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Daily Archives: November 6th, 2012

How To


I recently made some repairs on my microwave, I had to replace the latching mechanism and waited several months for the part. Having replaced it and had all parts working again, I thought about the “public” and “work” microwaves I have encountered. The common factor in these units is that no one takes responsibility for the cleaning of these units. Occasionally someone will attempt the cleanup but more often than not they go uncleaned after spills. While I do speculate on the folks who do not do any cleanup after themselves in this instance, I am more concerned with the life of the unit and the inconvenience of its demise to others. Basic maintenance of a microwave is this: After use wipe the side walls, top and bottom and the plate. Use a mild soap solution but be sure to follow  with a clear rinse to remove ant sops film. The final stage is to wipe the door, the door ledge and door gasket. Doing this will extend the life of the unit and prevent an early demise. Two last but important points are to insure the vent (s) are not blocked by being placed near a wall or in some cases a cabinet (if the cabinet has an open back, it is usually OK) and cover what you cook or heat, I use a wax paper under a lid if available for the cooking utensil. Microwaves are not tremendously expensive any  more but why buy one when you can extend the life of the one you have.

I feel Great!


60 minutes yesterday gave me a boost. Morley Safer interviewed two long time Congress members (Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid) about the malfunctioning Congress and that interview showed clearly why we are in such trouble. Each of these gentlemen had little to say that was substantive to why Congress has been dysfunctional aside from the fact that they disagreed and tacitly wanted to  blame the other guy. I have been advocating the changing of the guard in Congress for years and now my point has been made on national television. We need to vote in new people who will make some changes such as term limits, salary and retirement  reforms that reflect the country. We have allowed the Congress to stay in office past their ability to be useful. The opportunity to change needs to begin with a new Congress that has folks of all types who are willing to do what is required to move us forward. This means addressing  the idea of retired Congress members becoming lobbyists for some people whose interests  are not the interests of  the people. We must remember that the founders all had jobs aside from Congress and were in essence part-time but got work done and were paid only expenses for time spent in doing the work of the people. Thank you 60 Minutes.