[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

This weekend E put a veggie burger in the microwave to heat it up for lunch. He put it on a plate, a plate that has gone into the microwave many times before. But this time when he put it in a pressed "start" we heard a "ffzzzztttt! fffzzzttt!" and I swear I saw sparks inside.

We opened it up, looked at the plate. Yup. No hidden metal. He put the burger back in wrapped in a paper towel and again we got the "ffzzzztttt! fffzzzttt!" with more sparks. This time on inspection of the inside we saw brownish/black burn marks on the side where the microwave magic comes from.

While it's tempting to hold on to it for Fourth of July, we're trashing this one and I bought a new one last night. Funny thing was, I got the updated model from Sears. And this one was $10 cheaper than sparking one I bought in 1998. Though E pointed out that with inflation, and considering my income in 1998 compared to now, that old microwave was a heck of a lot more expensive than the new one. Just interesting to think about.