Her nose died

I'm not so sure that being able to smell tobacco smoke from inside a vehicle is all that unusual. I have the same problem/ability. On a regular basis I will detect cigarette smoke while in traffic, in a vehicle with the windows rolled up.

Now smokers will think this is not true -- but that is because their years of smoking have destroyed their sense of smell.

I recently went to meet a colleague for a pint after work. I don't often go to pubs, so it had been awhile since I'd been in one. The downstairs of this particular place was non-smoking, but very crowded so I had to go upstairs where smoking is allowed.

I was mildly surprised to find people smoking (I know, I know, people smoking in a bar -- whodathunkit?) Even though the smokers were outnumbered by the non-smokers approx. 30 to 1, the stench was noticeable. I know that as a "conservative" I'm supposed to de-cry laws which oppose smoking as unreasonable limitations on personal liberty, but as a guy with a nose, I can't bring myself to do it. Smoking stinks. Period.

My sense of smell quits after a sinus infection and so far has always come back again. I still remember making an anniversary dinner for my husband twenty years ago and being unable to taste it - the only time I have ever made salmon with hollandaise, and there were snow peas, wild rice, and a salad with kumquats and wild black raspberries from the field next to our apartment - only the four basic tastes left, sweet, sour, salty, bitter, no aromas - like a symphony played on a short xylophone.

I am afraid that some year in my old age, my nose will check out and and not come back. Old people often lose their sense of smell - the olfactory nerve cells are among the few know to regenerate but the stem cells don't lst forever.

A tip for keeping a cold from turning into a sinus infection: Claritin during the day and Benadryl at night. And a prescription from a compliant doctor if it does go bacterial on you.

My sense of smell is similar to yours Rod. Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming; I don't know how dogs can take it.

I waffle between the two extremes. I've suffered from terrible sinus infections my whole life and have a hard time smelling things like garlic in the kitchen. BUT like Rod, I can smell a cigarette being smoked in another car on the highway. I can tell that my studio-mate (who has "quit" smoking) has been cheating, even if he isn't present in the room. I get turned on ironing my husband's shirts because the smell reminds me of him. I can tell if my DH went to the hair cuttery by the different smell on his head. Once my accupuncturist was wearing essential oils that my mom uses and I began to cry for homesickness. For me, smells are deeply linked to emotion.

I have an acute sense of smell as well, it's wonderful for certain things... but man is it hard at other times... you should have seen me when I was pregnant, it got even worse! My husband could be sitting across the room from me reading a book and I could smell his breath! Drove him crazy telling him to go brush his teeth every 30 minutes!