Stink Twice

Shelley's post today about eating stinky mildew out of her favorite yogurt container reminded me of another stinky issue that happened recently.

My friend living downstairs had a bad smell coming from her "house" and she told me about this bad smell. My nose doesn't work very well. That sense (along with common) left some time ago. Prior to my cancer diagnosis, I smelled exhaust all the time. I'm not kidding. Some days I smelled more exhaust than others. I could never get the smell of exhaust out of my head - exhaust from a tractor trailer or maybe the proverbial mack truck. I should have heeded the exhaust warning signal but did not. Then once I was diagnosed with cancer, and went through chemo, I stopped smelling exhaust. So either cancer is a cure for the smell of exhaust. Or whenever I smell exhaust, I know I have cancer. I digress.

Back to PK who had this bad smell inside her place. She's thinking the smell came from the bathroom. I try to smell the stink and cannot. She's suggesting it might be septic though septic, I tell her, has a very distinct smell. I've smelled it, and a person can't luxuriate outside their house in a lounge chair overlooking the septic covers and have a great evening if the septic tank needs to be pumped. I mean, it's a smell no one can deny. Septic smell is like heySus, what died in here kind of smell. I'm wondering if the smell is something in the shower or the sink or the toilet while worrying about how much this stink is going to cost me etc. I still couldn't smell the stench and suggested PK find an alternate sniffer aside from me to smell the stench. She had her friend, V (a super sniffer) come to the house and give a whiff. V *could* smell it. (She must be cancer-free.) Then I think PK had her sister D come over to smell it. D could also smell the stink though I have a feeling that D could smell a stink that didn't even exist.

Time marched forward and while sprucing up the stinky space one day, PK picks up some folded towels she had left in the bathroom and there, in between the folded-to-perfection towels was a rotted package of cooked hamburger meat that PK's mom had given her for her dogs complete with little black bugs crawling amongst the detestable rot. Her stink issue solved.

Which sort of gives me an idea on where to check for exhaust should I smell that again in future.