Dr Feelgood has been and gone. We went over my files, and he pointed out a few things I could be doing more efficiently, which was helpful. He also left a present for Sherlock, a book called Stiff, which is about all the things that can happen to dead bodies, from organ donation to decomposition to being freeze-dried and turned into compost. He said he thought it sounded like just the thing for him.
He's probably right, but I'll be reading it first to make sure that... You know, I'm not sure what I'm expecting this book to contain that Sherlock wouldn't gleefully read and then discuss at breakfast the next day. But just in case. It's obviously not a children's book.
He also said a police sergeant called him Dr Feelgood the other day. I tried not to laugh too much, if only because we hadn't finished my review yet.
And here is a video of a gelatine cube bouncing off a flat surface.
He's probably right, but I'll be reading it first to make sure that... You know, I'm not sure what I'm expecting this book to contain that Sherlock wouldn't gleefully read and then discuss at breakfast the next day. But just in case. It's obviously not a children's book.
He also said a police sergeant called him Dr Feelgood the other day. I tried not to laugh too much, if only because we hadn't finished my review yet.
And here is a video of a gelatine cube bouncing off a flat surface.
92 comments:
Glad it went well. Wonder which sarge is reading your blog...
Sherlock will prise that book from your hands :)
I'm glad it went well John :-)
Dr feelgood seems like a star fit for you lot, I'm glad you found just the right guy to mentor you :-D
You know, I came to your blog specifically to check the comments on the last post, to see when your meeting was, John, and here was a report! Glad to hear it went well. Dr. F seems to have Sherlock's interests down perfectly, and it was a really nice thing for him to do. (I hope you find it Sherlock-appropriate!)
And I meant to say--that gelatin bouncing is hypnotic, and who knew they went almost flat like that? (The colors and light interplay is wonderful, too.)
I can't watch your bouncy gelatine yet :(
That video puts me in mind of a party I attended in high school. Someone brought knox blox (gelatine cubes) and the host's mom wouldn't serve them until she made an announcement that they were 'to be eaten, not thrown'.
Compost? Really. Um. Wow.
On way.
Sherlock, want to make a fruity-sort of pizza type dessert?
There's a monster in Dungeons in Dragons called a gelatinous cube and you know, it just got a whole lot scarier. If they moved like THAT I can think of several of my characters who would have needed a change of armor.
Fruit pizza? *looks at you askance* Do I dare inquire?
It's just shortcrust pastry - or you can use biscuit. With a cream-cheese layer covered in fruit on top. Delicious! And a good way to get lots of fruit in ;)
It sounds very tasty. I'll have to experiment!
I checked to see where that video came from and I should have guessed it was Modernist Cuisine. I love contemplating those books and all, but I have to admit some of the elaborate techniques are a bit much. Here's one for making a striped omelet. It would only take, oh, an hour or so...
But my, goodness, the pictures are pretty.
Fruit pizza is wonderful. My mom used sugar cookie crust, cream cheese, and whipped cream as the "sauce." Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, kiwi...omnomnom.
Ella
L - I asked him if it was Sally, but he denied it.
The fruit pizza is delicious.
Kestrel - I don't think I'd mind being compost. Sounds rather nice, making things grow.
Doesn't everyone who's buried sort of inadvertently turn to compost? Meaning to just gives you more...direction.
I wanted to be buried at sea when I was younger. Now I'm happy to give myself to donations/science/Sherlock.
Doesn't everyone who's buried sort of inadvertently turn to compost?
That's just what I was thinking!
The fruit pizza sounds wonderful. Mmmmm.
Did you hear about the Polish captain who plotted a course that took his ship smack into England? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2408698/Polish-captain-ran-ship-aground-tried-sail-Scotland-Belgium--FORGOT-England-way.html
Glad to hear your assessment went well John, and that Dr F appears to be at ease his nickname :-)
Oh, I would certainly agree with being put back into the cycle. I guess the whole 'turned into compost' thing made me think of the stuff you buy at the nursery...upon reflection I am sure that's not the thing.
I sort of like those memorial reef balls.
...gave Sherlock a fiendish wordsearch to do to calm down before bed... he's shouting at the computer now...
L - sort of, eventually, but you don't do the plants a lot of good in a coffin. Or out of one really, if you've been embalmed or cremated.
I guess you'll have to come up with something to calm him down from being calmed down, L. :)
John, a plain pine box decomposes fairly quickly. (In Orthodox Jewish burials, coffins aren't required, but if they are used, they have to be plain, and have to have holes drilled in them so the body comes into contact with the earth--earth to earth.) Hmmm...if a body is embalmed or cremated, does it count as being buried?
This isn't exactly the one I gave Sherlock - a different word - but still quite hard!
Don't any of you get worked up and not sleep...
http://toys.usvsth3m.com/one-word-wordsearch/#MTAsQkFOQU5BLDMwODkyMg==
fruit pizza sounds like what I would call flan, or is that with a custard layer rather than a cheesecake layer? anyway, it's mouthwatering. :)
My understanding of embalming is that it's done with pretty toxic stuff, and then the body is put in not just a coffin but also a concrete vault. Mainly so the cemetery people aren't bothered with going around and leveling the soil as it settles. Which always struck me as an awful lot of expense and bother and so on, when a body should be allowed to return to the soil. Maybe that's why cremation is so common in my family? Many cemeteries won't let you be buried in a plain box or shroud, although I think that's beginning to change, thankfully.
I watched the gelatin video and then went on to watch "the slo-mo guys" (I think that's right!) drop mugs of tea, filmed at increasing rates of frames per second. One of the first postcard souvenirs I ever bought as a kid was the milk drop, from the Boston science museum, which looks like a little white crown. (was that a strobe-light photo? maybe RSF, do you know?) So I particularly enjoyed the tea splashing in the mugs video.
S
Thanks for the wordsearch Greg, luckily I found the word or I might have been hunting you down ;-)
I hope Sherlock is settled now.
In New Orleans, where so many folks are buried in above-ground vaults, it's common for multiple generations of families to be buried in the same vault. By law, if someone's been buried in a vault, you can't open it for a year and a day. After that you open the vault, push the remains of person to the back with a rake (where they fall off a sill and to the floor of the vault), slide the next coffin in, seal it up for a year and a day. New Orleans is so muggy that bodies don't stick around long, well, except for the guy who had himself hermetically sealed in a stainless steel coffin.
Apparently, though, advances in medical treatment--particularly radiation treatments for cancer--alter the body's cells so thoroughly that it actually alters the decomposition process, and bodies are sticking around in the vaults for longer than their allotted 366 days. Which is slightly creepy.
Ella
(all about the disgusting facts today)
AnonyBob - I have no control over where the word is - and have to find it like everyone else. But John still tried to tickle my feet in punishment when he couldn't find it!
Danger - yeah, hadn't really thought about all the chemicals in embalming.
I think tickled feet is a more than reasonable punishment ;-)
I think I read somewhere that he preservatives in food mean that bodies last longer but only in terms of days as I understood it
AnonyBob - tickled feet is never reasonable! He gave up when he declared my feet too cold to tickle. It is bloody freezing out now (well...when you're still dressed like it's 25 degrees...)
Apparently National Cycle to work day tomorrow. I might...depends if I'm on call for school run ;)
If I hadn't found the word I would definitely have been calling for J to tickle your feet.
The problem I have with word searches (all) is that I keep looking for words Boggle-style instead of in a straight line--which was particularly useless with that example! (Of course, for straight-line words, a systematic go-through will always find the words, but it's not fun that way.)
Hope work goes okay for you tomorrow, John, and you too, Greg, especially if you're needed for the school run - I know someone would be excited if you were. :)
Ella - What happens if someone else in the family dies before the year and a day is up?
Thanks.
Sherlock is desperate for me to pick him up and then be suddenly unavoidably called to a gruesome crime scene, of course...
Any of you who think feet tickling is okay are mean.
Those word things are mean!
I read that book years ago, and while I can't remember just how inappropriate it would be for a precocious 7 year old, I do remember liking it a lot and wanting to make arrangements to have my body donated to science! Sherlock will love it.
Ella - What happens if someone else in the family dies before the year and a day is up?
Depends on the era and the cemetary. Lots of cemetaries have smaller vaults set in the cemetary walls, which were originally auxiliary/surplus/temporary burial places. If two family members died within a year of each other, they would put the second member in the cemetary wall until the vault could be opened again. (These wall compartments have since been permanently sold to families, so they aren't available as temporary space anymore.) And some vaults had several compartments that could be separately opened, so you could bury more than one person within the year's time.
Ella
It's amazing what can be learnt from a seeming innocent (what am I saying?) blog. Ella, this has been fascinating.
I hope work is being good to you John you too Greg :-)
It's not being too bad. Paper cut my biggest risk. Or becoming so bored I staple my hand to my forehead.
Ahh, paper cuts, the scourge of civilized society. At least there's coffee (I'm assuming).
Thanks, small hobbit :)
Ella
I'm sure Sherlock would enjoy administering first aid if there was a stapler related injury, Greg, maybe if the holes were big enough he could practice stitches and everything! ;)
Thanks, Ella, that was really interesting, I've often wondered about those mausoleums (if that's the correct term). :)
Also love to anyone who's having a hard time with today. Or any other day.
Ella
Is the plan to staple your hand to your forehead and then call in an already on call doctor to fix you Greg?
It says a lot about my mental state that I hadn't even thought of that AnonyBob. But yes, it is the plan now!
Would now be a good time? I'm done for the moment.
And I might've got slightly punched in the face earlier, just to warn you. But I'm fine. Just bruising.
You what?? Yes now is good. I bloody hope the re-arrested whoever it was. Where were the custody officers?
I might've got slightly punched in the face
You have such a way with words John ;-)
I hope you manage to catch up with each other :-)
They were right there, but there was no way they could've stopped him. He was perfectly quiet and well behaved until...well, until he wasn't.
Anonybob - you know, just a bit. Not a lot punched in the face... :)
But they arrested him for it, right?
Yeah. Think that's the least of his problems though. I'm pretty sure he needs mental help. Anyway, be there soon.
Mm. well, I hope he gets the help he needs and doesn't go punching anyone else.
If i'm ont there right away it's cos I'm stuck on the phone
I'd say I was waving a sandwich outside your window again but I don't have a sandwich, so I'm just waving.
I imagine being even a bit punched in the face doesn't feel awfully good, John! *wincing in sympathy*
Well, no, but it's not that bad either. I'm all right.
More bruises for Sherlock to document, I guess. Hopefully it heals up quickly, and the puncher gets the help he needs.
You ok with Sherlock? I can pick him up if you want some rest. Got to go and pick something up out West and he can come.
Have you already gone? I've got another call, but Mrs H says she can watch him.
Can I go with you Lestrade PLEASEEEEEE?
yeah, i'll come by
Thanks, he's very excited :)
I did the blue lights in Lestrade's car
That sounds like fun Sherlock :-D
Good luck with the call John, I hope you manage to get even less thumped this time ;-)
How exciting, Sherlock! Are you having a good time?
Yes I saw in the cells and where they put drunk people or people who;ve taken bad drugs and now Lestrade's getting wet telling someone off and I'm not allowed out of the car under any circumstances even if he gets hit too and then I should call 999
I see Lestrade covered all eventualities there. :)
It sounds like you're having quite an adventurous afternoon! What do you make of the cells?
Sounds reasonable. Let's hope you don't need to though.
I'm home finally. Making tea. Anything you or L want me to get for dinner?
trifle and sausages and onion rings and cake and butternut squash. Did anyone hit you again or have a tropical disease with bugs growing under their skin?
I've seen cells before and they're boring and Lestrade says they're supposed to be.
No punching, no tropical diseases. I can probably manage sausages and butternut squash. Don't we still have some sort of cake?
I've seen cells before and they're boring and Lestrade says they're supposed to be.
That makes sense--no reason to give people extra incentives to commit crimes and be arrested!
I'm relieved to hear you did not see any bugs growing under anyone's skin today, John. :)
It didn't occur to me as a possibility, but now that it has, I am relieved too!
Sorry, we're on the way back to the yard, then biking home. Sherlock displays an alarming lust for biking in the rain.
no trifle?
Glad you're back unscathed.
Biking in the rain can be nice.
Cake and trifle?
Love you.
Lestrade said a bad word in front of me
Was he swearing at traffic again?
Yes before he got out and shouted at the man.
He just called me a grass when I told him I was telling you
Ha. Was the man work related or traffic related?
He was a bad driver because he wanted to go a way that he wasn't in the right place to go and he tried to push in the queue
Ah, right. I'm glad it got straightened out.
And he was honking his horn for AGES and he couldn't squeeze in because he was trying to get between a mechanic van and a car it was pulling on a rope called towing so Lestrade let my turn the lights AND the siren on to make him stop nearby and then Lestrade got out and that's when I said about it on here
And suddenly I'm not surprised he was swearing...
O_O
Yes, indeed!
It was barely swearing. In front of Sherlock, anyway.
On way. Have you done dinner? Sherlock is now desperate for pizza
...Pizza and butternut squash? There was an issue with the sausages. Don't ask.
Ah, I pacified him by promising to make some tomorrow. We'll knock something up to go with the squash ;)
Right, good. Thanks. There are more in the fridge, but I'm not touching them.
Bet that's what you used to say about all the boys' sausages ;)
Only the part about them being in the fridge.
Knowing you medical students, nothing would surprise me.
You know me so well :)
John-does being an FME mean testifying in court ever?
Ella
Yeah, though I haven't needed to yet.
Running late to the party again.
I have not read Stiff, but I did read The Body Farm a few years ago. My housemate at the time was a grad student in forensic anthropology (she has the degree now) and loaned it to me. Really interesting book. Possible field trip destination if you all ever make it across the pond, but not for the weak-stomached.
S
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