"Getting rid of everything that doesn’t matter allows you to remember who you are. Simplicity doesn’t change who you are, it brings you back to who you are."

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Stankiness

When we go away for a trip, I take some time before leaving to clean things up around the house so it's not such a big disaster area when we get home.  You know, like mowing the yard, running the dishwasher, vacuuming the floor...Stuff like that.

I think I'm a typical housekeeper.  During the week things get picked up as needed but I leave the heavy lifting for the weekends. 

Super deep cleaning?  Those projects tend to be pre-planned.  I have dedicated days for the really big things in life.

So when we left to go up to Ohio last week the house was it's usual tidy self.  I'd run the trash out, dishes were done and any foodstuffs that were considering going viral got the boot.

Or so I thought.

We got home late from our quickie trip last weekend and when I opened the door to the refrigerator I was greeted with The Stank

You know The Stank.  We've all had it at one point or another.  It's that eyebrow lifting, nose pinching, hand-waving stankiness that wafts out and embraces you. 

It's not just a "phew" it's a "Oh Gross!  What IS that?" kind of stink.





Since it was late, I did a quickie eyeball of the situation looking for something green and oozing.  Since nothing jumped out at me, I shrugged and figured I'd find it tomorrow. 

Which I did.  A jar of homemade peaches that SM had been adding to his oatmeal.  The problem was that he hadn't eaten any oatmeal in a few months. 

Hence the stankiness.

I tossed the offense goop in the trash and walked it out to the big trash can outside figuring the problem was solved.  Then I headed into work.

When I got home and opened the fridge door to search for dinner the stank was still there.  Faint.  But still there.

Huh.

So I eyeballed everything again, sniffing as I went.  Nothing. 

Hmm.

I opened a carton of baking soda and stuck it in the fridge assuming it was just some residual stankiness that would dissipate over time.

The baking soda didn't do squat. 

All week long I caught wiffs of something every time the fridge door was opened.  I really didn't have time to scrub out the fridge during the work week so I resolved to save the attack for Saturday.

Casey woke me up by jumping up on the bed at 5:30am Saturday morning.  "Get your butt outta bed!  I'm hungry and the days a-wasting!" 

Casey is a big girl at 85 lbs.  Kinda hard to ignore any demands she makes of me.

So I dragged my sorry carcass up and out the door.  I stumbled around with the pups for our usual 2 miler and then got everyone fed and the coffee started for SM while I sucked on my Diet Mt Dew.

Then I hit blog land, started some laundry and went out to harvest what goodies I could find from the garden. By this time SM was up and nursing his first cuppa joe on the back porch swing enjoying the morning.

"Come sit down with me."  He called out as I buzzed by with some strawberries.

"Can't.  Too much to do."  I sang out.

"What has to be done?"  He asked getting up.

"Gosh what doesn't need doing?"  I replied as the dryer buzzer went off.  "I want to get all this little crap out of the way so I can scrub the fridge this morning.  I can't take that smell any longer."

"Do you think something died back there?  I can move it for you if you want to look under it."  SM offered.

"If something died, it died inside the fridge not under it.  I only smell the stank when the door opens."  I paused.  "Maybe it's the universe telling me it's past time to give it a cleaning."

"When was the last time?"  SM asked.

(insert the sound of crickets here) 

"That long huh?"  SM said with a smile.  "I'll leave you to it then."

So while I pulled all the shelves and foodstuffs out, SM made himself busy watering the tender new transplants front and back.  Thanks Squeetie Man!

It took me about an 1 1/2 hrs to clean the freakin thing out.  I never did find anything creating the residual stank.

Huh.

Stankiness.  One of life's little mysteries goes unresolved yet again.


9 comments:

  1. Hope the stank is gone for good!

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  2. It amazes me the more people I talk to the more I found out eat gluten free. I am really praying for a miracle with it working because I am so dang tired of the acid reflux symptoms.
    Blessings
    Diane

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  3. I think we've all had to deal with "The Stank" at some time or other. Ever found anything that was so bad you had to throw out the container, too?

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  4. I admire your great communication skill!!! And your hubby ... A willing busy body. What a great motivator yoy are!

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  5. Many years ago, that happened to my mother, "Mrs.Clean". She had thawed some fish in the fridge, and the stank came a couple of weeks later. Turns out the fish juice had seeped into the rubber seal around the door. It took some heavy scrubbing with a strong bleach solution to get rid of the odor.

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  6. I love it. You make such fun out of a rather unpleasant situation!

    Our problem is our cat, Riley. He's taken to keeping a pet chipmunk on the back porch. We always have a heck of a time chasing them outside again. I always worry one will die behind the washer or dryer!

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  7. That's basically how I eventually clean mine as well. This year (and don't think it's a yearly event...) a 2+ day power outage got my attention. Same with the oven. I wait for small fires to break out. Life's too short for deep cleaning.

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  8. Yes. The Stank. I think that when we find the initial offending food stuff, the smell generated from it just permeates every other food thing in the fridge and hence the "residual stank" after the green and fuzzy peaches are tossed.

    What cracks me up is that obviously something is molding in the fridge - obviously. For, like, days. But then it hits "critical mass" of nastiness and the smell hits. No middle ground. Nothing or straight up offensive odor. (It's only hilarious after being dealt with...) :-)

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  9. oiy. Old cabbage or cauliflower, very stinky.

    On a different note, I really like your new lily header. Sometimes when I am at work, I just leave some pages open to the headers for a more interesting background since we are not allowed to download stuff. I'm at home now but sometimes at work (at lunch) I can't see all your pictures. Any suggestions? These pictures are a breath of fresh air in an area where there are no windows.

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