Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater thunderstruck!

We had a couple of rumbling storms roll through Southern Ontario today and because of this thread, I unplugged all my HT equipment for safety. Maybe in 3-4 yrs I'll leave it plugged in if I think I want to upgrade and if insurance will cover it

Years ago, my daughter was on a softball team. They were having a practice and a heavy thunderstorm was approaching. My wife and I were sitting in the car watching as were a lot of other parents. I kept thinking that the "coach" would call it off - he just kept on like nothing was happening. I was counting the seconds between the flash and the thunder and getting more agitated with each passing moment - not wanting to embarass my daughter but struggling with my knowledge that you should get out of the open in a storm.....duh?
Finally there was a flash and I didn't even get to 3 seconds before the boom. I ripped open the car door, strode up to the field, called my daughter by name and said "get in the car". What did the "coach" do? He had been hitting fungos and grounders - He looked at me like I was a ***** and raised the aluminum bat up to the sky. I have never wished "ill" on anyone but I did, on this occaision, think to myself "don't kill him, but at least knock him on his a$$. Of course, nothing happened - except that most of the other parents followed my lead and pulled their children off the field............

When I read that, I couldn't help but think of the scene in "Gone Fishing" where Joe Pesci gets hit by lightning when him and Danny Glover's car breaks down in the everglades.

Absolutely a true story. When I was in the Army, one guy in the platoon bought a high-speed one man shelter. (high speed in Army'ese means 'really cool'). But he needed some anchor points to prop it up. So he went around and borrowed about 8 Entrenching tools (shovel that folds up/comes an axe) from us. He drove it into the ground around him and erected the one man tent.

Then it started to pour and while the rest of us were getting *ABSOLUTELY SOAKED* he was laughing and having a great ol' time. Then the lightning strikes came and all laughing stopped. All we heard was "hey guys, can you come and get your Etools!?!" *then* the rest of us were laughing!

Unfortunately, a soldier in another platoon (half a klick away) died after getting hit by lightning.

So I don't blame you one bit for pulling your daughter out.

I see that "coach" every now and then - I am pretty sure he can't place where he knows me from. The first word that pops in my head when I see him is "dumba**"