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I’m a multi-tasker.  Especially when doing something dreary such as housework.  I really hate cleaning (but am a neat freak – go figure) so I figure the more things I can get done in the least time the better.  It usually works pretty well for me, but there is one snag.

Three timers can go off at once.

Now this is not an issue because there are too many things needing changing at once.  No no.  That I can handle.  The problem is that the buzzers are so irritating I don’t know which one to demolish first.  Keep in mind I’m doing more than one thing at a time.  Such as putting the cast iron frying pan away.  Let’s just say the results of that incident required a serious search for little bits of plastic and springs.  Not to mention a trip to the store.

It’s not just me, either.  I was in a grocery store and the cashier and bag girl were timing something, I didn’t ask what.  The timer went off.  The bag girl smacked the darned thing so hard it squirted over to the next lane.  She was completely embarrassed when I burst out laughing.  Until I explained why, after the frying pan incident, I have an identical timer in my kitchen.  And have nearly taken it out with kitchen implements more times than I can count.

The buzzer on the dryer is only safe because I cannot get to the thing without completely tearing apart the dryer.  Which I do not want to do because it may be old (I inherited it from Grandma when she moved into assisted living), not shiny and pretty, but boy does it work and it refuses to die.  Which in my book makes it a good appliance.  Despite the buzzer that makes me borderline homicidal to all things electronic.

Allegedly these gadgets are so irritating because it gets our attention, right?   I find fault with that logic.  How many of us do not notice when our phones ring?  I have never heard a phone as irritating as any kitchen timer even back in prehistory when phones were (gasp) permanently attached to the wall and in ancient films never released to DVD because it had not been invented yet could be used to knock an attacker unconscious.  Try THAT with a fancy little pocket cell model.  Seriously, I’d love to see it.  Not only does the gentle ring of the phone get our attention, it’s so popular that we can now download and choose exactly what we want it to sound like.

Now I’m not saying I want to have to download software for every appliance that has a timer. But a nice chime for the kitchen timer, or the dryer to politely say, “laundry’s done” would not be amiss.

Appliance makers, take note.

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