The "Rosanne" show made its debut on TV on this date in 1988. It
featured a wisecracking carefree mom who headed a dysfunctional
blue-collar household. To Roseanne, housework was essentially
nonexistent and all housethings mechanical were a mystery -- like the
garbage disposal that magically made things go away. She disposed of
things like cardboard and old sneakers until one day it stopped working.
Husband Dan, knew it was a simple device, and set out to get it fixed.
He flipped the switch and nothing happened. Was it jammed? Unplugging
the unit's power under the sink, he looked inside where he found a
spoon. Removing it, he plugged it back in and turned it on. Nothing. He
then located the hex nut on the bottom and gave it a turn to make sure
the grinder plate moved freely, which it did. Finally, he located the
unit's red reset button, which had popped out. This signaled an overload
from the jammed grinder plate. Pushing it in, he flipped the switch and
it worked. Unfazed, Roseanne asked, "So how's the spoon?" And that's the
On The House tip for today.