Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Oh no, what have I done?

I think I may have poisoned myself. I don't know for sure. I do know that it didn't dawn on me that I may have until I saw the results of what I did. Okay, let me set the scene. I am sitting at work with the sniffles. I have a bottle of Vicks Vapo Steam and I am sniffing it straight. Vicks Vapo Steam This doesn't seem too strong, I say to myself. So, I get the bright idea that since it is made to be used in a hot steam vaporizer that adding it to some boiling hot water would do the trick. Off I go to the break room, I'm at work, to get a cup of hot water from the coffee maker. I do this and return to my desk to add the water soluble liquid. Immediately I can smell those lovely fumes. A smile crosses my face as I am pleased with myself for thinking of this. In between sniffs I cover the cup to keep the fumes and heat inside. I don't want to get the whole office to have clear sinuses at once! Any way, I continue to sniff my concoction for quite a while until I notice something. I had used a Styrofoam cup and it seemed to be disintegrating before my eyes. There was a line around the entire diameter of the cup right at the water line. This line looked like I had burned the foam in the microwave or something (not that I have ever used a microwave or heated something in Styrofoam in one). It wasn't blackened or anything...it was just starting to vanish. I had to dispose of my liquid before it decided to take over my desk as I could see its plan for escape was really taking shape. Here is a picture of the cup after the liquid was discarded:




I guess camphor eats through Styrofoam?


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