The Gross Guy

It's been a long time since I've posted here, partly because I've been really busy, but also because there wasn't anything that gross happening in the break room. However, a few months ago, I got a new cube neighbor. He's turning out to be far more disgusting than I had originally thought and I just can't keep it to myself any longer. It's so bad that I've officially named him The Gross Guy. I've also heard him being referred to as NeanderLochte. He's inhabited a few cubes in his time here, and his previous cube neighbors had jokingly deemed his cube, "The Barn." Over the last year, I've noticed a couple of nasty things as I passed by his cube, like how he throws unwrapped produce in his gymbag right alongside his dirty sneakers and underpants (he leaves the bag thrown wide open on the floor). Or how he rarely uses plates or utensils, and definitely does not wash his hands. And he is the loudest carrot eater EVER. And he mutters to himself. But when my coworker called my attention to his "feeding area" today, what I saw was far worse than I'd ever seen before.

From afar, it might not look that bad. Just a dude's desk.

But then you look a little closer

Yep, that's an unwashed lunch container from the day before (maybe longer), a dirty spoon, bits of dried food,
and an old empty jar with coconut oil crust still inside.
I just noticed how dirty the walls are. How does that even happen?

That doesn't look so bad, you say? Here's a close-up on the spoon.

Oh hey, there's hair next to the food bits on the desk, too!

And for good measure, here's the other unwashed stuff on his desk.

Crusty empty jar of coconut oil, a dirty mug, and a tea strainer ball with used leaves in it, resting atop a random old shoelace that sat by his feet on the floor of his cube for two days

Oh, speaking of the floor, here's what the bottom of The Barn looks like. 

Note the garbage hanging out. Sometimes it doesn't even make it into the can and just stays on the floor. Like the time he refused repeated requests from multiple colleagues to stay home when he was sick and then left used tissues all over the floor. And then coughed and sneezed into his hands right before using the communal water dispenser.

And what about the "feeding area"? Here you go. 

I don't think this guy believes in plates. Perhaps we should call this his trough from now on.

Anyway, just thought I'd share with you the absolute filth that sits beside me every day, separated only by two feet of space and a thin cube partition. I'm not trying to be a jerk. The state of his work area has been brought up to him several times and the filth continues. What pisses me off is that this is a hygiene and health issue. The other day, a colleague saw a fly land on his desk, walk a few inches across the trough, and then died. I'm not even kidding. Its ridiculous that I have to spend the majority of my waking hours sitting next to this. Gross.

Thanks, Ron, for the pics!

Neverending Nastiness

Day two of the same nasty food bits sitting in the drain. There was a shaker ball (the spiral ball for those protein shake cups) sitting in it for a whole day, but someone finally came and retrieved it. But still didn't bother cleaning out the drain. Gross.

Not Spongeworthy

From Renee, aka Ninja 2:

I wish I had a picture to send along with this. Too funny! The fact that we have to tell grown adults something like this never ceases to amaze me. lol

Do we really have to tell adults not to leave nasty, smelly sponges soaking in the sink? No one wants to pick up a wet sponge and have God-knows-what kind of food bits and dirty water run all over their hand! This is exactly why I NEVER use the sponge in my break room. When you see crap like this on a regular basis, its not hard to imagine just how bacteria-infested that sponge must be. :::shudder:::



UPDATE:

Ironically, a friend just pointed out that there was an article on getting rid of the funky sponge smell  on Yahoo's front page today! Thanks, Kym!

BEST WAY TO GET RID OF ROTTEN SPONGE SMELL (via Yahoo.com)

Sponges go bad. Regardless of whether it's old or new, a sponge can pick up a funky smell that gets on your hands, the dishes, the counters… YUCK. And while many recommended solutions don't work, there is one that does.

Sponge odor is caused by bacteria. Sponges provide a perfect environment for microscopic organisms to grow; they are soft, wet, warm, and full of food.

What Doesn't Work
There are many popular ideas about how to get rid of the smell:
- Wash with very hot water.
- Microwave the wet sponge. (Note: don't microwave a dry sponge - fire hazard)
- Soak in bleach.
- Soak in vinegar and then soak in a mixture of baking soda and water.
- Put the sponge in the dishwasher.

I have tried all of these suggestions and none of them do the trick. The microwave has been noted to kill some of the dangerous bacteria, like salmonella and E.Coli, but in my extensive testing the reek remained. The vinegar and baking soda trick works for about half a day, but bizarrely the smell comes back. (I have been "testing" this method for the last year, willing it to work better every time. No luck. It's is a sponge tease).

The New Solution
I read an article in a women's magazine about the bleaching power of the sun for dealing with fabric stains. The article suggested that after soap, bleach, and stain removers failed, putting a clothing item out in the sun for a few days could remove the stain (especially in lighter colored fabrics and whites).

Shortly after reading this, I was faced with the dreaded stinky sponge again and decided to try the sun. After a week outside on my porch, I brought the shriveled up sponge back into the kitchen, wet it, and leaned in for a tentative sniff. It was odor free! But I'd been fooled before, so I used it for a week, and each day checked again to see if the smell came back.

Friends, our long national nightmare is over: the sponge remained smell free!

Why This Works
In researching the power of the sun's rays, I have hypothesized the following: the radiation and UV rays emanating from the glowing orb in the sky have disinfectant properties. Think of the UV wands and disinfectant lights used by hospitals and doctors. Those UV rays attack the bacteria in the sponge.

Equally powerful: the sponge completely dries out. By putting the sponge outside, you turn the tropical rainforest environment of your wet sponge into a dry desert: hot during the day and cold at night, and eventually pretty waterless (at least in my Northern California climate).

Results May Vary
I'm sure results will vary based on your climate, season, rainfall and sun exposure. I've experimented with leaving the sponge out for only 4 days, and that shorter duration also eliminated the smell. Note: while some UV rays can permeate windows, you will get a much better result if you leave the sponge outside.

The Broke Room

My break room sucks.

It started on May 16th, the same day that I emailed Facilities about the bug in the sugar. In that same email, I noted that our water dispenser was not working properly. It was replaced with an even crappier water dispenser, and apparently the water supply was never properly re-attached to one of the two adjacent coffee machines. I emailed Facilities about that, too, but never got a response. I figured I'd pestered them enough, so I just let it go. I guess someone finally complained about the coffee machine being broken for two months, because it was serviced last week.

This morning, I came in to find that the water dispenser was out of order. I was actually kind of happy about it because it meant we'd probably get a hopefully less crappy one instead. As the day progressed, I started hearing more and more grumblings about things going wrong in the break room, so I went in to investigate.

Here's what I found:

The water dispenser, both coffee machines, the vending machine, and the soda machine have all gone on strike. Basically, the only things that work are the refrigerator and the microwave. 


As one co-worked quipped, "they should just call it 'The Broke Room'." Cue sad trombone.

Monday Afternoon Lolz

This made me splurt. You know, the kind of lol where your tongue inadvertently flies out of your mouth while you laugh and spit flies all over your screen. Yes, I just made that up.

Thanks, Renee!

Facilities, We Have A Problem

We've been battling a bit of a bug problem in one of our break rooms.

It all started with this email on April 17th:

Let me tell you, nothing works better for your diet than a company email about bug infestations sent right before lunchtime. After being thoroughly grossed out by the thought of creepy crawlies near my head every time I washed stuff in the sink, I thanked my lucky stars that I keep my food at my desk and moved on.

Everything had seemingly gone back to normal, and after a few weeks, I thought it was safe to go into the break room again. My false sense of security was shattered on May 16th, when a teeny little bug landed in my oatmeal as I was pouring sugar out of the communal canister in the break room. Since a hazmat decontamination shower was not a viable option, I did the next best thing... I emailed Facilities. I was assured that everything was disinfected and cleaned, and that the area would be checked daily.

Fast-forward to today, approximately 30 minutes ago. I walked into the break room for some coffee and found my coworker pouring the sugar canister out into the sink in disgust. He confirmed that it was another bug and I felt my stomach lurch at the thought of the afternoon coffees I've been indulging in over the last week or so. I noticed his coffee mug sitting on the counter, and out of morbid curiosity, I took a peek, thinking it would be another teeny bug.

WRONG!!!

Behold, we've now got little wormy maggot bugs.

Facilities, we have a problem. 

Monday, June 25th - 12:20pm

So let's just leave the cabinet door open, abandon a random half-empty glass, and dump an open packet of sweetener on the counter. I'm sure someone else will clean that right up.