A pithy comic strip about life, love, lust and puthy cats.

Est. 1985

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Lightning Reflexes

By Jimmy Johnson

There has been a lot of nasty weather this spring, where I live and elsewhere. Sections of the Midwest even now are experiencing violent storms.  On a Saturday morning several weeks ago, we experienced just such a lightning bolt as depicted in the above A&J from 2015. It knocked out the circuit board on the HVAC. I count myself lucky. Houses burn that way.

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26 responses to “Lightning Reflexes”

  1. TruckerRon Avatar

    Our home, with its metal siding and metal roof, is almost a Faraday cage. Cell service is spotty. We would need an external HD antenna if we didn’t still have cable. So, does that make us more attractive or less to lightning than the very tall trees our neighbors have? We don’t know. Yet.

  2. Bob in Orland Park Avatar
    Bob in Orland Park

    We had some nasty stuff go through here in the Chicago area yesterday. I watched the wind take the deck furniture and deposit in the neighbor’s yard. The weather guessers are predicting more of the same tonight.

  3. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

    I saw some nasty video of the storms racing through Central Indiana. Not tornadoes but rain/Hail going sideways. We had some rain go through over night. I had fertilized my lawn yesterday. With all of the recent rain, the patches of grass seed sprouted well and thick.

    1. Matt Avatar
      Matt

      Silver lining!

  4. Bob in Central FL Avatar
    Bob in Central FL

    We had a tree a few feet from our house in Louisiana struck by lightning one year. Too close.

  5. Debbe Avatar
    Debbe

    GR and Old Bear…I’m not at my Dad’s, staying with my sister….so this is the only way I have to let the sadness in my life be known.

    Ian passed away last Wednesday night at Dad’s house Funeral services were yesterday morning…so sorry to let you know this way.

    On thing I can say, it was mostly girls from his graduation class that come to pay their respects 🙂

    love to all

    1. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

      Debbe: I am so so sorry. All I can offer is my prayers and hope that the Peace of Christ envelops you, your family and Ian.

    2. David in Austin Avatar
      David in Austin

      Debbe, so sorry!

    3. Steve Evans Avatar

      Here is a you tube video that I hope helps

      https://youtu.be/4Ymblafuwys

    4. Mark in TTown Avatar
      Mark in TTown

      Sorry to hear this Debbe. I am saddened by your loss.

  6. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    Debbe: I am so terribly sorry.

    Check your email if you can, hon.

  7. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    (I had this ready to post when I got Debbe’s bad news. Otherwise, I don’t believe I would have thought of it.)

    Re 5-28-19 real-time cartoon: “That’s one…”

    It appears that all the walking Janis does has worked wonders for her gluts, giving her quite the cute little booty. She’d look great in the leggings we sell. (If one overlooks the 4th panel, anyway.)

    Actually, this reminds me of my aerobics classes in the ‘80s. (The females wore leotards then, not leggings. Leggings are made of considerably thinner material.) Melinda, the cute little administrative assistant to a local bank president, and I worked out our own way of doing push-ups. I would assume the push-up position with the fronts of my feet resting on the lowest rail of a ballet barre; Belinda would do the same, but at a ninety-degree angle to me, with her feet resting on the small of my back; and we would do synchronized push-ups. Quite a number of them. Good times, good times.

  8. Old Bear Avatar
    Old Bear

    Debbe

    Great BIG Hugs
    So sorry to hear of your loss.

  9. Old Bear Avatar
    Old Bear

    Yes – I have been that close – I don’t want to be any closer

    At a friend’s it came down a tree – jumped to a nail in the door frame 6 feet away-
    took out a clock and tripped a fuse – but hurt no appliances. Lucky.

    At our Farm knocked bricks off the chimney before hitting the Lightning Rod.
    No other damage.
    This was all before electronic gizmos pervaded everything.

  10. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
    curmudgeonly ex-professor

    Very sorry to hear your news, Debbe.

    My MBH’s ancestral home [ca. 1830] suffered a direct hit from lightning while she was young. It destroyed the upper portion of the brick chimney. As the bricks were (and still are) made locally, it wasn’t long before repairs were made. I suppose that, in its long life, other strikes may have occurred, but THAT one is the one she remembers since her b.r. was adjacent to the chimney and on the upper floor, too.

  11. Galliglo of Ohio Avatar
    Galliglo of Ohio

    Debbe, my heart is breaking for you. Many hugs and prayers being sent your way.

  12. Llee Avatar
    Llee

    Oh Debbe…………..

  13. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

    The storm came through Ohio and was on a path to hit Shermantown. For some reason, it split and went north and south of us. At least one person died in Dayton. I don’t know why we were spared.

  14. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

    Debbe:

    I am truly sorry. I can’t even imagine the pain that you are feeling.

    May God be with you at this time.

  15. W in FL Avatar
    W in FL

    Back in college I was working at an amusement park in New Hampshire as the captain of a replica side wheel riverboat with two tall metal stacks just behind the pilot house. During one stormy night I was in the pilot house waiting for the storm to pass when lightning hit one of the stacks. You know you are too close to a strike when in the split second between the flash and the thunderclap you can hear a sizzle.

    1. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
      Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

      W: Too bad that JJ can’t add a Like button.

  16. emb Avatar
    emb

    Debbe. I’m sorry. Wish I could be of some help. Peace,

  17. Charlotte in NH Avatar
    Charlotte in NH

    Debbe, you must be feeling so much pain, I can’t imagine. Ian was a good kid and you loved him greatly.

  18. TruckerRon Avatar

    Debbe, I still remember the awful anguish of my father when my younger (not littler!) brother died at 17 of a cardiac arrest. I’m sure you’re feeling just as much pain as he and my mother did as they tried to return to “normal” life afterwards. I’ll be praying for you.

  19. Nancy Kirk Avatar
    Nancy Kirk

    Debbe, my niece was killed in an accident when she was 23. I remember my SIL saying you get past it, but you don’t get over it. We grieve with you. Love from Nancy K.