How Long Should a Microwave Last?

We bought a GE microwave in Feb 2012 from Home Depot.  A with a trim kit to fit into the cabinet above our oven.  It cost us $515.71.

Starting yesterday it started cooking at less than 5% power.  I put in 3 cups of water and a cup of grits.  After about 9 minutes of cooking, the the water was tepid.  I put in about a cup and a half of water, after 9 minutes I could barley tell it was warmer than after I got it out of the tap.

Anyway, we did not buy an extended warranty.  We rarely to never buy them.  It is like buying insurance for your purchases.  It certainly would have been worth it in this case, but over the averages of all purchases of electronics and appliances, I am sure it has been a better deal to skip them.

I am not sure if this defect is common or if it was a fluke.  It looks like we are shopping for a new microwave.

The model number is JEB1860DM2BB.  Here is the manual.  Here is a similar model at Home Depot.

The True Science of Parallel Universes

It describes our known reality and some theories that have been dreamed up to explain why life exists among other questions. None of which have been experimentally confirmed.

"Physics is science, not philosophy"

Why does the Earth have Seasons?

Percent Job Losses In Post WWII Recessions

I found this chart from http://www.businessinsider.com/pct-job-losses-in-post-wwii-recessions-2013-1
And in Jul 2013 from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2013/08/percent-job-losses-great-recession-and.html

We still have a ways to go.


Here is an update from May 2015

This graph shows the job losses from the start of the employment recession, in percentage terms, compared to previous post WWII recessions.  Since exceeding the pre-recession peak in April 2014, employment is now 2.4% above the previous peak. 

Note: most previous recessions end on the graph when employment reached a new peak, although I continued the 2001 recession too.  The downturn at the end of the 2001 recession is the beginning of the 2007 recession.  I don't expect a downturn for employment any time soon (unlike in 2007 when I was forecasting a recession).
("Update: "Scariest jobs chart ever"", Bill McBride, 25 Jun 2015)

If April 2014 is where we broke even we can subtract 75 months to conclude that Jan 2008 is when the recession started. It looks like the bottom of the graph is on month 25 which would be Feb 2010.

"According to the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research (the official arbiter of U.S. recessions) the recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Recession

Yellowstone and Wolves

Here are some interesting documentaries on the history of Yellowstone and the reintroduction of wolves.

BYUtv Yellowstone America's Eden (1997)

BBC Wolf Pack (2005)

PBS Nature In the Valley of the Wolves (2007)