In the photo above you’ll see what remains of a formerly square clear plastic drawer divider after it has been run through the electric dishwasher on the top rack.
I got it in my head to wash said formerly square clear plastic drawer divider because I was in the process of being tidy. I was cleaning out the junk drawer in the kitchen and the divider was dirty.
I tossed the drawer divider into the dishwasher without a second thought. It never dawned on me to find out if it was dishwasher safe.
It is not. Case in point.
Still, when I pulled the formerly square clear plastic drawer divider out of the dishwasher, I didn’t swear or berate myself for my mistake. Nope, no negative self-talk here.
Instead, channeling my late mellow mother, a history teacher with a quiet sense of humor, I said with a hat tip to President Harry Truman, this just goes to prove that:
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the dishwasher.”
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QUESTIONS OF THE DAY
Have you ever melted anything in the dishwasher?
What’s the last thing your good intentions accidentally destroyed?
Do you have a junk drawer?
~ ~ 🔹 ~ ~
Ha ha! Too often has this very thing happened to me. I don’t even want to cast my mind back and get self into stew (which reminds me of burnt stew, rice, veg, onions, you name it, and ruined pot). Thanks for Truman’s wise words 🙂
My whole desk looks like a junk drawer –
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Susan, it’s so easy to destroy an object, isn’t it? I’ve burned a few things on the stovetop, rendering the pot a goner. My desk used to look like a junk drawer, too– but I’ve gotten that under control. Most days.
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I removed our dishwasher and built drawers since I never used it…. but I have broken unbreakable bowls, shattered numerous glasses on the kitchen faucet and cracked a plate in half cooking bacon in the microwave. Huzzah!
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Rivergirl, I’m impressed by your ability to crack a plate in half when cooking bacon in the microwave. Now that’s the way to make a statement. I’ve also shattered many an *unbreakable* Pyrex casserole lid just be being near it.
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And do I have a junk drawer? I have a kitchen, bathroom, desk and 2 bedroom junk drawers. I’m the queen of junk drawers!
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You rock the junk drawer concept. Good job, going above and beyond!
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Too much junk… too few drawers.
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Yes, drawers can be so fussy about how much stuff you put in them. It’s like they have limits or something!
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I have not melted anything in the dishwasher in many a year but I did notice that a glass (from my favourite set of glasses) was becoming etched during the process so they are all hand-washed now.
Sometimes I feel I have multiple junk drawers and even junk rooms. This feeling is a direct result of decluttering my house with an eye to what I want to take with me when I move. I’m doing a version of the Swedish Death Clean but prefer to call it the Canadian Cross-Country Move Clean instead! 😉
Deb
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Deb, I like your concept of a Canadian Cross-Country Move Clean. It makes getting things tidy sound empowering, not like a chore… which is what most of my cleaning adventures are. When do you move? How much stuff will you take with you?
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I don’t have a set date yet – but am hoping for late May/early June (once threat of late spring snow storms in the mountains has passed). I’m taking only what “sparks joy” 😁 and/or is essential for comfortable living – which is still a lot!
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You sound like you have the situation in hand. Sparking joy is good, being practical is good. Now all you have to do is get there in one piece. Best of luck on your move.
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Thank you Ally!
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I no longer have a dishwasher but feel confident that when I did I must have melted something in it. I think I do have a few of those same clear plastic containers though and at least 2 of them have cracked, just by my picking them up!
I cracked one of my plates recently and had to toss that, but I’m getting rather tired of this set so I may have to crack a few more and then start over from scratch with new. I like that idea as they were inexpensive to begin with!
Oh, no real junk drawer, but I do have one that holds what I would probably put in a desk… if I had a desk… 🙂
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Deb, you cracked the dividers by touching them. I’m laughing here because that’s so believable. If they can melt, they can crack, eh?
Your reasoning for getting a new set of plates is sound. I look forward to reading that a few more of your plates have *accidentally* cracked and you’ve been *forced* to buy some new plates.
As for your faux junk drawer, I can understand its purpose and existence. Call it whatever you want!
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I did that with a rectangle container that I put in my fridge to store condiments. I now have to turn the ketchup and mayo sideways to store them….
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LA, so you’ve adapted to your goof! You’re a better woman than I. I tossed this little twisted square into the recycling bin and decided to do without.
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It mocks me every time I need the soy sauce…like it says to me…see, hand washing wasn’t good enough…you needed the deep clean…..Ha ha….so yes…it’s my lesson in humility…😉
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I’m laughing. What an unexpected place to find humility– holding the soy sauce.
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😉
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I thought your little twisted square was artistic. It could become a trend.
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Zazzy, yes! I could use it for an art installation. Think of the possibilities.
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Think of the things you could melt!
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Bwha-ha-ha! The possibilities are endless. 😁
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There was that time when I wished to impress you by making banana bread, then promptly forgot to add flour to my banana goo and destroyed the baking pans. Whoops!
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Z-D, I’d forgotten about that incident. That was a long time ago but you did manage to destroy the baking pans, smoke up the apartment, all the while trying to do a good deed. Ain’t it the way?
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This is why the KonMarie method advocates using shoeboxes and lids as dividers ~> no one will accidentally toss them in the dishwasher. 😆
We have a small drawer in the kitchen for odds & ends (tape, twist ties, instruction books for kitchen paraphernalia, a flashlight, etc.) But it’s pretty well organized so let’s call it “le junque” drawer.
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Nancy, you mean cardboard shoe boxes and lids? Like my mother did? I like your “le junque” drawer idea. It sounds so fancy and upscale, unlike our basic old junk drawer.
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Yup. Plain old cardboard shoe boxes ~ great as drawer dividers, per Marie Kondo.
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OK. Got it. My mother was all about doing that and she seemed to be filled with joy, so maybe there’s something to it!
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I find myself playing cleaning roulette, especially with the washing machine: “This throw pillow has been drooled on so much by the dog, I have to wash it.”
Husband: “Will it survive?”
“It’s either clean or Marie Kondo-ed!”
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AutumnAshbough, that’s a pretty good way of looking at things. They either get clean your way or they get Kondo-ed out the door. Love it.
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I’ve started using the dishwasher as a place to put things after I’ve washed them. They just drip dry, and I don’t have them laying around on the counter. That’s important, since I have only half the counter space since my move. I’ve re-shaped a couple of plastic containers in the microwave, but never managed to do something in with the dishwasher.
I gave away the cabinet that held the junk drawer stuff when I moved, so I had to fine a substitute. The first step was getting rid of 80% of the stuff that was in it. Now, I have a nice, shallow but large basket with a lid that I use. I brought it from Liberia, so it displays nicely, but now I call it my “office in a basket,” and it holds all that “stuff.”
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shoreacres, I use the oven to hold some cooking trays so using your dishwasher as a drying place makes sense to me. When counter space is sparse, creativity ensues.
I adore your office in a basket idea, especially if the basket has special meaning to you. Pretty and practical are a great way of having a junk drawer without having a junk drawer. Perfect.
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I love our kitchen junk drawer. It always surprises me with things I forgot we had. Yesterday, it surprised me with a piece of Hubba Bubba. And it was grape…my favorite!
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Jill, your junk drawer is in tune with your needs to an almost prescient degree. I’m impressed by it. Our junk drawer is more of a loner, keeping to itself, hiding that which we might want when we want it.
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I don’t dare put anything in the dishwasher that is not glass or metal! This from experience…
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Dorothy, you make a good point and one that I need to keep in mind. I just tossed the divider into the dishwasher without thinking it through. Fortunately it really doesn’t matter what happened to it, but it is a good story!
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Cool topic on a hot topic, Ally. No comment here except that my junk drawer used to be more junky than it is now.
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Marian, so you’ve managed to create a stylish junk drawer without melting anything in the dishwasher! Show off. 😉
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Junk drawer? Oh heavens no. I have a hodge podge drawer. At least I had up until this house. In this house, I cannot afford an entire drawer given over to hodge podge; I have a basket. Actually two now. It’s just easier. Every now and then I enjoy going through it where I find all sorts of lost treasure. Thanks. It’s been fun.
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Janet, calling something a hodge podge drawer sounds much classier than calling it a junk drawer. Of course using baskets to hold your odds and ends of stuff [aka lost treasure] is even classier. You inspire me to upgrade my terminology.
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And you inspire me to lighten up. I vow to try. 🙂 seriously.
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No doubt if you intend to lighten up then you shall do so! 🙂
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That’s a funny turn on that phrase. Harry would be proud. At least it only melted. I’ve been known to set wooden utensils on fire in the dishwasher.
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Dan, you can do that? Set wooden utensils on fire in the dishwasher? I bow to your ability to cause havoc when good intentions go awry. Also, kind of funny.
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On two occasions, I put a wooden spoon in the silverware bin. They are lightweight and the water pressure pushed them out. They fell onto the heating element and caught on fire during the drying cycle. Don’t ask me why I did this twice.
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I’ve never heard of such a thing happening, but I can see how it could happen. As for doing it twice, just say you’re an optimist and let it go at that. Hope springeth eternal and all that…
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BTW, I love your EU Compliant Policy
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Thanks, Dan. Legal counsel here at Chez Bean told me that you don’t have to write something in legalese to make it legal. Hence my clearly-stated policy.
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I have never lived in a home with a dishwasher. We didn’t have one growing up (nor a washer and dryer)… and there isn’t one in my current house (Which is probably a good thing given all my recent plumbing issues).
I do have a junk drawer, but it kinda blends in with all of the other junk I have around the house….
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evilsquirrel13, I was close to 30 before I lived anywhere with a dishwasher. I immediately took to it and have had one, for which I’m grateful, ever since. You make a good point about how a junk drawer may in fact be unnecessary in certain home decor styles. 😄
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It’s so hard to believe that everything isn’t dishwasher safe these days! Doesn’t everyone have a junk drawer? Where would you put those bits and pieces that you know you’ll need but rarely do?
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Kate, you think like I do. I put the drawer divider into the dishwasher because how else would I clean it? And as for a junk drawer, always had one, always will have one. Would it even be home without one? 🤔
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Can you only have one junk drawer??? 🙂
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joyroses13, well now, there’s a question for the ages!
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🙂🙂
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To answer the first and third questions – of course. Is there anyone that can truly say no? To the second question, I don’t remember. Or there’s been a large enough number I don’t remember which was last. Some things are best forgotten.
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Carol, I’d wonder about any person who has or had a dishwasher who hasn’t or didn’t at least once destroy something in it. That sounds implausible to me. As for good intentions gone by the wayside, that happens to all of us, doesn’t it? To some degree. In all aspects of life. 🤷♀️
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We have TWO junk drawers, and I applaud you for having a formerly square clear plastic divider dish in yours at all! Can you still use it? If it’s junky now, that just seems apropos for the drawer!
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Betsy, you are an overachiever. Obviously. But I can see how two junk drawers could be a thing. The divider is unusable because it won’t fit its wobbly self in the drawer. I tossed it out with the recycling trash.
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Bummer it can’t still be used, but I’m glad you got over it so easily. I probably would’ve been quite … bent out of shape over it. 😉
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Ha! No doubt you would have been. Great word play, my dear. 😊
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I’ve melted things in the dishwasher also. But have you ever thrown bills into the recycle or organized paperwork by accidentally getting rid of important documents? Guilty here.
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Margaret, so far *fingers crossed* I’ve not lost the bills or destroyed any important documents. Although I can see how that could happen, especially if I was tired. What did you do about your mistakes?
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Luckily, I look at the mail before I toss it, so I remembered getting a bill, but then couldn’t find it. I had thrown it in the recycle with a few other recyclables. In the case of throwing away important documents, I had to request another copy of them. They were usually tax things.
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I’m glad you were able to rectify your mistakes, but what a hassle all around. We all have thrown out the wrong things, but that reality doesn’t make it any less stressful.
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We melt things in the dishwasher all the time. It’s like a hobby. I’m sure we’ve unintentionally destroyed something, but we tend not to let it bother us. And at our house, damn near every drawer is a junk drawer…
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John, you’ve made me laugh out loud here. Your hobby sounds like it could be expensive. I know what you mean about all drawers being in essence junk drawers. There’s a truth to that.
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We have entirely too many junk drawers! The thought of cleaning them gives me nightmares!
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Jan, I can understand that. I don’t know what came over me to try to sort through the junk in the junk drawer, but you can see where it got me. Who knew that divider couldn’t go in the dishwasher? 🙄
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I don’t remember wrecking anything in the dishwasher but I rarely put plastics in there, even if it says dishwasher safe. There are drawers in the kitchen and the desk in the living room that hold “miscellaneous objects” because of course we have no junk in this house.
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Janet, I like how your word play allows you to rise above the plebeian idea of a junk drawer. You are onto a good approach there. Miscellaneous objects sounds so… organized.
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I haven’t destroyed anything lately. Our junk drawer in the kitchen is a mess. No one takes responsibility.
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Anne, in my experience most junk drawers are a mess. I mean, who really wants to organize one of them? Don’t even know why I tried…
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You tried to straighten up your junk drawer because you have an organizing bone that most of us weren’t born with. Good for you!
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Thanks, Anne. I do have a need to organize things. Not like an obsessive person on a mission, but like a hobbyist who enjoys the process. When I have the time, of course.
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Totally something that I would do. Neatness does have its virtues.. and its disadvantages.
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Donna, you said it. I never, ever thought to look online to see if this particular plastic square was dishwasher safe. Thus my virtuous attempt to be tidy went sideways. Mark that in the disadvantage column.
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I can’t remember the last thing I melted in the dishwasher, but I have done it in the past. Yes, I have a junk drawer…one might make an argument that I have several, but…I really tried to get rid of them when I moved. I really did! I tossed a lot of what was in them.
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Deborah, I have a theory that junk drawers find you. You start out thinking you won’t need one, then *wham* there you are with a couple of them… and somehow it all makes sense even if you did toss stuff.
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😂 That’s so true!
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Just saying 🤔
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No, but I have melted a plastic container in the microwave. 😀 And I have shrunk sweaters in the dryer. 😞
I have a junk drawer, which is full of old takeout menus and instruction guides from various appliances, some of which I probably threw away (like past coffeemakers)!
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L. Marie, good points about the microwave and the dryer. I’ve done the same things. Our junk drawer has some of those appliance guides, too. I keep them there thinking I’ll need them, but like you, some are so old I don’t know which appliance they went with.
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I don’t think I’ve ever melted anything in the dishwasher, but I have made a mistake like that in the microwave.
When designing our kitchen years ago, I designated one drawer as the “junk drawer” (there was always one in every kitchen I’ve ever had) and my husband pushed back saying that he didn’t want a drawer dedicated to junk. So… I stated to call it the “kitchen office” drawer (for pens, pencils, rubber bands, scissors… you know, junk) and that made it acceptable. Promise you won’t tell him it’s the same thing, ok?
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Janis, you made me laugh with your clever way of convincing your husband that you don’t have a junk drawer. Obviously a kitchen office drawer is completely different than a junk drawer. Everyone knows that. 😊
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We once had a small, 6″ or so baby pine tree in a pot in the living room. I went to mist it with water and it turned out it was 409. It died. I felt terrible and the husband was none too happy with me. 😦
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The Travel Architect, that’s a funny story. I could see me doing the same thing. Of course, if nothing else, at least your baby pine tree was clean when it died. Yep, that’s me looking at the bright side.
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I’ve never had a dishwasher Ally, but I do have a junk drawer … alright, a few of them, because the other drawers get filled up too quickly. My former, very organized, self could lay her hands on anything in a minute’s time, but sadly those days are gone. We used to have an egg-shaped gizmo for cooking hard-boiled eggs in the microwave. Had it for years, and it actually had a metal tray that held four eggs and because the metal tray was completely encased in the egg, with just a tiny hole where steam came out, the metal was fine to use in the microwave. You put water to the line, plunked the eggs in the metal tray, put the lid on and about 10-12 minutes later, perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs. The gizmo came apart in the middle and looked like the L’eggs stockings containers for pantyhose. Anyway, one day I was in a hurry and didn’t get the lid on just right and no odd sounds came from the microwave to alert me I made a boo boo, but I opened the door when it was done to see hard-boiled egg bits strewn from one end of the microwave to the other! You never saw such a mess. The gizmo was immersible in water since it had no cords to it, so it cleaned up nicely but the egg was in every crack and crevice of the microwave. A neighbor once put a non-microwavable plate into the microwave. It had gold trim around the edge and it blew the microwave door off and it flew across the kitchen.
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Linda, I’ve never seen anything like your hard-boiled egg cooking device, but I can imagine the kind of mess that’d result from four eggs blowing up inside a microwave. And there’s nothing more tricky to get perfectly clean on the inside than a microwave with all their odd angles and awkward placement in the kitchen. None seem to be a place where I can actually see inside them easily.
Your neighbor blew the door off the microwave? That’s horrifying. I’d be freaked out for weeks after that, but I do know NOT to put plates with metal trim in the microwave. Still, a cautionary tale…
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When I brought home the microwave, our first one, I had been using the one at work that was in the kitchen for a while and said “we have to have one of these” so I bought one. My mom was reading the instructions and said “I don’t like this – look at all the warnings and you remember when Jimmy blew the door off the microwave?” It dented the wall as it flew off with such force – what was he thinking?
The worse was getting egg off the screen that covered the light in the microwave and the door crevices. I Googled and found the cooker on Walmart (Microwave Egg Boiler) if you’d like to see it – that’s what we had. It worked fine and it was me that was me in a hurry and not paying attention to the lid.
My boss made popcorn one afternoon in our suite – it was just the two of us. We’d been having a problem with our emergency ceiling speaker/flashing lights not working in a recent fire drill. I reported it to the building, but they never fixed it. He burned the popcorn – and the smell was horrible, But not only did it smell, but it triggered the smoke alarm for the other suites which we didn’t know since our apparatus failed to work. So, we went about our business and about a half hour later the burned popcorn stench was bad, so I told Robb I’d open the suite door and see if it would help. We were the last suite on one end and when I went out the suite door, people were lined up all around the floor (our building looked like a large hotel where you could see other suites across the atrium, no matter what floor you were on). So I asked someone why everyone was standing in front of their suites; I was told they were awaiting direction from the fire marshall as to whether they should evacuate the building depending on where the fire was – they could not locate it. Well, I knew it was Robb’s popcorn and called the building. They fixed the lights/speaker the next day. 🙂
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That’s a heck of story about the popcorn. Totally believable that it happened, but still IF the building maintenance had done what you asked of them to begin with… Honestly, don’t you hate it that it takes an almost emergency to get anything fixed? *meh*
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Yes it was funny and we laughed about it many times afterward Ally. The suites were soundproof and since we had a door on one side and an unoccupied suite on the other side, even though the front facing out (which they referred to as “the living room” was all glass, including the door, we were in the kitchen and saw no activity in the hall. I went back in and said to my boss “um, you’re not going to believe this but ….” Yes, they fixed it right away after that. Each suite had a fire marshall on top of it, and I was “it” for our suite – I had few people to shepherd, just Robb and me and we have a tenant who comes in mornings, so I had to attend the meetings on security and building evacuation protocol, so that made it even funnier. Our suite door had a feature that you had to stand in front of it for the sensor to unlock the door … it never dawned on me that I did not have to position myself at the right spot, but merely opened the door … in an emergency every suite door is unlocked from either side. That is what happened in August 2003 when the power grid went out – anyone could have gotten into our suites as the guards could not monitor everyone coming and going at the outside doors as the cameras were down. Stroh River Place is quite modern even though it is an old building, the site of Parke Pharmaceuticals for many years. Its campus includes apartment buildings and a garage and the Rattlesnake Club and all have the same security sytem – not ideal IMO.
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That’s rather interesting and unnerving to know how the doors will change their locking abilities depending on what’s going on. I don’t think I’ve ever thought about that before, but now that I have I’m going to look at interior doors in office buildings in a different way.
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Yes, do that as we never knew this info until that big grid outage of 2003. My boss collects artwork, and is a big fan of Don Quixote, so has many statues and other renditions of this character around the office. Some were specially commissioned by him so he was not too pleased to find out the suite doors were unsecured until the outage was over on Saturday night (it happened around 4:00 p.m. on Thursday). I never cared for the glass sensor door – no one had problems getting out except me and it stymied the repairman. He was up to our suite many times after my complaints as I’d look up at the electric eye, scoot over to one side or the other but I could not get out of the suite. It didn’t happen all the time. I am tall as is my boss, it was not the color of my clothing – so what was the hangup There was no way to get out of the suite except buzzing the front desk to ask to have the lock lifted. I haven’t thought of that in years since I’ve not worked on site since 2009 but it was a real issue with me.
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And maybe you just created an objet d’art… I saw some images of “accidental art” https://imgur.com/gallery/Ma2ci. If a banana (duct!) taped to a wall sold for over $100k, imagine what you could sell your honest mistake for 😉
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Endless Weekend, I take your point with the banana/duct tape art exhibit. Mine’s better, but alas has already gone out with the recycling trash. Those paint cans are way cool. Much better than my potential objet d’art.
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“A” junk drawer?! I wish I had only one!
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Pam, ha! I hear ‘ya. What you’re telling me then is that you’re an overachiever on this particular issue. 😉
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Hahaha, yes, basically, Ally.
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THANK you for the hearty belly-laugh to start my day!
I had the same thought as Zazzy – I bet you some sculptor somewhere is considering her future art installation right now and loading up the dishwasher!
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Maggie, I’m pleased to know that my mistake made you laugh. In truth, it made me laugh, too. I mean, if you take life too seriously you’d go crazy.
Yes I think Zazzy is onto something, too. Perhaps I’ve found my calling as a dishwasher artist! 🤔
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I’ve never tried to wash anything in the dishwasher except dishes. My husband, on the other hand, can’t seem to wash anything by hand, so all sorts of weird stuff ends up there. So far no melting though. I definitely have a junk drawer. Or three or four.
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dawn, I use the dishwasher to wash more things than dishes, obviously. And usually it works, but this time not. so. much. Still it did give me a smile, so that’s good. Yes, truth be told we have more than one junk drawer, but the other drawers aren’t designated as junk drawers, having not yet earned the title. 🙄
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Dishwasher 1.
Formerly-square-clear-plastic-drawer-divider 0.
Human-with-sense-of-humour 10.
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Joanne, you flatter me. Thank you. I like your summation of this situation. I tell you, if I’m not muddling up one thing I’m muddling up another.
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… or, as the way I tend to think of it, for every problem I solve, I tend to create a new one 🙂
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Me too. It’s a gift, really.
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What can I say, I’m a junk drawer junkie!! I have too many! I once had an aunt (by marriage) who was a hoarder. Her junk drawers topped all others. When she passed, we were tempted to dump all of them in the garbage until we discovered she had GOLD COINS strewn about in said junk drawers. We had to pick through everything. We found 20 of them!! I wont do that to my family – Ill at least have all of the valuables in one junk drawer. LOL
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pam, your hoarder story is one for the ages and a cautionary tale as well. At least the reward for your labors was a good one. 20 gold coins is a pretty good haul. You, of course, make an excellent point that if you’re going to have valuables, put them in one place.
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She was a very lovely woman full of sweetness – may she RIP.
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❤️
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Haven’t melted anything, but a few aluminum items came out black and won’t ever look nice again. I know I’ve accidentally ruined all kinds of things, but I immediately put them out of mind. We don’t really have a junk drawer. I do keep an empty drawer where I accumulate thinks to donate to the thrift store. I just made a donation today, so time to start filling it up again!
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Eilene, it’s funny how we all have found ways to ruin something along the way. Always accidentally, of course. I like your use of an empty drawer for donations. That’s rather inspired. Good of you to do that.
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The former drawer divider now looks like a modern art object. Maybe you should put it on display somewhere!?
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I’d do that except I’ve tossed it out with the recycling trash, but you do have a good point. Maybe I just don’t know art when I see it.
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No. I’ve never melted anything in the dishwasher. G-Man would take exception to that. 😉
I’m sure I’ve destroyed many things with good intentions. Unfortunately, nothing comes to mind at the moment. LOL
I have numerous junk drawers. One in every room. I’m a junk drawer junkie.
Also, I like the new shape of your tray. Cheers!
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Elen, I’m impressed with people who’ve never melted anything in the dishwasher. This object isn’t my first mishap, but the most artsy one for sure. I like your multi-room junk drawer system. That makes its own kind of sense, really. Why not?
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Ally – Oops. I wasn’t clear in my comment. G-Man IS the dishwasher. That is why he would take exception to that. And that is why I’ve never melted anything in the dishwasher. Bwahahahahaha.
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OK, got it. G-Man does the dishes and doesn’t melt things in the process. You got yourself a good one there.
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Phew, one mistake I don’t have to make, because we don’t make use of the dishwasher (there’s something wrong with the tube). Have started washing dishes again when I decade ago I had a bout of carpel tunnel, and I vowed to keep exercising my fingers, once I do t over it.) How is it, that several people started a whole conversation with you here? – it must be your talent:):)
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DrJunieper, I do hand wash some pots and delicate glassware so I can understand how washing dishes by hand helps make your joints feel better. I like to put my tired hands into the soapy water BUT most of our dishes go into the dishwasher because it’s one modern convenience I truly like.
Laughing about your observation about the length of some comments. People tell me things, here & in real life. They always have… 🤷♀️
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Do I have a junk drawer? Of course, and it is big and bold. I clean it out about once a year, get it nice and tidy, and in about four weeks it’s all messed up. I even have a junk basket on the road to hold all the odds and ends. I’m not sure life can truly be lived without a junk drawer. 🙂 The last thing I destroyed was about an hour ago when I was working on a paper project, had everything lined up, glued it down crooked, tried to take it off, and needless to say I started all over again. 🙂
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Judy, I like a woman who has a big and bold junk drawer. What a great description. I like your junk basket approach. Now that I think about it my mother did that, too.
I never go near glue if I can avoid it. I was surprised that I melted the drawer divider, but if I was using glue it’s a given that I’d make a crooked mess of things. You’re a braver woman than I to use the stuff.
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Hah! Good intentions, etc.
Good work with the tidiness. I need to figure out how to disassemble and wash my canvas baskets which are filthy upon close inspection.
I don’t use my dishwasher anymore. If I had a water filtration system and a fancier model, I might would, but I despise lime build-up and spots and I have fiesta and stainles, so we do it by hand. I think the strangest things I’ve dishwashed are ballcaps. It’s extremely effective. I haven’t melted anything in there.
I don’t have a junk drawer, but I have messier ones — hardware drawer, a batteries drawer, a medicine drawer, and an office supply drawer. The contents are defined, but they aren’t tidy, per se. I don’t have them all arranged in little compartments or anything like that.
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joey, I’ve washed LL Bean canvas totes in the washing machine and they got clean, but were wrinkled afterward. If you figure out how to clean your baskets, I’ll be interested in knowing how you did it. I doubt that a dishwasher will work with them, but if it cleans ballcaps, who knows?
So what you’re telling me is that you have less than tidy drawers around the house that have the potential of going full junk drawer but as of yet aren’t living up to that potential. 😉
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I reckon if anyone scattered batteries, hardware, or office supplies throughout the drawers — one false move and a junk drawer would be created! 😛
I’ll let you know about the canvas.
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OH! Ally Bean — I melted a SILICONE oven glove on my glasstop range some ten years ago. It melted when it caught FIRE! :O
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To answer your questions:
1. Yes though I can’t remember because it wasn’t important.
2. My husband’s antique parking meter lamp when it got jammed and I thought I could take it apart and fix a jam and…couldn’t. (Oh…not good.)
3. I have two. One in the kitchen and one in the mud room. The one in the mud room is *supposed* to be a well organized utility type drawer but SOME people who shall remain nameless just throw things there all willy-nilly.
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Katie, I’m sure I’ve melted other things in the dishwasher but like you said, they weren’t important and didn’t make an impression like this object. Sorry about the lamp. Good intention, of course– gone sideways. I like your two junk drawer system, but without the cooperation of SOME people, whatcha gonna do?
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Question 1 is assuredly a yes although my kids are far more likely to murder plasticware now that they do dishwasher duty. For heaven’s sake how many times does a mom have to say GLASS AND PLASTIC IS TOP RACK ONLY!!
I’ve tried organizing my junk drawer but have a feeling that will work out much better once it’s just me & the hubby living here.
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Laura, I find that I forget most of my dishwasher mishaps, being that they really don’t matter in the scheme of things. But this one, with the most perfectly misshapen former square, is one to remember. I bet you’re right and once you’re an empty nester your junk drawer will be a thing to behold. Now there’s a goal…
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A definite smile of the day, Ally. Great quote! I thought everything was dishwasher safe by now. Major kudos to you for tackling the junk drawer. It is usually last on the list.🙂
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Erica/Erika, I thought that everything was dishwasher safe, too. Obviously it isn’t. I tackled the junk drawer because I was bored with our gray wet weather. You’re right, it was the last thing on the list to do.
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Oh that’s funny. I’ve never melted anything in the dishwasher but I’ve ruined my share.of.clothes by not reading the care labels.
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Lacey, I’ve done the same thing with clothes. Many a shrunk item has gone to Goodwill because there was nothing wrong with it… other than being too small for me now.
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It is so frustrerating when that happens.
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… and potential expensive 😯
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Yes! I’ve usually done it to new pieces I really love 😦
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