Saturday, March 15, 2008

All that from making a cup of tea...

I had a visitor this weekend who "taught" me something (speaking of the boxes we operate within...) and they don't even know it. My friend wanted some very hot water for her tea, so she got one of my pans, put water in it. placed it on the stove, then turned the burner (electric) up on VERY HIGH, and in short order -- seemed like just a few seconds, really -- the water was boiling feverishly and begging for attention.

In all the years I've used that stove to heat things up, it never dawned on me to turn the burner up on HIGH or VERY HIGH to heat it up quickly, then re-adjust the heat to the "operating" temperature I needed. I've always just turned it to medium and waited... and waited... and waited... until it crawled it's way up to where I needed the temperature to be.

Do you realize how much time I've wasted standing in front of that stove waiting for a pan of *something* to boil, or get hot... just using medium heat? (sigh)

I'm looking at other areas of my life, and realizing that I'm using just medium heat and waiting for something to happen when what I really need to do is turn it up on high and get it heated up quick... Then I can adjust my effort back down to where I need it to be to sustain it and keep it going.

Wow. Definitely a V-8 moment. And all that from just making a cup of tea.

Kelvin

4 comments:

nkwgreeneyes said...

As the saying goes, "you learn something new everyday". It's a wonderful life, isn't it? Now you'll have LOTS more time for doing other things besides standing in front of the stove. Take care for now.

Natalie

Jill Hurst-Wahl said...

There is another saying about using the right tool for the job. Given the growing number of people in your life who like tea, perhaps it is time to acquire a teapot (even a used one at a garage sale)?

Mitch said...

It's something about how we get locked into our own ways at times. My wife used to do the same as you with potatoes until I showed her that you really could turn the heat up and get the same thing done if you cut up the potatoes first. Good going, Mr. Ringold.

LisaLisa said...

Well I agree with every one's statement...we do learn something new everyday. But now we must learn how to apply it to our lives as well. I'm turning up the heat on making my dreams come true!!

Just me LisaLisa---- @Caringmom...lol