Michael: Lightning Jolt

Lea the pit bull
Looks as vicious as any
Friendly dog could get.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

A little thunder and lightning show is very common here, but last night I was plucked from the audience and almost singed by the performance.

Amidst the usual flashes and rumbles came a jolt so powerful I thought it blew one of the windows open because almost simultaneous with the jolt was the sound of something bounce across the floor.

The electricity was out for a few minutes so I lit a candle and went to investigate. All the windows were closed but when the electricity came back up the internet and phone were out. Great, Kimme’s away and I have no way of contacting her.

Near the dining table I noticed a small square of white plastic that had been singed on one side. Odd. Turns out it was part of the cover for the line splitter between the phone line and the internet box. I unplugged the phone from the splitter and tried to connect directly to the phone line to see if that would work. No luck. That’s when I noticed the line missing from the splitter to the internet box. I found that line on the floor near the phone stand. It had been singed off at both ends and the connecting clips were still in the internet box and splitter. I also noticed the internet box had some black residue on it right where the clip from the line plugs into it. And just this morning I discovered half of the eight outlets to our power modulator are shorted out.

Then, also this morning, while I was waiting to contact our neighbor and landlord, Luzmila, to report the problem she called over to me to ask if I had electricity. Their’s went out and her nephew’s phone needed charging so she could report that her internet was out.

That was my first live action experience of  lightning damage. A short circuit. A blown fuse, I could understand, but blowing apart plastic and singing wires, I hadn’t expected that.