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The Albany Institute of History and Art
Albany, NY
Now that the museum's head conservator, Dr. Laura Kenner, has officially taken possession of the sundial and handed it off to the conservators who work under her archaeological guidance, I feel a great sense of relief. It also helps that I got paid, and, in turn, so did Bob. Chase the practical.
We are seated at a long, antique mahogany conference table inside a second-floor room located in a brick and wood building that must be more than one hundred fifty years old. You could say that it’s a relic unto itself. There’s a fire burning in the big fireplace which only adds to the feeling of living and breathing in another era, a long, long time ago.
Several donors are in attendance, but only for a brief, few minutes. In a word, they’ve come to congratulate me not only on retrieving the ancient sundial but also for surviving what’s now known around museum circles as “The Attack of the Giant Mutant Killer Jungle Monkeys.” One of the donors even suggested I write a book about my expedition experience, and to be honest, I’m giving it serious consideration. Already reporters from National Geographic have called, their hungry brains just dying for more information of a species of Howler Monkey that’s human-sized and can craft and use spears.
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