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Today I ........

Today I was cooking dinner when the house was struck by lightning.
Made alot of banging and shaking and blew up the fusebox. No power. No internet (wifi). Limited time until my phone runs out… 😳
Wow, I hope everything gets restored to normal quickly for you.
Our building got struck by lightening years ago. When we lived in a flat.
It was really eerie and a nasty electrical smell hung in the air after. It shorted out our TV and VCR. Pre Wi-Fi days.
 
Oooooh. In the light of day we can see bits of chimney strewn throughout the garden.
Attic is full of rubble.
Oh wow. This is not a trivial repair.
Wow, that was some strike! Was it a massive storm?
I think when we got hit, it hit the aerial so no structural damage.
 
Today I was cooking dinner when the house was struck by lightning.
Made alot of banging and shaking and blew up the fusebox. No power. No internet (wifi). Limited time until my phone runs out… 😳
Wow, that would be my biggest fear... My house is completely made out of metal, even the walls are metal. I built it out of steel girders & cold room panels which are foam sheets sandwhiched between 2 sheets of metal. & I have used a shipping container for another room. (In case we get a cyclone, I can just retreat into the shipping container..) So in an electrical storm I sit in the middle of the room not too close to the frame or walls :biggrin:
Those flash bangs from close lightening strikes are so scary. There must be a lot of energy in a lightening strike to shatter bricks :oops: & a very tricky repair job. Mother Nature can be so mean sometimes ....
 
Oooooh. In the light of day we can see bits of chimney strewn throughout the garden.
Attic is full of rubble.
Oh wow. This is not a trivial repair.

Wow, that sounds awful. Hope insurance will cover it?

My house is completely made out of metal

Are there big trees around that would more likely take a strike? Maybe you could investigate installing a lightning rod if not?
 
Wow, that was some strike! Was it a massive storm?
I think when we got hit, it hit the aerial so no structural damage.
No not really. It was a small storm. Just really unlucky/lucky. We weren’t hit personally. I had just been out jogging in the fields - no trees - so I am glad I didn’t become a human lightning (non) conductor.
 
No not really. It was a small storm. Just really unlucky/lucky. We weren’t hit personally. I had just been out jogging in the fields - no trees - so I am glad I didn’t become a human lightning (non) conductor.
1662354165338.gif That would have been awful!
 
Are there big trees around that would more likely take a strike? Maybe you could investigate installing a lightning rod if not?
There are actually, all around me - I live in a small valley on top of a mountain range... I was working with some friends unloading a trailer as quickly as possible as a storm came over us. There was a lightening bolt that went horizontally above us which made all our hair stand up - it was so freaky.. we just stared at each other for a second and made a bee line for our cars & drove home (f*** the trailer :roflmao: )
 
Today (well, this week) I moved into a house! An actual house, with a yard and fence and gate. Exciting!

Agents here are a nightmare. You tell them what you want and they offer you places that completely miss your brief. So I drew and posted a picture on FB to make it easier:

Untitled-3.jpg
Unsurprisingly, agents still offered me apartments, houses in compounds with other houses, half a duplex, houses outside the area I'd circled on a map... you get the idea. So they were still pissing me off.

But then I got a message from an agent I'd been in touch with last year when I'd been scouting Siem Reap. And she had the perfect place. It's just like my drawing!

Untitled-4.jpg

I mean, no place is perfect but it does have some nice touches (the outdoor setting, and just look at that outdoor basin and hose) but I needed to buy a fridge, washing machine and sofa. Plus a TV unit because I had my own TV already). There's a bit too much concrete in the yard but you can't have everything I guess. The house is literally brand new, and the owners have planted fruit trees: there's a mango tree, longan tree, some banana palms, a few chili plants, plus a couple of other young trees I haven't identified yet. The owners also built a couple of small shops in front so that gives nice privacy from the street which is great.

Anyway I'm all moved in and internet's connected. I've already weeded the garden beds, that's how excited I am.
 
Today I had a very unsuccessful trip to Flight Centre to book my first trip home in 5 years, only to be told we now have to book an appointment to be there. So Wednesday afternoon it now is! Talk about inconvenience and disappointment! 6 days and counting!
We'd book it online ourselves if it was a direct return trip to the UK, but we're doing the New York run in the same trip to see my stepson and family, and rather use an agent so there's someone to sort out any problems that may arise with travelling the way it is now.
 
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Today I had a very unsuccessful trip to Flight Centre to book my first trip home in 5 years, only to be told we now have to book an appointment to be there. So Wednesday afternoon it now is! Talk about inconvenience and disappointment! 6 days and counting!
You'd think travel agents would be trying a bit harder to save their outdated business model.

How about booking online? Try Skyscanner.
 
Today (well, this week) I moved into a house! An actual house, with a yard and fence and gate. Exciting!

Agents here are a nightmare. You tell them what you want and they offer you places that completely miss your brief. So I drew and posted a picture on FB to make it easier:

View attachment 59305
Unsurprisingly, agents still offered me apartments, houses in compounds with other houses, half a duplex, houses outside the area I'd circled on a map... you get the idea. So they were still pissing me off.

But then I got a message from an agent I'd been in touch with last year when I'd been scouting Siem Reap. And she had the perfect place. It's just like my drawing!

View attachment 59306

I mean, no place is perfect but it does have some nice touches (the outdoor setting, and just look at that outdoor basin and hose) but I needed to buy a fridge, washing machine and sofa. Plus a TV unit because I had my own TV already). There's a bit too much concrete in the yard but you can't have everything I guess. The house is literally brand new, and the owners have planted fruit trees: there's a mango tree, longan tree, some banana palms, a few chili plants, plus a couple of other young trees I haven't identified yet. The owners also built a couple of small shops in front so that gives nice privacy from the street which is great.

Anyway I'm all moved in and internet's connected. I've already weeded the garden beds, that's how excited I am.
And congratulations. Good luck in your new home. It must feel so different to you.
 
And congratulations. Good luck in your new home. It must feel so different to you.
Thanks. It's really nice. I want to stay here and turn the concrete yard into a tropical paradise with an above ground pool. After I weeded, I divided up some of the leafy plants into 17 smaller ones and staggered them all along one of the beds so they will grow and eventually fill it up. Need to find a nice frangipani somewhere and snap a branch off to grow. Maybe buy a couple of palms too.
 
Thanks. It's really nice. I want to stay here and turn the concrete yard into a tropical paradise with an above ground pool. After I weeded, I divided up some of the leafy plants into 17 smaller ones and staggered them all along one of the beds so they will grow and eventually fill it up. Need to find a nice frangipani somewhere and snap a branch off to grow. Maybe buy a couple of palms too.
Sounds good. We have a MASSIVE Frangipani. Shame we can't send you some branches, we have plenty to spare!
We put them on the grass verge out the front to stop people parking there. Worked well!
Plus, if you want to spend some money, there's nothing stopping you from buying an assortment of potted plants to surround the concrete parts in the garden, and a nice outdoor table and umbrella would make it more homely.
 
Plus, if you want to spend some money, there's nothing stopping you from buying an assortment of potted plants to surround the concrete parts in the garden, and a nice outdoor table and umbrella would make it more homely.
There were two tables and chairs and an umbrella provided (see the pic above). I've brought one table and some chairs inside for the kitchen though. Once my cashflow improves I will invest in pots and plants (and a pool). Strong USD is not helping at the moment, unfortunately. In the meantime when I'm out on my bike I'm looking at roadside plants I can pilfer. :biggrin:
 
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