Aaaaaaaaaaand this sucks
Bogor, West Java, Indonesia is known for a record number of lightning strikes each year. I believe this, as the thunderstorms we get during the (really, really, really long) rainy season are more wicked than anything I've ever seen-and I'm from Nebraska! Still, I really liked these storms. The thunder was incredible and the blinding lightning was awe-inspiring, if not a little scary. Please notice I said "liked," past tense.
Tuesday afternoon, Travis and I were unwinding after a long day of school. I was sprawled out on the couch, watching cartoons with our cat. Travis was sitting at our brand-spanking-new desktop computer, playing solitaire. We'd just made plans to go to our local hangout, Star Deli, later that evening with the Hansons and were just chilling for a bit before we got ready to go. It had been thundering, lightning and raining all day. No big deal, last Tuesday it hailed and hey-it's the rainy season. It rains. Suddenly, though, there was an enormous POP!, a bright flash and...Travis wasn't playing solitaire anymore. Lightning had struck our house, coming in through the phone lines and frying our brand new cordless phone AND...our computer.
Travis and Beans and I sat, stunned, not quite sure what to do. Beans decided quickly-his tail swelled to the size of three cats and he bolted for cover upstairs. Travis and I sat veeeeeeeeery still for a minute, then began to say a lot of VERY bad words.
You may be wondering why we didn't have the computer plugged into a surge protector, like everyone does in the States. YOU try finding one in Indonesia. Trying to find a surge protector here is like trying to find women's clothing bigger than size negative 6. Not gonna happen.
Anyway, so...we're sans computer. Again. I'm typing this at school, using the craptastic internet connection we have there. We're taking the computer back to the store we bought it from on Saturday. It's under warranty, but I have a sinking feeling "unless it gets hit by lightning" is in the fine (Indonesian) print somewhere. Andiko, our resident computer guru, said there's a chance since the surge came through the phone cord, it's just the modem that will need to be replaced. This is likely, as the monitor turns on and all the other electrical bits do, too. Andiko said removing the fried modem and replacing it should do the trick, and this should...hopefully...cost under $100, if the company won't replace it for free. I'm hoping Andiko is right.
At any rate, if the old saying is true, we probably won' t get hit by lightning again! That's a good thing, right?
Tuesday afternoon, Travis and I were unwinding after a long day of school. I was sprawled out on the couch, watching cartoons with our cat. Travis was sitting at our brand-spanking-new desktop computer, playing solitaire. We'd just made plans to go to our local hangout, Star Deli, later that evening with the Hansons and were just chilling for a bit before we got ready to go. It had been thundering, lightning and raining all day. No big deal, last Tuesday it hailed and hey-it's the rainy season. It rains. Suddenly, though, there was an enormous POP!, a bright flash and...Travis wasn't playing solitaire anymore. Lightning had struck our house, coming in through the phone lines and frying our brand new cordless phone AND...our computer.
Travis and Beans and I sat, stunned, not quite sure what to do. Beans decided quickly-his tail swelled to the size of three cats and he bolted for cover upstairs. Travis and I sat veeeeeeeeery still for a minute, then began to say a lot of VERY bad words.
You may be wondering why we didn't have the computer plugged into a surge protector, like everyone does in the States. YOU try finding one in Indonesia. Trying to find a surge protector here is like trying to find women's clothing bigger than size negative 6. Not gonna happen.
Anyway, so...we're sans computer. Again. I'm typing this at school, using the craptastic internet connection we have there. We're taking the computer back to the store we bought it from on Saturday. It's under warranty, but I have a sinking feeling "unless it gets hit by lightning" is in the fine (Indonesian) print somewhere. Andiko, our resident computer guru, said there's a chance since the surge came through the phone cord, it's just the modem that will need to be replaced. This is likely, as the monitor turns on and all the other electrical bits do, too. Andiko said removing the fried modem and replacing it should do the trick, and this should...hopefully...cost under $100, if the company won't replace it for free. I'm hoping Andiko is right.
At any rate, if the old saying is true, we probably won' t get hit by lightning again! That's a good thing, right?
posted by Erin @ 8:04 PM
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