Posted by allisonm on July 20, 2000, at 21:10:24
Preface: This has nothing to do with Psychobabble or mental health or drugs. I haven't paid much attention to science since I was in school and I've forgotten a lot. Maybe someone who is into science more than I am can answer this:
Tell me (please) can cells decompose without oxygen?
My dad has a deep freezer in the back of his shop where he keeps fish that the fisherman bring him from Lake Ontario. They even fillet them for him and he wraps them in freezer paper and freezes them. He eats some, but gives most away to people who like fish.
Well, the freezer went bad and it took some time for the smell to get strong enough to where it wafted forward and he noticed it and realized that all of his "nice" fish were rotting. (This happened once before when someone unplugged on the freezer by mistake, but it was only a day or two after. I ended up cleaning it up. Pretty nauseating.)
This freezer failure happened more than two and probably three weeks ago. I just learned on Sunday that he hasn't cleaned it out, but has wrapped duct tape around it and wheeled the thing outside. I cannot imagine the scene inside. He says he's waiting for a good south wind before he opens it and empties it out. I've told him that that's not a very nice thing to do to Canada. He contends in the meantime that because it's sealed shut, the fish won't decompose anymore because there's no oxygen. I'm going on vacation in a week, and asked him to wait until I'm out of the county before he opens the freezer to prove his point.
So, what think?
poster:allisonm
thread:41076
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000717/msgs/41076.html