Allegedly there was a “dead weeping waitress” haunting the first place I chefed at. Never saw her either, funnily enough.

to embed something in clay, mortar, or sand

The staves are split from the heartwood. The heartwood is composed of dead cells; it supports the tree, but no longer has any physiological purpose. The staves must follow the grain of the wood to achieve a watertight cask, so they are split rather than sawn. — L'encyclopédie du Cognac: From log to stave

Peter Isaacson continued his attack on Hearst and the poison pen of his editors.