When the family told the funeral director they planned to hold a pig roast fundraiser to pay the bill for a loved one’s funeral, he wasn’t optimistic.

He’d heard ideas like this before and knew the best intentions don’t always lead to the bills getting paid.

When the family called a few days after the memorial service, his doubts were confirmed.

“We’ve got some good news and some bad news,” the caller said. “The good news is, we had the pig roast and it was a lot of fun. The bad news is, we spent the money. The DJ stayed longer, and we bought extra beverages…..”

Prices Subject To Change Based on Customer Attitude

Top 10 list of bad tenants in New York City includes the Hoarder and the Serial Evictee.

This list is heavy with people who live in public housing or otherwise receive housing subsidies. City employees also heavily populate the list.

Because of his eccentric personality and his seemingly unbelievable and sometimes bizarre claims about possible scientific and technological developments regarding electricity, Nikola Tesla was ultimately ostracized and regarded as a mad scientist by many late in his life. Tesla died with little money at the age of 86 in a hotel suite in New York City in 1943. Later that year the US Supreme Court upheld Tesla’s patent number 645576 in a ruling that served as the basis for patented radio technology in the United States.

Abandoned machinery near Moscow, Russia

A standard three-drug sequence is used in the United States to execute prisoners by lethal injection. A shortage of sodium thiopental used in the recipe has sent U.S. states scrambling to find supplies, or alternative drugs. Sodium thiopental had been sourced through a company in London-until UK government officials put a stop to its export.

Today, the medical establishment, facing a huge shortage of organs, needs new sources for transplantation. One solution has been a return to procuring organs from patients who die of heart failure. Still, many people, including some physicians, consider this type of organ donation, known as “donation after cardiac death” or DCD, as akin to murder.

There is hope for aging brains.

Law and Order’s Jerry Orbach donated his eyes.

Speaking of eyeballs, check out this eye bank ad. Creepy or cool?

The History Channel will explore cremation, the role of the medical examiner, organ and tissue donation and more during a show to air at 8 p.m. on Friday, June 20th in MODERN MARVELS: CORPSE TECH.The show’s theme will be “Adventures of the Body After Life.”

Let’s talk about life: More than 4000 babies in China have been named “Olympic Games”.

jazzy chair image via.

As difficult and harsh as the weather’s been lately, the beauty of spring is beginning to emerge. Buds on the trees, greening of the grass, birds returning to the garden.

Mr. Davis shared these predictions for the future from a 1968 Mechanixs Illustrated mag:

People have more time for leisure activities in the year 2008. The average work day is about four hours. But the extra time isn’t totally free. The pace of technological advance is such that a certain amount of a jobholder’s spare time is used in keeping up with the new developments – on the average, about two hours of home study a day.

Home study? Yes. Leisure time? NO. More please.

So we get it where we can. Miss CK NY’s post brought a tear, as well as Mr. Goddard’s “Ahead of the Curve” in Georgia about catching those little waves.

Finally, condolences to our neighbor to the South, the Bus Driver on the loss of his mom. Health wise, it’s been a difficult year for Mary Lou and her son Jim has been paying tribute to his Mother on his blog.

And on her final gift:

This morning, at 5:50 am, Mom left this earthly life. She specifically directed her mortal remains be given to Mid American Transplant Service and what could not be harvested, be used for research. What is left is to be cremated and placed with our Dad’s cremains in their plot the National Cemetery at Glenstone and Seminole.

I’ll always remember my sweet Etta Mae’s words: “Honey, after 80, it’s all downhill. EVERYTHING falls apart.”

Today’s tip: DO IT NOW

What good could possibly come out of a drive-by shooting in Carmichael, CA?

A strong 22 year old heart.

The heart of that young man has been beating strong now for seven years in the chest of the recipient; a guy who was my age when he got the gift. The clock was ticking on his end and he was down to a few hours left on his life.

Later, the recipient hopped on an ATV and rode from Santa Monica to New York to raise awareness for organ donation.

Crazy!

Cheyenne Doty Memorial Motorcycle

In Memory of
Cheyenne Denise Doty
June 16, 1998-November 2, 2003

On Nov. 2, 2003 Cheyenne lost her life in a Bicycle/Motorist accident. From this tragedy Cheyenne lives on through other children by giving the gift of life. We would like to encourage you to please remember to sign your organ donor cards & Support the Children’s Miracle Network. One life for another…

More pix of Cheyanne’s scooter here. DN Graphix custom motorcycles.

Friday’s yoga session made me think about my lungs. How lucky and grateful I am for my functional set. So why do I knowingly abuse them? Sickening.

If something were to happen to me, would they be of any value? I’ve instructed Mr. Greenjeans that in the event of my demise, to make sure that the body is stripped of anything worthwhile and donated.

We’ve talked about organ donation before and the contacts with families who when faced with tragedy, made the unselfish decision to save the lives of others with the beautiful gift of a set of lungs, or tissue, heart or kidneys. One widow told me that her husband’s donation helped 59 people. FIFTY-NINE!

• Donors ages have ranged from newborn to 65 plus.
• Recent studies have shown that over 95,000 patients in the USA are waiting for an organ transplant.
• Nearly 4,000 new patients are added to the waiting list each month.

Organdonor.gov

Today’s Tip for better living: Open your heart.

Greetings!

Three Beautiful Things:

Fat juicy worms
The gift of life
Tacos and Bloody Marys

The Spring clean up continues, we’ve been yanking shrubs, pulling weeds and marveling at the size of the worms. A decision has been made to nix the vegetable garden this year and consolidate some of the random beds through out the yard. Last year we said No New Projects, just manage what we’ve got. This year, we’re reigning it in.
In a recent post we touched on “the gift of life” and I was reminded of a customer who shared her story of how her husband’s death saved the lives of 59 people. She says,