Two years ago my house was hit by lightning. Insurance covered the cost of replacing the fridge, microwave and dishwasher which were all fried by Zeus’ misfire – I hope it was a misfire, anyway. Because I’ve been sacrificing goats on the regular.
The fun didn’t end there. Even though we installed a house-wide surge protector (after the fact) things keep breaking down and there is no doubt in my mind, or that of the many repairmen cycling through here, that the original bolt must be to blame.
The latest victims – my 3-year old stove and my furnace’s compressor. Over a year has passed so neither is still covered by insurance. All the money I’ve saved for other long-looked-forward-to household additions has been whisked away, just like that. Quicker than a flash of lightning, if you will. Anyone else have any good wrath of the Gods type experiences to share? I’m doubling up on goats for the next month.
Twelve years ago I sent a beloved ex-boyfriend an e-mail saying that it hurt too much to just be friends, so I thought it best if we never saw each other again…EVER. Several weeks later, not having received a reply, and feeling regretful of my decision, I called him up and asked if he got my e-mail. No, he tells me, his house was struck by lightening and it fried his computer. I took it as a sign. Fast forward twelve years…now he and I are happily raising our baby girl together. Not exactly a “wrath of the gods” experience…but that’s my lightening story.
You need a lightning rod.
Cool story, Susanne. Definitely worth sharing. She’s lovely, BTW.
I have the modern equivalent, Chris. It’s a little grey box which cost $600 and is bolted to the wall under my breaker box. I have foiled Zeus for the future… but the damage described above has already been done.
Now if only I can figure out how to get my animatronic scarecrow to work.
I was on a sailboat that got struck by lightning in Put-In-Bay once. It blew out all the instruments — depth, windspeed, boatspeed, etc. Actually, the moment it struck I saw one of the little red light bulbs break and fly off the instrument panel belowdecks. The adults were on deck in raingear making sure we didn’t get loose from the mooring or get hit by a boat that had. Incidentally, that happened the next summer when we were in the same place (though on a different boat) … a boat got loose and hit our transom, it left some nasty scuff marks, but it could have been worse if my parents weren’t up there on lookout, I’m sure. Both storms were the second night we were in Put-In-Bay … unlucky harbor to stay in for more than a night, I guess. Anyway, let me tell you, it was really hard not to have the depth instrument working for the remaining week of the trip, which is directly related to why we eventually ran aground in the Detroit River. Anyway, I feel for your lightning woes.