I know lightning and thunder are different, but Thunderstruck sounds cooler. First, everyone is ok. Just collateral damage around the house.

I woke up around 3AM this morning to a thunderstorm outside and rain coming inside. I got up and shut the windows, got a towel and dried off the ledge. I climbed over Perl (the dog) and got back down in bed. My eyes were just shutting when a thunderous pop filled my ear and a bright light filled the room.

I sat right up and Dena woke up. The dogs were alert: Dora cowered and Perl ran to the window to investigate. I checked around briefly to make sure the house wasn’t on fire. Adrenaline took a half hour to drop to normal levels and we went back to bed.

The fun began this morning. Dena woke me up because there was a buzzing noise coming from my office. That’s enough to get me out of bed, wide awake. I think we got off lucky. So far the damage is pretty minor. Both Vonage boxes (so our phone lines are out), the speakers connected to my desktop are kaput (although the desktop appears to be fine), and the cable box in the bedroom. Nothing irreplaceable.

I still have to test the rest of the household electronics and computer gear that was plugged in. The ground fault circuits tripped and did their job, as did the surge protectors on the big stuff. At least I know first-hand what a lighting strike sounds like.