It's possible that I should have modeled my experiments prior to executing them in the laboratory. I've never been certain that the correct model existed for the spread of reanimating viral agents, but how many people have actually done a study to develop the proper mathematical model for that kind of thing. Perhaps tomorrow I shall make some inquiries.
Monday, November 30, 2009
What's a Sabbatical
Well the reanimation contract has been put on an extended hiatus. That last incident at the lab was evidently the straw that broke the camel's back. I think I'll return to the University and find another field of study. I'm considering becoming a natural philosopher. I've been perusing some of Issac Newtons notes, and his Principia Mathematica in particular. Could it be possible that I should devote my intellect in the field of Mathematics?
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Home Sweet Home
I have a small home in Florida in St. Augustine. The home is in the city and I pay a local real estate company to keep the lawn mowed and the flowers tended. While I'm in THE FACILITY, I don't really spend money at all, so everything I have in terms of liquid assets just continues to accrue. I was able to book a flight back east, and drive to my humble little Florida home.
I like coming back here. The only real decorations I've put inside the house are books. I have shelves filled with every book I've owned since I was a child. All of my college text books are there, with my copies of The Savage Sword of Conan. I love just walking through the door, flipping the lights on, and seeing the shelves lined with all the old friends of my youth. It's very comforting, and it's a great way to start a vacation.
On the first day of my vacation I fixed a small breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast and coffee with orange juice. Now it was time to catch up on my mail, and to look at my correspondence. My property manager was kind enough to stack the letters on my desk in my office. There wasn't much. I spent probably an hour discarding junk mail when I saw an envelope addressed in a very familiar hand. I open the letter and eagerly read the latest news from my roommate from Miskatonic U. Larry Cranz was my friend and confidant as I struggled that first year in college. I was never an eager student. I was eager to learn, but I wanted to learn EVERYTHING at once. That hindered me from focusing on one thing at a time, and thereby more easily passing the various exams. When a professor would mention a book in passing, I would make my way to the library, and spend the next several hours reading and making notes, missing a class or two along the way. Larry was able to help me see that my over-eagerness to learn was a problem and help me to develop self discipline. With the tool of self-discipline, I was able to work my way through the University System and complete my freshman year. I kept up the discipline and was finally able to finish my undergraduate work with honors.
I was never an ambitious sort, I just knew that I wanted to be able to study biology, and eventually be paid to work in the field. Larry wanted to be a professor at Miskatonic U. It was a tradition in the family as long as they had been in the United States. His father was professor in the Mathematics Department, but Larry was interested in the mechanics of the human soul, not in the workings of numbers. Larry wanted to be an anthropologist as was fascinated at the way human societies worked. Larry loved the rise, interplay, and decline of cultures. He was studious, but also social. He would tarry along the sidewalks and observe the different groups that would gather between classes. When he finally would make his way back to our dorm, he would immerse himself in his studies, making notes, and reading. He had an alarm set to go off at 5PM every day. At that time, he would rise from his studying and visit fraternity houses, the library, club meetings, and just crowds of people gathering on the campus. He would talk and listen to people. He would find out what was going on, and then go there just to listen and watch the people go by. At 11PM every night he would return to the room and write for half an hour to 45 minutes. He would tell me what interesting things he had seen, and we would laugh until we were too exhausted and then fall asleep. That went on for 7 years. By then I had finished my Graduate work, and was accepted to the University of Georgia to begin work on my doctorate. Larry was going to remain at Miskatonic, and had already been working as a teacher's assistant during the normal school year, and working with an archaeologist in Mexico during the summers. He would come back from expeditions burnt by the sun, but radiant with the news of old temples explored, burial sites excavated, and ancient mysteries uncovered. Those were wonderful times.
I like coming back here. The only real decorations I've put inside the house are books. I have shelves filled with every book I've owned since I was a child. All of my college text books are there, with my copies of The Savage Sword of Conan. I love just walking through the door, flipping the lights on, and seeing the shelves lined with all the old friends of my youth. It's very comforting, and it's a great way to start a vacation.
On the first day of my vacation I fixed a small breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast and coffee with orange juice. Now it was time to catch up on my mail, and to look at my correspondence. My property manager was kind enough to stack the letters on my desk in my office. There wasn't much. I spent probably an hour discarding junk mail when I saw an envelope addressed in a very familiar hand. I open the letter and eagerly read the latest news from my roommate from Miskatonic U. Larry Cranz was my friend and confidant as I struggled that first year in college. I was never an eager student. I was eager to learn, but I wanted to learn EVERYTHING at once. That hindered me from focusing on one thing at a time, and thereby more easily passing the various exams. When a professor would mention a book in passing, I would make my way to the library, and spend the next several hours reading and making notes, missing a class or two along the way. Larry was able to help me see that my over-eagerness to learn was a problem and help me to develop self discipline. With the tool of self-discipline, I was able to work my way through the University System and complete my freshman year. I kept up the discipline and was finally able to finish my undergraduate work with honors.
I was never an ambitious sort, I just knew that I wanted to be able to study biology, and eventually be paid to work in the field. Larry wanted to be a professor at Miskatonic U. It was a tradition in the family as long as they had been in the United States. His father was professor in the Mathematics Department, but Larry was interested in the mechanics of the human soul, not in the workings of numbers. Larry wanted to be an anthropologist as was fascinated at the way human societies worked. Larry loved the rise, interplay, and decline of cultures. He was studious, but also social. He would tarry along the sidewalks and observe the different groups that would gather between classes. When he finally would make his way back to our dorm, he would immerse himself in his studies, making notes, and reading. He had an alarm set to go off at 5PM every day. At that time, he would rise from his studying and visit fraternity houses, the library, club meetings, and just crowds of people gathering on the campus. He would talk and listen to people. He would find out what was going on, and then go there just to listen and watch the people go by. At 11PM every night he would return to the room and write for half an hour to 45 minutes. He would tell me what interesting things he had seen, and we would laugh until we were too exhausted and then fall asleep. That went on for 7 years. By then I had finished my Graduate work, and was accepted to the University of Georgia to begin work on my doctorate. Larry was going to remain at Miskatonic, and had already been working as a teacher's assistant during the normal school year, and working with an archaeologist in Mexico during the summers. He would come back from expeditions burnt by the sun, but radiant with the news of old temples explored, burial sites excavated, and ancient mysteries uncovered. Those were wonderful times.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Now that the Worst is Over
It's been a long time since I bothered to write anything. We had a series of incidents in the lab that caused a bit of concern on the part of the military officials on site. I warned them that accelerating the speed at which the reanimated corpses could move without also extending the range of our ability to control them would be dangerous. I'm glad I put it in writing. Doing so saved me a lot of trouble once the incidents were contained. I would rather face a flesh devouring zombie than have to go through paperwork with a auditor from the Inspector General. Once the incidents were contained, the bodies (we couldn't use) were burned, and the new safety protocols put in place, I was allowed to take a brief vacation.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
I Love Working on Saturdays
The best thing about Saturdays, is the lab is not as crowded. During the week we are fairly bustling with activity. There are reports to write, new experiments to design, and data that has to be cataloged. On Saturdays, I can pretty much just tinker around with things.
One of the more popular mis-conceptions about the reanimated dead is that they are slow moving. As a rule, that's not always the case. It really depends on:
- the manner of their death,
- the physical condition prior to death,
- how long they have been dead,
- whether or not I've had time to inject their tissue with Paracanthenol.
Are you guys watching House? Oooh that's a great television program. So many people decry the medium of television as a wasteland. I myself used to view it as such, but I'm starting to have hope again.
Friday, May 22, 2009
It's Friday Night...
I finished work at the lab a little late tonight. General McInnery came by and wanted to chat about our progress with the latest round of testing. I guess he was curious since he spent a lot of political capital to cover up our latest round of acquisitions. The bodies had to be taken (in reasonably good condition) from Southwest Asia and flown all the way to our lab in secure, freezing conditions to slow the process of decay. A lot of money had to change hands with some local tribal officials to allow us to remove the corpses with no promise of return. It seems to have worked out ok for now. I've got 25 fresh new corpses, all on ice, ready for our work to begin anew.
General McInnery is not a bad sort of guy. He's pretty nice for a military type. He just wants results and I can respect that. He also seems kind of lonely. I've got a reanimated Pashtun tribesman I can give him, just for company. He doesn't really say anything, he just kind of moans, and groans. I call him Carlyle. He looks like a Carlyle to me anyway. As I said before, he just kind of sits around and moans, but he's not trouble at all. He will stay in one place until you move him. General McInnery could use him as a sounding board for new ideas. Carlyle can't offer any real feedback, but sometimes when you are working on a new project, it just helps to have someone to sit there and listen.
Oooh and there were tacos in the cafeteria today!! I love tacos. They seem to really get me in the mood for a wild weekend. I rented the movie, Shaun of the Dead (again). I really like the humor, and the editing in that film. It seems to create an out of control feeling at times, and I like that.
All in all it's been a good Friday for a change. I'm looking forward to coming in late tomorrow and working on re-animating the speech centers in some of my test subjects. It should be great fun.
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