry to hear about your loss, but I feel your pain. In our last house, I am convinced that lightning struck the chimney, traveled down the metal chute and came out our gas outlet. It melted sheetrock and paint off the wall. A lot of our electronics were fried: 2 TVs (27 and 24" CRTs), garage door opener, entire home alarm system (panel, contacts, everything), Super Nintendo, our router, and the integrated NIC on my computer. We managed to get the garage door opener and home alarm system replaced for free, but we were out everything else. Thank goodness my dog was OK. Her bed was near the fireplace and she laid there nearly all day every day. I realize we should be thankful that the house didn't catch on fire and that my dog was not injured. With her track record, she is pretty dam* lucky!

I hate lightning. When we have a bad storm I get as far from the windows as possible. In the last 6 months it seems like we've already had 2 bad storms where lightning struck less than 100 feet from the house.

[Wil_Bloodworth]

That sucks!

[carrbowl]

Since we are telling stories...lightning hit our downspout and knocked a hole in between the brick and downspout. It was loud enough it sent all four kids running to the parents. It's been a couple of years ago and I don't remember all the electronics we lost, but I do remember the alarm system was one of the items.

[darktiger]

Sounds like a interesting morning. I was praying for a tornado so I can take pics. Even brought my camera to work. But saw no tornado's today, damn. I guess there is next storm..

[Janice_d]

Gosh it could have been worse Jake... It could have wiped out all electronics.. or started a fire.. Luckily NO more damage was done.. WE dont have Lightening like this in Seattle.. OHH but we have earthquakes and volcanos....LOL

[thrumyeyes]

That sucks. My Father In-Law had a lighting strike to his pool motor and it blew out his computer monitor, tivo, cordless phones, security system, airtunes, and pool motor (of course...). Lighting packs a punch. Glad you are back online. I would have to camp out at my work for the connection if I lost my broadband