Mysterons, Ergatrons And Magnetrons

This is the voice of the Mysterons, we know you can hear us...
Do you remember Captain Scarlet? Another character from Gerry Anderson's "Supermarionation" - the Mysterons were from Mars and had ' a war of nerves' with the earthmen. It was a follow up to Thunderbirds, but not as good, imho.

This week I came across Ergotrons. Well, almost. I was looking round a hospital with a colleague, and we kept find weird triangular patterns of screw holes in the consulting rooms. "What are these?" she asked, and was told "Oh, that's where the Ergotrons were". The staff member was unable to give any further information. It transpires that they are wall mounted bits of kit involving monitors and keyboards etc. They had been removed, but nobody had got round to filling the holes or making good the walls [we were doing an inspection of the premises] We giggled as we walked back to our meeting room, about The Invasion Of The Ergotrons...

Then I had a a bit of a scary experience. I switched on the microwave [bought just 5 weeks ago] and it started smoking and making odd noises [smoke, crackle! pop!] I switched it off, promptly. Bob said "switch it on again, and take photos this time". So I did, somewhat nervously. Bob said "I think the Magnetron has gone"

Bob contacted John Lewis customer services, who communicate via WhatsApp. They put him through to the technical department. The guy did not seem to know much about microwaves.

Bob sent a picture of the microwave full of smoke. Then said "Would it help if I told you I have an MA in physics, and trained as an electrical engineer, and I believe the magnetron has gone?" The person on the other end accepted this diagnosis - and said if we packed it up, we could take it into JL Norwich and exchange it for a new one. We did that, hoping the mysteron,ergotron,magnetron lasts longer than 5 weeks this time. Or I shan't know what to do-ron -ron-ron

PS IF YOU ARE IN THE UK, DON'T FORGET TO PUT THE CLOCKS BACK TONIGHT!