Friday, July 06, 2007

did it..... again!!!!

Probably, most of you know, that I do not have the sense of smell. I guess I was born without it, and I do know that my grandfather (on my mother's side) didn't have a sense of smell either.

As a child, I never thought to "tell anyone" about it, I guess because I never knew it was missing. I can remember thinking "what are they talking about" when someone would comment on how something smelled, but other than that... didn't give it much thought. I do remember the day it was discovered.... boy, do I.


There was a stray cat in our neighborhood that kept breaking into the trash and peeing in my parent's carport, so my Dad, in trying to discourage the cat from coming around, filled a squirt gun with water and ammonia, and then he would "shoot" the cat whenever it showed up. One day, he left the squirt gun sitting on the kitchen table (which was unusual, because he usually kept it on a high shelf where we kids couldn't get it!!)... walking into the kitchen and seeing the squirt gun, I picked it up, saw it had "water" in it, and squirted it into my mouth!!!! Right away, my tongue and cheeks began to burn and my Mom, who showed up just about the same time... "yelled" ...didn't you smell the ammonia??? which of course, I didn't. Since she knew that her Dad didn't have sense of smell, it didn't take her too long to figure it out.
I don't know if there is anything that can be "done" about this, but I probably wouldn't bother with it if there was. For the most part, it hasn't been a problem, my family knows about this, so they are always quick to tell me if I need to know..... like, a doggie poop somewhere in the house, or something is burning on the stove, etc. And, its been pretty "helpful" because I don't know what dead skunks in the road smell like, nor do doggie "farts" in the car bother me... along with all sorts of other bad smells, that most of you can think about as you read this.
But, of course, there are major drawbacks as well.... for example, yesterday morning, I set two bags of rice on the stove to cook for the dogs.... THEN, I got busy.... blogging on the computer.... and totally forgot, until the living room began to fill with smoke (I usually set the timer to remind myself, but forgot that one too!!!) I have also come close with fires... once I set my stove on fire, and was pretty happy that my neighbor was home (Ed wasn't) because he ran to help... and another time, I set the dryer on fire and that time needed the fire department to come!!!! and when the girls were little, I always had that worry if they had a "messy diaper"........
So, its just one of those "quirky" things that one learns to live with,,,, but I must be more careful and NOT forget the timer, or leave when things are cooking.... just hope I haven't ruined yet another nice cooking pan........