Almost puked on a tech job!

NoahsArcade

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Now that I have been in hobby/biz for about six years now Ill get an email or phone call from time to time about a repair job. Depending on the problem I usually make arrangements to at least "look" at the machine.

Earlier this week I got a call from a lady who had just purchased a Street Fighter II Championship Edition arcade. She said she bought it off of craigslist and was putting it in her churches youth center. Said it worked when she purchased the machine. Got it set up in the church basement and nothing. Marquee light would come on but nothing from the monitor. Sounded like an easy fix so I made arrangements to check it out last night.

I got there. Opened up the back and the entire bottom of the cab was FULL of maggots! It looked like there was a dead rat (or maybe a small cat) in the cab and there was hundreds of maggots feeding on what was left of the body. The smell was so bad. I was in shock that people hauled this thing through a church and down into the basement without noticing the smell. Normally I charge a $75 assessment fee which includes the first hour of labor but in this case I just popped the back of the cabinet on, told the nice woman good luck and went on my way. I didnt have the heart to charge her anything. Figured the story was worth eating 60 miles in gas money.

Ive seen some scary shit in the back of cabinets but never anything like this. You couldnt even see the bottom of this thing. Ive seen cabs with ants, dead birds, spiders, and even one with some major termite damage but never anything like this. I think Im done doing house calls for awhile!
 
Now that I have been in hobby/biz for about six years now Ill get an email or phone call from time to time about a repair job. Depending on the problem I usually make arrangements to at least "look" at the machine.

Earlier this week I got a call from a lady who had just purchased a Street Fighter II Championship Edition arcade. She said she bought it off of craigslist and was putting it in her churches youth center. Said it worked when she purchased the machine. Got it set up in the church basement and nothing. Marquee light would come on but nothing from the monitor. Sounded like an easy fix so I made arrangements to check it out last night.

I got there. Opened up the back and the entire bottom of the cab was FULL of maggots! It looked like there was a dead rat (or maybe a small cat) in the cab and there was hundreds of maggots feeding on what was left of the body. The smell was so bad. I was in shock that people hauled this thing through a church and down into the basement without noticing the smell. Normally I charge a $75 assessment fee which includes the first hour of labor but in this case I just popped the back of the cabinet on, told the nice woman good luck and went on my way. I didnt have the heart to charge her anything. Figured the story was worth eating 60 miles in gas money.

Ive seen some scary shit in the back of cabinets but never anything like this. You couldnt even see the bottom of this thing. Ive seen cabs with ants, dead birds, spiders, and even one with some major termite damage but never anything like this. I think Im done doing house calls for awhile!

Next time keep your KLOV brothers in mind and snap a picture. :)
 
When i was an in-home tech appliance tech for Sears, i went into some NASTY houses that smelled so bad i almost had gag-reflex. never saw maggots, but saw pretty much everything else. That sounds pretty nasty.
 
what no pics comeon that would have beat the "joy stick "found in a cab thread

You did see the Tempest clean out thread right?

It is sad... this is the only pic I can find..

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I really wanted to take a pic but I had left my Iphone in my car. The lady was really embarrassed. I was tempted to say "hey wait here so I can take a picture and show this to my friends!" I pussed out. Just use your imagination and times it by ten and thats what it looked and smelled like.
 
Thanks, having had a termite ridden cabinet, I don't need to imagine a maggot filled one.

I'm glad I opened my Free Friday Ms P before I read this, I would have been too scared to open it after. <shudder> :eek:

ken
 
That is just 51 Flavors of foulness.

I would have barfed up things I ate last week.

<shudder>

RM

The thought has got me a little queasy...if it was me I would have barfed up things I ate last year. A picture would have probably made me barf up last week's dinner.

For future reference if anyone runs into this sort of thing and wants to post a picture of it, please just post a link to the picture, don't post the actually picture in line as an image or an attachment to the post. Some folks seem to be keen on a picture of it, so I figured it'd be good to ask nicely ahead of time. :)
 
The thought has got me a little queasy...if it was me I would have barfed up things I ate last year. A picture would have probably made me barf up last week's dinner.

For future reference if anyone runs into this sort of thing and wants to post a picture of it, please just post a link to the picture, don't post the actually picture in line as an image or an attachment to the post. Some folks seem to be keen on a picture of it, so I figured it'd be good to ask nicely ahead of time. :)

Ok, instead of posting Not Safe For Work (NSFW) we can post Not Safe For Your Weak Ass Stomaches (NSFYWAS)... :D
 
For me, it wouldn't be the sight (although I'm sure that was very bad), it would be the sight combined with the SMELL.

Cadaverine + putrescine = Ralph City.

Especially since it would have been so unexpected. No time to brace for impact as it were.

RM
 
Aww, come on guys, it's only maggots. I would have scooped that out with my bare hands. Kinda like I did with the two week old dead possum I pulled out from under my moms house on a 110 degree day while I had a bad hangover. She did give me a small trash bag though,
not for puke, to put the (large) possum in. It didn't really fit in that bag...
 
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I can only conclude that:

1. You have no nose

2. You were high on formaldehyde

3. Both 1. and 2.

RM

Ha, nope my nose is fine and the only thing that was different than normal was that I had a bad hangover. I grew up in the country and my parents made me pick up the dead skunks, raccoons, possums, other dead dogs, cats and whatever else the dogs drug up in the yard (or under the house) and let rot. It doesnt really bother me. It does stink though, and I can't eat Chinese food for a while afterward (for obvious reasons).
 
clearly this is a plague, the wrath of an angry God on a woman foolish enough to bring a game glorifying fighting into the house of the Lord for children to play!
 
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