"We had a resident who had an outstanding balance for over a month and no one could get ahold of her. The Bookkeeper went inside after so many tries to leave a note and this is what we found..."
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Awesome! I love squalor photos. Just beats out the deliriously gross squalor survivors gallery: http://www.squalorsurvivors.com/pictures/kimmy/index.shtml
Posted by: Bill | September 25, 2008 at 03:02 AM
Man, when something makes the 'internet rounds', it really makes the 'internet rounds'.
Posted by: Ganietzsche | September 25, 2008 at 03:09 AM
Let's all gawk at the mentally ill!
Posted by: | September 25, 2008 at 04:02 AM
That's one epic, breathtaking mess. Loved the computer!
Posted by: Jeffersonic | September 25, 2008 at 12:08 PM
Fatty, your quest to find the most exciting new trends in the art world never fail to impress...love it!
Posted by: Mark Allen | September 25, 2008 at 12:44 PM
I call hoax. This has to be someone's art installation.
Posted by: Johnny2Bad | September 25, 2008 at 01:12 PM
Eh...
I think it's for real.
The cigarette butt piles look too authentic to have been faked. I used to see ones like that - though not so magnificently large - in a wrecking yard office I used to frequently visit in my aim to keep my ailing Subaru wagon on the road.
A pal and I cleaned out a house like that for cash, once.
Although the house was nowhere near as bad as the one in the post, it was bad enough for me to quit after one session. The recently vacated couple subsisted on take out food for a full year after filling the sink and dishwasher with filthy, moldy dishes. The remains of every item they bought as food was on display on the counter and in an overflowing full-sized garbage can in a pile that went from the filthy floor to the counter top. A cat or small dog lived in one empty bedroom and completely covered the floor with little hardened tootsie roll turds that were firmly glued to the carpet.
One bathroom was unusable, as they piled dirty clothes in a bathtub that also had a leaky faucet, so that the tub was a small waterfall of mold, water and fabric. Clothing was scattered all over the house, as were unpaid bills, letters and family photos that I was too depressed to look at.
I suggested to the owner that they spare anyone from having to go through this grim task and simply have the house demolished.
My friend plugged along and eventually rented the house and lived in it until it was sold.
I could go on and on in a Dante-like level of detail on each room-circle-of-Hell.
For some reason, nearly every girlfriend I've had likes me to tell this story.
Posted by: Rich | September 25, 2008 at 01:30 PM
My former roomate's half of the apartment was left slightly better than this, maybe more upscale. While filling leafbags to toss down the chute I came across an ancient roman coin and so proceeded more slowly. I found an unopened oreck vacuum cleaner which I gave to my mom. I still have the guy's coin collection, stamp collection and photos in a plastic storage tub. At some point I may get the collections appraised.
Posted by: bartleby | September 25, 2008 at 03:13 PM
check out the stack of used pads in the bathroom.
all that whataburger and pizza should make you huge, but the clean area of the bed seems average sized.
anyway, yeah, i saw this on of all places, a scooter forum like 2 weeks ago. internet yawn.
;)
Posted by: trav | September 25, 2008 at 04:50 PM
I used to work in community mental health... Sadly enough, these kinds of living conditions were all too common. I tried to help people live with some semblance of personal dignity. Believe me, it was difficult.
Posted by: Erik in NH | September 25, 2008 at 07:59 PM
Loved the computer!
Posted by: mirc | September 26, 2008 at 04:29 PM
What happened to the cat?
Posted by: Jukeboxmafia | September 27, 2008 at 02:13 AM
.....it really is an amazing mess to analyze and laugh at, but there is a clearly mentally and possibly physically ill person who left this and where are they? and how bad will it be if they are aware of this being out?
it looks like a scene of white knuckled survival in the face of physical or mental illness. there are people who look totally normal who live like this. and there is deep shame and pain at the idea of the world looking in.
a close friend of mine, 47 year old guy, went through 8 spiralling years of hell like this and was able to spend ALL of last summer clearing out a house like this and selling it [in NJ!]. It was slow and hard for him and for us who were helping. Lots of ruined treasure and years and layers of trash and sadness. Imagining him in there for ANY amount of time was mind-blowing. the smell was insane too.
Once he was free of it, He was on his way to being a normal guy for the first time and then he died suddenly of an illness+weakness he got from living in that house alone in pain for years.
SO: Not like I don't appreciate black humour, I used it to navigate my friend's situation last year, and I love FMU of course, but goddamn.......this is a handicapped person, with crippling and possibly fluctuating SERIOUS issues who went under.
Do we laugh when people go under the waves of modern life? Is it so damn important to judge so we can feel superior???
There are more people like this than you know.....are they all hopeless? do they all deserve it? want to be that way???if they are fat or ugly it;s ok? what if they are beautiful but damaged???
Be sure: there is a special circle of the ole karma wheel or maybe just regular hell for people who invade the privacy of the oppressed to amuse themselves.
you know....the ones who enjoy torturing animals in cages, ....like the charming people who posted this online......they are the most truly disgusting thing about all of it.
I was amazed to see this on boingboing.net and here too. this series just strikes a big fat nerve online it seems....because this is behaviour that we are all capable of in the right mix of mental or physical breakdown.
Posted by: ef | October 03, 2008 at 01:06 AM
.....it really is an amazing mess to analyze and laugh at, but there is a clearly mentally and possibly physically ill person who left this and where are they? and how bad will it be if they are aware of this being out?
it looks like a scene of white knuckled survival in the face of physical or mental illness. there are people who look totally normal who live like this. and there is deep shame and pain at the idea of the world looking in.
a close friend of mine, 47 year old guy, went through 8 spiralling years of hell like this and was able to spend ALL of last summer clearing out a house like this and selling it [in NJ!]. It was slow and hard for him and for us who were helping. Lots of ruined treasure and years and layers of trash and sadness. Imagining him in there for ANY amount of time was mind-blowing. the smell was insane too.
Once he was free of it, He was on his way to being a normal guy for the first time and then he died suddenly of an illness+weakness he got from living in that house alone in pain for years.
SO: Not like I don't appreciate black humour, I used it to navigate my friend's situation last year, and I love FMU of course, but goddamn.......this is a handicapped person, with crippling and possibly fluctuating SERIOUS issues who went under.
Do we laugh when people go under the waves of modern life? Is it so damn important to judge so we can feel superior???
There are more people like this than you know.....are they all hopeless? do they all deserve it? want to be that way???if they are fat or ugly it;s ok? what if they are beautiful but damaged???
Be sure: there is a special circle of the ole karma wheel or maybe just regular hell for people who invade the privacy of the oppressed to amuse themselves.
you know....the ones who enjoy torturing animals in cages, ....like the charming people who posted this online......they are the most truly disgusting thing about all of it.
I was amazed to see this on boingboing.net and here too. this series just strikes a big fat nerve online it seems....because this is behaviour that we are all capable of in the right mix of mental or physical breakdown.
Posted by: ef | October 03, 2008 at 01:08 AM
Unorganised garbage which may catch moisture may become the breeding ground for molds.This must be taken care of immediately.
Posted by: Home Inspector Tampa FL | September 21, 2009 at 03:31 AM
The basements and the storage areas are the worst affected areas due to damp and unclean atmospheres.Good article here...we must look out for mold problem to be safe and healthy.
Posted by: New York Mold Inspection | October 04, 2009 at 01:37 PM