You Know That Burning Plastic Smell? 04/28/07
Every so often for the past year I would smell a strange plasticy smell. I think the first time was December 2005 right around the time my computer screen died. My favorite seat upstairs happen to be where the air currents all come together. As our upstairs isn't exactly air tight it's often difficult to tell where the strange smells come from. In the case of the plastic, I've always assumed it is either my ibook or something falling on the element in the dishwasher.

Now we know better. It was the wiring between the house and the dishwasher. Our house has aluminum wiring because it was built during the Vietnam War when copper prices were through the roof. The contractor who put in our dishwasher didn't know how to properly wire to it.We were very lucky to not have a house fire!

(Update on 4/29): You've probably noticed that I didn't update the blog last night. I've been sick with some sort of Viral gastroenteritis (having had it when Sean was little, I've been through this before). I'm sure Harriet got it from one of the kids at Sean's school. The child ran up to Harriet before her mother could pull her back. The mom warned me that her daughter was coming down with something. Since then Harriet's been vomiting (I thought it was just spitting up even though she so rarely does that) and then last night at about eight I started to feel ill.

The electrician was supposed to come at eight this morning to fix the wiring to the dishwasher but he too was up all night sick to his stomach. We've rescheduled for tomorrow.

health | dishwasher