Early Monday morning, a summer storm rolled in with thunder and lightning. One big lightning blast lit up the sky near our house. At 4:00 AM it woke me up.
Suddenly my bed side clock was making funny sounds. The clock had the wrong time on the display. I figured I’d reset it in the morning.
Imagine my surprise when I was leaving the house finding one garage door open. The storm must have “spiked” the garage door opener and caused the door to rise. I tried to operate the door, but it was dead. I tried to operate the other garage door. It was dead too. Bottom line, the electrical boards in the garage door openers were fried from the electrical spike. The doors can still be raised and lowered manually. There will be brand new openers today.
After I returned from my exercise routine, the day was filled with a never ending stream of surprises.
Our phone system was “fried”. We will see a repair man tomorrow.
Our internet access was “fried”. We got it restored after talking through the system with a guy in India.
The central hi-fidelity sound system does not work.
The lights in an upstairs bathroom do not activate.
The TV in the upstairs bedroom is “fried”. Dead, Nada, Nothing.
We are not sure what else has been affected but there probably will be more surprses. Fear not! I have homeowners insurance. Yep. $500 deductible. That means most repair costs will be borne by the home owner: Me.
Our back-up cell phone at least provided some contact with the real world. The electrical spike couldn’t screw up our cell. The phone is probably 5-6 years old with the original battery. You guessed it, the cell phone “puked” (Grasshopper No.5’s discription of unpleasant events). It cuts out, feins “low battery”, and doesn’t charge. Imagine not being able to talk to the outside world. What do we do? We can’t even schedule repair people.
Here is the wisdom. This too shall pass. The sun will come up tomorrow. The electrical spike of Monday morning will be a good story.
Love,
Dad (Zapped in Appleton)