He bought an electric saw and some lumber to patch the second-floor gallery, but every time he was halfway through a board a fuse would blow in the spider-haunted circuit box in the kitchen.

NEWYORKER: Idols

The first time he fired up his double hot plate, the fuse-box door was open and he witnessed a cerulean flash and a rattail of smoke, the first of four fuses it took to fry one egg.

NEWYORKER: Idols

In 2007 Warren Buffett told shareholders that public-sector pension funding was inadequate, and called it a time bomb with a long fuse.

ECONOMIST: Despite many reforms, big problems persist in most states