I Think My Microwave is Trying to Kill Me
A couple of weeks back I was in my office doing work. (When I say office I mean the bedroom that had nothing in it so I threw my desk in there and called it an office.) While doing work my microwave started beeping. I got out of my chair to check it out. On the screen it was flashing 66:66 and it wouldn’t let me stop the sound so I had to unplug it. Ever since then the same thing would happen every so often when I plugged it back in. Sometimes it would stop and then go off hours later, usually it would happen when I was sleeping so it would wake me up and make me go out and unplug it.
Now if it was 6:66 I would be worried that I had an appliance that was possessed by the devil. At that point I would have to promptly move out of my apartment. Whenever the number of the beast shows up you know that your place or residence was probably built on an Indian burial ground or potentially on a gateway to hell. Either way I wouldn’t have stuck around to find out.
Since it didn’t say 6.66 I figured it was just an error and since I didn’t have the instructions anymore I wondered if it was potentially telling me that there was a major problem with the unit. Now this microwave was a really cheap model that I bought at Target when I moved to Buffalo. It is probably time that I upgrade to something that doesn’t struggle to reheat chicken but that would require me to go shopping and actually think about what model I want.
So now I feel like I am rolling the dice every time I use it. I worry that my need for microwave popcorn could end up with a massive explosion in the kitchen. In fact I debated if I should put on my bike helmet to retrieve said bag of popcorn.
Maybe I should go microwave shopping today.
Have you ever had a killer appliance?
Note: My friend launched a new site today centered around the election with an Obama “Yes We Can Shirt”… the design of the shirt is pretty cool… Check it out here http://www.yeswecanshirt.com/
On 09/15/08 at 8:27 am
Marty said:
When it starts beeping with the 6s AFTER you’ve unplugged it then you know you’ve got problems.
On 09/15/08 at 9:21 am
Bobby Finstock said:
Good point… Until then I really don’t have anything to worry about huh?
On 09/15/08 at 8:51 am
Carolyn said:
Definitely wear the bike helmet. Then take pictures. There’s something intrinsically funny about people walking around in bike helmets.
A couple of weeks ago an old couple came into the pub I work at for lunch, and didn’t take their helmets or sunglasses off for the entire meal.
With the amount of head injuries I’ve had, my buddy and I used to wear helmets for fun. People give you very strange looks when you’re driving a car wearing a helmet. Especially when you wave to them with your best impression of a mentally handicapped person.
I’m going to hell.
On 09/15/08 at 9:26 am
Bobby Finstock said:
Well was there any doubt about that?
I always was anti bike helmet until I started riding around here and felt like I was risking my life every time I got on a bike.
On 09/15/08 at 8:52 am
Carolyn said:
Um, no killer appliances though
On 09/15/08 at 8:53 am
Charlotte said:
Weird, my computer clock switches to 66:66 everytime I open PointlessBanter.
On 09/15/08 at 9:21 am
Bobby Finstock said:
That has to be a sign… of what I have no idea.
On 09/15/08 at 10:23 am
Newt said:
My window air conditioner periodically shoots ice at me. I’m pretty sure it’s not supposed to do that.
On 09/15/08 at 1:52 pm
Bobby Finstock said:
That is probably not standard operating
On 09/15/08 at 10:44 am
jamie said:
We (me and some roomates) had this same problem-microwave in Philly. It was an old house, so I just thought it was the wiring in the socket, and we’d unplug the microwave everytime we’d use it.
It was a pain in the ass after a while, but it’s not like it exploded or anything. I just feel sorry for the poor sucker who gets it next, since we’ve moved.
On 09/15/08 at 1:53 pm
Bobby Finstock said:
Do you check for local house fires or anything?
On 09/15/08 at 11:37 am
Em Em said:
If you actually gave a crap, you could look up the manual on the internet. I’ve found countless manuals for random household appliances online- but only to find that I still can’t make my phone speak English instead of Spanish, oh well. At least it’s not beeping numbers at me.
On 09/15/08 at 1:49 pm
Bobby Finstock said:
You mean use the internet as a tool? What? GASP… you can do that?
On 09/15/08 at 12:28 pm
Augusto said:
I suggest that you like the bike helmet with aluminum foil so the radiation doesn’t fry your brain when the microwave explodes.
On 09/15/08 at 1:50 pm
Bobby Finstock said:
Ah good call…. thank god I have some philly cream cheese here… I can finish that brick off and cover my head.
On 09/15/08 at 12:28 pm
Melissa said:
I had an over that decided to spontaneously combust once, followed by an electric coffee pot and a toaster oven. Ever since, I’ve decided to put all the appliances on breaker strips and turn them off before leaving the house - except for the ‘frige and deep freeze. Knock on wood they’ve never had a meltdown.
On 09/15/08 at 1:48 pm
Bobby Finstock said:
That would be too responsible of me.
On 09/15/08 at 12:32 pm
E said:
Mine flashes 66:66 after the power has gone out and come back on, or if there’s been a surge. My guess is that you have a perfectly good microwave and a bad outlet, or a bad cord connection in your microwave. No idea, though. Usually you don’t have to unplug them when they do that, just set the clock.
On 09/15/08 at 1:42 pm
Bobby Finstock said:
I do need to set the clock… and my power is really wonky here. That is probably it… You are good… VERY GOOD
On 09/15/08 at 12:46 pm
JT said:
I once owned a TV that shot sparks out of the bottom periodically, usually during Everybody Loves Raymond.
My now ex-wife made me get rid of it, but I thought it was a great conversation piece.
On 09/15/08 at 1:41 pm
Bobby Finstock said:
During Everybody Love Raymond? It was probably trying to tell you something.
On 09/15/08 at 2:03 pm
matty said:
My vacuum cleaner and I don’t get along well at all. we had a falling out over a Crunchy Cheeto.
On 09/15/08 at 2:24 pm
Meghan said:
My microwave cord was frayed and started a kitchen fire because it was next to the paper towels. Thats what I get for stealing it from Michigan State when moved to Boston.
On 09/15/08 at 4:10 pm
Kim said:
BTW…checked out the Obama shirt…move the box over his top lip…it says “women whore ached”. I KNOW I’m supposed to read Women who reached…but SERIOUSLY…looks like women whore ached…it actually made me WANT to buy the shirt…but may put other people off…just saying
On 09/15/08 at 4:40 pm
Bobby Finstock said:
I have to let him know… that is classic
On 09/15/08 at 6:49 pm
Jeff said:
My blender raped me.
On 09/15/08 at 7:25 pm
Alison said:
Seeing as your microwave is screwed, maybe it was trying to flash 666 but couldnt get it quite right. I’d move anyway, just to be safe. Call the show ‘A Haunting’ ASAP. And definitely wear that bike helmet…at all times.
On 09/16/08 at 12:14 am
Michelle said:
I used to have a toaster that would zap you every time you tried to push down the lever to make toast. Finally it ended up in the garbage can.I think it learned it’s lesson
On 09/16/08 at 6:27 pm
Wynn said:
I got my fingers microwaved once. I think it’s personal. No one believed me because microwaves usually stop the heating when you open the door, but that time it didn’t. When I felt a sharp weird pain after a second or two I withdrew my hand quickly and I’m sure I’ll get the consequenses of this later on in life.