2 microwavable egg rolls + 4 minutes in microwave = 1 ruined plate

Apparently mom misread the box or something and set the timer for 10 minutes. So she put 'em in and let them go. About four minutes later, she started smelling smoke. By that time, they were burnt to a crisp and the main level of our house was enshrouded with a cloud of smoke. Funnily enough, the smoke alarm never went off. Better check those things and make sure they're still actually working. I'm just imagining what would have happened if someone had done the same thing in the dorms. Heh. Fortunately, the only damage was one completely ruined plate (apparently when you burn stuff on those plates, they don't clean up very easily). The cats are rather upset with this turn of events and have retreated to the basement, away from the smoke. Me, I'm in the office, where the air is relatively clean. Relatively.