Toasty
To ease my way back into some blogging, I present two situations, from the past few days, which I'll list under the heading of: 'I swear I'm not trying to catch the house on fire'. :-P
1.) I have periodically plugged my computer power cord into the small surge protector strip behind my nightstand. It is the same outlet strip where the N's video monitor is plugged in. The way the cords go, the two rubbed into each other but I figured, they're insulated, it should be fine. Well, I guess the computer cord finally bent more than it was comfortable with. I used a different outlet to recharge the computer one night, a few days ago. The next morning, I discovered that the computer had charged, but the cord had a funny brown mark on it, toward the base. Turns out, it was a partial break, with some exposed wire, and some toasting of the outside wrap. Yikes. An expensive 'lesson' in picking a different outlet all the time, even if not the most convenient, as 85W Mac power cords are not cheap. But they are far cheaper than fire/smoke damage to a house.
2.) I put a (less-used) decorative kiddie plate in the microwave, to quick-heat some (previously-cooked) peas to take the chill off before I gave them to N as part of dinner tonight. Two out of seven seconds later, I hear a sound that is *not* a pea popping or the like. I look in, to see a miniature flame in the center of the plate. Stopped, pulled out the plate (with black sides to a few peas), switched to regular plate, and retried. This time, no issues. Still, jeez. If it's outright bad for a microwave, I wish they'd joined the disclaimer generation and put a note on the bottom. :-P
-sb
1.) I have periodically plugged my computer power cord into the small surge protector strip behind my nightstand. It is the same outlet strip where the N's video monitor is plugged in. The way the cords go, the two rubbed into each other but I figured, they're insulated, it should be fine. Well, I guess the computer cord finally bent more than it was comfortable with. I used a different outlet to recharge the computer one night, a few days ago. The next morning, I discovered that the computer had charged, but the cord had a funny brown mark on it, toward the base. Turns out, it was a partial break, with some exposed wire, and some toasting of the outside wrap. Yikes. An expensive 'lesson' in picking a different outlet all the time, even if not the most convenient, as 85W Mac power cords are not cheap. But they are far cheaper than fire/smoke damage to a house.
2.) I put a (less-used) decorative kiddie plate in the microwave, to quick-heat some (previously-cooked) peas to take the chill off before I gave them to N as part of dinner tonight. Two out of seven seconds later, I hear a sound that is *not* a pea popping or the like. I look in, to see a miniature flame in the center of the plate. Stopped, pulled out the plate (with black sides to a few peas), switched to regular plate, and retried. This time, no issues. Still, jeez. If it's outright bad for a microwave, I wish they'd joined the disclaimer generation and put a note on the bottom. :-P
-sb