Firetruck!

This weekend started off bad and only got worse.

On Friday night, I did something out of character: I used a microwave oven. Generally, I am against using it. In my apartment in Hawaii, I stashed it away in the bathroom closet. Before Friday night, I hadn't used a microwave in about 6 years. There's the background info...

Last week seemed like a really long week, even though I only officially worked Wednesday-Friday. I was still tired and sore from all of the walking in Taiwan (does that make me an old man?), so I got 3 movies and a laptop from work and locked myself in my room. I also really wanted popcorn. Unfortunately, I can't cook popcorn in a coffee pot, so I had to buy the microwaveable kind.

I was a bit out of practice using a microwave and was really enjoying watching the Matrix. I put the popcorn on for 5 minutes. When the timer had about 30 seconds left, I noticed some smoke coming out of the bag, so I stopped the microwave and opened the door. Apparently it was a lot of smoke. About 10 seconds after I opened the microwave door, the fire alarm went off in the hallway. I thought, "I really hope I didn't do that." But I already knew that I did.

The Japanese firetruck arrived about 7 minutes later. All I kept thinking was "Ding Ding" (be sure to click on page two. The link is not appropriate for children or those that are easily offended). It was about 11:15pm and the rest of the residents were standing in a huddle outside the building when I came out. "Sorry, it was me. I burned some popcorn," was all I could really say. I hadn't even met my neighbors before that, so it was a good first impression.

I tried explaining to the Japanese firefighters that I burned popcorn. One of them understood my story. He turned to the others and blurted something in Japanese. All I heard was, "blah blah blah blah pop-o-corn blah blah blah." They checked out my room (which was a mess, but whatever) and were on their merry way. I stayed up watching movies until after 2:00am.

At 5:15am I got a phone call. It turns out that 3 of the guys that work for me decided to borrow a car and illegally drive to a bar. As they were leaving the bar, they got into a car accident with a Japanese local. It was nothing serious and the driver passed the breathalyzer, but when they found out that he didn't have a license, they took him to jail.

That meant I got to work an extra 21 hours this weekend. Luckily, I am on salary. Otherwise, I would be racking up some overtime out here.