Microwave Oven Goes All Amok, And Turns Into A Handy-Dandy Death Ray

Saturday afternoon, I heard two large pops from my Sears Kenmore microwave oven. Well, that sometimes happens, depending on what's cooking, so no big deal. But Saturday evening, I saw flashes of light coming from inside the oven, and what looked like smoldering cinders. "What's going on in there?": I thought.

Turned out, after 21 years of hardy, faithful daily use, the microwave oven had burned a hole clear through its back metal case. The flames I saw came from the ragged, burning metal edges of the gaping hole. A perfect "Faraday cage" no longer, the oven was now more like a death ray analogue to a search beam. Fortunately, the beam was pointing towards the tile kitchen counter top, not outwards towards clueless biological units.

That's too bad. I certainly will miss that microwave oven. It's been just about the most stable part of my entire life. It certainly lasted longer than my marriage. I change dogs and houses more frequently than I change microwave ovens.

The microwave oven is dead! Long live the microwave oven!