Dear Diary #77: Electric coil stove went kaboom-ish

Dear Diary,

Electric stove burner dropped dead in spectacular fashion: sparks, a very loud buzzing noise, and a bright yellow glow. Probably happened cause of arcing in the middle of the coil while a heavy pot was on it. Turning the switch off took care of it, luckily. Googling showed other people having similar problems. Stove's a bit over a decade old and that burner probably hasn't ever been replaced before, so that was interesting.

That feeling when you finish a call with someone and your mind is absolutely blown because you don't know what just happened. Got a call from "out of state" with very bad reception, voice cutting in and out constantly. Not entirely sure what I agreed to, what was said, and what the point of the call was. It feels like all those times I nodded yes at the fast food restaurant and ended up with stuff I didn't consciously order.

Fell for another scam today. Man, I must be getting stupid or desperate -- why not both? Figured it out before I gave away any serious info. I'm already cynical so becoming even more so to avoid getting scammed is going to take some work.

Thought I saw the lights blink a few nights ago. This happened twice but the power never completely went out, so I thought maybe the light bulb was going bad -- it's been running for almost 5 years now. Checked the news the morning after and apparently parts of the city did lose power. Some switch somewhere probably flipped.

Realized, maybe re-realized, that I may not need to use my craptastic USB 3.0 micro-B USB cable anymore. Googled articles from years ago when the new micro-B cable started getting wider adoption. Given the shape, size, and pin-out of the connector, it seems to make sense to me. I read it on the internet, so it must be true? Going to give it a shot and hope I don't fry anything.

Later.