unexpected

  The unexpected. It happened when I got up this morning. No, I wasn't surprised that I woke up even at my age, I fully expect to wake up. It may or may not be unexpected one day. I won't know that until the time comes. But anyway, I got up and went out to get my coffee. My wife is usually up before I am and the coffee is ready. I walk out to the living room to greet her with my customary good morning greetings only to see a look of sadness on her face. She looks up at me and says, the news is bad. Oh no, what happened? The coffee pot is broken! Wait, what, the coffee pot is broken. I immediately head for the kitchen.

  Now being a man known for fixing just about anything that breaks, I just naturally begin the diagnosis. First thing is checking the electrical source. Yup, we have power in the receptacle. Now is the cord alright. Yes, nothing wrong with the cord although it does have a slight smell of burning but no evidence of that beyond that. The heating element is of course sealed into the base of the pot and cannot be accessed. It is riveted together, no user serviceable parts. That's a label that always irritates me! I'll be the judge of that! And yes, I take the tags off of mattresses and pillows! Under penalty of law my foot. But I can put a multimeter on the heating element and determine continuity. The circuit is open! That's bad, very bad in fact, it shouldn't be an open circuit. The pot is officially dead. 

  Okay, so the coffee pot is history. We do have an automatic drip still in the pantry; right? The wife reminds me we donated that to Goodwill a while back when we were cleaning up the pantry. A brief moment of panic sets in. Then with a flash of brilliance I suggest we can just make coffee the cowboy way. All we need is boiling water and coffee grounds. As I prepare to build a fire, I remember we have an electric stove, that would probably be easier than a campfire. I could just put the grinds in the water and boil it but how am I going to strain that? I don't have coffee filters because you don't use them with a percolator. You do however use a basket in the percolator, and it occurs to me I could just place that in the pot of water. I'm on a roll now, the panic is subsiding and I'm beginning to think more clearly. 

  The water is boiling now, and I let it go for a few minutes or so. Turning back the heat a bit I allow the coffee to brew. I figure it is done now and I need to remove that basket of coffee grounds from the pot. Only a small portion is sticking out. I can't simply reach in with my fingers and get that. Hmm, let's see, oh I know a pair of pliers will work just fine. Having removed that basket, I now have room to dip a ladle in there and fill up my cup. I'm feeling pretty good about all of this at this point, but I haven't tasted the coffee yet. The coffee tastes great! Might be the best coffee I've ever had. Maybe I should just make it this way all the time. By the end of my second cup the panic and excitement has died down. The coffee is still good but that was a lot of hassle. I need to get another electric percolator. So, it is off to Amazon. They have just what I want, and it will be delivered today between 5PM and 10PM if I order right away. With just a few keystrokes my pot is on the way! I wasn't expecting to order a new coffeepot this morning but the unexpected happens. I hate to admit it, but Amazon is better than the pony express! Jeff Bezos made some money off me this morning, maybe .0006 cents but I don't begrudge the man that. I'm getting a new pot.