Hm, my birthday (#46) was rather interesting this year. My friend Patti and I were scheduled to go out to EPCOT's Food and Wine celebration and eat and drink our way around the World Showcase. Instead, about 11am, the house went CRAZY.
First the big TV popped and from where I was sitting at one of the computers, the screen went tiny. Then the computers went immediately to battery backup. Then the big TV started smoking and I thought was gonna catch on fire. So, I jumped up and started pulling the plugs on the TV wall and pulling the entertainment center out in case I had to carry that huge 25" tube TV outside.
Next I got the computers unplugged just in time to see Emily the Cat come running out of the back of the house. When I got back to the master bedroom, that ceiling fan was spinning so fast I thought it would come undone...and the light was so bright I didn't know a 60 watt bulb could get that bright. Then the little flat screen TV was smoking so I unplugged that wall of electronics.
I went from room to room unplugging everything and opening windows, finding in the kitchen that all the appliances were dead already. Great! So, this old house had finally come completely undone. I was sure that whatever the problem was, it was inside the house. All the circuit breakers were ok, and some things were still running like normal--or so I thought.
Once everything was unplugged and the immediate threat was subsided, I thought about what would have happened if I hadn't been home. Would the TVs have caught on fire? Would my animals have been killed or injured?? Not things I am happy contemplating, but, it sure could have been worse.
SO, the good news is that when the lineman from the power company showed up he immediately saw the neutral wire on the outside pole had become ungrounded. That was good news for us--it was there fault! But, according to the lineman, we would have to fight to get what was due.
What worries me is what damage was done to the appliances, the pool pump, that you can't see now, but, that will evidence itself in a shorted life? Already the outside refrigerator which seemed to be running, was not running at full power. Rod was the first to notice this on Tuesday when his beer wasn't as cold as usual. Today it is dead. And the water sprinkler "brain" in the same circuit is dead as well. So add those two things to the things dead when the power was stabilized:
2 computers
1 refrigerator
1 big TV (and we had to buy a new tv stand to go with a different tv)
1 19" Monitor
1 3 handset telephone/answerer
1 VCR
1 5" Television
2 alarm clocks
1 weather radio
1 network router
1 Cable company DVR
1 Cable company cable modem/digital phone modem
1 Computer battery backup with surge protection that all the computer stuff was attached to
2 compact flourescent bulbs
1 sprinkler system
So now we wait to get some kind of settlement from our claim. The representative said she would try to get some news this week, but, then next week she would be on vacation?!!! SO, we are at least 2 weeks from getting any money for all of our outlays to get back in business.
Luckily, only one of the computers was completely fried...the other only needed a new power source. The computer guru was able to save my business documents (labels and packaging stuff mainly) from the bad computer. We opted to buy a refurbished one from him, thinking we would use the difference to get a new TV. I am guessing we will need over $3000 for all this stuff...whether that is what we will get remains to be seen.
But, the house is basically good, the animals are healthy and I will have another birthday next year!! Dang!
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