Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Argh! Nurgles Rot Has Infected My Room!?

Short rant here, and an annoying one at that. See here, I live in a barracks. This implies two things, I've got Sgt's and such in charge of me and that I must keep my room clean. Well, I do keep a clean and rather tidy room, yet however my Sgt constantly accuses me of stinking because she's under the impression my room smells bad. Hell, I just moved into a new room last night and she's already complained that it reeks when she walks by. WTF?

Well, thing is, I cut and glue plastic like its cool. I've got a work desk that I bought to dedicate completely to my plastic army endevours. I use plastic cement and super glue frequently. What smells strong? Plastic glue? What could this stench she complains about be? Probably the plastic glue. Considering I bath once to twice a day, and that I've only lived in this room for one night (however have been working on models for a week in it), I know this is what it is! Yet my Sgt will have none of it. How frustrating!

I suspect that when she finally gets with the program and realized that plastic cement smells kinda funky (I like it actually), she'll tell me I can't put together models anymore. That will PISS me off severely. It's bad enough I can't paint in here and have to drive through DC traffic for half a freaking hour to GW to paint, but to be disallowed to build models? Bollocks! I won't have none of that.

*end rant*

7 comments:

  1. Couple of things that might help:

    *Ventilation - if you can open a window or run a fan that vents to the outside while you're gluing, that should help.

    *Get rid of it - work on something disposable like a sheet of newspaper to catch spills, and then throw it and anything else that has gotten glue on it away in a trash can outside your room.

    *Contain it - don't leave your glue out. Get a small sealable plastic tub and put it (and other hobby tools) in there, seal it. If possible, then put it inside another sealable tub. Or put the glue in a sealable bag within a sealable tub.

    I've found that these sorts of things cuts down on the hobby-related odor a good bit. I don't like the smell of Simple Green, but don't want to leave my soaking stuff outside - the tub-within-tub method works well for me - I can leave it inside and not notice it.

    Not something I've done myself, but you may want to also try putting some kind of odor-neutralizing stuff around your workstation, like a box of baking soda or something similar.

    Good luck!

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  2. Oh, and be sure to wash up after handling the glue and such! If the smell is on your hands, it'll get on everything in your room you touch!

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  3. That's a killer mate, I remember those days well. Not sure what force or stage of your training you're at but you should have a little leeway.

    Follow the advice above and if all else fails, try having a word with your Sgt. Maybe she'll cut you some slack when she realises it isn't a hygiene issue.

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  4. I appreciate the input from every one. Thanks.

    The only thing I have yet to do is the tubbing approach. It sounds like it'll help at least.
    As of the moment I've got smell good and deodorizers all over the place. Ventilation is probably a key issue though. I noticed when I came back to my room today that the AC started working again and it didn't smell of glue so bad. Opening the windows though is a no-go as there are no screens and the influx of bugs is unbearable.

    At this point I'm past any and all training and am minding my time till I'm out the door. Three years and nine months down, three more to go. :D

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  5. Semper Fi, nothin's changed

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  6. She probably has the hots for you bro. Your awesomeness has infected her with the 2nd grade school girl heebie jeebies. She's just looking for an excuse to talk to you.

    That's some major bullshit man. Friggin Sgts overstepping their bounds. A good NCO would be like "Hey Marine, welcome to the unit. Your room smells a little weird. Lets take a look around and make sure nothings in there that could make you sick."

    When I was in mold was over everything cuz I was stationed in Hawaii. Hell in basic training we were all made to drink out of the mop sink. It's the military...

    EVERYTHING STINKS!

    Keep your head up bro. I am curious as to why you can't paint in your own barracks room though. Is there an arts and crafts center on post you can retreat to so you can get some painting done?

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  7. Well, the really messed up bit is I'm an NCO as well. But in the world of MSG Bn, NCO's who've done their duty and served honorably in our Embassy's aren't worth s***. Its a shame, but its just a fact of life with this command. At least enlisted side. I think our officers are kind of blind to it all.

    I've since rid my room of the glue smell, and it now smells pretty darn awesome (if not a tad girly), but she's still finding reason to complain. Whatever, a few months left and I'm free.

    On the bright side of things, at least there aren't Marines so blatantly hazed as being forced to drink from mop buckets here. If I ever saw such a thing, their NCO would have his/her head through a wall right fast.

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