What an awful smell!

[cjsmith]

Fire in our building today. AWFUL electrical smell. Couldn't find the source. Server room? A/C units?? Evacuated everyone, firemen showed up, we all counted noses while the guys went in...

Turned out it was a fluorescent light ballast self-destructing. My GOODNESS that can stink up a big building awfully darn fast.

We got four fire trucks and a police car for a broken light!

Comments

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Heh! Yes indeed, electrical stuff frying makes a distinctive smell.

Is it bad if I can smell the difference between a power supply frying and a chip that has blown up? ;-)

[eichin.livejournal.com]

Years back I talked about doing an IAP course on "Olfactory Diagnosis"... basically, crisp different components and have people smell them, to learn the distinctions between capacitors, semiconductors, plastic casings, etc. Never figured out a way to keep the safety office from objecting :-) and didn't get around to hosting it somewhere else instead. Still, it's a "useful" skill...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Times like this I wish we had a better vocabulary for smells. Burning plastic smell "etches my nose" while an exploded ceramic package is more "papery/ashy" -- I think this is just my synesthesia, not good descriptions! But if we could write stuff like that down, people could get some idea by reading. (Possibly as useful as learning CPR by reading. heh.)

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

i'd say that's a useful skill, especially if you're around someone like me with little sense of smell. i can usually smell burn/stink, but more often than not i miss out completely on pretty smells. :(

glad to hear it wasn't an equipment/building fire, and that no one was injured.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh wow. There are times I've wished my sense of smell wasn't so acute, but it sure would suck to smell all the nasties and miss out on good stuff.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

yeah, there are times it's nice to say truthfully "nope, can't smell that!"

i love the smell of woodsmoke, and the last few nights, as i wind down the country roads i take to go home, i've caught a whiff. it's a lovely fall smell, and i'm glad it's one i can enjoy.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Woodsmoke is lovely. Almonds are lovely. Jasmine would be nice if you could find one blossom at a time (sadly, as it is I want to go walking with a flamethrower). Trailing rosemary bushes are commonly used as landscaping here, and I love to rub my fingers on them and breathe in the scent.