Over the weekend we had some powerful lighting strikes that caused several network devices to stop functioning ,so I went out to one of the sites that was having problems and tried to just reboot it since I didn’t have a ladder to actually see if there was any major problems. But after the reboot I still didn’t have any green lights. So I went back to the office to get a relatively new (not struck by lightning) switch to replace the one that was behind a voltage regulator, UPS, APC line surge protector was properly grounded but somehow it still got fried.

When I got back to the site I looked for the ladder that I used last time I was there and it was nowhere to be found, so I looked around and I saw a desk that was sitting outside so I moved that over to the corner of the building where I needed access. As I moved the furniture I thought this is probably more secure than half of the ladders I’ve used. I hopped up on top of the desk, unlocked the network cabinet and disconnected all the cables and unscrewed the switch and as I tried to hold the switch with one hand and unscrew the last screw holding it in place three 6 inch lizards that were hiding on top of the switch decided to join me. As I dropped the switch and took 2 steps back on the desk the lizards fell into the cabinet and looked for a better resting spot.

I’m thankful I couldn’t find the ladder because I’m sure that the surprise of the lizards would have knocked me down. I guess I learned 2 lessons, first lizards will live anywhere even in a locked box and second, desks really do make good ladders.