Today's Feature
Relay for Life on Agenda.

The Public Safety Committee will meet this evening at 6:30 p.m. in the Carthage Police Department. Items on the agenda include a street closure request for Relay for Life on June 3 and 4.

Relay for Life is scheduled to be held in Central Park on Friday, June 3 beginning at 7:00 p.m. Teams will gather with tents and sleeping bags to participate in an overnight fund-raising walk with the goal of supporting a cure for cancer.

Information about forming a team, or walking in the Survivors’ Lap is available by calling Matt Bachtold, Community Specialist of Income Development with the American Cancer Society at 417-627-7506, or Connie Leek at 540-5547. For information on cancer, call the American Cancer Society’s 24 hour help line at 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit their web site, www.cancer.org.

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide, community-based, voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer through research, advocacy, and service.

Now the prevalence of bucket seats in autos today could be the explanation for this change in habits. I can remember thinkin’ how uncomfortable it musta been for those loyal girlfriends, sittin’ on the console, back when bucket seats were a luxury.

‘Course the other explanation may be that young females today are showin’ more independence. Not willin’ to be impractical just for show.

More than likely, it was not this generation that made the break from front seat coziness, but their mothers. Yet another cultural change brought to us by the 60’s, and a legacy to the Volkswagon Beetle.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Blowing a Fuse

Q: I live in a small apartment, and often when I cook using the microwave the circuit breaker will turn off to the kitchen. It’s easy enough to switch back on, but I really am getting annoyed at having to do this repeatedly. How do I resolve this? — Gladys C., Swampscott, Mass.

A: What’s happening is that your microwave oven — or a combination of electrical appliances on the same circuit — is drawing too much electricity for either the circuit or the fuse (or both) to handle. Repeatedly tripping the circuit can also indicate a larger problem and a possible fire risk.

Small apartments often have a limited number of circuits available in comparison to a newer, larger house. Twenty years ago, having only three or four circuits and a small circuit box (about 60 amps) was sufficient to run a few electric appliances, like a toaster oven, a blender and a single small television.

Today, electricity demands are much higher. The microwave oven draws more power; there is often more than one television in the apartment and at least one computer, with all its auxiliaries running; the cordless telephone draws electricity to stay charged, as does the wireless phone in its charging stand. And then there’s the cable box, the can opener, the smoothie machine, the coffee grinder, the espresso maker, all the clock radios and the plug-in air fresheners. All competing for juice from a supply that has an absolute limit.

If you have a limited number of circuits, and you’re unwittingly connecting all the high-wattage appliances into just one circuit, you will be dealing with frequent outages when the circuit load passes its limit and shuts off for safety reasons.

Find out how many circuits lead to the kitchen, and which outlets are distributed to which circuits. Turn off all of the apartment circuits, then plug in a small radio to each kitchen outlet and switch one circuit on at a time until the radio turns on. Label each circuit as you find its range. In fact, do this for the entire apartment — the labels save valuable time if you need to switch off a particular circuit.

Once you’ve found where each circuit leads and which outlets are connected to them, you may find that the microwave is sharing a circuit with another big appliance, and all you need to do is plug it in to an outlet on a different circuit.