(no subject)
Last night one of my flatmates decided to put tater tots in a polypropylene container and stick it in the microwave for twenty minutes. The taters caught fire and somehow the supposedly unmeltable container melted (wonder if it's actually polypropylene, or if beef fat/vegetable oil can get hot enough to melt the real thing).
Whatever the reason, my room evidently got a nice dose of fumes, and when the firefighters said that the flat was safe they evidently didn't mean 'for sleeping in'. After a few minutes of trying stupidly to sleep -- I had been up all night discussing various things with a flatmate, after I'd started to analyze what happened -- I became fairly sick indeed, sick enough to throw up and acquire a fever (which I dealt with via a shower). From that point on I wandered about campus, tiredly, and eventually realized that the one building that was open would also have everything I needed to flush out toxins/residues/whatever.
I did that, and now I feel passably better. But the room's still probably chock full of the stuff.
...in other news, we members of the S&A board have now been activated, and are approving budgets! So much I could say about that, but I'll refrain until I know better what I'm talking about.
EDIT: Tricky tricky tricky. Polypropylene does not melt, but it DOES ignite, producing such wonderful compounds as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and acrolein. In fact polypropylene is flammable. *wonders how he missed this in the Lab Safety Manual of Evergreen State College*
EDIT 2: Whew, finally clearing out. No more chemical poisoning for me, I think!
Whatever the reason, my room evidently got a nice dose of fumes, and when the firefighters said that the flat was safe they evidently didn't mean 'for sleeping in'. After a few minutes of trying stupidly to sleep -- I had been up all night discussing various things with a flatmate, after I'd started to analyze what happened -- I became fairly sick indeed, sick enough to throw up and acquire a fever (which I dealt with via a shower). From that point on I wandered about campus, tiredly, and eventually realized that the one building that was open would also have everything I needed to flush out toxins/residues/whatever.
I did that, and now I feel passably better. But the room's still probably chock full of the stuff.
...in other news, we members of the S&A board have now been activated, and are approving budgets! So much I could say about that, but I'll refrain until I know better what I'm talking about.
EDIT: Tricky tricky tricky. Polypropylene does not melt, but it DOES ignite, producing such wonderful compounds as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and acrolein. In fact polypropylene is flammable. *wonders how he missed this in the Lab Safety Manual of Evergreen State College*
EDIT 2: Whew, finally clearing out. No more chemical poisoning for me, I think!