Rules for Living #2

It's been a while since I posted any new rules for living, but this weekend I came up with a new one. The rule is:

When you have a kettle boiling on the stove, do not attempt to clean the parts of the stove not being used.

Why, you ask? I mean, if the rest of the stovetop is cool and not in use, surely you can just do a little wipe-down, right? Well, you can, but there's a really good chance that you'll get so wrapped up in the cleaning, that when you spot a splatter of food up on the backsplash, directly above the kettle, which is now pouring a column of steam out of its spout (but not screaming at you since you removed that part of the kettle - wouldn't want to be annoyed by a bleating warning that red-hot steam is shooting forth), you'll just reach right up there to wipe it.

And you'll be sorry you did.