Odor Update

(previously posted in brief form at The Caretakers

B-Deck smells like wet socks.

I personally feel that if the Board of Directors had been exposed beforehand to the unique bouquet of aromas now emanating from certain regions of the lower decks, they would have voted unanimously to keep the ship up and running. At any cost necessary. And this was even before the, er, small graywater incident the other day.

In other news, we have a little experiment running involving the freshwater tanks and low water usage. It would appear that with only nine people on the ship, our highly sophisticated chlorination systems (i.e., the bleach jug and measuring cup) are falling a bit behind the evaporation rate. The water is still UV- and particulate-filtered before it reaches the tap, but the bacteria population, we have ample reason to believe, is multiplying enthusiastically. And now that things have a lot more time to marinate on their way through the concrete and rusted steel within the ship's system, our drinking water tastes like a rusty toilet tank float, and smells--ah, yes, the smell. Imagine aged eggsalad carefully blended with essence of sweaty boxer briefs; add a hint of wet rat, and you're getting close.

So. Next to the main engine there is a water fountain with its own filter, which for some reason is working much better than the others, with the result that some of us have taken to dropping by the engine room now and again for a quick nip. One would not ordinarily think of looking down there for the cleanest water one could find, but one does what one must. I was scrounging the abandoned cabins for toilet paper the other day.