Our new microwave

Well, folks, the old microwave was a goner, so we got a nice shiny new one that I think came to us via the Jupiter II or the Enterprise (NCC-1701-D, of course). There's no key pad, just a large dial and several task-specific little buttons. And frankly, I'm not sure that I'm sophisticated enough to use it, but I did figure out how to get my lunch hot. Oddly enough, by using the same method that I use on David's "it came with the house" one -- turn the dial until the number is high enough. But it takes a little bit to figure that out because at first blush the dial seems to balance several variables rather than being a short-cut to setting the length of time.

But it worked, so later this afternoon, in an act of total bravery, I made some popcorn. One of my co-workers has taped a large, sans serifed, some-words-in-red sign in front of The New Microwave that says:

Do NOT leave the kitchen when you microwave popcorn.

And, of course, I did not. I was even willing to undercook my kernels a bit and have a few "old maids" (as Orville called 'em) than risk explaining why we needed two new microwaves in a 24-hour period.

But this new one? It toasts! And top browns! If I can figure out which buttons to push...