It was only a few moments.
A few heartstopping, whatdoidonowgetthekidsoutwhereisthefireextinguisher moments.
When Lance ran home for a two-second “hi” during his lunch break, I put him to work. (That’ll teach him!) He helped me clear off all the computer equipment and pull the heavy glass off of the desk so I could clean it. As he unplugged a cord from the back of the printer, it dropped on the floor and our electricity went out.
An odd coincidence? We didn’t think much of it.
He went back to work, and I resumed the cleaning. Noticing that we had electricity to some parts of the house, I went to investigate the breaker box. Sure enough. I flipped the breaker switch on, and resumed the war on all dust bunnies.
And then the sparks. And more sparks. Not knowing the source of the problem, and fearing for all the not-backed-up info on my computer, I flipped the power strip off.
Then I moved the offending cord, thinking that “without power” there wouldn’t be a problem.
There was a problem. It came in the form of many sparks, flames, a bit of melting, blackening, and that sickening electrical burn smell.
That’s what’s left of my cord.
This is what’s left of my vent.
And my phone? It now is powerless. Odd.
Sometimes reminders come by way of sparks.
- Casualties: printer cord, air vent, phone. All things. Minor things.
- I’m so thankful, again, that Lance works one block away from our home. That when I call the school, they know who I am. That he can come home at a moment’s notice.
- My Swagbucks stash will easily secure me a new phone, and Amazon says it will be here in two days.
- It doesn’t take much. A few moments, sparks, some flames, it could all be gone. Scary, yes. Life ending? No. As long as I have my family, I’m good to go. It’s just stuff.
- I really should back up the info on my computer…
Thank you, Lord, for your veil of protection on my dear family today, and every day.
How scary! So glad you’re all okay. Praise God it was only little things!
Oh how completely scary! I’m so glad you figured it out as quick at you did!! Well now that your heart is beating a little more normal now, take a deep breath and say THANK THE LORD!! Wow, what a day huh!!
Many Blessings to you. (I’ll be checking my cords when I get home thank you.. lol)
I have enjoyed reading your blog.
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Oh my! So glad you all are okay!
Scary!! I hate electrical “incidents”–I’m married to an electrician, but I still don’t understand it–thank goodness he does.
Weird, and so scary! I thanked your <a href="http://amysfinerthings.com/gratituesday-guardian-angels"guardian angel when I read this!
How scary! Glad y’all are ok!
Ugh, darn HTML and cranky toddlers!
guardian angel
Thank God all is okay!
~Liz
Thank goodness no one was hurt!!
How scary! You were on the ball. Thank goodness you were home…imagine if you weren’t?! How quickly things happen.
My physics-background husband saw your photos and without reading the story said, “oops, looks the cord was still plugged in… 120V with no load… basically the outlet short-circuited when the plug hit the metal vent….” To my blank look he explained, “similar to sticking a fork in the outlet” Good thing you weren’t holding the metal. Sounds like you had more to be thankful for than you realized – and a good opportunity to remind us all to unplug appliances and electronics before removing the power cord. So glad you are unhurt – and metal vent covers are pretty easy to replace!
That makes perfect sense! I’m thrilled that he was able to explain the situation. So… even with the power cord turned off, there was still a pretty good current going on? Wow. Always unplug first!
Thank you!
I’m grateful that you’re all safe. That had to be nightmare-ish. And, a great lesson for all of us. I love Jennifer’s explanation – I was just sitting here trying to figure out why it happened.
I love how you said “it’s just stuff.” Stuff is so overrated. PEOPLE are what really matter.
Thanks for that excellent reminder…
Wow, I bet that was scary. But probably a good thing he did come home. Glad everyone is okay and you are right, it is just stuff.
Wow, how scary! Glad you are all ok.
So glad you are okay and that you allow experiences like this to remind you of the finer things! Please get your wiring checked out by an electrician just to be safe!