What's that smell?
Last Friday I went in to work at 6am or so because I really had to catch up with some stuff and finish something before a meeting in the morning. So, I got to work . . . and started working. Yippee for me. Anyways, at about 6:30 I start to hear some strange sputtering coming from under my desk, where my CPU is. Then the image on my monitor started . . . dancing (it's sad that it's a better dancer than I am). Well, I was freaked. I quickly saved and closed everything, and turned the computer off.
Hmm. Still sputtering. I smell smoke. Better look under my desk. Oh - joy. It's not the computer that's making those sounds, it's the god damned surge protector!! I unplugged everything from the surge protector, still smoke and some sparks and small flames (yes, flames), so I unplugged the surge protector and it finally stopped.
Well, the flames and sparks and sputtering sounds did. There was still smoke everywhere. And a sprinkler right over my desk. I had a sweater sitting on my desk, so I furiously fanned everything and luckily the alarm didn't go off. Yeah, I would have LOVED standing outside waiting for the fire department on my own (it being 6:30am), and then waving and explaining when they showed up. That, and everything in my area would have been soaked with the sprinklers.
Anyways, the fire alarm didn't go off. Whatever it was did end up melting a hole through the center of the surge protector and charring it pitch black, and I now have five or six black holes in my carpet, and most of the underside up my desk is a little black. Oh -- and the entire cube smells of toxic burned plastic. Doesn't that sound GREAT?? I've been soaking it in febreeze every couple of hours and it's going away, but the maintenance people say they're going to cut a part of the carpet out and replace it because they don't think there's anything else they can do. Oh - and they have no idea what caused the meltdown. Best they can figure is it was just a faulty surge protector. There's a possibility some snow melted into it off of my shoes, but probably not, as the entire building is carpeted and the snow is pretty much gone by the time I get to my cube.
Oh, and the worst part is, it happened at 6:30 so no one was there to see it, and only one person saw the charred remains of my surge protector before the facilities guys took it away, so I have no proof except my blackened carpet! Well, that and the toxic fumes that spread throughout the entire first floor, and even sent me home nauseous on Monday afternoon.
Why do weird things always happen to me?
Hmm. Still sputtering. I smell smoke. Better look under my desk. Oh - joy. It's not the computer that's making those sounds, it's the god damned surge protector!! I unplugged everything from the surge protector, still smoke and some sparks and small flames (yes, flames), so I unplugged the surge protector and it finally stopped.
Well, the flames and sparks and sputtering sounds did. There was still smoke everywhere. And a sprinkler right over my desk. I had a sweater sitting on my desk, so I furiously fanned everything and luckily the alarm didn't go off. Yeah, I would have LOVED standing outside waiting for the fire department on my own (it being 6:30am), and then waving and explaining when they showed up. That, and everything in my area would have been soaked with the sprinklers.
Anyways, the fire alarm didn't go off. Whatever it was did end up melting a hole through the center of the surge protector and charring it pitch black, and I now have five or six black holes in my carpet, and most of the underside up my desk is a little black. Oh -- and the entire cube smells of toxic burned plastic. Doesn't that sound GREAT?? I've been soaking it in febreeze every couple of hours and it's going away, but the maintenance people say they're going to cut a part of the carpet out and replace it because they don't think there's anything else they can do. Oh - and they have no idea what caused the meltdown. Best they can figure is it was just a faulty surge protector. There's a possibility some snow melted into it off of my shoes, but probably not, as the entire building is carpeted and the snow is pretty much gone by the time I get to my cube.
Oh, and the worst part is, it happened at 6:30 so no one was there to see it, and only one person saw the charred remains of my surge protector before the facilities guys took it away, so I have no proof except my blackened carpet! Well, that and the toxic fumes that spread throughout the entire first floor, and even sent me home nauseous on Monday afternoon.
Why do weird things always happen to me?