Les Bonnes Choses

...one man stands between freedom, and the end of life as we know it.

You may have read the title of this entry in the particular deep baritone voice that you've hear a million times during the movie trailers. I'm sad to report that the owner of that voice, Don LaFontaine, has gone on to the great feature presentation in the sky. In memory of Mr. LaFontaine, I present a funny skit I saw on the interwebs about a year ago. More news after the jump.

I spent the Friday before the Labour Day weekend cleaning out the microwave and refrigerator in my office. Some of you may have seen my facebook status updates on the topic. Ken has always owned these two appliances since I've been in his lab. The microwave wasn't even in use when I started in 2002. The refrigerator was in use, at least by our lab manager, though its capacity was diminished by the ice that had been forming inside. Fast forward 6 years. The microwave had never been properly cleaned before it was recommissioned, and the refrigerator had never been defrosted. So I brought the appliances down to the SSC loading dock area where a hose was available, borrowed a hammer and large screwdriver, and removed the ice from the fridge. I had been meaning to tell the geography department that I had uncovered fossil water in the form of ice in the fridge. I uncovered some Jamaican patties, a brick of cheese, and a wooly mammoth encased in the ice that solidly filled the freezer. So that was gross. I cleaned the microwave by turning the hose on the inside of it. Normally, you might think this was a bad idea, but I had tried scrubbing it out with brillo pads before, with no real success, so I would challenge any of you to come up with a better idea. Seriously. Food stalactites had formed on the inside.

The real flaw in my plan became evident when I brought the newly cleaned appliances back into my office. As soon as the microwave was plugged in, it started microwaving. Water must have gotten inside the fan area and caused some sort of short. However, as the microwave was probably 15 years old and reclaimed, I was able to come to terms with the possibility that I had destroyed it. As it happens, it just needed to dry out and now works fine. So I now have two clean appliances in my office, just in time for my last semester at UWO.