Monday, June 30, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/27-06/30/08

As most of my faithful readers know, I attended the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree in Burbank over the weekend, leaving Friday morning and returning today to Chula Vista via Victorville. We brought Lolo down to stay the week with us. I enjoyed the Jamboree tremendously, and really enjoyed meeting about 15 fellow genea-bloggers, and many more readers of Genea-Musings besides. You can read my eight posts from the Jamboree on Genea-Musings.

We left Victorville today before 9 a.m., gassed up on Bear Valley road and stopped in Temecula at the In-N-Out for lunch. Linda drove the rest of the way home and I got a much needed nap. Lolo was perfect the whole way down - chattering, singing, asking questions, and finally just sort of watching the world go by, totally bored. She took a nap when we got home, which let us get unpacked, turn the computer on, and get the chores done. I managed to read my email and blogs, and post "Best of the Genea-Blogs" a day late but that was the extent of my activity until late tonight.

Lolo woke up at 2:30 and we played inside for awhile, then went out into the back yard and played ball tag and soccer with the 3-foot rubber ball. We came back in later, and she watched PBS Sprout and Nick Jr. while I dozed in my chair. We had dinner outside on the patio, but she didn't eat a lot. We came in and watched the Padres game (scored 7 in the 9th to win 15-8 over the Rockies). Lolo had her bath and was in bed by 7:30, not a peep out of her!

I washed the dishes, then came into the computer at about 9:45 and read my email, and quickly posted "Martin Carringer (1758-1835), an Independent Spirit" for the next Carnival of Genealogy. I checked my stats, wrote this post, and will go to bed soon!

Genealogy on Friday 6/27 was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 5.5 hours at the Jamboree, and 1.5 hour writing blog posts.

Genealogy on Saturday 6/28 was 11.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 9.0 hours at the Jamboree, and 1.0 hour writing blog posts.

Genealogy on Sunday 6/29 was 5.5 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours at the Jamboree, and 1.5 hour writing blog posts.

Genealogy on Monday 6/30 was 3.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, and 2.0 hours writing blog posts.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/26/08

I had a full day of genealogy - mostly blogging and preparation for going to the Jamboree on Friday morning.

I was reading my email and blogs by 7:30 a.m., and posted the " 'DNA 101 - Genetics for Beginners' Program Summary." I decided to get my Jamboree stuff in order, so I copied many database, web page, photo and tutorial files to my flash drive so that I can put the updated files on the laptop later. I also got the digital camera and copied the latest photos to the computer, and then to the flash drive. I went searching for a map of the area and discovered, quite by accident, the Google Map Street View feature. I know it is not brand new, but I hadn't used it before and thought someone else might be helped or intrigued by it, so I posted "Google Map Street Views." Lunch time!

I finished my prepared responses to the prompts that Leland sent out for the Bloggers Summit, and printed them out and put them on the flash drive also. Then I spent an hour answering some emails, especially the recent query to the CVGS site which I researched the other day. Nancy, my CVGS colleague, gave me an elusive ancestor to look for yesterday, so I spent at least two hours finding census records and family tree data for her problem. Linda came home, and we went out to Daphne's for Greek gyros and then to ColdStone for ice cream. Yummy. Linda was on the computer for awhile, so I took a walk at sunset around the mile track to get some exercise. When I came back, I wrote up the "'Finding Oprah's Roots" book report. It looks like blogger has changed the editor on the Draft Blogger site - they have taken away the invaluable spell check, and when I posted the article, all of the line breaks disappeared. I had to go back into Blogger Beta to do the spell check and insert the line breaks. Argghhh.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour answering the query, 2.0 hours researching Nancy's problem, 1.0 hour writing up my commentary, and 2.0 hours getting my photos and files on the flash drive.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/25/08

Finally a nearly full genealogy day - almost 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. straight through. And a good one, too!

I read my email and blogs, then posted "Sheri Goes to Samford - Post 6" to finish the series. Whatever will I do for my early morning post, I wonder? Something will turn up, I'm sure! I then posted about the CGSSD meeting on Saturday, which I'm going to miss, unfortunately. With morning blogging taken care of, I quickly made the CVGS program agenda masters, the speaker's handout master, and the speaker certificate. I gathered everything up, including my flash drive (just in case something happens...), and went to the copy shop at 10:30. Then to the post office box for the mail, to McDonald's for lunch, to the bank, and to the Library at about 11:30 and into the conference room and auditorium to help set up. The speaker and his wife came in just after me, and we talked for awhile.

The Library doors opened at 12 noon, and I greeted my colleagues and our guests. I started the meeting at 12:20, and introduced the speaker at 12:45 sharp. He gave an absolutely excellent talk and the program went until 2:15 - the time flew. We packed up the conference room and I was home before 3 p.m. I read email and blogs, and worked a bit in the new Wisconsin death records on Ancestry, and then started looking at my colleague Nancy's research problem. Another tough one! At 5 p.m., I went in and watched TV, read the paper, and Linda brought dinner home from Pollo Loco. At 6:30, I posted "DNA 101 - Genetics for Beginners" on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog about our program today. Then it was the Padres game (another loss to the Twins - will Barbara gloat again?) until almost 10 p.m.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 4.5 hours on CVGS activities, and 2.0 hours doing research.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Lazy Day Journal - 06/24/08

Just another lazy, hazy, crazy day of summer, and me without pretzels and beer... oh well, I have genealogy and memories.

I was on the computer by 8 a.m., read my email and blogs, and posted "Sheri Goes to Samford - Post 5". I wasted some time looking at the traffic to genea-blogs - since I changed from http://randysmusings.blogspot.com to www.geneamusings.com my traffic has gone into the dumper. I was surprised by the traffic to several other blogs too.

I had a 10 a.m. appointment with the dermatologist to examine my largest organ, and she zapped me with the liquid nitrogen on my head several times and once on my arm. Just great - I'll have spots on my head at Jamboree. I was home by 11, and did a little research for "Who has married the most times?" Looks like there is a near tie between a one-at-a-time guy and a polygamist. I had lunch, and went off to the dental hygienist for my regular checkup and cleaning. I was home by 2:30.

I answered several emails from May about the Seaver and Auble families, sending a genealogy report in an effort to help my correspondents. I browsed through Ancestry's newspapers looking for Robert Leroy Thompson and his wife Lillian again - still nothing useful, even in Kingsport TN newspapers. I copied some recent files off my flash drive onto the desktop computer, and then copied recent files from the desktop to the computer for transfer to the laptop.

Then it was time to read the paper, take a nap, watch TV and have dinner. I spent about 30 minutes after dinner working on "Online Vital Records Web Sites" and posted it. The Padres game came on at 7:05, and wasn't over until 9:45 (Pads lost again, 3-1, arrgggghhhh!!!). I finished my murder mystery book, "Proof Positive" by Philip Margolin, and then finished "Finding Oprah's Roots" by Henry Louis Gates. I'll probably do a review of the latter sometime soon to break up the monotony on Geneamusings. I read email and blogs, and posted this blog, and it's off to bed in a bit.

Genealogy today was a lazy 4.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 0.5 hour making genealogy reports for the emails, 0.5 hour looking for RLThompson, 0.5 hour working on the computer files, and 0.5 hours digging for blog traffic data.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Lazy Day Journal - 06/23/08

Not a good genealogy day at all. Too much lazy and not enough all-out effort. Oh well!

I was on the computer by 8 a.m. and read my email and blogs, then posted "Sheri goes to Samford - Post 4." Then I started to write some questions and answers for the Blogger Summit at Jamboree so I look semi-prepared for whatever is asked. You know, an opening statement, something about why, how, when, my favorites, how much traffic, etc. I tried to think of something else to post, but got interested in my pastor's blog and a political forum and when I looked up it was time for lunch.

I left before noon for the library. Dearl and Gary were there, and I talked to them for awhile before I went off to the microfilm machine to do a query lookup in the Chula Vista Star-News in 1946. Found it! Talked to Dearl for awhile, then left to go to Office Depot to get some stuff, and I was home by 2 p.m. I posted "I'm Ready for the SCGS Genealogy Jamboree!" and wrote up some more Q&A for the blogger summit. I played a bit with RootsMagic and Legacy again to get birthday lists. I need another software question like a hole in the head, I think!

Linda came home, and I went in and read the paper, took a nap, watched TV and read my book until dinner time. We were supposed to meet my brother and his family for dinner, but Linda couldn't eat at the place they went to because of her allergies. So we ate outside - it was cooler tonight - only about 75 F, just perfect. I refilled the bird feeder, and went out and cut the front lawn after dinner. Linda had lots of email to work on and some reports, so she did that on the computer and I read my book, washed the dishes, watched Antiques Roadshow and SportsCenter, and finally got back on the computer at 9:30 p.m. I read email and blogs - nothing exciting happening! I'll do this post, then post something on the CVGenCafe, and be done for the night.

Genealogy today was maybe 5.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour writing blog posts, 1.5 hours on CVGS things, 1.5 hours preparing for the Jamboree, and 0.5 hour playing with software.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/22/08

Another Sunday that I did little but read, go to church, blog, watch the Padres game, eat, work and read/blog some more.

I was on the computer by 7:3 a.m. and read my email and blogs, then posted "Sheri Goes to Samford - Post 3." I'm surprised that no one has commented on these posts yet - perhaps everybody read them on the APG/TGF lists? I got ready to go to church and left at 9:20.

I was home at 11:45, and immediately started the "Best of the Genea-Blogs- June 15-21, 2008" post. Then I had lunch and watched the Padres game (we lost 5-3 to Detroit), but got the paper read, a short nap, and more pages in my current book. The game was over at 4:30, so I read email and blogs again, and updated the Software post about making an Ahnentafel to get the right TMG7 information into it, thanks to Drew and Carol. Then I updated my Padres summaries on my Randy's Busy Life blog. I remembered that I needed to post about the CVGS program on Wednesday, so I wrote up "CVGS Program on Wednesday 6/25 is "DNA 101 - Genetics for Beginners." I posted it to the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog, and emailed it to the CVGS mailing list. It was after 6, and I remembered that I wanted to watch the Ken Kramer show "About San Diego" on TV. I watched that, then we had dinner outside on the patio - it was only 80 F. I watered the back grassy patches and the front plants, then adjourned to the computer to search for information for a query received Saturday. Not much luck with it - 20th century people have left few bread crumbs between 1930 and 1980. I read my pastor's blog for awhile, and my political forums, and then wrote this post. I'm going to turn in early tonight, I think.

Genealogy today was 4.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours researching and writing blog posts, and 1.0 hour doing query research

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/21/08

Saturday was a fairly short genealogy day due to other activities in my life.

I was on the computer by 7 a.m., read my email and blogs, and posted "Sheri Goes to Samford - Post 2." I left at 7:45 a.m. for my men's breakfast and Bible Study, and was home by 9:30. I worked for over an hour on the handouts for the CVGS Beginner's Class, and printed them off. I posted "Wheel of Genealogy Fortune - Post 4" to see if I could attract more, or other, contestants. I had lunch and left at 12 noon for the Library.

Bernice had 12 attendees at the second half of the Beginner's class, so I was happy that I made 14 copies of my handout! I went through it page-by-page and tried to convey the best places to search for different types of records, some free and useful genealogy web sites, the CVGS activities, where to find and use free commercial genealogy web sites, and the CVGS membership application. I talked a bit to several of the attendees and hopefully several of them will join CVGS.

I was home by 1:30 p.m. and posted "Software: Making an Ahnentafel List - Post 2C" - it took almost an hour to get the words and pictures together. Then I went over to the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe and posted "Rootsweb Web Site Highlights" - one of the recommended free web sites for the class. Linda came home, and needed to use the computer, so I went in to watch the baseball game and several panel shows, but managed to nap through most of them. We left for the Padres game at 4:30, and didn't get home until 10:45 p.m (my Pads lost 7-5). I quickly checked my email and blogs, but didn't do any blogging.

Genealogy today was 5.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, and 2.0 hours on CVGS activities.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/20/08

Family history sometimes intervenes on a genealogy day. So it was tonight - a welcome diversion with my brother and his family.

I got up early this morning determined to get to the Family History Center where the "last two" microfilms of the Oneida County Deeds awaited.

I was on the computer by 8:15 a.m., read my email and blogs, and posted the first installment of "Sheri Goes to Samford." I worked a bit more capturing screens from FTB and PAF, then posted "Does any Genealogy software do this? - Post 2A." I was trying to find out how different software prepares an ahnentafel list. At 10 a.m., I gathered my stuff, especially my flash drive, and went off to the FHC with my apple. I read the two films for all Smith entries (using the index in each deed book), and copied one deed from one film to the computer to my flash drive. The other film had the wrong David Smith on it. I worked a bit on the computers, then headed home at 12 noon. I stopped at the Library to dump some books off, and hit McDonald's on the way home. I was home by 1 p.m.

I prepared the post "Software: Making an Ahnentafel List - Post 2B" based on the captured screens for the 3 different software programs, LFT7, RM3, and FTM16. That took awhile because I had to check the keystroke sequence of each program again, and I got some of the images out of order. At 3 p.m., Linda came home and needed to use the computer, so I went in and read the paper and took a short nap. My brother called at 4, and we decided to meet at the Hunter Steakhouse in Mission Valley for dinner. He has a 6-year old girl and a 3-year old boy, and we haven't seen them since last summer since they live near Portland OR. Dinner was great, and we went to the pool of their nearby hotel to swim. Linda and my bro went in with the kids and I sat out talking to his wife. We left at 8:30 p.m. and were home in time to see the Padres rally in the 8th inning to beat the Tigers. I came in at 9:45 p.m. and read my email and blogs, then posted this entry and will go to bed soon.

Genealogy today was 6.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour messing with software, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, and 2.0 hours at the FHC in NY deeds.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/19/08

Today was a fairly full genealogy day, broken up by the Padres game and dinner.

I was on the computer by 8 a.m., read my email and blogs, and put together "Meet Guest Blogger, Sheri Fenley." The Padres played the Yankees at 10 a.m. today, so I watched the game over lunch. I was back on at 1:15 p.m. (Pads lost 2-1), and posted "Longest recorded marriages."

Then it was time to study the article "Howerton to Owerton: Documenting a Name Change" by Thomas W. Jones, published in The National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 78, Page 169-181, September 1990. This was the discussion topic for the TGF Group I'm a part of - the chat is 7 p.m. tonight. I made some questions about the article, answered them, and reviewed the sources to see what are online and what are in the FHLC. I also made a recommended list of free online genealogy web sites for the Beginners class in CVGS for Bernice. I went in to watch TV, have dinner and wash dishes.

I was back on the computer at 6:45 p.m., and checked email and blogs before being linked into the TGF Chat by Christy. We had a lively group of 6 tonight, and were done by 8:15 p.m. I posted "Did I Just Hear a Shoe Drop?" and "Article on Adoptees Using DNA to find their Father's Surname." Then I wrote this post, and will check Facebook and my stats before I quit.

Genealogy today was 7.5 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 4.0 hours on TGF activities, and 1.0 hour of CVGS related activities.

UPDATED 10:30 p.m.: Then the Genealogue weighed in - funny!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/18/08

I did very little genealogy research today, but I did some blogging and gave my "Moments in Time" presentation to a local Christian women's group at lunch time.

I was on the computer by 8 a.m., and read my email and blogs and wrote "Carnival of Genealogy #50 - Family Pets" and "A Very Long Marriage." I practiced my presentation once all the way through entertaining the kitchen bugs - 23 minutes, cool. I put my presentation notebook and my 10-generation pedigree chart in the car, got ready to go out and left at 10:30. I was at the restaurant by 10:45 and met the leader of the group, and talked to several of the attendees, including the other speaker. Everyone had to tell me their family history story - I was amazed by how many think they have Mayflower connections. Lunch was served at 11:30, and I was introduced at 12:15 and launched into my presentation standing behind a table without a microphone in a warm room. It took almost 30 minutes even though I pretty much stuck to my script. After my talk, the inspirational speaker told her life story and played her keyboard a bit. I was home by 2 p.m.

I checked email and blogs again, and answered several emails. I checked Ancestry and RecordSearch for new databases, and checked my Facebook account to see if any progress has been made on the latest Unclaimed Persons cases. No progress, unfortunately - many of them are difficult research problems, as you might imagine. I remembered that it was Wednesday, so I posted another Family Photograph of Gramps and Mom on an Elephant from 1923. I was sleepy, so I went in to read the paper, take a nap, watch the Padres-Yankees game (we lost 8-5), have dinner, fill the bird feeder, take out the trash, water the back dirt/weeds, wash the dishes, fix the flag, and water the front plants - aren't I good hubby? I also read up to page 100 in my new "Finding Oprah's Roots" book.

The game was over at 8:15 p.m., and I came back to the computer and read email and blogs and wrote "Taking Genealogy to the People" about my speaking engagement today and how CVGS might benefit from it. Then it's this post, and I need to do my homework for tomorrow night's TGF chat.

Genealogy today was only about 7.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading and writing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 3.5 hours working on and delivering my presentation, and 0.5 hour checking web sites.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/17/08

This was a fairly full genealogy day - I stayed home and worked on a number of projects and blogged a lot.

I was on the computer by 9 a.m. and read my email and blogs, then posted "The Carringer Family Letter Collection (1890 to 1900)" so that I can find these posts for future reference. I spent some time searching the mailing list archives on Rootsweb and wrote a blog about it here. I tried to answer some of my piled up email, and found the Kentucky Land Office Records information from Susi, so I posted it on both Genea-Musings and the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe. Susi also sent the link to the Pennsylvania Historial Records Access site, so I posted that also. I realized that I had not input all of the Seaver data from the Texas Death Certificates and Michigan Death Index on LDS Record Search into my database, so I did that for about two hours. It was Padres game time at 4, so I watched the game (we lost 7-0 to the Yankees), read the paper, ate dinner, and took out the trash.

The Buick Heritage Sweepstakes prizes came via UPS today, so I opened them and started to read the Finding Oprah's Roots book during the game. At 7 p.m., I came in again and read my email and blogs, and posted about the Sweepstakes win in "I'm 1 in 1,000!" I checked in on Ancestry and Facebook, answered more email, and then saw Becky's post about Miriam's video, so I wrote "Miriam Is A Google Book Video Star!" I love it when my colleagues get publicity! That's enough for tonight, I'm tuckered out from all that blogging and reading.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours in the Texas and Michigan Death records, 1.0 hour in the Rootsweb Archives, 1.0 hour looking in the KY Land stuff, and 0.5 hour rooting around in Ancestry and taking their survey.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/16/08

Now, back to my genealogy future...after four days with part of my family future - two darling little girls who own my heart! Tami and her babies left this morning, but not until after Audrey baptized my recliner and the floor rug with, um, you know what. The kid can squirt! I mean #2, not #1. Lolo was wonderful - ate a good breakfast while we watched Playhouse Disney, did puzzles and drew pictures, then cleaned everything up, and gave me a big hug and kiss goodbye.

I was on the computer by 10 a.m., and posted "The Words We Use" after answering the question to the questioner. I spent some time trying to find scales for the lists of words, but found very little. Then I researched and posted "The Ancestry Indexing Project" and signed up for the email notifications. It was lunch time so I ate at home, gathered my stuff and went to the library.

Dearl was all alone at the genealogy table in the library, so we swapped stories for awhile and I stapled some papers together to use as handouts at my Wednesday noontime talk. I left early and was home at 1:15 p.m. in time to see Tiger win the US Open here in San Diego. I worked for several hours editing and adding a bit of humor to my lunchtime talk - it's up to 25 to 30 minutes. Hopefully, it will be interesting. I checked the Facebook page, answered a few emails, and at 5 p.m. went in to watch the news, read the paper, have dinner, and do some chores.

I was back on the computer at 7, and went looking on the NEHGS site for newspapers and databases. This culminated in "Vermont and New Hampshire Databases on NewEnglandAncestors.org." I went looking for New England databases on Ancestry in their Card Catalog and was surprised by how few there were in the VR and Court/Land/Probate sections. Then I browsed through some of the New Jersey databases on Ancestry.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour answering email, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour at the library, 3.0 hours working on my speech, 1.0 hour in NEHGS databases, and 1.5 hours in Ancestry databases.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/15/08

Like most Sundays, this was not a major genealogy day. I read my email and blogs before going to church with Audrey in the crook of my left arm, so I could mouse with my right hand. We were going to take her to church, but she was asleep when we left at 9:40 so we left her home (Tami was doing her PhD work).

We got home at noon from church, and she was asleep still (but she had been awake from 10:30 to 11:30). I watched the end of the Padres game (lost 7-3 to Cleveland) and had lunch (leftover mac and cheese) and then came in and quickly pecked out "My First Father's Day" and "Best of the Genea-Blogs - June 8-14, 2008." I checked email and blogs, and the Facebook UP group, again. Audrey woke up at 3 and I went and got her up and we fed her and I played with her for awhile.

Tami left to get Lolo at 3:45, and we left at 4:15 with Audrey to go to dinner at Black Angus for Father's Day. We had a nice dinner, and Audrey charmed all of the other grandparents eating nearby. We were home by 7, and I got Lolo in the bath but had to hold Audrey because Linda was sick. Tami finished up Lolo's bath and we put both girls down before 8. At 9:30, Lolo is still awake and playing in the bedroom.

I worked off and on on an Unclaimed Persons case for Teresa - she needed an obituary lookup, and posted this week's Wheel of Genealogy Fortune puzzle.

Genealogy today was only about 4.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 0.5 hour on Facebook, and 0.5 hour doing lookups.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/14/08

This was a decent genealogy day, although I didn't put much time in online.

I was up early, and on the computer by 8 a.m., reading email and blogs. I posted "The 'Unclaimed Persons' Search Group is Thriving." I checked the Facebook group to see what happened overnight - not much! I made a comment there too.

I got ready to go to three genealogy events today - the CVGS Beginner's Class at 10, the FHC for an hour or so, and the SDGS meeting at noon - trying to combine trips to save on gas. I got to the CV Library right after 10, and the class was just sitting down. I talked to the instructor for a minute or two, and then gave a brief welcome and "this is going to be good for you" speech. Bernice planned on up to 7 attendees, and 11 filed into the room. She didn't have enough of the syllabus, so I took one and went down to the UPS Store and made more copies. I was back to the class by 11:20 a.m. and handed them over , then left for the SDGS meeting (so I didn't go to the FHC, oh well!).

At the SDGS meeting, Mary Card gave her talk on Railroads, and after the break Patti Curran talked about growing up with a railroading dad. Interesting. After the meeting, I talked to Marna and Peter about things they are doing and agreed to help with one event (the other is when we are going cruising!). I was home by 3 p.m.

Audrey had a hard day with little sleep and lots of fussing. While she was feeding, I quickly posted "2nd Edition of 'Smile for the Camera' is all about Belles and Beaus" and then took over for almost two hours of Audrey. She finally fell asleep at 5:45 on Linda, and we gathered everything up and went to Lolita's for dinner. Audrey woke up and entertained some of our fellow diners practicing her smile and wave. We were home by 7 p.m. and watched the Padres beat the Indians 8-3 in 10 innings. Audrey was still awake, and despite our best efforts to get her to go to sleep she lasted until 10 p.m. I brought her in and read old Seaver newspaper articles for awhile. I got diaper duty and projectile barf duty, but didn't volunteer for bath duty in the sink.

Genealogy today was about 7.5 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 1.0 hour writing blog posts, 1.5 hour on CVGS activities, 2.5 hours at the SDGS meeting, and 1.0 hour at most searching for newspaper articles. And about 4.0 hours with Audrey...definitely family history!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/13/08

It's almost the middle of June and I've done very little, genealogically speaking, all month. Read, blog, CVGS, and write a bad speech (now in revision).

My daughter and granddaughters are here this weekend, so blogging will be semi-light to non-existent. I was up before 7 a.m. and watched Lolo while her mom slept, but she got up when Audrey woke up. They got ready to go shopping at 9, so I had the rest of the morning free! After reading email and blogs, I posted "SDGS meeting on Saturday" and "Rootie Toot Toot, Lickety split, Softie and Squash/Mira" - my entry in the next Carnival of Genealogy, which has family pets as the topic. Then it was time to go down to Costco for lunch (Polish dog and a churro) and meet George for our weekly walk on the bayfront.

I stopped by the library, the bank and the gas station on the way home, and was home by 1 p.m. The kids were down for their naps so I was ready to post something and Audrey woke up. I got her, gave her a bottle, but she fussed more so I walked her, rocked her, and finally snoozed in the recliner with her. She slept two hours on my chest. Lolo woke up too and Grandma played with her outside for awhile, then she played on the computer for awhile.

We dropped Lolo at her friend's house for an overnight, and had dinner at Panera - Audrey slept through most of this. We were home at 7 pm.., and the Padres game had just restarted after a 3 hour rain delay. While my daughter studied and worked, Linda and I fed Audrey, got her ready for bed, and had her almost asleep when all three of us were drenched by projectile spit-up - at least it doesn't smell too bad! Poor baby...she finally went to sleep at 10, and my Padres lost 9-5 after leading 4-3. That left time only to read email and blogs and write this post before bedtime.

Genealogy today was a paltry 2.5 hours, 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, and 1.5 hours writing blog posts.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/12/08

This was not much of a genealogy day at all. The only genealogy related activities today were reading and blogging.

I was on the computer at 8 a.m., and after reading email and blogs wrote "Online Editions for Everton's Genealogical Helper." That took awhile to write... and I visited Facebook to see how the Unclaimed Persons searches were going - gangbusters! I wish I had more time. I had to get ready to go out, so didn't do much more this morning.

We left for the Padres-Dodgers game at 10:45 a.m. We took the trolley downtown with the cars full of school kids going to the game, ate at the Tin Fish restaurant (has a live singer outside, we ate on the patio in the shade), and were in out seats by 12:20 p.m. I got our ice creams, we saw about 20 Army recruits inducted into the US Army, and the game began at 12:35. My Padres won 9-0. The trolley home was crowded, but Linda got a seat, and we were home by 4:15.

I quickly read my email and blogs, then posted "CVGS Research Group on 11 June" and "Ancestry doubles its newspaper collection..." I also edited my post again on "Searching for birth dates in software." At 5 p.m., I went in to read the paper, watch the news and eat dinner. Linda did her email work, so I didn't get on the computer until after 7 p.m., and had some financial work and church work to do. I found an image online (well, it found me...) of Barack Obama's Certification of Birth record and posted it here. I checked Facebook again, and will wind this up early because Tami and her babies will be here soon for the weekend. As they say, "blogging may be light."

Genealogy today was all of 3.5 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour reading Facebook and 2.0 hours writing blog posts. That's all, folks!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/11/08

This was a pretty good genealogy day, although I didn't get any real research done.

I was up early, and reading email and blogs by 8 a.m. I posted "Searching for birth dates in software" in an effort to summarize the responses to my question yesterday about "Does any genealogy software do this? - Post 1." I had to test each one of the suggestions before I completed my post, so it took awhile. Then I edited my Genealogy News email and printed it out. I worked on the spring cleaning a bit more because Tami and the girlies were coming tonight, but they didn't. I checked my Facebook page and the Unclaimed Persons group to see what was happening. At 11 a.m. I had lunch and gathered my things to go off to the library.

I stopped by the PO box first, then was at the library at 12 noon for the CVGS Research Group. We had 10 attendees, including one potential new member. I looked for library books for awhile, and was home by 2:30.

After reading email and blogs, I posted "Family Photographs - Post 9: Grandma Bess" - my usual not-wordless Wednesday post. I edited the Genealogy News and emailed it to the CVGS list, then posted it on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog as "Genealogy News Summary for June, 2008." I wrote up the "Research Group Summary -- 11 June 2008" and posted it too. I was bloggered out by then, so I went in at 4:30 and read the paper, took a nap, watched the news, and had dinner. Before the Padres game at 7, I checked email, blogs and the Facebook group.

The Padres beat the Dodgers 4-1 (yay!) and this happy camper came back to the computer at 9:45 to write "Ah, AWT is not in New Ancestry Search - yet!" Then I wrote this post and it's almost time to hit the hay.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 1.0 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours researching and writing blog posts, 1.0 hour in the Facebook group, and 2.5 hours doing CVGS work.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/10/08

I stayed home again today to do honey-do cleanup projects and to avoid filling the car with gas... I need to remember that gas will probably be cheaper today than tomorrow.

I was on the computer at 8:30 this morning reading email and blogs. I flailed around in FTM 16, Legacy 7, TMG 7 and FTB 2.0 for awhile trying to find out how to make a list of birth days for my ancestors. That's all I want - a list so that I could check who was born on what day, say June 10th. The process was non-obvious to me in each program. So I whined about it in my post "Does any genealogy software do this? - Post 1." Having unloaded that frustration onto my readers, I went and did some chores.

When I came back, I created some screen shots from the Philly Marriage Index database for show and tell in "Searching in the Philadelphia Marriage Indexes."
I checked in on the Facebook Unidentified Persons group and saw that Case #3 was solved, and Megan soon sent Case #4. I then created the email for my monthly "Genealogy News of the Month" for my CVGS colleagues, which I'll present at the Research Group on Wednesday and post on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe after the meeting. I worked a bit more in Legacy 7 and TMG 7, and looked at RootsMagic 3 again to see if it will do what I want with birth dates. Then it was TV news, newspaper, and nap time before dinner.

After dinner, I had more chores, but spent about 20 minutes reading email and blogs before the Padres game (we lost 7-2, drat). After the game, I read email and blogs, and posted about DearMYRTLE's new TeachGenealogy blog. And wrote this post.

Genealogy efforts today were 7.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours working with the frustrating software packages, 0.5 hour on the Facebook group, and 2.0 hours looking for genealogy news of the month.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/09/08

Pretty much all day long genealogy almost non-stop...except for when I had to do things around the house.

I was on the computer by 7:30 reading my email and blogs. I did the research and then posted "Differences in Ancestry.com Search Results." Hopefully, Ancestry will read it and get the message. I uploaded my GEDCOM to TMG 7 and worked in the program for awhile. It's not as intuitive as the others. I had to search for my notes for a long time. I see a long learning curve on this one.

Before lunch, I worked a bit in all of the bedrooms, clearing the packratitis so that the windows could be approached for measuring. In the process, I boxed up quite a bit of stuff and put it in the garage for now. I left quite a bit on our bed for my wife to sort through. I found several missing items too! The guy came at 2 p.m. to measure the windows for the new ones. I won't have to move much more than what I did today, so that's good!

I was back on the computer at 2:30, and read email and blogs, then poked around in the RI cemetery transcriptions - and decided to post about it in "Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Transcription Project." At 4 p.m., I was sleepy so I went in and read the paper, watched the news, took a brief nap, and had dinner.

After dinner, I wrote an email for the CVGS meet on Wednesday, and then I started writing my speech for 18 June to a Women's Club in Bonita. I've been thinking about it and practicing parts of it for a week now...it's 6 pages single spaced - 2,400 words - hopefully less than 30 minutes. After that, I poked around in the Philadelphia marriage indexes on FamilySearch Record Search, looking for my colleague's John Robinson Hall. He didn't marry in Philly up through 1946! I went for a walk around the block to cool off, and came in to write this post.

Genealogy today was 7.5 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour doing CVGS business on email, 1.5 hour writing blog posts, 1.0 hour in TMG7, 2.0 hours writing my talk, 0.5 hour working in RI cemeteries, and 1.0 hour doing research in Philly marriages.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/08/08

Kind of a quiet day here in the genealogy cave.

I read my email and blogs before getting ready for church, and even started my "Best of the Genea-Blogs" post. We left at 9:30, and I was home by noon. I finished the blog post, and downloaded the trial version of The Master Genealogist just for tricks. decided I'd better start moving stuff in the cave and the bedroom so that the window man can measure on Monday. I took a break for the Padres game at 1, which ended at 4:30 (Pads won 8-6, 5 in a row!), and we had dinner shortly after. After dinner, I moved stuff around in the cave and extra room, took trash out, and stacked books for the library.

At 7 p.m., I came back and read my email and blogs, and checked the Facebook Unclaimed Persons group, and decided to do some searching for some of the CA UPs. I worked on 3 of them - completely struck out on two, and found some family for the 3rd, but can't find a living person. There's just not enough information available, it seems, for most of these people. They are Unclaimed for a reason!

Genealogy today was 4.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour writing blog posts, and 2.0 hour searching futilely for UPs.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/07/08

Hey, today was 6-7-08... how about that? They add up to 21. That knowledge and $1 will get you a taco at Taco Bell.

This was not a genealogy day - except for the newspaper article published in the San Diego Union-Tribune about CVGS, which I posted about on Genea-Musings and on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe.

I was up early and read my email and blogs before 7 a.m., and the newspaper article too! Then I went off to my Men's Bible Study breakfast in National City, and from there to church for the evangelism retreat program at 9 a.m. That was over a noon, so I was home by 12:30 and posted about the newspaper article. I read email and blogs, watched the England Research Webinar on Ancestry, then wrote "Free Ancestry Webinars."

I went in to watch the horse race, then took a nap, watched the news, and had dinner. I was back on the computer at 6, but had some financial things to do, but then looked at the Texas Death certificates on FamilySearch Record Search and printed a bunch of Seaver ones off for input to my database. Many of them have parents names, birth dates and birth places, and this data will be a fine addition to my Seaver database. Unfortunately, I don't have any Texas ancestors, but I know several people who do! It was 7 p.m., and I went in and watched the Padres game (we won 2-1 over the Mets - 4th 2-1 win in a row!).

Genealogy today was maybe 4.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hour writing blog posts, 1.0 hour watching Webinars, and 0.5 hour working in the Texas death certificates.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/06/08

Today was similar to yesterday - some genealogy effort but no progress, and two big holes in my time warp.

I was on the computer by 7:15 a.m. today, all dressed and fed and I was hungry by 9:30! I read my email and my blogs, and posted "Genea-Musings top posts - by pafe views" and then I worked for a long time on "Working with Family Tree Builder 2.0 - Post 3" on the Book Report critique. I checked my Facebook friends and the groups, and invited several more bloggers to be my friend.

I left at about 11 a.m. to have lunch, go to the pharmacy, walk with George on the bayfront (a beautiful June day, about 75 F, no wind, blue sky), and then got a haircut before I got home at 1:30 p.m. I was back on the computer and worked until 3:30 p.m., I spent some time comparing the Old Ancestry search results with the New Ancestry results - the numbers don't match up.

I was tired, and went in to read the paper and take a nap, then we got ready to go down to the church for dinner and an evangelism program. We were home by 9 p.m. and watched the end of the Padres game (a third straight 2-1 win). I read my email and blogs, but didn't post anything but this. I'm tired and need to be up early for the Men's Bible Study and the church evangelism program.

Genealogy today was at least 4.5 hours and probably more -- 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 0.5 hour in Facebook, and 1.0 hour looking at Ancestry search results!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/05/08

The genealogy day ended abruptly because we went to the Padres game, leaving at 5 pm. Up until then, it was pretty much all genealogy (and lunch).

I was on the computer by 9 a.m., and quickly read my email and blogs and posted "Legacy Family Tree 7.0 Released" and then " 'Following the Path of Your German Ancestors' on Saturday, 7 June." I worked for an hour or more in Legacy Family Tree 7.0 again, exploring different chart and report options. I received several invites to become Friends on Facebook so I read several of the pages of these newfound "friends." I watched Megan's videos about unclaimed persons on www.RootsTelevision.com and became enthusiastic about helping out, so I signed up to participate in it after checking out the www.UnclaimedPersons.com web site - over 2,000 on the list! I also sent out some CVGS emails about our October seminar.

I spent several hours doing some non-genealogy work, including starting to sort out books to keep and books to donate (not genealogy, mind you - I fear they are the glue that keeps the genealogy cave together). Then I posted "Want to help find Unclaimed Persons families?" I went in at 4 p.m. to rest, read the paper and watch the news, but didn't get a nap. We left at 5 for the Padres game and didn't get home until almost 11 p.m. (we won, 2-1, though).

Genealogy today was only 5.5 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 0.5 hour on CVGS issues, 1.0 hour in Legacy 7, and 1.5 hours on Unclaimed Persons.

The expected newspaper article featuring CVGS didn't come out today, but I heard from the reporter that it will be out on Saturday.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/04/08

Today was another day that I didn't advance my own genealogy research one inch, but I did a lot and learned a lot.

I was finally on the computer at 9 a.m. and read my email and blogs, then I posted "Is Genealogy Blogging Healthy?" I think so! Then I read the Carnival of Genealogy and posted about "The Swimsuit Edition." Today was the CVGS Board meeting, so I printed up the agenda, fired off some emails, and gathered my stuff to go to the library at noon. I downloaded Legacy 7 Standard Edition (doesn't permit some bells and whistles, but what is free is a pretty decent program), and uploaded a GEDCOM to it to test it out. Then I checked out the Genealogy Cruise in October ... sounds like a great one. I had lunch (fruit cup, choc chip cookies, apple) and went to the PO Box then the library. I wore one of my new genealogy shirts and everybody laughed...

The Board meeting went two hours because we have a lot of irons in the fire, and everybody is doing their jobs well. We spent a lot of time talking about the seminar plans for October. I left at 2:15 and was home at 2:30 pm. After checking email and blogs, I posted "Family Photographs - Post 8: Randy and his Horsey" - one of my favorite pictures! Some good memories too. I went back into Legacy 7 and worked a bit more, trying out reports and charts. It will do pretty much what I want with reports. We'll see if I like it enough to buy the Deluxe version!

At 5 p.m. I went in for the news, the paper and dinner. I came back to the computer at 6:15 and sent some emails to my board folks. I also emailed a fellow who asked me for advice about his research problem. Then it was Padres game time, and I watched up until 8 p.m. when I joined my ProGen Study Group in a chat about education and alternative careers in genealogy. We analyzed the NGS Genealogy course, but we talked about other educational courses too. This was over at 9:05, and I watched the Padres finish off the Cubs 2-1. After the dishes, I read email and blogs, and wrote this post. Bed time soon...

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 1.0 hour reading and writing emails, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.5 hours on CVGS business, 2.0 hours on Legacy 7, and 1.0 hours on the ProGen chat

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/03/08

I feel like I did a lot of work but didn't accomplish much at all. Oh well.

I was reading email and blogs at 8 a.m. and posted "Where I've Been!" in the morning after updating my maps on the site. Megan made me a Facebook "friend" so I puttered there for awhile - I'm also a "friend" of my cousin in NH and I looked through her photo albums to see what she's been up to. I got ready to go to the FHC, and left at 10 a.m.

At the FHC, I quickly found the deed I missed last week - I misread the deed index - fortunately I had an image of the index and could look again - the microfilm was sent back months ago. I captured the deed images, transferred them to my flash drive, and went and ordered two more deed films. Then I checked the FHC computers again - the Footnote Viewer was still not installed, so I asked about it. The FHC fellow downloaded the latest Adobe Flash Player to the computer I was on, and the one next to it, and I was happy. I found my Joseph Champlin RevWar Pension File, but the images take several minutes to load and save to my flash drive, I gave up. I was home before noon.

I had some lunch, then checked email and blogs, and wrote "Working with Family Tree Builder 2.0 - Post 2." Then I wrote my CVGS newsletter articles and sent them off via email, and I checked Jean Hibben's web site to see what programs I will recommend to the Board tomorrow. I emailed Jean and got an answer back tonight. Linda came home, and I went in to read the paper, watch the news, and doze a bit before dinner. We ate, and the lady from the Windows place came and gave us a two hour presentation and demonstration. I went in to watch the Padres game when Linda started swapping stories with her. The Padres game wasn't over until 10:30, and I checked email and blogs, and wrote up "Tom Kemp's Genealogy History and GenealogyBank primer."

Genealogy today was about 7.5 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blogs, 1.5 hours at the FHC, 1.0 hour working with FTB, 1.5 hours doing CVGS tasks, and 0.5 hour in Facebook. What useful did I accomplish? I guess time will tell!

Monday, June 2, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/02/08

Just another day with a little research, some CVGS throw in, and a Padres loss. Ho-hum.

I was reading my email at 8 a.m. and the blogs soon after. I wrote the "Family Health History Portrait" post after updating my own (!). I thought others might be interested in doing it. I worked for several hours in Family Tree Builder 2.0, and finally posted "Working With Family Tree Builder - Post 1" before I had lunch at home (veg-beef soup, choc chip cookie, green grapes). When I do screen captures like this, I capture the screen (using "Print Screen", paste each screen into an open file in Open Office's presentation program, then after I've captured them all, I save the OO file and save the screens one at a time as a JPG file. Doing it this way, I have the individual pictures to upload into Blogger and a presentation document that I can show at a CVGS meeting.

After lunch, I went off to the Library for our weekly Monday gabfest - there were 7 of us altogether. A non-member, Martha, came as others were leaving, and she wanted a tour of the CVGS holdings, so I showed her around, then told her about the computers, and we sat down and she showed us the family group sheets she's created so far. I was home by 3 p.m.

Linda was on the computer when I got home, so I watched Fox News for awhile, then came on the computer and did some research to help a correspondent out. I didn't solve his problem, but I think I know how he can solve it. I wrote several posts for the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog also. Time flew, and at 5 p.m. I went in to watch TV and have dinner. We ate out on the patio. After dinner, I spent a half hour doing some ProGen study group work and then went in and watched the Padres game against the Chicubs. We lost, 7-6. Afterwards, I came in and read email and blogs, and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hours working on FTB2.0, 2.5 hours on CVGS things, 0.5 hour on ProGen tasks, and 1.0 hour doing research on Ancestry.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 06/01/08

I took the day mostly off from any genealogy activities. I did read email and blogs, and posted twice on Genea-Musings, and did a little searching in WorldConnect for Fonda and Van Vorst, but that was about it.

We went to church this morning, and we were home by 11:45. The Padres game came on at 1 p.m. and I watched that until we lost in the 10th inning, 4-3. I snuck a nap in, and read the paper too, so it wasn't a total waste. We left at 4:10 for Coronado and dinner at Miguel's with Ed and Carolyn, and then we went to the Lamb's Players Theater play "The Hit." We were home by 8:30.