My grandmothers both lived in storybook kind of houses. One lived in Memphis in a Victorian with immensely high ceilings and huge windows. It has a big L shaped front porch. And transoms over the doors. There is an oval shaped window in the "front hall". And those old fireplaces that must have been for coal or something. The other lived in Skaneateles NY in a storybook cottage. Somehow it too has a L shaped porch. There was a wood burning stove in the kitchen and a claw foot tub that seemed immense. It is on a tree lined street and had a coal chute in the basement. My grandfather grew strawberries in the back and my grandmother made them into jam in those jam glasses with paraffin on the top. There was a big enamel top table with a drawer where she kept silverware. Why don't more tables have drawers? It just seems so practical and a use of unused space. It was the olden days, I guess. There was a stuffed owl on top of the china cabinet in the dining room that I thought was looking at me and I would run to get through that room. I googled her address and found that the house is for sale. I have not been in the house for many years and really enjoyed looking at the photos. Despite changes, much of the house remains unchanged. A real blast from the past.

I swore to hubs I would NOT find this question on the internet, and of course he thinks I'm crazy anyway for screaming about the "dirty-sponge" stink in the kitchen after we wipe the stovetop with a fabulously, hygienically sanitized, clean microfiber cloth. The cloth, after wiping the stove, would then spread this horrid stench to all other surfaces touched by the cloth so it was hard, at first, to trace the true origin of the problem. Plus, hubs says he cannot smell this ghastly odor (??). But here is this exact complaint, and I'm not alone and apparently not crazy. And I do have some idea as to what is going on, and have succeeded in eliminating the odor! When we purchased this glass-ceramic induction stovetop I learned, somewhere (owner's manual?), that the included ceramic cleaner (Ceramabryte) was to be applied *before* the first use of the stove "to fill in the pores" and on a regular basis for the same reason. Pores? I can't find verification of this (in fact glass-ceramic is supposed to be "poreless") but I took a strong lens and looked at the surface against the light; the glass ceramic surface looks like orange peel. Tiny, wrinkly or puckery indentations could easily hold moisture long enough for fungal or bacterial growth to occur. I stopped using the Ceramabryte a few months before this "stink" developed, believing my damp micro-fiber wonder-cloth to be quite sufficient for cleaning, thank you; and my theory is that those pores were left exposed and more available for petri-dish-like behavior, i.e., culturing smelly micro-organisms that get reactivated by the swipe of a moist cleaning rag. And of course the wet cloth does not dig down into the pores; it only wets them and wakes up the stinkers. So: What kills bacteria or fungus? Acetic acid, i.e., vinegar, will definitely hit yeast and fungal growth as well as many types of bacteria. That's a simple first line of defense, and of course chlorine bleach should make a difference too (although don't ever mix the two or you'll create a poisonous gas). I took it one step further. In this day & age of pandemic life, many of us have some hard-core disinfectants at home and I happen to have a jug of Lemocide which contains benzalkonium chloride. Hospital-grade stuff that kills absolutely everything (we used it to eradicate black mold in our basement; no regrowth has ever occurred). I mixed a solution in a spray bottle and followed directions to let it sit for 10 minutes on the surface. Bingo. I've tested the result repeatedly and the smell is gone. I believe this proves that residual fungal or bacterial growth common to damp kitchen surfaces is the source of this foul odor. Preventively, therefore, it is VERY IMPORTANT not to leave the stovetop damp: After cleaning, DRY IT! (I suggested to my husband that we use a blow dryer!) Basically, what is probably going on is that the same smelly bacteria and/or molds/fungus/yeasts that stink up our dish sponges and related items, are left to grow in the tiny indentations in the surface of the stove. When we wet them, they release their characteristic wet-sponge/wet-dog odor. The solution is to kill those microorganisms, and not to favor their living conditions (i.e., moisture), AND to fill in the pores with the Ceramabryte or similar product on a regular basis. (It also contains abrasives that help remove surface crusts and stains.) I'm doing all of these: Regular spray-downs with Lemocide; drying religiously after cleaning the surface; and using the ceramic cleaner on a regular basis. So far, so good. Good luck. Note: I purchased the Lemocide online.

Right now our kid uses it as a shower, just plays under the running water and will just continue to do so. (We live in a place where hot water is cheap and plentiful, but it is pretty wasteful). I think a shower curtain is probably a must just going to hang it up high so it doesn't make the room feel shorter and maybe add a little hook so it can be tucked away when not in use. The towel rod I was thinking for hand towels as we will use the drying room (really hot room where the hotter pipes are connected from the grid to the house) next to the washers in the basement to quickly dry towels. I just don't like where the towel hook is now. Bugs me every time I use the toilet. Again thank you for your responses :)

Jennifer Hogan (and Dream Doctor): Your symptoms are CLASSIC signs of heart attack IN A WOMAN!! If I were you, I'd go back and sue every freaking doctor that MISdiagnosed and MIStreated me for those symptoms. If you pick up any cardiologist's rag, hell, even a Reader's Digest, you can find a list of women's heart attack symptoms easily and, UNsurprising news- yours are ALL on the list. A lot of folks are saying, "But I don't like to sue" or "How could they know?" or "I can't afford the lawyer." Take into consideration that nearly every heart attack, especially one of your longevity, causes heart muscle damage and that will come back to bite you in the future. All those doctors just shortchanged your heart, AND YOU, out of quality future health. Don't take doctors' refusals to acknowledge that women can have separate symptoms of cardiovascular disease and heart attack from men. There have been enough public campaigns to identify women's symptoms of heart attack (ie- Red Dress, Go Red For Women) so, if a doctor DOESN'T know the symptoms he's chosen to ignore them. I'm actually surprised you didn't get the first med prescribed for millions of women with fatigue- an antidepressant!! Try that with a man, and you'll get major flack but, with women, it's standard operating procedure. We need more female docs and more medical schools that educate about and differentiate disease symptoms in men and women. And, by the way, you should've been given a stress test, NOT just an EKG. ANYONE who's had heart problems (heart attack, angina, etc) needs a baseline stress test, to see what damage has been done, and what's going on. And don't let the cardiologist tell you that he sees what he expected to see in a person who's had a heart attack. Ask them what actual, specific damage you have and how to avoid further damage. If they don't tell you, move on. Best of luck in the future and with your heart.