The curious case of the Can Opener

Mom thought some of these stories should be documented… so here I am, fingertip to keyboard, attempting my best at providing you all with a laugh, or maybe at least a smirk to begin your day (at my expense!). 

Last week, one day I casually mentioned to my dear husband that I'd make tuna melts for supper.  See, it's interesting trying to come up with meals our here, at least right now since I am working out of a very limited pantry.  Needless to day, tuna melts require VERY few ingredients, and very few prep tools/utensils, so I was golden.  Or so I thought. 

15 minutes pre-Peter's scheduled close of work day I started prepping things for supper.  Plates, check.  Forks, check.  Tuna, check.  Bread, check.  Cheese, check.  Baking pan, check.  Envision all of these pieces laid out of my counter, ready to viola!, cook right up into delicious tuna melts.  Except for one tiny, yet HUGE detail.  The can opener.  That one detail didn't have a check.  So, being the master(ess?) of improv these days, I tried everything (I thought) that I had on hand.  A knife…  nope, just bent the tip.  A bottle opener… nope, didn't budge.  So, I bit my pride and knocked on the neighbors door to ask to borrow theirs.  I had forgotten they are PCS'ing (permanent change of station - to Alaska!) and they had already shipped all of their belongings out the door.  No can opener.  Jeff (said neighbor) started knocking on other doors asking for a can opener, and he quickly found an obliging friend who lent their hand crank can opener to our household.  Thanks Jeff, much obliged.

Now, fast forward twenty minutes. Peter is home, tuna melts are melting, and I am telling him the funny tale of how dinner actually will make it on the table that night.  He says, but we DO have a can opener!  No, no, no I reply - I've searched every cupboard and drawer - there is no can opener.  He points to the counter top.  There, sitting in plain view is a 12" high, Black and Decker electric can opener!  What?!  I hadn't seen an electric can opener in at least 5 years, let alone used one in maybe 10 years??  Mom had one, but it always sat in the back of the cupboard, and we always used the hand-crank unit!  I had completely forgotten that's what they looked like.  Duh.

To make the story just a tad bit more humorous, the neighbor that I borrower the hand-crank can opener from is the manager of the unit that is in charge of supplying the "hospitality kits" for those of us who are waiting for our things to arrive still.  The next day her dear help stopped by our house with (another!) electric can opener!  So now I have two.  I feel like the Annie Oakley of can openers… I can double-fist 'em now.  :)

So, if you need any cans opened, send them my way and I'll get them done in record time!