four-star ant restaurant

We are in the middle of an average (that is to say, slightly nasty) summer storm. Just lost power for about a half-hour. Smoky, speeding clouds and a few hapless birds being buffeted by the wind. Electric service returned just as it started raining. Arwen, being a chicken in a dog suit, is agitated... she isn't exactly afraid of storms, but she doesn't like them very much, either.

Last night: a spiritless cookout. Too hot to enjoy it, and all badly planned. At least the hot dogs turned out well. I can't say as much for the charred buns, which became an ant picnic when I tossed them on the ground by the grill. FEAST, LITTLE ANTS, FEAST!

land of eternal stench!

My house has smelled funny all day.

I checked the usual culprits first. Sometimes the sponge we use to wash dishes gets moldy and stinks up the room, but that wasn't it. Besides, the smell was all over the first floor of the house, not just in the kitchen. Didn't seem to be coming from the in-sink garbage disposal. Not in the garbage can, either. No, strangely, it seemed to be emanating from... the microwave?

(Sadly, it took me hours to figure this out.)

Apparently my mom forgot about some broccoli she cooked in the microwave yesterday afternoon. The plate looked OK, but smelled terrible. I should have taken it outside to dump it, but I couldn't stand to carry it across the house to the back door, so I put it in the garbage disposal.

Source of stench gone, but the smell wasn't going anywhere. Hunted down white vinegar after a misadventure involving apple cider vinegar (and inhaling it... oops). Now a network of fans and bowls of vinegar is taking care of the problem. I hope.