my microwave clock won't work with me

My microwave's clock doesn't communicate with me. I don't know why it is. I can program the VCR. Every other clock in the house and I get along. But the one on the microwave and I speak two different languages. Unfortunately, we also have frequent power outages, which means that it needs to be reset frequently. When that happens, it clears, and it stays clear until Howard gets home.

The other night, in the middle of the football games, I was in the middle of a prednisone induced frenzy to bake cookies. I don't know if you have ever been on predinsone for any reason, but suddenly a hyper urge comes over you to do something that seems perfectly reasonable. As in, starting to bake cookies at 8 at night. Not just to mix them, but to bake the entire double batch! Anyway, Howard set the microwave timer for one tray of cookies, and I used the portable timer for the other. The problem came in when he became involved in the game. Suddenly, the microwave timer was no longer available, and there went the timing on that batch of cookies. So, as I was baking, I thought how ridiculous that I can stand there with him talking me through setting the timer on the stupid thing. We can clear it, AND I CAN'T DO IT AGAIN 20 MINUTES LATER! I manage to start the microwave instead. The book for the machine is long gone.

I see several options:
a - check online for the manual and figure it out that way,
b - buy a second timer and leave the programming to Howard, or
c - admit defeat and forget it. sigh

I remember when the microwave was going to be almost the last machine we needed in the kitchen. We bought one Oklahoma and it came with a hard bound cookbook. There were recipes for candy, breads, meats, vegetables, drinks, everything to eat.

We loved the peanut brittle recipe, stopped making it only because the glass bowls kept breaking when we made it. Yup, the glass shards were considered to be a health hazard for some reason. The sugar got too hot for the plastic containers. But, when it did work, it made great peanut brittle!

There was a recipe for berlins in the cookbook. I think you used the microwave on low to help raise the dough. But you also used the microwave for the custard filling. When Nathan was hospitalized with asthma, croup and pneumonia, Howard made the berlins from that recipe, and Serena helped him fill them. They brought them down to the hospital as a thank you for the staff. The berlins didn't last long! The staff were so great in such a tense situation.