Burnt toast

I'm a fairy decent cook.  I know my way around a kitchen.  I would never venture to say  I am a great cook, but I don't hear a ton of complaints. 

Recently, I've been burning an awful lot of toast.  When we moved here, we knew the move wasn't permanent.  So, I didn't want to spend a ton of money on a stove.  I selected an inexpensive stove that had a one-sided fish broiler (fish broilers are standard on stoves here).  I could have picked a two sided broiler, but that cost more money and seemed frivolous. 

Unlike an American toaster, fish broilers do not come with timers.  And this lack of timer has become a huge pain for me.  While waiting for two sides of toast to lightly turn brown, I often get distracted.  I'm running around trying to get so many things done and I forget about the toast. 

Every time I catch a whiff of burning bread, I roll my eyes and rush over to see how bad the damage is. 

I could blame the equipment, but I think the real thing to blame is the stress and mayhem of kindergarten, Japanese school, and normal stressors.  I'm just distracted.  And that is never a good thing to be in the kitchen.