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Thread: Ever Have One of Those Days?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
    Posts
    1,867

    Ever Have One of Those Days?

    Got up this morning thinking I would put in a couple hours on my horn as I have been doing pretty consistently for 2-3 months. Working on some things I usually don't, so it has been really good. Until this morning.

    Last night at about 3 am I heard the loudest single crash of thunder I have heard in my life!!!!! It seemed like that bolt of lightning was surely "in" our house. Just one incredibly loud band, then immediate downpour of rain, as if the thunder bolt opened up the clouds at that exact moment.

    The not good part of my day started shortly after getting up this morning. Went to the computer to check on Dave's Forum and email as I do every day, usually several times. No internet. Hmmm. What's up? Looked at my cable modem and router, and the lights were out in both of them. Then I started putting 2 and 2 together. Both router and modem were toast. And they were plugged into a surge protector!! But wait, there's more. Both flat screen TV's in the house are toast. More than 10 LED recessed ceiling lights from all over the house toast. Oven which is 2 years old toast. Hood vent toast. Entire living room electrical circuit toast (can't even get the circuit breaker to turn on in that room). Bose sound system (with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) toast. Cable DVR toast. Did manage to replace the modem and router and spent 6 hours trying to get the new router installed, then spent 2 hours on the phone with a very nice fellow from India, and after having him repeat everything about 13 times so I could understand, the router is now working. The advertised "easy install" was anything but. That was about an hour ago. Now here I am to blow off steam.

    And the electrician did not keep his promised appearance this afternoon, so no lights in the living room. And no TV. Now I know in the grand scheme of things, my wife and I are very fortunate and are blessed with many things in life, certainly not all material, so I shouldn't complain, but gee whiz, what a drag today was.

    And I didn't touch my horn today for the first time in a long time. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. And it sure is nice that there are no circuit boards in my euphoniums or trombones!!
    Last edited by John Morgan; 06-04-2020 at 09:44 AM.
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
    KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
    Summer Only:
    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

  2. #2
    I haven't had such an expensive day anytime recently, but yes. It's been rough going recently.
    Hobbyist. Collector. Oval rotary guy. Unpaid shill for Josef Klier mouthpieces.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
    Posts
    3,853
    Wow John. Sounds like maybe the lightning strike was to your house or a tree in the yard. Sorry to hear.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Anderson, Indiana
    Posts
    270
    Hi John, Wow! I've never heard of such a catastrophic damage to so many home devices. However, that's probably because we all have so many more electronic devices today. I'm so glad that your house wasn't damaged - other than your living room electrical circuit. (I hope that is just a lighting socket and outlet receptacle problem.) I hope that your insurance company comes through.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    NYC metro area
    Posts
    523
    About 20 years ago lightning did hit at or near our house. All power went off. The surge protectors worked in that case (they were completely burned out), but the worst was to come a few minutes later - the phone line was inactivated, the burglar/fire alarm system (working from its battery) detected the absence of a phone line, and all the alarms went off. I had to open the alarm control box and disconnect the battery, then wait for the capacitors to drain until the system finally quieted down.

    The total cost was minimal, so I can't compare this to John's experience in that regard. But as far as gauging embarrassment and annoying my neighbors, I think I deserve honorable mention.
    Dean L. Surkin
    Mack Brass MACK-EU1150S, BB1 mouthpiece
    Bach 36B trombone; Bach 6.5AL and Faxx 7C mouthpieces (pBone on loan to granddaughter)
    Steinway 1902 Model A, restored by AC Pianocraft in 1988; Kawai MP8, Yamaha KX-76
    See my avatar: Jazz (the black cockapoo; RIP) and Delilah (the cavapoo) keep me company while practicing

  6. #6
    Wow, John! That's serious electrical infiltration!

    Some surge protectors supposedly have a $___ damage guarantee, so they might reimburse you to some extent. And some surge protectors have cable protection as well; might be worth trying to set that up. However, with a strong enough surge I think anything might fail.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
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  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Central North Carolina
    Posts
    2,369
    You have my sympathies John. We've never had that kind of damage here. But we do have surge protectors on our surge protectors. I think that with a powerful enough hit, nothing will do much good.

    One REALLY good thing to focus on: no fire.
    Gary Merrill
    Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
    Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
    Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
    1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
    Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
    1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)

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