This past week I had a technician from the cable company come out to set me up with internet.
Back story: About 3 years ago I turned off the TV (haven't missed it), and I've been using DSL
through the phone company for the 'net.
When he connected his tester to the wall jack in my office there was no signal. The cable box on the side of the garage was fine, so the problem was somewhere in between.
I pulled down the stairs to go into the attic space above the garage and when he climbed to the top of the ladder he paused and said "WHOA!"
Right in front of him was a toasted section of the cable. Apparently at some time in the past we'd had a close lightning strike. I never noticed a problem since we weren't using the cable for TV.
It fried where it went into a splitter, and melted over an electrical wire that it laid across. Fortunately, the insulation on the electrical feed was stout and undamaged. There was also burned insulation around it.
On Sunday my Pastor asks, "Who wants to praise the Lord?" before he starts his sermon. I'm going to hold up a piece of burned cable and tell about when my house almost caught fire.