When I read Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything by James Gleick, one of the anecdotes that struck me was about people who would type 88 seconds instead of 90 seconds on microwave keypads, because it’s faster. So I laughed when I saw this:

I read once of a person who would microwave their coffee for some unusual amount of time, like 48 seconds. I think it was a brain teaser: why would the person do this?

The answer was that they had timed the spinning of the carousel in the microwave, and knew that if they zapped it for 48 seconds, the mug would make some number of whole revolutions, and end up with the handle pointing towards them, making it easier for them to pick the mug up again.

(via Ned Batchelder)