Home Sweet Home...

It's always good to get back home after a trip...

Unless you forgot to turn off one of the Air Conditioners and it ran non-stop while you were gone... and The Engineer found it first. 

It's a portable A/C unit - the kind that vents heat out a hose though the window... apparently I took the hose out of the window but didn't turn it off.  So for 10 days it was trying to cool a room that was heating up from the exhaust.

And if that wasn't bad enough - the next day I discovered that the small upright freezer in the laundry room had been off for 10 days 11 days.

It was only 10 11 days... stuff would have remained frozen for at least 24 hours... and cold/cool for several days more... so it wasn't as nasty as it could have been... but it was getting there.

After throwing away the contents we found and emptied the defrost bucket underneath that collected all the liquid that had drained off... it was just a little more than full. 

Everything has been cleaned with vinegar, bleach and an enzyme deodorizer...  several times each.  I'm not putting anything back in there until it doesn't smell anymore.  It's off, open, and airing out.  I've got a tray of coffee grounds and a tray of baking soda sitting inside. 

Other things I'll try if necessary:  crumpled up newspaper, activated charcoal, and green kitty litter.  From what I read the process of getting rid of the smell could take weeks.

Ahhh yes... Home Sweet Home!  LOL