Smell Test

Smell Test… Benjamin Franklin reportedly once said, “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days,” which Squid has always found curious: In a world without refrigeration, it seems like fish would start stinking in two days, tops. Perhaps noses were less sensitive back then.

Unfortunately for residents of Marina, a stink, for years, occasionally wafts through the city’s neighborhoods. The problem became such a matter of concern that it’s been talked about frequently in public meetings in recent years, but the problem is: Nobody knows what’s causing it. Prime suspects were initially the pilot anaerobic digester at ReGen Monterey’s facility or Monterey One Water’s wastewater treatment plant. Perhaps, it was also thought, it could be RAMCO’s conversion of lands north of Marina from pasture to strawberry fields. So in response to public outcry, ReGen and M1W agreed last year to pay $75,000 each to fund an odor study to investigate the source, which culminated in a report that consultants SCS Engineers presented to Marina City Council Dec. 5, after Squid’s deadline.

Yet per the report, the precise source of the odor remains unclear. SCS recommends further study to look at odor mitigation strategies for the RAMCO, ReGen and M1W operations.

In the meantime, is there a Marina-based band called Fog, Wind & Odor? Someone should get on that.

ON COURSE… In the sea, competition is more about satisfying primal needs than tallying numbers. Yet Squid has always been impressed by the human desire to set personal goals and break records. It can be a source of inspiration. As Patrick Koenig said after topping a record earlier this year, “I think most people have that ability in them.”

What was Koenig’s lofty endeavor? Nothing less than to set a new mark for the number of rounds of golf played in a year, seeking to surpass the old record of 449. By the time Koenig’s RGV Tour reached the Monterey Peninsula on Dec. 6, he’d played over 530 rounds, with most of the month left to go.

Squid would be impressed. However, Squid learned that a man named Barry Gibbons completed 878 rounds in 2016, only to be beaten by Nolan Krentz, who played 990 – a temporary victory, as Gibbons came back with 1,235 rounds in 2020. The competition for this title is fierce, apparently. So why can Koenig claim the record? Guinness World Records is strict. While others have indeed played more, Koenig’s quest was for the most rounds played at different 18-hole courses, and it has been thoroughly documented by Golf GameBook.

Squid appreciates that Guinness takes such feats so seriously. Squid is now striving for the most shrimp-flavored popcorn consumed in one sitting.-