Hi all,
As far back as I remember as a child my dad always unplugged the TV at bed time and he had a rug on the floor infront of the TV as a guide as to how close you were allowed to get to it while it was on because he though the tube gave off Xrays.
Anyway I remember one night we had a huge lightening storm and he unplugged the aerial as well. Next day we went to visit his sister who lived near the coast and was a very house proud woman (Shoes off at the door).
When we arrived we knew at once something was wrong as the usual smell of Co op wax polish as you opened the door had been replaced by an acrid smell of burnt electricals.
The scene in her beautiful sitting room was like something from a nightmare. The lightening had made a direct strike on the TV aerial and reduced the rented TV a molten crater on the floor. Burnt through her Axminster carpet, burned the wallpaper off the wall, burnt her crushed velvet curtains and everything was covered in a sticky sooty mess. The poor dog who slept in the kitchen next to the sitting room had got such a fright he had pooed all over his bed and walls and was still quaking
Aunt Jane was in a state of shock and took weeks to get over it. They got full repairs and replacements form the insurance (Good old Co op again). But ever since they took out the plug and aerial on the TV last thing each night right until they passed away.