Dinner was going to be very simple . . .
… grilled meatballs with rice heated in the microwave, and veges.
I have learnt to always use the timer if the (conventional) oven is on as I am inclined to wander off while cooking.
And off I went to continue a conversation with Charles … till I became aware of smoke — a lot of smoke coming from the kitchen.
Considering I can sleep through loud alarm clocks maybe I can also just “not hear” a fairly shrill timer while absorbed in something else.
So all I could do was turn it off, open the door and every window nearby, heave the source of the problem outside to cool down, and wait red-faced for the fire brigade to arrive.
Nothing happened! Once everything cooled down I sat at my table (computer, actually) and ate the meatballs sans rice but nicely garished with a couple of dipping sauces. That just leaves the problem of the smoke alarm — one which I had always assumed was over-sensitive, since it can be set off by a blow-dryer and has often scared the shit out of me in the past. Lesson No 1: I have a completely useless smoke detector that was installed as a building requirement, and while we have false alarms in my apartment building so often I routinely ignore them, it appears the alarms may not ring when an actual fire starts. Lesson No 2: Don’t let anything obstruct the timer dial on your microwave. Mine was never going to reach zero as a cup was nudging it.

