Heat Waves and Waffle Irons

Had a conversation with my buddy Ingrid today, prior to my departure for California. Happily ensconced as we are in cooler climes, me in Montreal and she at her summer place in Cape Cod, we mused for a moment about the poor, harried Californians and their recent heat wave. "I'm taking a waffle iron and a high-powered hair dryer on my trip," I told I. "I'm gonna plug them both in a the same time - and that one extra Jim and his power demands are gonna be the straw that breaks the camel's back - the whole California power grid is going down like a stack of dominos!" "Don't you dare!" she replied, and I could tell that not all of her dismay was mock. Sometimes even my closest friends don't know what to make of me - and that's the way that I like it :-)