Great smells that gladden your heart.

[Bored Of Education]

Garbage disposals were illegal in NYC until the late 90s and are still rather rare.

Why was/is that?

We had a macerator - as it was called in our house - and, once, Ray came home from the pub pissed and left a quite neat pile of vomit on the carpet at the bottom of his bed in the room we shared - we were both in our teens. I came in later and, on seeing this and panicking, got a load of toilet paper to wipe it up and managed to block both toilets in our flat. There was still some left so, being a little pissed myself, I came up with the genius idea of putting the rest of the vomit and toilet paper down the macerator. A hungover Ray woke up the next morning to hear an almost equally hungover me getting a clip around the ear and a bollocking from our father for blocking up the macerator.

A mixture of vomit, toilet paper and carpet is not a smell that gladdens my heart.

[ursus arctos]

Primarily because of the density of our housing and the fact that our sewer system (and the plumbing in many buildings) is old.

Personally, I've never seen the point of them.

[Sits]

Since not having one again, neither have we. We have a compost heap. Are they still "heaps"? That's what my Dad called his but ours is actually contained so quite orderly looking.

Not a smell to gladden my heart, mind.

[Hot Pepsi]

Primarily because of the density of our housing and the fact that our sewer system (and the plumbing in many buildings) is old.

Personally, I've never seen the point of them.

The point is that they get rid of garbage.

[ursus arctos]

Perhaps surprisingly, more than 8 million people have managed for decades with alternative methods.

[Femme Folle]

They aren't allowed in this complex either. Other than the year that I lived in a newer apartment building in Burlington, MA, I haven't had one since I lived down south.

[Incandenza]

Our first apartment in Santa Monica didn't have one. I never realized how much I took for granted trying to prevent little food scraps from going down the sink. Got annoying having to wipe off every plate before starting to wash them.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Nobody's mentioned the rich, warm, earthy fug of a morning Dutch oven yet.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Our first apartment in Santa Monica didn't have one. I never realized how much I took for granted trying to prevent little food scraps from going down the sink. Got annoying having to wipe off every plate before starting to wash them.

Small mesh sink trap over the plug hole, tip into small kitchen compost bin. Simple.

[ursus arctos]

Nobody's mentioned the rich, warm, earthy fug of a morning Dutch oven yet.

I believe that this may be unintelligible to North Americans, for whom this is a Dutch oven

[Sporting]

Whiteboard pens.

[Incandenza]

I believe that this may be unintelligible to North Americans, for whom this is a Dutch oven

The Sopranos taught me the other meaning.