November 26, 2021
👉 Two blogs ago we looked at the first TV Dinner, which had to be cooked in a conventional oven, because the commercial microwave oven was a little ways off. With all of the Thanksgiving leftovers, the microwave, that we take so much for granted, will be getting a workout today.
Raytheon had filed a patent for the microwave cooking process by 1945. Two years later, it built “Radarange,” the first microwave oven in the world. The “Radarange” was as large as a refrigerator, but heavier. The tubes in the device had to be water-cooled, so plumbing installation was required. Result: The first microwave oven weighed about 750 pounds and was nearly 6 feet tall.
Raytheon introduced a commercial microwave oven, the “1161 Radarange,” in 1954. It was expensive –$3,000 (the equivalent of $24,000 in today’s cash). The first home microwave oven, introduced in 1955, sold for $1,295 ($10,500 today). While expensive and with few features, roughly 25 percent of U.S. households owned a microwave oven by 1986. Today, almost 90 percent of American households have a microwave oven. If you need a new one, Black Friday deals start at $49.98 at Home Depot.
The first sign that you should watch for is when the message asks you to pay in gift cards. If anyone is asking you to pay for something through gift cards, that is an immediate hang-up-the-phone warning, or delete the email, and just walk away.
Another sign to look out for are those urgent messages that demand you do something right away. The best thing to do is take a deep breath, take a step back and review those things. Where is the email coming from? Roll your mouse over any clickable link and look at the bottom of the screen. The address to which you will be responding is now visible, and in those scams, it becomes immediately obvious that your response is not being directed to the company whose name is in the address.
If the solicitation is from a company or an agency with whom you regularly deal, and you are still concerned about it, call or email them direct. Don’t use the solicitation you just received. Go the site that you know is legitimate and contact them through official channels.
Protect yourself so you can have a happy holiday without any of the drama involved in getting scammed.
👉 I’m too stuffed with turkey and stuffing as I write today’s blog, so let’s have a few chuckles:
👉 A Star Wars-WWE mashup. A folding chair match between Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader:
👉 Mixing religion and politics:
👉 Dennis the Menace embarrasses his parents. Again:
👉 When your GPS needs to recalculate:
👉 Some “black” and “gold” (but not from Pittsburgh):
👉 Today’s close is by Bryan Chappell.
“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26)
Don’t worry, be happy. We all know that song, and if a Caribbean singer with a big smile and a melodic voice says those words, we smile. But if the Creator, who examines our hearts says, “Don’t worry,” then we worry. We can’t help it. How can we not? It’s almost as if we’re hard-wired to do the very thing we’re told not to do.
God knows our struggles. Jesus tells us, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.”
So, today – really – don’t worry! Trust that God is taking care of everything in his gracious timing.
Prayer: Lord, help me to trust that you not only care for the birds of the air but also for me and my family. Amen!
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The anonymous solicitation calls are a never ending pain. My latest answer is: My credit manager is Helen Waite. Please go to Helen Waite. (It doesn't stop the calls, but it makes me less stressed. :-)
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