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Reason #1 why I need to get a better job and move out: my moron of a brother.
Just a few minutes ago I suddenly became aware of a burning smell coming into my room, as if something in the oven was being overcooked. Now, due to the layout and airflow in my house, it's often the case that someone upstairs will notice the smell before anyone downstairs does unless they are standing right next to the stove. Now, if something just got burned and we catch it in time, then it's really no big deal. But there has been at least one occasion that I recall where something actually CAUGHT FIRE in the oven and no one downstairs realized it. So if you're upstairs in my house and you smell something burning, it's prudent to check immediately.
Naturally, I went lunging down the stairs as fast as possible and ran to the oven to check it. It turns out my brother had been making himself a late dinner of broiled pastrami sandwiches. He'd managed to burn his swiss cheese and the bread, but had already taken them out of the oven. So, disaster averted.
Now, over the years my family has had it's fair share of cooking accidents that have filled the house up with a burning smell and/or smoke, so the drill is pretty much down pat. I started opening windows and told my brother to shut down the smoke detectors (so as to avoid nuisance alarms until the place aired out. Plus, my kid brother is asleep and has school in the morning and doesn't need to be woken up by an alarm if it's not necessary).
He just sat there.
Me: Did you hear me?
Bro: YES, I heard you!
OK, there is NO reason to snap at me. I don't care if you're embarrassed that you burned your dinner; I'm trying to make sure the house and the family is safe. I've made the same mistake myself, so it's NOT a big deal!
After staring at him for a few seconds, he dragged his butt off the couch and went down to shut off the circuit breaker (our smoke detectors are hard wired).
A minute later the UPS for the family computer started beeping. He'd just shut off the wrong circuit.
He's lived in this house just as long as I have (longer if you count the time I spent away from home at college), and as I said, there have been our fair share of cooking accidents. He should know what circuit breaker it is by now. There is NO excuse, but this is typical of him. He simply refuses to think. He once went through a phase where EVERY SINGLE TIME he made microwave popcorn he'd ask how long to nuke it for. The answer never changed, but he kept asking anyway. This type of nonsense is something I have VERY little leftover patience for.
Me: M, you flipped the wrong breaker.
Brother: Well which one is it?! I can never remember!!!!
Me: #8.
I went down and flipped on the breaker he'd shut off (it wasn't even on the correct side of the panel!) and flipped off the breaker for the smoke detectors.
When I came up, I noticed that the oven was still on. Step 1 in clearing the smell is to SHUT OFF THE OVEN so any residue in there doesn't continue to burn and emit smoke.
Me: Hey! Why is the oven still on?!
Brother: Because I was going to heat up some more stuff!!
Me *surveying the two enormous sandwiches he'd just made*: What else were you planning to eat?!
Brother: WHY DO YOU CARE?!?!
He was actually trembling with anger and I could tell he was on the verge of losing it.
Me: M....it's not a big deal. Why are you getting so worked up about it?
Brother: I JUST AM!!!!
Translation: He knows I've caught him over-eating (he's supposed to be on a diet) and doesn't appreciate it. He's never reacted well to being caught doing something he knows he shouldn't be doing.
Me: OK, fine. Just remember to turn the circuit breaker back on before you go to bed so mom can get in in the morning (that circuit breaker also power the garage door openers, and my mother will be very upset if she comes home from work and the door won't open.
Brother: *angry sigh*
Since I knew the house wasn't going to burn down at this point, I just grabbed a glass of ice water and came back up here, only to discover that because he'd killed power to the family computer, he'd also killed power to the cable modem, which needed to be reset.
On the plus side though, right before all this happened I was clearing some junk off my desk and found a giant Hershey's Bar that I'd completely forgotten about! Score!
Just a few minutes ago I suddenly became aware of a burning smell coming into my room, as if something in the oven was being overcooked. Now, due to the layout and airflow in my house, it's often the case that someone upstairs will notice the smell before anyone downstairs does unless they are standing right next to the stove. Now, if something just got burned and we catch it in time, then it's really no big deal. But there has been at least one occasion that I recall where something actually CAUGHT FIRE in the oven and no one downstairs realized it. So if you're upstairs in my house and you smell something burning, it's prudent to check immediately.
Naturally, I went lunging down the stairs as fast as possible and ran to the oven to check it. It turns out my brother had been making himself a late dinner of broiled pastrami sandwiches. He'd managed to burn his swiss cheese and the bread, but had already taken them out of the oven. So, disaster averted.
Now, over the years my family has had it's fair share of cooking accidents that have filled the house up with a burning smell and/or smoke, so the drill is pretty much down pat. I started opening windows and told my brother to shut down the smoke detectors (so as to avoid nuisance alarms until the place aired out. Plus, my kid brother is asleep and has school in the morning and doesn't need to be woken up by an alarm if it's not necessary).
He just sat there.
Me: Did you hear me?
Bro: YES, I heard you!
OK, there is NO reason to snap at me. I don't care if you're embarrassed that you burned your dinner; I'm trying to make sure the house and the family is safe. I've made the same mistake myself, so it's NOT a big deal!After staring at him for a few seconds, he dragged his butt off the couch and went down to shut off the circuit breaker (our smoke detectors are hard wired).
A minute later the UPS for the family computer started beeping. He'd just shut off the wrong circuit.
He's lived in this house just as long as I have (longer if you count the time I spent away from home at college), and as I said, there have been our fair share of cooking accidents. He should know what circuit breaker it is by now. There is NO excuse, but this is typical of him. He simply refuses to think. He once went through a phase where EVERY SINGLE TIME he made microwave popcorn he'd ask how long to nuke it for. The answer never changed, but he kept asking anyway. This type of nonsense is something I have VERY little leftover patience for.
Me: M, you flipped the wrong breaker.
Brother: Well which one is it?! I can never remember!!!!
Me: #8.
I went down and flipped on the breaker he'd shut off (it wasn't even on the correct side of the panel!) and flipped off the breaker for the smoke detectors.
When I came up, I noticed that the oven was still on. Step 1 in clearing the smell is to SHUT OFF THE OVEN so any residue in there doesn't continue to burn and emit smoke.
Me: Hey! Why is the oven still on?!
Brother: Because I was going to heat up some more stuff!!
Me *surveying the two enormous sandwiches he'd just made*: What else were you planning to eat?!
Brother: WHY DO YOU CARE?!?!
He was actually trembling with anger and I could tell he was on the verge of losing it.
Me: M....it's not a big deal. Why are you getting so worked up about it?
Brother: I JUST AM!!!!
Translation: He knows I've caught him over-eating (he's supposed to be on a diet) and doesn't appreciate it. He's never reacted well to being caught doing something he knows he shouldn't be doing.
Me: OK, fine. Just remember to turn the circuit breaker back on before you go to bed so mom can get in in the morning (that circuit breaker also power the garage door openers, and my mother will be very upset if she comes home from work and the door won't open.
Brother: *angry sigh*
Since I knew the house wasn't going to burn down at this point, I just grabbed a glass of ice water and came back up here, only to discover that because he'd killed power to the family computer, he'd also killed power to the cable modem, which needed to be reset.
On the plus side though, right before all this happened I was clearing some junk off my desk and found a giant Hershey's Bar that I'd completely forgotten about! Score!
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