Saturday 17 May 2014

May 17: The worst aromas of pungency .

Three unforgettable assaults to the olfactory senses. Aromas of pungency permeate more than the best smells in the world.
  • Entering a house where the fridge has been accidentally or incidentally turned off .
We popped by my FIL's holiday house to check on the renovations to be rendered breathless by a putrid stench in the air.

The power had been turned off by the idiot builders.

My FIL was away on holidays for another month - so the clean up was unavoidable.
He owed us.
The freezer was full of rotting meat ~ 3wks at least.
Tea towel face masks.
Pegs on noses.
It had dripped through the freezer drain and tubing, into the drip tray under the fridge. The fridge wasn't nearly as bad , but the stench of the rotting fridge contents could not be ignored either.
We emptied it entirely.
I couldn't eat red meat especially mince for 3 weeks.

It also happened a second time - 400kms away arriving at FIL's farm - that familiar putrid stench waiting wafting as soon as entered the house.
Enough said.
This time there had been a storm and the safety switch tripped and the power did not reset to the upright freezer. It wasn't so long gone.

  • The time I took the teen's cat Zig and her kitten to the vet for de-sexing. We had no time to arrange a cat carrier so the teen held Zig,  mama cat ; the kitten 3/12 was content in an open box he had a hand on her too as necessary. Mama cat got restless and wriggled free of the teen ; jumped to the back seat , only to defaecate under my driver's seat ...OMG - stuck in centre lane of bumper to bumper traffic.

The pungent smell quickly filled the air all around us in my little Corolla hatchback. So powerful the stench, I unthinkingly pushed the electric window button, my eyes watering and son gagging and whingeing he was going to spew. So undeniably offensive was the odour.


Then Zig slipped down the side of my driver's seat and peed on the my pant's leg. Then she attempted to jump to my lap - bad idea I just stopped her exiting through the window. Holding my breath for as long as possible between shallow breaths we made it to the vet - the teen was sent in search of paper toweling to remove the odorous bits and then I found some baby wipes to finish the cleanup enough to get home.


A few weeks ago we had a very distinctive smell in our kitchen ;  like cat faeces. Our cat (once the kitten above) is mostly an outdoor cat and we assumed the smell was coming from under the house.
We couldn't explain it .
It was pungent.
Not the worse but troubling and odour worse near the kettle and cook top.

I wiped every bench and checked for anything that may be the source of the pungent aroma.

Hubby set about sniffing too - the smell was finally located - it was the drip tray for the capsule coffee maker ...the dregs of hot chocolate made several days prior.

Then the smell was still barely noticeable, so hubby asked me if there was any tubing to be flushed ; ah ha moment - the spent capsule was still in it's capsule tray. Breathe easy.

A dead mouse behind the dishwasher is not equally as bad ...thank goodness my hubby has good sense to deal with that quickly.

I have always had a very sensitive sense of smell and I cannot stand deodorant sprays or the like  - the teen used a half can at a time I have no doubt. They assault my nose and cause irritation.

What do think are the worse smells in the world ?

May 17: The worst smell in the world