Oh, Microwave Mishap!

So I used to make fun of this one friend of mine because apparently, before I met him, he had microwaved some raw hamburger meat and then ate it... all without ill effect. Now it's my turn to have a microwave oven story of my own.

It all started when I got up insanely early this morning to finish up a nonlinear dynamics homework set, having gone to sleep a bit early after a grueling day at school. I got really hungry, so I thought pasta would be a great idea and wanting to be time-efficient, I decided that it would be much less time-consuming to use the microwave. I did my usual thing of putting seasonings, dried pasta, water, and salt into a tupperware container. Once I dumped the combination into the nuker, I turned the dial some random distance before I went back to struggling with Poincare-Bendixson theorem for proving the existence of a closed-orbit solution. I was also having some fun trying to work on trying to construct Liupanov functions, which would rule out the existence of a closed-orbit solution. After all, this problem set was due in the early afternoon and even though I had a very good start, I still had a lot of work. So, while I finally began to understand Poincare-Bendixson, the stench of burning plastic assaulted my nostrils. I ran to the microwave and when I opened it, white vapours came pouring out of the nuker, as did the aroma of burning plastic and elemental carbon. In the centre of the microwave was a blackened mass that was supposed to be my breakfast and a puddle of molten plastic with some yellow stains.

Not sure what to do, I opened up all of my windows to get the smell out, but it was too late. Now, 12 hours later, my apartment still smells like burning plastic. Not only that, but my laptop computer and harp also stink even though I did evacuate the apartment to protect my poor, fragile respiratory system. I must've inhaled enough toxic fumes to take a few years off my life expectancy, but the scary part is... it's probably no more dangerous than Los Angeles air anyway!

So yeah, that was my adventure of the day. The lesson of the day: Be aware of how long stuff is in the microwave and if there's tupperware or other plastic involved, never use full power!

Other lesson: When tired and/or addled from too many hours of studying, just get some fresh fruit or veggies!

'Twas the night before the conference

So I'm sitting before my computer trying to finish up my poster for a conference presentation, but I'm not feeling particularly motivated. I'm also supposed to be working on this map for vegetation characterisation so we can start doing this baseline study for Sciurus griseus populations... but again, I'm not feeling particularly motivated. I think I had too much caffeine earlier today and I think listening to the soundtrack for Tonari no Totoro several times in a row has a funny effect on the brain too.

Ok now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'm going to finish up that poster which pretty much describes my life for the next year or so... More on that later when my brain isn't so damaged...

Oh one last thought before I go -- why is it that cell phones always ring right when I can't get to it within the time alotted?