Did you know that a microwave oven and a toaster oven each use about fifteen amps of power? And that when you run them both at the same time, on the same circuit¹, you can overload said circuit and cause it to blow? Neither did I. I nearly ruined my delicious dinner of microwave lasagna and garlic bread thanks to my naivete. Of course, while they were busy cooking away remaining frozen, I was at my desk, checking my email and working on some homework. "It suddenly got really hot in here," I thought to myself. Thinking I had forgotten to turn on the switch for the fan, I ran to the front door to see. On. I flipped it off, then on again. Nothing.

I ran to the kitchen. The microwave, itself an already silent machine², has no power. Neither does the toaster oven. Neither does the light in the living room. Neither does the light in the bedroom. My computer was fine, luckily. It's such a relief, really, to know that the ENTIRE house isn't on a single circuit. While I was trying to look for the cause of the outage³, I half-expected to find an old and faded paper stating that the series circuit for the place had been hand-signed for approval by Thomas Edison himself.

My landlord very graciously came to my rescue and flipped the switch on the breaker behind the house, since I had no idea where the thing was anyway. He even explained to me how to fix it myself. We'll see how I do next time I forget the rule of thumb of running only one small appliance at a time. I'm clearly far more gifted at breaking things than I am repairing them, so don't be surprised if I suddenly disappear without a trace. It probably just means I completely destroyed all electricity in the vicinity.

¹I had no idea they shared the same circuit. Hello, learning by trial and error!

²Even when I'm right next to the thing, I can barely hear it cooking away. I have the most bitchin' microwave ever.

³Because, you know, I know SO MUCH about electricity and all.