I'm walking down the hallway at work today and am assailed by the most ungodly smell known to mankind.

Unfortunately, this is not unusual. My office is located in an old school building that a group of non-profits that benefit the elderly were allowed to purchase about ten years ago. The idea was this building could become some kind of shangri-la for the older set, a veritable feast of services for the elderly gathered in one convenient location.

The idealism of the noble idea still stands. But, so does the reality of being in an fifty-year old building which has never been upgraded in all of its years. There's no heat in the bathrooms, the plumbing is "iffy" at best, and the electrical wiring can't withstand the fifteen computers we have felt the need to plug in, necessitating hitting "Save" every three letters or risk putting your head through the monitor when your computer locks up for the fifteenth time that day in the middle of an important document.

So, unfortunately, smells are not an unusual occurrence. As I was walking down the hall, I passed the building manager's secretary and asked the innocent question, "What in the world is that smell?!?!?!"

Her repy: "They (meaning another tenant in the building) were heating up a dog bed in the microwave and it caught on fire."

Well, of course.