dubyakay, 1 year ago

Story time: back when I lived with my parents and siblings, my “room” was a loft above the open concept living + dining + kitchen room, covering most of the living room part. It was a 30sqm room with 4m ceiling height mind you, so even the loft was pretty spacious, giving me about 1.8m height (plenty for me) and 10sqm living space.

The fridge and kitchen was in the opposite corner of the stairs leading up to my loft. Since warm air rises, I’d get all the nice smells stuck in my loft area, unless I opened the small window installed for the express purpose of ventilation.

Since my family members would sometimes come up to the loft to the dresser containing most sheets, or to bother me while playing vidya, on the way up they’ve started making remarks like “Eww Dubya Kay. Open the window and go and shower already!” I’ve noticed a particular, rotten milk smell as well, so I’ve complied, reluctantly. However the smell did not go away.

This went on for about two months, during which time we’ve established that the smell did not emanate from me, but it was indeed strongest opposite the fridge in the corner, on top of the stairs leading to my loft. There were a bunch of books on a shelf there, so we went through them but nothing. Then we looked under the stairs with the couch, but again nothing. So we thought it must come from our fridge. We’ve defrosted and cleaned it out. Voila!

This lasted for a day or two until the smell was back with a vengeance. Strong rancid cheese smell, slightly burnt undertones. We were certain now that it’s the fridge, so we figured something must have gotten onto the mechanics part of it. We unplugged it again and then pulled it away from the corner it was in… and lo and behold, there was the nastiest orange cheese-like substance covering some of the heat dissipating parts on the bottom, along with some stuck on one of the caster wheels and some on the motor housing as well. We figured it must have been some milk that somehow spilled from the top.