The oven can be a great tool when you need a little help

In 2006, I dropped my cell phone into a pool (don’t ask). While I usually would have immediately turned it on (destroying it), per the advice of my dad I opened it up, turned on the oven and baked my cell phone. Why? Well, the dry heat will dry every tiny corner of the phone that you couldn’t reach otherwise. It saved my phone for a while until I could get a new one.

In another chance opportunity, earlier this year I threw the clear plastic part of my smoothie maker into the dishwasher. Unfortunately, the heat caused the top of the plastic to morph into a non-circular shape. The oven, of course, came to the rescue again. Be careful if you try this. I turned on the oven, threw in the plastic, and waited for it to become soft so that I could re-morph the top into a circle.

It turns out there’s a MacGyver in all of us