In which I learn that my smoke detector works

The title kind of gives this away, right?

This past Friday I was walking home with Meredith from a workshop/group talk about developing papers into articles. And gradually we acquired a group outside the studios and stopped to talk, as I saw basically everyone I know in our buildings. Which in itself was interesting. Anyway, we soon parted, and I realized I should make something for dinner. This is all set up, of course you've already seen, for why I had something to think about while ostensibly cooking.

I set water to boil, and proceeded to fold clothes and think. And think. It took a while for the potholder on the range top to start smoldering. The smoke alarm started blaring. I knew not to open my door (that sets off the building's alarms). I had turned on the wrong burner; I took the empty pan off the heat, dumped the smoldering potholder into the sink, opened a window completely, and waved clothing under the smoke detector. Which did, to its credit, finally stop blaring.

The pan was fine, the potholder was easily taken care of, and dinner was still ready in 10 minutes.

And luckily my neighbors did not knock on my door.