http://bob.ravensbeak.com Life around the funeral industry Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:00:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A primer on green burials. I'm beginning to transition my funeral industry posts over to the new site, so I'll just be posting excerpts and links here now. http://bob.ravensbeak.com/2008/11/27/living-green-dying-green-2/ Santa Coloma de Gramenet, near Barcelona, has found a unique location for a solar power farm: mausoleums. Flat land is at a premium in Santa Coloma. Its 124,000 people are shoehorned into just 1.5 square miles. There just wasn't enough space to build a large enough solar farm to be effective. ... http://bob.ravensbeak.com/2008/11/23/power-from-the-dead/ Pardon the dust you might notice in the next few weeks. I've decided to split my funeral industry posts off into their own site, to be posted at www.funeralnewscentral.com. The domain is live, but there's nothing to see there yet. I'm working on installing WordPress as well as a pretty nifty ... http://bob.ravensbeak.com/2008/11/23/admin-changes-coming/ Several years ago, when I was training a co-worker, we got caught up in an interesting situation. We knew through some connections that the sheriff's office was planning on arresting, or at least detaining, the brother of the deceased person we were escorting. The sheriff's office asked us to take ... http://bob.ravensbeak.com/2008/11/19/an-arresting-service/ The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office made another body error recently. In 2004, they released the clothing for a homicide victim, but kept Chad Mulvin's body. The victim's mother had her son cremated, but didn't find out for over nine months that she had only his clothing. At some point, when ... http://bob.ravensbeak.com/2008/11/16/oops-wrong-body-again/ Directors, if you receive a letter from the FBI asking you questions about your dealings with National Prearranged Services Inc., and its affiliated insurance companies, Lincoln Memorial Life Insurance Co. and Memorial Services Life Insurance Co., it's for real. The FBI is investigating allegations of "corporate misconduct" in the downfall of ... http://bob.ravensbeak.com/2008/11/12/fbi-investigation/ As America pauses for Veteran's Day to honor those who have helped create and save this country (and the rest of the world pauses for Armistice Day or Remembrance Day), the Associated Press has an article about veterans who are dying without next-of-kin to claim their remains. In many cases, ... http://bob.ravensbeak.com/2008/11/11/missing-in-america/ One thing I learned when I was active in the funeral industry is that there aren't many stereotypical undertakers any more. There seems to have been a sort of generational shift, where the tall, older, quiet white male has given way to the younger, active, and outgoing person. I'd venture ... http://bob.ravensbeak.com/2008/11/11/not-your-typical-funeral-director/ There are two full-time military horse-drawn caisson sections in the country. The 3d Infantry - The Old Guard - serves Arlington National Cemetery. The Caisson Section of the Military Honors Platoon at Fort Sam Houston serves Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. Read more about what the Caisson Section does. http://bob.ravensbeak.com/2008/11/08/and-the-caisson-goes-rolling-along/ There are two things that always get sent to grieving families: flowers, and food. Flowers come from well-wishers all over the country, because it's easy to send them. Just go to your favorite local florist, or jump online, and you're set. Food has been somewhat more problematical. If you're local, you ... http://bob.ravensbeak.com/2008/11/07/better-than-flowers/