The Jon Blog

Do Not Try This at Home

So I came home tonight after work and a nice little stop at my neighborhood late night sushi place, and decided to look for something on my bookshelf. Mind you, this is the bookshelf where I keep my cookbooks, and it's right across a (very narrow) hallway from my kitchen.

And since I never cook, I sometimes "store" things on top of my stove, and indeed, I had left a box there that I meant to take down to the trash but had not yet gotten around to so doing.

Well, wouldn't you know that the stragetically located bookcase search ended up causing my ass to be right next to the knob for one of the burners on the stove. And wouldn't you know it, said ass and said knob made contact, resulting in the gas burner coming on and igniting said cardboard box ontop of said stove.

And just to make life more fun, when I decided to grab the fire extinguisher which lived on top of the fridge, it decided that it didn't feel like expelling its fire retardant goo onto said flames. So I had to throw water on it from the sink. Luckily, it was a mild enough fire that it was no big deal, aside from a minor stink now pervading my apartment, and the fact that I had to relight my pilot lights which at this point seem not very happy.

I guess, however, I should be relieved that I don't have to clean fire extinguisher goo from all over my stove. And I get to replace my old colander, which I hated, because it was also being "stored" on top of the stove and, being plastic, partially melted in the inferno. Always look on the bright side!

And hey, if you're going to have a fire in your apartment, a small one that doesn't wake the neighbors or require the firemen to come visit is probably the fire you want to have.

Posted by Jon at May 17, 2003 02:06 AM | TrackBack