I just remembered what today is the anniversary of. Nine years ago today was the day I was struck by lightning! And I believe the only reason I am alive today is because of my lucky belt buckle and a metal belt-mounted retractable key chain I was wearing.
Back on September 24, 2001, less than two weeks after the destruction of the World Trade Center, there was an incredible lightning storm here in the San Francisco Bay Area. The sky was shooting lightning like it was a Tesla coil. It had been going on for a few hours by the time I got off work that night. And when I got home, the power was out and the entire apartment complex was dark.
So I got into my apartment and was sitting there in the dark wondering what I was going to do until the power came back on. As I sat there I smelled something that made me realize I had forgotten to dump the trash the night before. So I decided to take the trash out to the dumpster without thinking about it much more. I didn't think about needing to keep safe as I really didn't mind and liked lightning storms up to that point in my life.
So I closed up the bag of garbage and ran out into the storm to the dumpster across the driveway in front of my apartment. And as I turned around to go back inside, the bolt with my name on it hit me. Looking back, I see that whole area was like one big lightning attraction. Cars on either side of the chain fence surrounding the dumpster. Across from a carport made entirely of metal. All like a big lightning rod.
As I got hit, time slowed down for me. Seconds seemed like minutes. It looked like there was a flash on the car next to me a split second before I was hit. And I believe the bolt had first hit that car and then arced off to me. I believe the bolt then went to either the belt buckle or the exposed key chain and then out the other, localizing the hit to the right side of my abdominal area. Because I suddenly had an abdominal cramp so bad it felt like all the muscles there were suddenly tied into knots. The pain was so bad, I doubled over and fell to my knees. But the pain was so bad, at least I knew I was still alive.
As I was writhing in agony there on my hands and knees and the realization of what just happened set in, my survival instinct started to kick in. I knew then I was in what was basically a death-trap. I had to get to shelter before I got hit again, as I might not be lucky enough to survive a second hit. So I overcame the pain and got to my feet and staggered back to my apartment. And once inside I started to massage the cramps out of my right side.
Then it started to really hit me what had just happened. And I became charged with exuberance that I had survived what would normally kill a person. I had to tell someone. But my phone was dead, the phone lines having also been hit. But I had my work supplied cell phone and it still worked. I called my folks, no answer. My sister, no answer. I knew none of my friends were home already. So I called back to work where my boss still was and told him. And he didn't believe me, as he had just seen me not twenty minutes earlier and couldn't comprehend it happening so quickly thereafter.
About fifteen minutes later, my power came back on. And I realized I wasn't the only victim of the lightning that night. As it appeared that my apartment had taken a direct hit. I had surge protection on my electronics, but the shot that had taken out my phones also went down my DSL line, through the modem, and into the built-in ethernet port of my computer. And worse, my old G3 Mac tower also had a built-in AV daughtercard that was connected via the RCA plugs to my television set which the bolt also arced through and fried. I had lost my computer, television, phones, answering machine and microwave all from that storm. A couple of thousand dollars worth of damage.
It was a very good thing that I had renters' insurance, as they replaced everything aside from my $250 deductable. You never know when you might need it. And I still wear that same belt buckle, the same one I have worn since I was twelve years old. And yes, it does look a bit charred.
Back on September 24, 2001, less than two weeks after the destruction of the World Trade Center, there was an incredible lightning storm here in the San Francisco Bay Area. The sky was shooting lightning like it was a Tesla coil. It had been going on for a few hours by the time I got off work that night. And when I got home, the power was out and the entire apartment complex was dark.
So I got into my apartment and was sitting there in the dark wondering what I was going to do until the power came back on. As I sat there I smelled something that made me realize I had forgotten to dump the trash the night before. So I decided to take the trash out to the dumpster without thinking about it much more. I didn't think about needing to keep safe as I really didn't mind and liked lightning storms up to that point in my life.
So I closed up the bag of garbage and ran out into the storm to the dumpster across the driveway in front of my apartment. And as I turned around to go back inside, the bolt with my name on it hit me. Looking back, I see that whole area was like one big lightning attraction. Cars on either side of the chain fence surrounding the dumpster. Across from a carport made entirely of metal. All like a big lightning rod.
As I got hit, time slowed down for me. Seconds seemed like minutes. It looked like there was a flash on the car next to me a split second before I was hit. And I believe the bolt had first hit that car and then arced off to me. I believe the bolt then went to either the belt buckle or the exposed key chain and then out the other, localizing the hit to the right side of my abdominal area. Because I suddenly had an abdominal cramp so bad it felt like all the muscles there were suddenly tied into knots. The pain was so bad, I doubled over and fell to my knees. But the pain was so bad, at least I knew I was still alive.
As I was writhing in agony there on my hands and knees and the realization of what just happened set in, my survival instinct started to kick in. I knew then I was in what was basically a death-trap. I had to get to shelter before I got hit again, as I might not be lucky enough to survive a second hit. So I overcame the pain and got to my feet and staggered back to my apartment. And once inside I started to massage the cramps out of my right side.
Then it started to really hit me what had just happened. And I became charged with exuberance that I had survived what would normally kill a person. I had to tell someone. But my phone was dead, the phone lines having also been hit. But I had my work supplied cell phone and it still worked. I called my folks, no answer. My sister, no answer. I knew none of my friends were home already. So I called back to work where my boss still was and told him. And he didn't believe me, as he had just seen me not twenty minutes earlier and couldn't comprehend it happening so quickly thereafter.
About fifteen minutes later, my power came back on. And I realized I wasn't the only victim of the lightning that night. As it appeared that my apartment had taken a direct hit. I had surge protection on my electronics, but the shot that had taken out my phones also went down my DSL line, through the modem, and into the built-in ethernet port of my computer. And worse, my old G3 Mac tower also had a built-in AV daughtercard that was connected via the RCA plugs to my television set which the bolt also arced through and fried. I had lost my computer, television, phones, answering machine and microwave all from that storm. A couple of thousand dollars worth of damage.
It was a very good thing that I had renters' insurance, as they replaced everything aside from my $250 deductable. You never know when you might need it. And I still wear that same belt buckle, the same one I have worn since I was twelve years old. And yes, it does look a bit charred.
), so that super-power is within the realm of possibility.
