Welding, Hot Pockets, Acceptance

Welding class did not go especially well today. I'm in the early stages of learning TIG welding...and let's say there's still a long way to go. I was doing okay last week, we I was just laying down stringer beads, but this week, I added adding filler to the weld I was laying down. I only got one genuinely good weld out of the two hours or so I spent in that booth. Well, if I'm being totally honest, I didn't spend two hours in the welding booth: much of my time was spent sharpening-up the point on the tungsten rod.

Another frustration that happened did so not quite an hour ago. I was preparing a pair of Hot Pockets brand sandwiches for microwaving. Having eaten such sandwiches before, I knew that they have a tendency to rupture, spilling their contents out (make sure to have a plate underneath them when microwaving). Sure enough, one of them did rupture, at the end where the sleeve folds up and forms the bottom. I took it out and flipped it around, so that the ruptured end was now sticking out the top.

Then I reflected on this.

It has occurred to me that there are four scenarios I've encountered when microwaving Hot Pockets that are especially irksome. Starting with the least severe, they are:

4. The sandwich spills out the sleeve-bottom side end.

3. The sandwich spills out close to the sleeve-bottom side end, partially gluing itself to the sleeve.

2. The sandwich spills out BOTH ends.

1. While still frozen, the sandwich has visible holes at both ends, guaranteeing it will spill out of both ends.

Sometimes things are good, sometimes things are bad. Whatever the case, we must accept what that it is happening. That doesn't mean we should tolerate some bad things, nor should we allow that they continue. First we accept that this problem exists, then we take steps to fix it. Denying a problem will only allow it to worsen.

And for milder bad things, like Hot Pockets that spill out at both ends, I would recommend letting it cool off for a few minutes so that the spillage cools and hardens, thus sealing up the holes. (It's generally a good idea to let food cool off for a few minutes after cooking is finished. Inside-of-mouth burns are very unpleasant.)