h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, that was rather stressful

All but two people turned up with face coverings (we have supplies of disposable masks). I took names & contact phone numbers at the church entrance while Pauline and Lindsey took care of the socially-distanced seating arrangements. Two people refused to give their name/contact details but went in the church anyway. The ceremony was unlike any other I had been at before - the entire family came into church and were seated before the coffin was brought in by the undertakers headed by the vicar. The service was an hour long (it's usually over & done with in church after 30 minutes). The coffin was taken away by the undertakers to the Crematorium - alone. The family remained in the church grounds, even the vicar stayed behind. I saw him shaking hands with people as they left church.

"Thankfully no comeback from those funerals"

Good job I'm leaving my body to medical scienceco's I'd come back and complain

Busy at the church - off to do my job at a funeral now, and another 4 funerals between now and the end of the month.

One down, another one on the list. Friday's will be busy - full Military Honours.

Is the sudden onset of funerals anything to do with Covid?

That's one thing I don't find out - I'm not privy to the cause of death.

Yesterday's was the most nerve-wracking so far. He was only 52. There were 13 mourners and the deceased's family. Once inside, I noticed several people (not the deceased's family) removing their face masks, even though they were all told at the entrance that face coverings are compulsory inside the church. We can't sing in church yet so the organist played music instead, and there were two cds which the organist refused to touch (he cares for his elderly father) so we had to get the funeral director to find a portable cd player - it arrived 2 minutes before the cortege, brought in by a colleague on his day off . We do have a fixed cd player in church but it's right next to where the organist sits, so he wouldn't have allowed anyone that close to him to use it anyway. The organist was playing "How Great Thou Art" when I noticed a couple who had removed their masks get up and leave, and they weren't quiet about it. They'd been quite antsy, up till then.

I forgot to say that when the service sheets arrived (it's part of my job to check them) I found a spelling mistake. I showed the vicar, he smiled and said "if that's the only thing that goes wrong today, we're on a winner".

I showed the funeral director who delivered the trolley that the coffin rests on during the service. He looked shocked but quickly explained that they had been created by the family, not their firm. (I had already realised that.)

with NO disrespect to anyone of course

I love the saying! he/she had a good send off..

Does that mean they were strapped to a firework rocket ???? err! Wooosh!

some ashes have been sent into space



Friday's service sheet had the wrong churchyard listed for the burial but the service itself was amazing, with a piper & a guard of honour

part copied (and I'm a Trekkie fan)

The first space burial occurred in 1992 when the NASA Space Shuttle Columbia (mission STS-52) carried a sample of Gene Roddenberry's cremated remains into space and returned them to Earth.

In the end, it was Scotty who got beamed up.
The ashes of late actor James Doohan, who played chief engineer Montgomery Scott in the original "Star Trek" television series and a series of subsequent films, were on the SpaceX rocket that launched a private spacecraft into orbit.

Everything comes at a price

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/johnny-depp-spending-bankrupt-net-worth-lawsuit-hunter-s-thompson-funeral-cannon-a7556381.html

I recall the discoverer of Pluto had some of his ashes aboard the New Horizons probe which flew by Pluto and sent back those amazing images.

A question GB please
1stly

If a body is moved from one cemetery to another ?
Is that "intern-departmental" ?

Would dear departed rocketed out in space become celestial bodies?

We are all celestial bodies anyway dear

Getting ready for w*rk, it's raining and the temperature has dropped like a stone, so I better rearrange my summer wardrobe for my autumnal clothing

You are of course right, dear

"We are all celestial bodies"

Where in the universe is there a star etc my shape ?

Horse-head Nebula Prof Nebula ? could be

Wow, we're in the middle of a full-blown gale and I have a funeral at 2pm. Hope the undertakers keep a tight hold and the vicar's brolly doesn't take off.

I had a friend! His hearing was that good! He could hear a fart in an hurricane