Frank:
I used to repair PC’s. And part of my repair work always involved boards, cards, modems, etc. that were fried during electrical storms. And, I’m not talking all that long ago, and I’m including hardware behind surge protection.
FWIW, I shut down, unplug, then go find a good book. Or, I may take the moment to enjoy one of my fine bourbons and some good jazz (if the hour allows). Oh, and I don’t include household appliances or TV’s in this; just my computer hardware.
The other thing is, we have our own electric utility in our town. There are times where, inexplicably, power has gone out. At such times, I always unplug my computer equipment to prevent any ‘surge’ occurring when the power comes back on.
I guess I’m just a cautionary guy :)
There’s nothing wrong with being cautionary; I’m ultra-cautious myself, being about the last Republican in Nebraska to dump Hagel, for example, because I want to be sure a ship’s sinking before I abandon it.
Nebraska, being sparsely populated outside of Omaha and Lincoln, is served by mom-and-pop telephone companies, because during the heyday of the old AT&T, it wasn’t considered a big enough of a “market” for that giant to serve.
These small businesses of course have expanded over the years, from telephones into cable television and internet service.
They find that telephone, television, and internet usage actually spikes—and quite a bit—during thunderstorms, even though in theory and on paper, it should evaporate, as your own experiences and observations have shown.
Life, as you know, is if nothing else, chance and luck, despite all “plans,” “precautions,” and well-thought-out procedures. This in fact is one of the basic tenets of Christianity (and just about every other religion)—despite that man thinks he can “control” something, oops, he can’t.
The day after Christmas, well into the middle of January, the area around here was without electricity, due to extremely high winds and ice knocking down transmission towers. Five other far-flung residences and I are at the far edge of this public power system (Nebraska has no privately-owned electrical utilities), the most primitive and last-maintained.
We miniscule few had no problems, no problems at all, and plenty of electricity, while thousands of others went without. And this, on the weakest and least-updated portion of the entire system.
Some people are just lucky, and of course I and all these others who use the telephone, the television, and the computer during thunderstorms, know that, and are appreciative of our good luck.
But what use is good luck unless one uses it?