Have you ever wondered what happens when a more than a billion volts of electricity strike a building? Our company found out on Oct. 2, at about 3:30 in the afternoon. Graphic artist Hannah Jay was working at her desk, behind a 27-inch Apple iMac, when the lightning struck. “There was a loud boom,” she says. “Of course, everyone was shaken up; some employees were even shocked from the intensity of the lightning. After that, we were left with no access to the server, Internet, or phones.”
In the following days, we assessed the damage to our office communications systems. It was severe, affecting nearly every piece of equipment: 9 Apple computers and 2 Windows-based PCs, including our server, a phone system with 17 phones, modems, routers, network switches, a backup drive, keyboards, two printers, a high definition TV, and a PA stereo system.
For more than a week, office calls were routed to the personal cell phone of business manager Sara Short. We were unable to use our network printer for nearly three weeks. Cables ran across our office floor, connecting us to printers and each other. For five weeks, we had no elevator access to our second-floor office. That meant employees and delivery personnel hauled boxes of magazines up and down stairs. With resourceful employees and committed vendors, we’ve patched ourselves up enough to complete Evansville Business and Evansville Living deadlines, as we ordered replacement equipment. After this issue goes to print, we expect to install the computers. We certainly didn’t expect the last quarter of 2013 to begin with a bang, and we all will be glad to put the lightning strike behind us!
As you’re unpacking your holiday décor, ours — at least the Shiny Brite ornaments crafted into our cover by Art Director Heather Gray and Creative Director Laura Mathis — have been carefully packed and returned to the owners who loaned them to us for our holiday feature story (page 42). Extraordinary collectors and creators of their own line of vintage-inspired ornaments and decorations, Dennis and Margaret Haire are among the local holiday decorating enthusiasts who invited us into their homes last holiday season to show us their décor and traditions. The rich holiday stories shared by these homeowners certainly inspired us as we created this issue. We hope it puts you in the holiday spirit.
May your holidays be bright!
As always, I look forward to hearing from you.
Kristen K. Tucker
Publisher & Editor
Read “300 Words,” the editor’s blog, at evansvilleliving.com/blog, each week.
