Can Something Break From Underuse?

It wouldn't really be fair to say that I hate my oven. It's very nice looking and has a smooth top range which is actually pretty cool. I just don't like using it since using it means that I am cooking something. And we all know how I feel about cooking. So apparently my oven had had enough of me ignoring it and used Sunday afternoon as a chance to get my attention.

I was actually planning on cooking something for lunch, and was preheating the oven when I heard a noise that sounded like water boiling over. I'm good enough at cooking to know that there shouldn't be any noises at all when an oven is only preheating, but at the same time it didn't really concern me. About 15 seconds later, the Army Man who was diligently playing video games with Laura, called to me that he thought he saw a "flash" in the oven. I went to check it out and saw that the inside of the oven was aglow! It was the heating element on the bottom that was glowing, but only in one spot, and it almost looked like it was melting. I discerned all this while the oven was closed and I figured sooner or later I would have to open the door and check it out. I wasn't too concerned, since I am my father's daughter and have had my fire extinguisher waiting under my kitchen sink since the day we moved in.

Opening the oven door was rather anticlimactic. A little bit of smoke came out, but that was it. The Army Man and I were standing there trying to figure out what had happened when the heating element sizzled a bit more and then snapped! So that's what I get for not using my oven: a broken oven.

Please don't be concerned, my oven is not actually this dirty. The heating element spit a lot of stuff around while it was melting. So now not only does my oven need fixed, but I have to clean it too. Great. I wonder how quickly I need to get it repaired before people start complaining.