Emergency work trip. Fine, whatever. I get to stay in an airbnb for a month on someone else's dime, explore a new area, be productive, feel productive, then go home. All-in-all a net positive. Except I'm forgetful on top of the fact that I was in a rush on top of the other fact that I suck at cleaning.

It was a good experience. I launched a company project in a new state, hired new, good people, worked with them and made new friends, went to a strip club for the first time in my life and spent more money than I should have, but I surprisingly don't regret it at all...

I finally came home to my apartment after a month. Before I left, I made spaghetti. Quick, easy, cheap. I was planning on leftovers, but that got sidetracked. I don't know who has experienced this, but those who have probably know what's coming. In my haste, I left the spaghetti in the pot with the lid on.

I come home and when I enter the door I pick up a faint scent of must and mold. It's been raining a lot and I live in an old apartment so, though it's not healthy, it's not exactly out of the ordinary. I go about my business unpacking, hooking my PlayStation back up to the TV, gaming for a bit, getting hungry. Finally I go to the kitchen to fix some food. I pick up the smell again and notice the stainless steel pot on the stove. Huh, I guess it could be the source.

I lifted the lid for less than a second before I had a visceral reaction. Now, I have a strong stomach. When I was married, I was the go-to guy to clean the litter box, unclog the drain, dispose of rotted meat, deal with puke and other unholy expulsions from pets and people, usually without a reaction. That was not the case here. I've gagged a few times when dealing with unsavory circumstances, but it was rare. Never in my life have I vomited from a bad smell.

Score one for my body on this one. The entirity of the spaghetti was blue/green and it honestly didn't smell that bad, but my body knew what was up and decided it needed to immediately purge what was taken in from that last breath that I took. I sprinted to the bathroom and vomited everything I had in my stomach.

I knew I had dispose of the contents of that pot but I was still gagging just thinking about it. I so badly wanted an N95 mask, but I had run out, so I got what I thought was the next best thing: a hoodie tied around my face with cologne sprayed on it. It kinda worked in that I didn't gag, but I could still clearly smell the mold.

This is when I disposed of this abomination. I positioned the pot to dump everything into a trash bag, removed the lid, and then dust. This is the first time I have ever seen mold produce a cloud of dust. This was the first experience that gave me some perspective on the spores in The Last of Us.

I took off the lid and this mist of mold spores went everywhere. I closed my eyes, inhaled the cologne (mixed with the obvious scent of mold), and dumped not nearly enough infested spaghetti into the trash bag. To my dismay, there was still a very thick layer stuck on the bottom of the pot. I used a butter knife to scrape the rest off, all along making more clouds of spores. In the process I discovered there wasn't a single square millimeter of noodle that wasn't completely overtaken by the moldy layer.

It's been almost an hour now since I immediately took the bag out to the dumpster and set the HVAC system to recirculate and I can still smell the mold.

I've learned my lesson and hope no one else has to learn this. Also I hope I haven't picked up any long lasting health problems from this. Good night. Mold will most likely kill me in the morning.