Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/01/07/i-stayed-at-the-cheapest-air.html
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Thirty dollar, you no hollar!
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If this is the video I recall, then there’s a twist ending: bedbugs.
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Not only that, they left a 5 Star Review! 
Because the bed had nice linens and “no stains!”
Never mind the the bathroom and kitchen were unusable.
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I’m not sure I’d pay $30 a night to stay in a sketchy hovel in what looks like a far-flung Brooklyn neighborhood. But, hey. You do you.
When you set your bar low you can’t expect too much.
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My favorite part:
“…and the cover for a light fixture was inside the oven.”
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Eh, I don’t even have a kitchen, per se, and my bathroom is plywood subflooring, concrete shower floor, and bucket flush. This is a step up for me.
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My first time in NYC was staying at an AirBnB in midtown for around $100 a night. Was basic but clean and real close to Union Square, I mean all I ever look for is somewhere clean and safe for both leaving some of my stuff there and sleeping as the rest of the time I’m out and exploring.
I’ll never understand spending huge sums of money on accommodation in places like NYC when you’re visiting cause you should be out and about.
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From my own time in Mexico, I remember that the liquid cleaner for the floors contained DDT, and some of the insecticides we found under the sink of our rental had interesting effective ingredients no longer in use in Estados Unidos.
As bonafide enviro I would never want this in my house but dang that kind of arsenal would really have some stopping power with bedbugs, lice, crabs, fleas, all the funky funky critters one finds in hotels, motels, B&Bs, etc. whether cheap or uncheap.
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I discovered that they sell sulphiric acid as a consumer drain cleaner in Poland.
the hydration reaction of sulfuric acid is highly exothermic, which means it releases heat, and the mixture can boil spontaneously. Acid is denser than water, so it sinks, and the explosive bubbles spray the acid solution in all directions.
There’s a potential for spitting and spraying even when you pour acid into water, so when you use a sulfuric acid drain cleaner, you need to wear protective eyewear and cover your hands and other parts of your body.
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Uh yeah there’s muriatic (hydrochloric) acid here in the U.S. for dissolving clogs in plumbing and often it will also attack the pipes, esp. the metal pipes. It works in a jiffy and is fabulously dangerous to breathe. I use it weekly, sometimes daily around the community pool. I wear a gas mask.
Heaven forbid that stuff gets dumped in an old house with old iron, old copper or cheap ferrous metal plumbing which yeah often has lead, actual freaking lead (Pl in the periodic table, Plumbum in classical Latin) in it. Where plumbing gets its name.
Muriatic acid is scary. Buy it at any big box retail hardware store. No ID needed. It’s harder to buy a can of spraypaint (they card you to make sure you are 18 or older here in Texas) than a gallon of muriatic acid.
https://www.stupidlaws.com/you-must-be-18-years-old-to-buy-spray-paint/
Come to think of it, I am guessing you can buy a chainsaw without restriction here also.
Yee frikkin haw. 
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One of my earliest tech jobs was in data entry at a chemical company. My team processed MSDS documentation. Ever since those days, I’ve been amazed how many people won’t read product labels, follow instructions, or take basic safety precautions to minimize exposure to toxic substances. Just today a relative told me he’d cleaned a corroded battery contact using gasoline, which left me like this:
Having read enough about mutagens, carcinogens, and other hazards to make my hair stand on end, I’m not gonna risk it. So, carefree folks have a laugh because I wear gloves, eye protection, masks, and/or disposable suits depending on the product in use (don’t get me started on painting primer - the brand name Kilz® probably doubles as a legal warning). My next home improvement project starts soon, so I might need a mouth guard to protect my teeth from the strain of not asking people “Why are you not wearing gloves?” in my best Sam Kinison voice.
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I worked at the rechargeable battery division of Eveready during the Bush Sr. invasion of Iraq, and during training we had the usual hazmat training. There was the warning about mixing chemicals, checking to make jugs were clean, etc.
We had one smartass who thought he was too cool to pay attention. Guess who was the first chemical injury in the very first week?
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Poverty tourism, the latest thing in late stage capitalism.
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I think a hostel would have been better.
I literally cannot use the fingerprint ID on iPhones, etc., because I damaged them permanently with the chemicals I was using for construction work in my 20s.
So like you, I’m constantly reminding construction workers when I see them to wear all the protections. You might feel young and indestructible in your 20s, but then you get older, and the damage doesn’t go away. In some cases (lungs, for example), it can get a lot worse over time.
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Is that you, John Dillinger?
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