Fermentation Chamber

What the heck is a fermentation chamber? Well, I didn't know what it was either until 2 weeks ago. It started the day after Trudy's (aka soon to be Grandma) Birthday Party. There was a lot of food at Trudy's birthday which means Karen was happy. As you know, she likes left overs and there was a lot of it! So we packed up barbecue chicken (which Ben is still eating cause I discovered that I don't like chicken off the bone...but I digress), baked beans and cole slaw and took it home.

The next day - Monday, there was a funny smell in the house. Ben and I thought it was the trash so he took it out. Problem solved.

On Tuesday, I caught a whiff of something bad near the shoes. Hmmm. That's weird cause our feet can get smelly but not that smelly. I did some investigating. I sniffed around and found a bag of stuff from Trudy's Party (vases and candles). I could not find anything. I decided I should clean up a bit and picked up the bag. The bag was heavier than it should be. I look UNDER the vases and candles and it was cole slaw and baked beans left over from Trudy's Birthday. I forgot to put it in the fridge after the party cause I was so tired. EWWWW. It was totally gross. I couldn't even open up the tupperware - I had to throw all of it away. I felt so stupid for forgetting about the food but I was also happy that I found the source of the bad smell.

Wednesday is a hot day. I ran some errands and came home to a TERRIBLE smell in the house. It was SO bad that I threw up. Yeah. I threw up. I was so confused cause I thought I had found the source of the bad smell. I opened the window and turned on the fan to air the house out. I told Ben when he got home. He didn't take the trash out (I thought he did) so the cole slaw and beans were in the trash that is STILL in the house. Jeez!! Okay - he takes it out and Karen is happy again.

About 2 hours later. I still smell it. I am confused. I thought we got rid of the source. I tell Ben that I can still smell the awfulness. So he lights a candle. One hour later, I catch a whiff. Ben tells me it's in my head. One hour later I bring it up again. Something smells bad. I can't stand it. I make him get up and start smelling around. He starts walking around the shoes, the kitchen, the trash and he walks over to his fish tank. He leans over the tank and he says, "Oh my gosh! (gag, gag, cough, cough). What the heck is that smell?" he asks me. "What?!?! What is it?" I ask.

He says, "Something went wrong with the fermentation chamber."

"What the heck is a fermentation chamber?! Never mind, I don't care what it is - just get rid of it!!!!!!!" I tell him.

A fermentation chamber, my friend, is this thing where you ferment yeast and it somehow produces carbon dioxide for the fish to help them breathe. I am told by Ben that some other bacteria got into this so called fermentation chamber and it decided to breed all sorts of evilness and emit the most awful smell a person can ever breathe.

Ben starts opening it up and puts it in the kitchen sink. I immediately start gagging and dry heaving. I am hysterical and tell him to get rid of it. I am yelling at this point that the fermentation chamber MUST leave the house. I am ready to cry. I think he's trying not to laugh but he takes the fermentation chamber downstairs and Karen is happy again.

So the lesson here is if there is ever anything smelly in your house - check to see if something went wrong with the fermentation chamber.