Re: Lightning (was Re: Weather Was
  By: Daryl Stout to Damon A. Getsman on Tue Oct 06 2015 14:27:00

 DS> The former BBS machine has been offline since April, when the hard drive
 DS> wouldn't boot up. I haven't powered it up since then, and am considering
 DS> donating it to a local shop for parts, as I don't need it back. Most of
 DS> the stuff is now on the main BBS computer, which now has Windows 7 32-bit
 DS> on it...and I'm not going to Windows 10, if ever. Yeah, I know I said I'd
 DS> never go past XP, but after figuring out how to tweak things, Windows 7 is
 DS> working better than XP ever did.

  I'm starting to wonder how easy it might be for me to move to a Pi, or other
arm device, with SSD storage, for my next incarnation.  This PPro has been a
monolith of stability, but I'm starting to wonder how much longer that's gonna
last.
  Now that I think about it, I've got a system upgrade coming up for that
machine to get the operating system current again, too.  I think you're
supposed to have a crucifix for at least portions of that, according to the OS
upgrade guide.
 
 DS>  I've seen videos of that "bolt from the blue". Players in a soccer game,
 DS> and there's not a cloud in the sky. Suddenly, you see this flash, with a
 DS> loud crash of thunder, and nearly every player has collapsed to the
 DS> ground. Thankfully, lightning victims carry no electrical charge, and
 DS> can be handled safely. And, since the strike can cause the victim to go
 DS> into cardiac arrest, prompt First Aid, including CPR, is essential.

  That sounds a lot like what I saw.  What I saw was probably a hilltop or two
away, or likely I wouldn't be around to be talking about it, but it was enough
so that I couldn't really tell WHERE it originated (all I saw was Bright) and
left me stunned for several seconds afterwards.
  Speaking of CPR, I really need to get my CPR certification, if not full First
Responder certification, valid and good in this state at some point.

 DS>  When I tell people that I'm a 2 time indirect lightning strike survivor,
 DS> I tell them that "I carry no electrical charge, and can be handled
 DS> safely". :)

  Heh.  I'm a resistor not a capacitor, Jim.

  -D
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