Thunderstorms

 Thursday and Friday, we had awful thunderstorms!

Thursday's storm was a bit strange. A lot of thunder but no rain. Mikey went to the local shops for me and sent this photo.

Rain!

The rain was very localised.

The sky in the evening was very dramatic as well.

The sky over the mountains.

The opposite direction.

Friday afternoon's storm was crazy.

Started at about 2 o'clock and lasted a couple of hours.

This time, there was a lot of rain and very close lightning strikes.

I'm not sure what got hit, but our power went out. I don't know if any of the neighbours lost power; we just had to reset the fuse box. It sounded like an explosion; my poor cats were freaked out!!

I took a little video from my window. I don't know if the microphone picked up the thunder, but it was very loud.

Losing power wasn't that bad- no air conditioner, but after the storm had passed, we could put power back on.

Not so lucky with the Wi-Fi.

The one box that brings the signal into the house was fried. It was an older mold so maybe on its way out already, but the electrical surge finished it off!

I always thought I could survive without the internet. I'm from a generation that didn't grow up with access to everything online, 24 hours a day. I was so wrong!

I had to cancel my evening class. My phone still had some data, but not enough for a lesson. 

I had no TV, as my TV is for streaming services only; I don't have an antenna or satellite. I have books to read, but of course nothing I fancied reading! I did read for a bit, but I had planned on doing my lesson, watching TV, reading and going to bed. It felt very strange not to be able to do those things.

David ordered the machine, which is why I can write this now. Took less than 24 hours to get here! I'm glad David knows what to do!

I've seen a lot of influencers talk about going screen-free. There's a trend to bring back hobbies such as knitting, crocheting, sewing, gardening, etc. The idea is to get away from screens to stop doomscrolling. I always thought that I didn't need to do that; I always felt I could survive and thrive without my screens, but after last night I realised that I'm just as addicted to screens as young kids are. 

I think I'm going to set up a study plan for the next few months. I did last year for the last couple of months of the year; I think I'll start earlier this year!

What do you want to study for the next 4 months?