jimmy, I just have to talk about your photo. Were you in my house about 20 years ago?
My middle son had been given a "Cooking for Little Monsters" book. He and his friend decided to make a cup of tea from the recipe in the book which said "fill the kettle with water and put it on the hot plate". The authors forgot to mention they were talking about a metal kettle and an electric hot plate. After silencing the smoke alarm we found pretty much your photo 
He has turned into a pretty good cook btw, despite his somewhat smokey start 
