Set up:
Last year mid-dau sorta blew up the microwave. It was a nice one. Though, several years old. Stains inside that would never budge. So I was ok about it.
Chapter 2:
I sent Son-of-a-wrek with my debit card. Admonished him not to break the bank. Just get a regular microwave. Not a tiny one. Not one with 20 bells and whistles. Just a normal microwave. Got one text “Do you know how many choices I have?”
Again I tell him exactly what to get.
He comes home with a red microwave. At first I’m alarmed. Turns out it’s just fine.
Now today:
After dinner I was wiping it off. Mid-dau is not nearly as fastidious as I am.
I took the sponge to the control panel. I noticed a little line. I said to myself, oh crap a crack.
But, oh NO!
I scraped it with my fingernail.
Lo and behold the thin film from it’s packing comes off in one clean sweep.
Whoo hoo!! It’s like having a new microwave again.
That film was nasty. Oh, lord. We gotta be more conscious of wiping that microwave.
These people are filthy.
LOL, the first time I bought a tablet for my mentally disabled cousin and aunt they didn’t know about the little plastic piece covering the screen …we kept it on my cousins for a couple of years tho…well until it was so gross …
Reminds my of the acquaintance that did not know the cheese slices were separated by plastic and wondered why they smelled like burnt rubber when he used them for gratin. He was a lousy cook. Had he tried to crumble them he would have noticed. Or better still: had he used real cheese. At least the slices remained clean to the end.
The kids like the ones whose edges are sealed. They bite a corner off and some how pull the cheese out by dragging their teeth over it.
It’s kinda gross to watch.
I bet it was nasty. I often leave the film on things until I know what I’m doing and then peel it off and boom, everything is new again. I love that feeling.
Anyway, our children were drafted to help shovel out crap and clean the place so we could get new renters. In one rental, the people left behind a functional, but filthy microwave.
My kids started looking for things to nuke. Bugs were a popular choice. But the very best, they told me, was nuking a CD.
The flashing lights and the rainbow sparks were better than any Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza!
The resulting fire was self-contained in the microwave, so the house wasn’t burned down.
I’m not going to pretend that I always notice those films are there. Usually by the time I notice them, I figure I may as well leave them on as a transparent antimacassar.
I got a 1983 Datsun Nissan Sentra Diesel back in '91. Sometime around '97 I removed the protective film from the glow plug light on the dash. I always wondered why that light was kinda blurry.
I’ve had my current microwave for many years (a couple of decades, perhaps?). After years of having it, I’d noticed that it was getting harder to read the labels on the buttons. Ah, well, things wear out with age, but that’s a form of wear that I can live with: I can remember/figure out the buttons I can’t read based on the ones I can.
Then, a decade ago, I moved across the country. When I packed up the microwave, to make sure the door wouldn’t accidentally come open, I wrapped packing tape around it. And then of course when I got to my new place, I pulled the tape off. Which pulled off the protective film I had never known was there, as well.
All of the buttons are still to this day perfectly readable.
He was too hoity-toity. If he bought the really cheap kind it would have had the date printed in the plastic.
On things like tablets or old Kindles I just leave the film on, easier than buying a screen protector. I think we still have the film on our microwave. Maybe three years old?
We very recently noticed the finish on our dishwasher - which is 7 years old - looked oddly bad on one lower corner.
I bent down - and realized it was that same plastic layer they put on stuff. It had remained there, perfectly intact, for 7 years.
So I started trying to tease a bit of it away from the corner. Gave it up after a little bit because I didn’t feel like sitting on the floor in front of the thing to work on it.
And a week later, the machine started to malfunction. I think we annoyed it.
this reminds me of this chick I knew on aol she was bi-polar space cadet who had a few years of clarity where in she was married had kids great jod etc Apparently she went in a downward spiral and lost it all in a few years … Well we were in a chatroom and I mentioned I was boiling water for ramen …and this started a discussion on cooking techniques and variations even brands … Well, she was uncharacteristically silent and sent her an IM and she replied “You really cook it like a soup ?” I was well yeah most do but I drain mine and then put the flavor packet on the noodles and stir them up
she said and I quote " I never knew they needed to be cooked we always ate them like rice cakes and just sprinkled the flavoring on them as we ate it but the kids never liked them much " ill have to try cooking them …"
Her kids sent me a thank you note … the only time I communicated with them …then a few weeks after that dad had custody of them and she careened around the country like a tornado …
Hearing things like this almost makes me feel better about how clueless I can be.
But it does remind me of once assigning the role of mashed potatoes maker to my husband while I cooked our Thanksgiving meal. He turned to me and said, “They’re not mashing.”
I looked into his bowl and sure enough, he was trying to mash raw potatoes.
And that’s why I don’t let him do anything in the kitchen.
