Friday, January 4, 2008

My New Year's Day

Since we are not yet but less than one week into 2008, I think it is still safe for me to write about my New Year's Day. I have not been feeling good this week, but I have escaped being sick for quite a while, and in fact I don't recall being sick at all during 2007. So maybe starting the new year feeling miserable should not be unexpected. Anyway, it's my excuse for not writing as much as I want or would like to.I got up early on New Year's and watched the Rose Parade, as I do every year. If you check out the link you'll find out the Parade started in 1890, and is never held on a Sunday (if January 1st falls on a Sunday, they have the parade the next day on the 2nd). I don't watch college football, so I didn't have that diversion to look forward to, but I did watch part of the Twilight Zone marathon. I have a friend who watches every year (she's a big Twilight Zone fan) and when I called her she was not interested in talking much, her attention focused on Rod Sterling's TV legacy.

I had been to Walmart and bought some Maruchan Instant Lunches. I haven't really eaten those for a long time, but when I saw them on sale for .25 each I decided to try some of the chicken flavored ones. My first introduction to the food was actually rival brand Cup Noodles (I remember the name as Cup O Noodles at one time) and I've always liked them as a quick meal, maybe with some toast. I had a friend I worked with years ago who kept a large supply of Cup Noodles in his office, and he would eat one whenever he got hungry, which was often. He would fill one of the packages with water and microwave it.
Well, I decided I would have one. I read the package directions on the Instant Lunch and it instructed to heat the water on the stove and pour it into the cup or to heat water in the microwave and then pour into the cup. It did not say to microwave the Styrofoam cup in the microwave with the water already in it. Well, that's how I always saw people in offices and workplaces do it, but I followed directions and since I did not want to go to the trouble of waiting for water to boil on the stove, I just grabbed my glass mug and filled it with water. I drink a lot of tea and most of the time just fill my glass and heat in the microwave. I find the "beverage" setting gets the water hot enough for me, but not that hot. Thinking it would need to be hotter for the Instant Lunch, I set the microwave for 3 minutes on high.The mug was very hot when I pulled it out and I poured the water into the noodles and waited with anticipation. Then I thought I'd have some tea as well and got my cup and without thinking about it filled it with room temperature water. I instantly heard a noise, a little crackle and pop. I noticed immediately that my cup had two cracks on either side all the way to the brim, splitting it in two. The glass held though. But only for a few moments. The front half fell away and I didn't have a chance to catch it as it dropped to the floor, water spilling everywhere. I thought, oh no, I'll have to sweep up little bits of broken glass. But the part that hit the tiled floor didn't shatter. It just bounced and stayed intact. The glass (which I also got from Walmart) is very thick and appears quite strong. But it had been too hot when I'd put the cooler water in it, so while it could survive a fall to the floor without breaking, water did it in. If the timing and circumstances are right, anything is possible and even the strong are vulnerable

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