floydius it's almost like you've got nothing better to do

adventures with baking soda

So as of 7/25, I finally completed my first semester of grad school. The reading load was higher than I anticipated, and I'm actually pleased with that.

Now that I have some more time on my hands, there are some neglected items that require attention. For instance: my kitchen. Whoever lived here before me evidently eschewed ever being labeled as a clean freak. Unfortunately, my landlord left it to me to sort that issue out.

I'm used to living in either (a) a house where the oven never gets so bad that it needs an intervention, or (b) a dorm room with no oven at all. I'm no genius, but I did manage to deduce that the disaster below needed fixing:

Of course, I turned to the Internet for help and found some detailed instructions. I followed them dutifully, and when it was time to scrape out the baking soda, I noticed that the heating element was in my way. It was screwed in, so I got out my trusty socket wrench and went to town.

I assumed (my first mistake) that the element just plugged in like the stove coils on top. This was not correct. I discovered my error as soon as I attempted to pull out the element. At that instant a loud poof, lots of orange sparks, and a very surprised Lloyd were simultaneously brought into being. After I went and turned off the oven at the fuse box, I returned to find that one of the terminal wires had been shoved all the way behind the stove (presumably during the two seconds just after the fireworks while I was freaking out).

This is not good, because I need the terminal wire in order to reconnect the element. Unfortunately the wire was all the way behind the insulation and I could not reach it from the front. My next step was to disassemble the top of the stove and see what I could find. I did manage to view the loose wire, but it was too far to reach. Not wanting to disassemble the entire oven (which I don't own, by the way), I went and purchased some dowel rods. I then super-glued magnets to the end of said dowel rods. I shoved one dowel into the socket all the way back behind the insulation, and then stuck the other down the back of the stove. I used the magnet to catch the wire, hooked it to the first dowel, and then slowly pulled the wire in far enough to where I could reach it with pliers.

I wish that were the end of the story, but it turns out that in the middle of the spark-fest, one of the terminals on the heating element was completely disintegrated. At this point I have a half-cleaned stove and a broken wire.

I went to Lowe's, and they suggested I try to find someone who would solder it together for me. I'm thinking about buying a soldering iron now and giving it a go myself. In retrospect, I wish I'd just left that thing alone.