Replacing a Cracked Vent Pipe in the Small Restroom of the School Building

REPLACING an apparently cracked vent pipe in a wall of the small restroom of the school building (the one on the north side of the corridor between the classrooms, across from the chapel — called the Shemesh Restroom by the pre-school) is one of two non-emergency plumbing projects now being considered. (The other is to add a toilet in the space where the urinal used to be.)

Sample cracked vent pipe —
is this what’s inside our wall?

This post describes the situation.…

Adventures in Hunting Foul Odor(s)

JEROME GROOPMAN, MD, author of the bestseller How Doctors Think, points out that even smart minds can easily be led astray by well-known cognitive biases. He teaches that during a diagnosis process, it's important to ask three procedural questions:

• What else could it be?
• Could two things be going on to explain the symptoms?
• Is there any relevant evidence that seems not to fit with the working diagnosis?

This post applies such questions to diagnosing (and treating) a mysterious stench in our school building. 

Upon probing, it seems our building’s denizens have actually been enduring at least 2 odors at the same time.…