We have an electric tea kettle thingumy in our kitchenette. It allegedly switches itself off when the water is heated, but there is a lack of consensus among those I polled as to whether or not it has ever actually done so. I don’t use the electric tea kettle thingumy, so I really don’t care about its workings. However, I do occasionally wish to use the microwave. And, this is where the electric tea kettle thingumy comes in. We are not supposed to use both the electric tea kettle thingumy and the microwave at the same time, lest we blow a circuit. If a circuit is blown, it can take fourteen forevers for a maintainence person to re-set it.
So… Every time I go to the kitchenette to heat up my lunch, the electric tea kettle thingumy is invariably whistling away, the water inside very clearly rumbling at a rolling boil. And, also invariably, there is someone standing over it, watching it shoot steam to kingdom come. Every time, I comment, “I think it’s done,” hoping they’ll shut it off so that I can heat up my food. Every time, the person replies with some variation of, “It’ll shut off when it’s done, so its not done yet.” Argh! Now, I may have sucked at math, and I may not have done very well in physics, but I do recall that once water reaches the boiling point, it will not get any hotter, no matter how long you let it cook. You can boil the freaking electric tea kettle thingumy dry, and it will never, ever get any hotter than 212F. How much doner do they want their boiling water to be?
red paper boat 