I don’t lose things and I rarely break things. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve taken really good care of my stuff. That’s why when I do get distracted and ruin something, sort of rocks my world and sends me racing to repair or replace the damaged object.

A couple of days ago, I was making dinner while talking to my mom on the phone and inadvertently turned on the wrong burner. Sadly, it was the burner upon which my beloved Umbra teakettle was sitting, totally empty. I didn’t realize my mistake until I smelled something funky. I immediately pulled the kettle off the burner and thought I had managed to save it before any permanent damage.

However, when I went to fill the kettle this morning, I noticed that the plastic lid was melted beyond repair. I stood there for a few seconds, sink running, blinking in surprise at my ruined kettle. Then I put it on the floor next to the trash can and altered my coffee plan.

Because I can’t live without the ability to boil water (and I don’t have the counterspace for an electric kettle) I made Scott run out to Marshall’s with me tonight before we met friends for dinner. The kettle pickings were slim, but happily they had a nice looking anodized one (oddly, it carries the Palm Restaurant brand, who knew that famous steakhouses also make teakettles?!) that I think was actually made by Anolon and wasn’t particularly expensive.

Whatever the real brand, it seems well-made, doesn’t have to be emptied after every use and has no plastic parts, which means that at least there’s no portion of it that I can melt. It’s not quite as cool or sleek as my old kettle, but apparently, I’ve shown that I can’t have nice things if they’re destined to live on my stovetop.

And with that, balance has been returned to my kitchen eco-system.