[geeks] Whee! Lightning strikes, AGAIN!

[Lionel Peterson]

Well, it didn't actually hit the house or yard, but a near-by  
lightning strike took out:

An (unused) alarm system
A garage door opener
A nice tube TV (5 years old?)
A nice tube TV, VCR, DVD combo unit (5 years old)
A cable modem
And two more ports on my 10/100 switches (either end of a basement to  
second story run)

The alarm was the most 'exciting' failure, I had to crack open the  
alarm controller an disconnect the battery to silence the alarm, we  
never used the alarm, but we never disconnected it before last night...

This has reached a point where it may be worth my while to file an  
insurance claim, though it think the loss equals my deductable...

The upside is I get to shop for a couple flatscreen TVs, a 32" for  
upstairs and a 22-26" for downstairs.

Also, I saved a bit on my replacement cable modem - I went to wal- 
mart, and the comcast self-install lit was $2 less than the modem by  
itself, and $20 less than the same motorola modem at best buy. It is  
the Motorola SB5101, no frills modem...

Lionel