The Most Important Tool

Do you ever feel like you did everything right but no matter what you would have done, disaster was looming?  Last week I set out to bake an Orange Ricotta Pound Cake (attempt #2 to come).  I followed the directions step by step, I tested my cake at the suggested time and it was not ready.  I left it for 10 more minutes, thought I tested it properly and took it out, but when I turned it over to cool, the inside was completely RAW!!!! and was quickly spreading on my kitchen counter like something out of a sci-fi horror flick Ugh!  So I wondered, where did I go wrong?
That's when I decided to invest in the best little friend a kitchen girl can have:

Yes, my friends, this little gadget is an oven thermometer.  It has revealed to me the glorious news that I do know how to bake and It wasn't my doing and the horrible news that my oven is off by TWENTY degrees and needs to be fixed.  So I am now waiting for my oven to once again work as it should and I can continue baking.  The lesson here is that if you bake, get one of these. You'll thank me later.