Sherlock Grace
I used to smoke. I was among the population who thought their sense of taste and smell was never affected by the fact they smoked. But I'm here to tell you how misguided I was. :)
There is a smell in my house that only I can smell. NO ONE else in my house can smell it.
The neighbors can't smell it (unless they're just being polite). My mom can't smell it (and she's never smoked). But this smell is driving me NUTS.
When I wake up at night, I smell it.
When I come out of my bedroom I smell it.
When I first walk in the house, it overwhelms my senses.
It is not a pleasant smell.
I am getting headaches from this smell!
It kind of smells like when you leave damp clothes in the washer overnight.
But there's nothing there.
It's a cross between mildewy and moldy.
I've taken everything out from under the sink.
I've gotten down on my hands and knees and personally smelled under my refrigerator.
I've sniffed around the washer.
I've sniffed the dishwasher.
I've sniffed the drain.
I'm completely obsessed with finding the reason for this odor.
All I need is my little cape, hat, and pipe and you ,might confuse me with Sherlock Holmes.
*wink*
I CAN NOT FIND THE SOURCE OF THIS ODOR AND I'M GOING NUTS.
Tomorrow I am going to solve this mystery if it's the last thing I do.
Wish me luck...
and wish my family patience and understanding.
:)
posted by Gracie @ 8/11/2006 10:36:00 PM
18 Comments:
My dad smokes and I used to love the smell of cigarette smoke. But now that I haven't lived with him for years, it's gross....
You know what, I have done the same thing. I have gone back and forth with smoking, and seem to have the best nose in this world. And when I can't find the source of a smell, it drives me bananas!!! There's a smell coming from our bathroom as we speak, and have gotten down on hands and knees and haven't found it. I think it's the molding around the toilet, and soemthing has seeped into it and now it stinks. But stupid landlord wont let me take it apart. But I know how you feel!!
I was going to say maybe it's mold in your house. Is it damp there? Has it rained? That could be it.
I remember one time when I had my own apt. I could smell this horrible smell...I found the source a few days later---hot dog water left on the stove. Gah.
Oh no a mad woman on the loose looking for that lurking dampness, dangy smell. She will stop at nothing! No article of clothing, washcloth, carpet, or piece of food will be left unturned (and washed). They will know her as crazy woman, as she finds disgusting things that she never knew were there, and will scream and yell about what a pack of lazy slobs she lives with and maybe even will be reduced to tears at some point in her tiredness and despair. She bottle of bleach will come out and be drained to the last drop, so that everything is sanitized or at least no more hideous odour can be smelled - except that strong pool like chemical irradiating around the house. Alas her T shirt will be ruined with white spots as she leans and scrubs and cleans and her hands will become raw (but smell really cool!) And when it is all done, she sit on her throne with her feet up and relax and be glad (with a glass of chardonnay).
Am I right? If I'm not then that's me I just blogged about. :)
ICL? When did you install the hidden cameras?? Good grief!
I still have not discovered from where this smell is coming!!
I have it narrowed down to a triangular area between the kitchen cabinet (behind the coffee pot), the refrigerator, and the window. My hubby says it may be that the window has developed a leak and the wood is rotting between the sill and the wall.
G R E A T.
But...as ICL foresaw--the rest of the house is immaculate and smelling wonderfully! And I had a mango margie last night (a story for a later blog) to celebrate (that and other things). :)
Happy Sunday!
Rotten wood. That'll do it. I hate when that happens.
Ya let's celebrate! I've still got the music goin' on my site but I'm gonna turn it off tonight. Also got my chardonnay, ay? Woot!
Oh I have incredibly keen sense of smell too (and I never smoked) and I can always tell days before the potatos start going bad or the trash start getting stinky....its a curse I tell ya a curse! Its also why many types of candles and perfumes give me headaches (Mr. Cheeky and the teenage daughter love to torture me on this one).
Rotting wood....yep that could be it
I was going to suggest it could be mold in your central air system. Less likely since you only smell it in one place. But still possible if one duct is uninsulated and is exposed to damp air.
I was going to mention a leak behind cabinets or something but it looks like you're on the right path, Sherlock.
AS a side note...are you smoking the pipe like Sherlock Holmes too or did you forgo that part of the uniform?
Okay, I'm irritated. Blogger won't let me sign in to post! Grrrr. Maybe it's a sign from above that i really need to be sleeping (like my body is trying to tell me).
I've discovered, the source of the smell. For whatever reason, the way I've been cleaning the garbage disposal wasn't effective enough. Evidently, mildew was able to build up around the bottom side of these lil plastic doo-hickeys that fold out over the hole that feeds into the garbage disposal. I generally just pour bleach water down the drain and scrub the top sides, but I discovered there was mildewy slime built up on the bottom side. Now, let me tell you...that was just gross. Even with plastic gloves on, shoving my hand into the garbage disposal to flip the plastic thingies up and be able to scrub them with a tooth brush made me shudder. *shivers*
But the smell is gone, gone, gone!!
Thanks for all your great suggestions and ideas!
And oh, TKW? No pipe here--although, I'm not opposed to the smell of one! :)
Okay taters--i'm outtie. This Gracie is pooped!
Hope y'all had wonderful days...and that I'll be able to post 'proper-like' tomorrow!
Ciao*
i can soooo completely relate and i was never a smoker, here's why:
i went off a bunch of pretty powerful medicines. they left my neurological system extremely sensitive for at least six months.
the smell of chlorine put me over the edge, as did people's perfumes. my husband had to quit using deoderant.
i am much better now, as my sister has leveled out.
good luck, when did you quit smoking and when did the weird smelling smells start?
CD: I quit smoking again 9 months ago. I only started smelling this odor about a week ago. Irritating too!
What I'm most irritated about RIGHT NOW, is the fact that blogger won't let me log on to post!!! This is the third day in a row! WTF. Any suggestions on what might be wrong or how to handle this are welcome...
Ciao*
Good luck Sherlock :) You'll have to let us know what the smell is--and I can totally relate. I smell things no one else ever smells either. My hubby thinks I'm nuts :)
oh, so sorry i did not tell you how to blog from flickr sooner.
click on your screenname at the top and read the page it brings you too. you should be able to add your blog to your account.
anyway, choose a photo, click on it. at the top where it says add note, add to set, etc. it will say blog this. click that and it should give you which of your blogs to choose from, or you may have to add your blog url there.
anyway, it will take you to a page where you can add a title, then type your post in the box below. once you click done, if you edit the post from blogger, the little writing and links from the picture will disappear. so try to get it right the first time.
if you want to add more pictures, then click on the picture you want, go to the small size, copy the html code then paste wherever you want the photo to appear in the post. you can add as little or many pictures as you want.
hope this helps!
I NEVER blog from blogger anymore. only flickr...
oh weird....(music from the twilight zone....)
So...since blogger is a jerk...
C'mon over n give me some luvvin at my new site!!
http://sthrnbygrace.wordpress.com/
It's a real, live Southern house-warming over there...:)
great i dont feel so bad.. I quit thanks to being stuck in the hospital and being forced to have the will power-lol. But when i came home i about threw up wheni walked in teh front door. It wasnt anything anyone else could smell. I even had a couple friends come over and asked them and believe me they would of been honest if nothing else cause i was turning green-lol. But My poor family was going crazy cleaning everything to try to find it. But finally we found that when we changed the air filters in teh a/c unit it helped but come to find out it was all caused by plant water in a plant in my kitchen..Hope you have no more smell probs though
We had a nasty, nasty smell in our sorority room way back when.
We thought our room mate's dog had peed in the corner and we were totally pissed with her.
Around January we found the smell. A totally rotted, moldy pumpkin that had fallen behind the book shelf. Yuck.
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