Coroner's job is interesting

This job is always interesting.

The “pump” was primed/the tone was set this morning with an email at 7:50 am, got to love Blackberry capabilities, always connected. This led to a “running gun battle” of email and phone calls through the day to work toward resolution of an office issue.

Walking in from my parking place a 4X6 piece of insulation board blew off the roof (we are getting our leaky roof fixed, finally) and hit the ground about 5 feet in front of me. That was a surprise.

I went to the gym and found I only had a sleeveless t-shirt with me, which is OK but more summer wear than winter. Lucky for me, however, it was apparently sleeveless T day at the gym; all the other guys had them on too.

I had a very interesting conversation about homeless folks with a reporter. I have been involved in homelessness issues since about 1989, so do have some background for the discussion. They are real people, not nameless and faceless as they are often perceived. We discussed how there is a “community” that gathers at “soup kitchens”, service sites, and emergency shelters. They watch out for each other. They work odd jobs to make a little money. They shop, they live.

A sampling of interesting other stuff through the day: “Lending” autopsy specimens (i.e. histology slides and paraffin blocks, etc) to a law firm for their use in litigation; discussions on how to get a badly decomposed body (partially skeletonized) to the University of Texas and their CODIS-associated facility for DNA testing and examination; scheduling an autopsy for an individual found in Lake Michigan, likely who has been there for about a month (finally the family will be able to move ahead with their lives, which have been “on hold”). This is just a sampling, there were even a few things I can’t comment on here, always a reminder that there are no typical days in the Coroner’s Office.

Let’s see what the evening holds.