Tamaravk

Monday, March 12, 2007

Burning down the house

Don't you hate it when you eat those soursugar covered gummy candies and then one tiny piece of soursugar gets stuck under your tongue, or part way down your throat, and you have this sour sensation for like an hour afterward?

Um, I just about burned down our house by leaving a pan on the heat. for a long time. um. Mom is kind of mad at me now. eee. How long would you have to leave a pan on the heat before it started a fire? I think it would take a long time. Especially when it's on low. Not to justify myself...but it would wouldn't it? I should research that. I swear it's because my Mom was around. I never do these things when I'm un-supervised. I told her that too. But I'm not sure it will help. Maybe telling her that the last time I did something silly like that was a year ago or so....

I'm going to go find my Mom.

posted by Tamara @ 8:42 AM  

9 Comments:

  • At March 12, 2007 10:29 AM , Blogger julie said...

    I think it depends if there was anything in the pan or not....

    hmm... and i find it helpful to point out something my mom has done... such as 'no mom, I'm not a bad driver... yes i remember i had that ONE car accident 3 years ago, but i've never had a ticket, and you have had, how many, 6?'

    that can work pretty well... she gets more mad first, of course, but then she backs off :)

     

  • At March 12, 2007 5:52 PM , Blogger Captain Carrot said...

    I find pointing out my mom's mistakes generally doesn't work..she has a good memory and I was a real brat as a kid. I mean a REAL brat. I won't go into detail...

    Anyways, Ii answer to the question of how long it would take for the house to burn down if you left a pan on the heat, I think it depends on several factors.

    First of all, is your stove a gas or electric stove? The reason for this is that generally flame spreads easier than red-hot-coil-type-burning because it can easily catch on the clothes of unsuspecting wavers of limbs over stoves. If another person did not realize that the pan was on they might get burned, and panicking, might forget about the golden rule(stop-drop-role) and spread the flames to the drapes, or some other kitchen fixture. There is also to be considered the possibility that the would be user would not hear an electric stove like they would the hiss of burning gas, thus rendering the danger of the hot pan invisible to the unsuspecting would-be user.
    Another matter to be considered is the contents of the pan. For example, if it had water in it, then the most burning that could happen is maybe steam burning(or burning your hand on the metal...obvi). But if it had say potatoes(very starchy foods, lots of sugar energy) they might be more likely to burn and cause damage to the actual home.
    The actual likeliness of a pan on the heat burning down a house depends foremostly on the proximity of flammable materials like drapes, wood cabinets, and explosive kitchen objects(for example, a spray can of Pam(TM) non-stick could explode from the heat of the stove if it was close enough.
    It could be argued however that such an event is more due to the inopportune placement of the aerosol can than on the heat of the stove. Likewise things like drapes could also be put down to this. Such inflammations of kitchen components could happen during the normal cooking routine just as easily as with the forlorn and abandoned 'pan on the heat'. The risk of such an event causing the burning down of a house, however, is much higher when there is no-one attending the stove.

    Dr. A. Lodder, not-doctor of fire health and saftey.

     

  • At March 13, 2007 10:44 AM , Blogger Carol-Lee Joy said...

    Wow. Sounds like you had a day like mine yesterday. I got into a "debate" or dissagreement with my mom . . . I hate it when that happens.

    Dr. A. Lodder: since when are not still a brat?! lol

     

  • At March 13, 2007 3:31 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    tamara, we actually did have an incident where we caused a fire while cooking on our stove, if that makes you feel any better.
    as for anton not being a brat anymore, i wonder when that change took place???? hahhaha

     

  • At March 13, 2007 4:29 PM , Blogger Tamara said...

    well..I fixed things with my Mom. She thinks I'm super again. lol.

    Anton isn't a brat..he has progressed in amazing ways. believe me, I heard some of the stories from when he was a kid. HEHE

    So Dr. A Lodder..if I were to leave a pan with say, a little bit of butter in it, on the stove, on low, no where near draperies or limbs or aerosol cans..I wouldn't be in any danger? because if that's the case, I was in no danger. and neither was my house.

     

  • At March 14, 2007 5:29 AM , Blogger Captain Carrot said...

    Well I guess you would be safe, because a little bit of butter would not cause much damage. If you put too much in, however, you might set off the fire alarm, and that could cause P.H.L. synodrome(permanent hearing loss). But seeing as you didn't you were probably safe....from FIRE! However, there are many other household dangers associated with being in a house and being alive, for example, a large buildup of static electricity between your socks and the carpet could cause electric shocking and nerve damage! Or a giant man in leiderhosen could jump through you window with an ax. Needless to say, there are many dangers that could affect both you and your house, like falling trees, although there aren't that many big trees close enough to your house. Also, there have been several instances where people have driven their cars into people's houses, however this would probably not affect you since you live away from main roads and you are protected by a ditch and stuff. But there is always the danger of gas leaks or killer termites. You can never completely erase the aggregate risk of being in a house or being a house. And like they say...90% of all accidents happen near a home, so...But I'd say you are probably safe.

    Thanks for sticking up for me about the whole brat thing, even though the Brouwer girls like to gang up on me... You know someone of my field of expertise needs to be very calm and reserved, so maybe I just need to let it out sometimes! Mabye you girls should like...think before you speak and maybe you shouldn't judge people if you only see them when they are kinda crazy...just a thought!

    CC out!

    oh and those stories..lets keep them on the DL..i dont need them to have any more ammunition

     

  • At March 15, 2007 8:24 AM , Blogger Carol-Lee Joy said...

    haha . . . don't worry, I've seen you in LW meetings when you were definately NOT crazy.

    To further elaborate on our house fire . . . I wanted to make popcorn so mom and I put some oil in a large pan, turned on the stove and put the lid on (we didn't have a microwave then). A few minutes later, we took the lid off and the whole pan went up in flames and this huge fire-ball shot straight towards the ceiling. My youngest brother was just a baby (I think this must have been about 6 or 7 years ago), so I grabbed him and mom shoved us all out of the house and sent us to the neighbor to call 911. It was winter, so one of my sisters went over to the neighbors in bare feet. Anyway, long story short: it all turned out okay. The wall was black and we had to get a new fan for above the stove cause it was totally wrecked. Ya, fires are NOT FUN.

     

  • At March 15, 2007 6:49 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Drapes in the kitchen, capt. carrot? To each his/her own decorating style, I guess...

    Butter would melt and evaporate leaving only the carbon behind in a short amount of time, and it would much like having nothing in the pan. Much more than any fire damage, I'd worry about the SMELL. Burning pans (or at least teakettles, in my experience) smell up the house something awful.

     

  • At March 18, 2007 11:15 AM , Blogger Ben said...

    davstquMoms make me feel good inside, especially mine. when we fight it sucks, but I love her.

     

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