Mellt a Tharan
Thunder and lightning. Storms the likes of which we have only infrequently here are playing havoc with my internet usage. I was mid-blog when a huge thunderclap burst right overhead, with no warning. All the lights went down, taking the phones with them.
Usually, if I know there’s thunder about, I unplug modems and everything else connected to the phone lines. I’ve fried three Sky digiboxes and two modems since moving here. Most kit can cope with power cuts and surges in the mains, and I’ve got an expensive filter anyway, but the phone lines are something else. I’ve been out walking when a storm’s nearby and seen blue flashes arcing along the lines with each lightning strike.
This evening my expensive wireless adsl router was still plugged in when the bolt hit like, well, a bolt from the blue. There’s no power as I type this – the laptop’s switched over to it’s battery but everything else is dead. If it takes me days to post this, then you’ll know that I’ve had to buy a new one.
At least all the pollen’s been washed away for now, along with the midges.
---update---
Luckily my adsl router's not fried. But it's taken Manweb six hours to get the power back on. It's a shame in many ways. I've been reading 'Abundance', my last SF novel, red pen clutched in hand, by candlelight all evening, which seems somehow appropriate. I was looking forward to reading The Dying Light by candlelight in bed. Maybe I will anyway, and hang the electric light.
Usually, if I know there’s thunder about, I unplug modems and everything else connected to the phone lines. I’ve fried three Sky digiboxes and two modems since moving here. Most kit can cope with power cuts and surges in the mains, and I’ve got an expensive filter anyway, but the phone lines are something else. I’ve been out walking when a storm’s nearby and seen blue flashes arcing along the lines with each lightning strike.
This evening my expensive wireless adsl router was still plugged in when the bolt hit like, well, a bolt from the blue. There’s no power as I type this – the laptop’s switched over to it’s battery but everything else is dead. If it takes me days to post this, then you’ll know that I’ve had to buy a new one.
At least all the pollen’s been washed away for now, along with the midges.
---update---
Luckily my adsl router's not fried. But it's taken Manweb six hours to get the power back on. It's a shame in many ways. I've been reading 'Abundance', my last SF novel, red pen clutched in hand, by candlelight all evening, which seems somehow appropriate. I was looking forward to reading The Dying Light by candlelight in bed. Maybe I will anyway, and hang the electric light.
Comments
Oh, and looking at the time you posted this - welcome to the Club of the Nightowls. :)
Stupid software. It skipped to a German user site the moment it recognised my location, but the time seems still to be US.
The longest we went without power was in Fife about ten years ago, when winter snow also cut us off from civilisation. We cooked on the wood burning stove and read by candlelight for three days. When the power came back on it felt like an intrusion.
And no, nine months later there wasn't a spate of births ;}#
Which tells you a lot about the quality of the British TV program. ;)
Three days without power and in winter, too - eek, I'd die, I don't even have a wood burning stove - no one around here has.
I've pulled all the weird MS specific tags out of the post and the feed should work now.
I hope ;}#