The class I was just rushing to was cut short -- at both ends. I began by spilling my whole cup of coffee all over my notes, which led to a couple minutes of delay blotting things up with paper towels instead of talking about what I wanted to talk about: an exploding hot water heater. (If you do Civil Procedure, you will, of course, recognize the case.)
Well, at least there was thematic unity: hot liquid mishaps.
Then halfway through the hour, the fire alarm went off, and it was not a drill -- the profs are told when there is a drill planned -- so it wasn't a matter of putting in the 15 minutes hanging out on the lawn. Maybe we'd better get a little further away from the building. It seems to be a bad luck day. There are the fire engines.
I pack it in and go to the parking garage.
So we won't get to the case about the exploding, burning Audi -- you know that one too, don't you? -- I think as I get in my Audi and pull, very carefully, out of my parking space. I'm hoping my law school is not burning or exploding, I think, as I sit here now, cocooned at home, waiting for the firemen. These are firemen who, on the side, do people's windows. They are coming to take down the screens and put up the storms windows to protect me from the cold I know is coming, even though today is a day of dangerous hot things.
UPDATE: Word is there was "a very small fire." Somebody overmicrowaved something. So, to revise the theme of the day, it's a day of fizzles.
October 24, 2005
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8 comments:
- glad you weren't burned
Terrific object lesson for Civ Pro. Since my book just uses the boiler case as a note, I would have to blow up my car to have a comparable impact on the class. I think I'll pass on that.
Goesh: yeah, especially after all that talk about the hot coffee attack yesterday!
Circa 1972 when I worked in Radiation Therapy at a large Chicago Hospital, we had a very small fire. A piece of equipment had a short in the power cable and managed to set fire to a wooden workbench top. No big deal.
Well, that's what I though! But you see, kind folks, there was the dreaded word "Radiation" involved. Our small fire made the 10 o'clock news on all three networks. I can still see the one TV anchor person solomly intoning, "Fortunately, no radiation was released..."
Matthew: Good point. It's redundant. But that's what we've always called it....
Don't worry about your Audi. My family has had almost a dozen of them in the last twenty years, and have yet to have one explode on us.
Three blown cluches, one blown engine, a dropped transmission. But none have actually exploded on us.
I couldn't face driving home if our law school went on fire. I'd be too busy agonising about whether my books and (still not backed up) manuscript had been destroyed and hearing students wonder excitedly whether classes would be cancelled and assignment deadlines postponed...
Are you sure you didn't come up with this post title just so that people looking for "dangerous hot things" on google would be drawn to this blog?
(just tried it, a surprising lack of salacious links, I'm disappointed)
(and wouldn't 'dangerous hot things' be a terrific band name?)
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