A Man Alone

I'm a big fan of those "cup o' noodle soup" things. They're terrible for you, but they are tasty and they could hardly be more simple. What more need you do than boil some water and pour it up to the designated line? Even I can manage it, although I've forgotten the water and let it boil all the way down more than once. That is a risk for me, but it is a minor one, as I have learned. There is really only one area that calls for my full attention now.

It's getting the water to that level without going over or spilling. I don't boil precisely the right amount of water. I boil at least a bit more than I need, and probably a lot more. This is to account for the aforementioned problem of vaporizing the water entirely. As a consequence, it is necessary to be quite precise in the pour. Sure, I could include the intermediary step of pouring the water into a measuring cup before pouring it into the noodles, but you know that's not me.

I employ, as it occurs to me I may have already told you, the Mark 1A Eyeball. This is what a dear Scoutmaster of mine called it. On hiking expeditions, you just cannot carry every tool and convenience, because all the weight adds up, and you could get hurt by the burden of it all. The Mark 1A Eyeball is no burden at all, and training it on the task at hand ensures that, with a steady hand, you will hit the level desired with little trouble.

Why not try it yourself? Sure, there's no real need to when you have all your apparatus right there within reach, but consider the benefits you will reap. It feels awfully good to be self-reliant. I am not as much so as I would like to be, but where I can be I certainly try to be. You stand there with lethal boiling water weighing heavily in one hand and a small styrofoam cup in the other, and you get just the right amount in there with nothing but God-given abilities. It's really something.