Lost Soles:Brief History and Purgatory Hypothesis

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Here is a brief history for those of you who are new to our “lost soles” postings.
Our Lost Soles category is a result of my husband finding a pair of shoes outside the elevator at the parking structure at work. It was weird to see a pair of shoes by them selves so he snapped a picture of them. He even wondered if perhaps there was an invisible man there wearing nothing but shoes; but he did not dare feel the space above the shoes in case there was indeed a naked invisible man there!
About a week later I found a pair of white sneakers outside a lab where I work with the sign “FREE” on them. It kind of reminded me of a homeless guy on the side of the road with a sign stating he needs something. This poor pair of shoes needed a Home. Well they were a size 7 and way too small for my feet! So I had toleave them there hoping someone else could help them. The next day they were gone!!
Over the years we have seen many shoes that are just “left behind”. One thing I notice it the shoes that have a pair usually disappear within a day or two. But the single shoes can remain on the side of the streets for months. This makes me think that the shoes are in purgatory. Where they must endlessly search for their mate, and once they do they go to a “better place”. Those who do not find their mate are cursed to hang out and wait for that “other shoe”.
Here is some “proof” of my Purgatory Hypothesis. Last month I had seen a lonely shoe on the side of the road for a few weeks. I rode my bike past it so I could stop to take a picture. (Sorry it’s so small, i didn’t want to cross the busy street, and my iphone does not have zoom.) On my way home I noticed there was actually another shoe about 50 feet away, it looked like the pair of the other one. (Again sorry with the small picture.) The next day I came back with a better camera to take a pictureand both shoes were gone! They must have found each other and gone to shoe Eutopia! (I’m sure it didn’t have anything to do with the lawncare guys cutting the grass that day.)


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About Gail

Presently living in Orlando FL and looking for work in the field of molecular biology. If you need someone who can do all this: Coordinate daily laboratory functions including account management, inventory maintenance, ordering, create and update animal use protocols, prepare PowerPoint slides and figures for presentations and publications, assist in grant writing/submission. Hire, manage and train laboratory staff in techniques including, animal handling, breeding, genotyping transgenic mice, injections, animal surgeries (including ovariectomy, castration and renal capsule grafting,), primary cell isolation, Immunodetection, embedding/sectioning tissue, expression and purification of proteins, RNA and DNA purification, qPCR, Western and gel mobility assays (EMSA). Work with animals including mice, rats and dogs. Manage mouse colonies of 16 different transgenic strains. Please drop me a line or email.

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