>   If you have a FreeGeek around that might be a good place to go with it,   
   > and/or to look for related batteries and equipment if you decide to salvage   
   > it.   
   > I've got a pretty ancient laptop, too, which I thought would be utterly   
   > unfeasible to save, but I ended up finding batteries for it on newegg, I thin   
   > it was.  Got one on order right now so that I can hopefully get out and do   
   > some   
   > work out of the house instead of being in here day and night.   
       
   Well, it works with the MagicJack voice mail. Even though I have actual phones   
   connected to it, I had to turn the ringers OFF. They were going off  in the   
   dead of night...never mind I have a hard enough time sleeping as it  is.   
   Besides, if my power is out, my internet is likely off as well. I might be   
   able to find a replacement battery on eBay, but the old saying applies..."you   
   get what you pay for".    
       
   >   My own BBS machine runs on a PPro class dual-core machine with 2GB.  Older   
   > piece of hardware, standard mini-tower size.  Everything seems to be living   
   > fairly well on it; it's not such a bad computer for something that I picked u   
   > from US government surplus many years ago here.  I do a few other things on i   
   > as well; basically dealing with communications that I want handled from a mor   
   > secure server than I trust linux or windows to be.   
   >    
   The former BBS machine has been offline since April, when the hard drive   
   wouldn't boot up. I haven't powered it up since then, and am considering   
   donating it to a local shop for parts, as I don't need it back. Most of the   
   stuff is now on the main BBS computer, which now has Windows 7 32-bit on   
   it...and I'm not going to Windows 10, if ever. Yeah, I know I said I'd never   
   go past XP, but after figuring out how to tweak things, Windows 7 is  working   
   better than XP ever did.   
       
   >   I wasn't aware of that bit about the bolts out of the blue.  That's pretty   
   > interesting and I think it actually explains something that I experienced onc   
   > when I was a kid.  There was violent weather about, but in a break in it I ha   
   > an experience with a huge flash out of nowhere that literally stunned me for    
   > good 15-20 seconds.  I was on a hillside in one of the tallest points in   
   > Bismarck, ND, when it happened.  No idea that there was any electrical   
   > activity   
   > going on at all, though afterwards I remember feeling distinctly odd.  It was   
   > so close that I never really 'saw' it, it was more of just a blinding flash   
   > that I couldn't locate the source of.   
   >    
     I've seen videos of that "bolt from the blue". Players in a soccer game,    
   and there's not a cloud in the sky. Suddenly, you see this flash, with a loud   
   crash of thunder, and nearly every player has collapsed to the ground.   
   Thankfully, lightning victims carry no electrical charge, and can be handled   
   safely. And, since the strike can cause the victim to go into cardiac arrest,   
   prompt First Aid, including CPR, is essential.   
       
     When I tell people that I'm a 2 time indirect lightning strike survivor,  I   
   tell them that "I carry no electrical charge, and can be handled safely". :)   
       
   Daryl   
      
      
   --- GTMail 1.26    
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS, Little Rock, Arkansas (1:19/33.0)