We've lived in Utah, Nebraska, upper Michigan and now we've settled in Colorado...at least for now! Marley is 10, Isi is 6 and Enzo is 4!

Life is great!

Monday, February 4, 2008

WHAT is that SMELL? And WHERE is it coming from!?!?!

Sometimes I wish I had some of the stuff that coroners wipe under their nose so they CAN'T smell the stink of dead bodies.

(After doing a little Internet research I found that all that stuff is...is VICKS Vapor Rub. Apparently most autopsy labs have an industrial sized container of it. Not too hard to get your hands on after all. But, who wants to smell THAT all day? I guess I would considering some of the alternatives!)

There are some pretty interesting smells that float around my work. I had a particularly hard time with smells my first trimester. Even slight changes in smell or even changes in the moisture in the air (going from inside to outside) would cause me to spew. So, strong overwhelming smells were unbearable. Thankfully it seems to have subsided. Still there are stenches that even those not sensitive to smells, can't stand. Am I right?

There is this really nice guy at work...and he used to sit by me...and he wore WAY too much cologne. It isn't even good smelling cologne. (It reminded me of Phyllis on the Office). I used to bring oranges to work and eat them for breakfast. I would save parts of the peel and leave them on my desk so that when overwhelming whiffs found my nostrils I could sniff a refreshingly good smelling orange peel. Toward the end of the day though the orange peels would dry out but, I found if I just ripped them in half, the sweet fresh orange smell was back.

There is a reesty stench on I-15 right around the Tahitian Noni building (building is on west side of the freeway). It smells like very strong fart...and it makes me want to puke every time I pass it. I have always assumed it's the Tahitian Noni building but, others have shared their theories with me...I still think it's Tahitian Noni.

Someone told me it was the fertilizer they use in those planting fields on the east side of the freeway. They told me that during the planting season and it did look like fresh fertilizer had just been applied to the fields. But, how do you explain that theory in the dead of winter?

Another person told me it is the stench of Utah Lake. I also believed that for awhile but, I don't think the wind is always blowing just right for the stench to always reach the freeway right at that point. Plus, I've smelled that lake and it DOES smell...but, it doesn't smell like fart!

So, what prompted this post? Two things....

First, it smelled like cat food at my work on Friday. GROSS!! I didn't know where it was coming from but, I'm not even close to the break room and it was still early in the morning, but maybe someone had tuna for breakfast? Or maybe someone had brought a tuna fish sandwich for lunch and they were just letting it chill in their pocket? Don't get me wrong I like tuna fish sandwiches but, I don't like an undetermined location of an unexplained stink!

Also...

Last Thursday I drove to work because I had a doctor's appointment in the middle of the day. When I left for my doctor's appointment our car smelled like cigarette smoke! I was like…what the?!?!!

I rolled down one of the windows. I thought someone at work was smoking by my car...but, would it get INTO my car?!?!

When I left that day…same smell.

When I drove to work Friday morning….same smell.

When I drove home on Friday….same smell.

When I got home Nathan just jumped in the car because we went to his nephew's birthday party. He got in the car was like…what the?!?!

I was like, "I KNOW!!! It smells like cigarette smoke in here and I don't know why!?!" We rolled the windows down to air it out.

Our neighbors across the street smoke outside all the time, even in the FREEZING cold! But, they smoke up by their front door so we didn't think it was their smoke wafting into our car? And why was it lingering!?!?!

We were racking our brains to try and figure out how our nice clean car which was never owned by a smoker could smell like cigarette smoke. We got an oil change at Jiffy Lube about two weeks ago and they recommended we get a new filter, so we did. I wasn't sure if it was an air filter so I asked Nathan if it was and maybe some genius smoked around the air filters. No luck...the filter they changed was in the engine. We could not figure it out!

Then after the b-day party, we got back in the car and before the door closed and before the light turned off…I saw something on the floor mat…..I was like, "OH MY GOSH!!!! FREAKING LITTER BUG SMOKERS!!!" There was a cigarette bud on the floor in our car!!! It must have gotten stuck to my shoe probably with snow!!! I was so mad…but SO glad to get that nasty smell out of the car. It was seriously driving us crazy!

Well, that's it. Smells bother me....but....not as bad as they bother my sister Julie. We call her "The Nose."

***Appologies - I know I used the word fart twice in this post. I tried to think of other ways to get the reesty stench described and even pondered upon using alternatives to the word (fluff - too innocent; gas - too nonspecific; break wind - again too innocent; boof - does everyone know that means fart?) I'm sorry....but it won't stop!***

12 comments:

Julie J. said...

That is so funny. I came to the exact same conclusion on Saturday and we drove by that stinky Noni factory.... It reeks!I too have thought it was the field and for a long time I blamed the lake. But I decided on Saturday that it's the Noni. (Is "noni" the tahitian word for BUTT?) And I can often smell that when I open my front door and step outside. Yes, we are that close... Just a heads up though, it is really fun to ask mom if she farted every time you drive by that smell. Try it for a week, it's fun and hilarious.

Matthew Johnson said...

Do you think that maybe your trunk monkey has a bad habit????

The Wells said...

I laughed so hard I farted. Sorry.

Becky said...

Liz, you always were the phantom farter...and yours are usually silent but deadly.

Wow! My last two posts have really turned out to be totally inappropriate. Sorry!

PS - my Internet research is not complete yet...but, I'm pretty close to confirming the Noni is Tahitian for BUTT. They are both four letter words.

Matt - Monkeys do what they see. Quick teaching him your bad habits!

Becky said...

I swear typos are automatically inserted once you push the "Publish Your Comment" button! So annoying!

Adam and Sarah said...

Ha! So funny! Your blogs can really make my day!

I've NEVER heard "boof" before in my life, but thank you for expanding my repertoire for the word "FART".

Ever heard of the "Traf"? It's fart backwards...

Meesa said...

It's not Tahitian Noni. The reason it smells like a fart is because there is a sewage treatment plant that is overloaded back in there. There is a 5 year plan to take care of the problem. At least this is what my sources tell me. I guess it's like they say if it smells like a fart it must be a fart!!! I saw your picture on Julie's Blog with the churros. You look really cute!

Shantell said...

LOL! Don't worry I'm reading your blog while holding Ethan and I laughed so hard I almost dropped him! You are truely the funniest person I know. I miss you!

Jorg and Em said...

the smell comes from a sewer treatment plant just half mile behind the noni building

Nathan said...

You don't agree with my conclusion that it is the green waste/sewage treatment center? "Our Circus" got it right

Becky said...

Ok, so a comment that never made it from Jeanna is that it's a chicken farm...her husband remembers the smell before Noni was there.

But, I am going to have to conclude (along with my husby and Our Circus) that it is a waste treatment plant. Like Our Circus, I've even heard rumors that it is out of control and is over flowing...GROSSS!!!

Val S said...

I have smelled that smell there for over 40 years. You can't blame Noni, they weren't there. If you haven't noticed, there is a chicken farm (drive by one you'll smell that smell) a dump and Utah Lake. Not rocket science. Hmmmm...