Sunday, November 30, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/30/08

The end of the 11th month of the year. And my Chargers, who had such promise at the beginning of the season, are DONE. Stick a fork in them. 4-8 is terrible.

I was on the computer by 7:40 a.m. this morning reading email and blogs, and then I posted Best of the Genea-blogs - November 23-29, 2008. I got dressed, and we went to church. I had my committee meeting, but we were home by 12 noon. I checked email and blogs again, then went in and had lunch and watched the end of the early football game. At 1 p.m., the Chargers-Atlanta game came on, and I suffered through that in silence - Linda had the good sense to go out to lunch with her friends, then shopping. When she got home, she had to use the computer so I didn't come back to it until after dinner. During the game, I sorted some of the papers and periodicals that Ralph gave me last week.

I wrote Family Holiday Traditions for the next Carnival of Genealogy, and then searched Genea-Musings for articles to put in my Family Journal. I didn't find any useful ones, but marvel at what I've written over the last year - I don't remember doing half of them! I added a biography and some recent family news to the 2008 Family Journal, and need to fill one more page. I contacted the Richmond cousin that I corresponded with last summer to see if I can add something about her family - they were lost but now are found to us, and we to them. Then I checked Facebook, and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was only 5.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, and 1.5 hours working on the Family Journal.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/29/08

I almost went out to the cemeteries today, but I decided to stay home and work on my database, my sources, and my Facts. Now I find that I have an overdue library book.

I was on the computer by 8 a.m., reading email and blogs. I posted One Stone at a Time and then got dressed to go out, but I didn't. I downloaded my pictures from the camera, and then uploaded them into an album on Facebook. My FTM16 database doesn't have many Facts other than BMD, so I started adding Facts (residence, occupation, census, military, etc.) to my ancestral line - I did about 8 persons before I tired of it. There's lots more to do! It was lunch time, so I ate at my desk in my Genea-Cave. Then I worked on standardizing my Sources, and then worked on adding sources to the BMD records I have in my database. I'm guesstimating I covered maybe 300 people in my database today - maybe 600 records in total. I looked up and it was 4 p.m. I checked in on Facebook, then sent an email to my friends and family with the link to the album on Facebook. It didn't work...I picked the wrong URL. I had to work 30 minutes before I found the right URL to send. We had dinner (leftover turkey, mashed potatoes and mixed veggies, then Peach Cobbler with vanilla ice cream), and I watched the football games and read the paper.

Finally at 7:30, I came in and checked email, blogs and Facebook, and finally wrote Saturday Night Fun- Who's #1000? for my readers to have something useful (??) to do. This took over an hour to compose because I had to check out all of the software I have. In the middle of that, I uploaded my master database into FTM2009 and it took 9 minutes for a 22,700 person FTM16 database to load in FTM2009. That's terrible. Wasted a lot of my time!

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours on Facebook, 2.0 hours writing and researching blog posts, 0.5 hour doing online research, 1.0 hour messing with software, and 4.0 hours working in my FTM16 database.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Genealogy and Family History Journal - 11/28/08

'Twas the day after Thanksgiving, and we ate some more! And played with the little girls - they are so much fun. Genealogy? Some blogging, not much else.

We got up after 7, and Lolo and Tami were already up. I got Lolo our breakfast and Tami made cinnamon rolls, and we all ate. James got up, and Audrey too (she had a bad night for some reason - awake from 2 to 6 and Tami was up with her). I came in and read my email and blogs, then posted More Interviews on RootsTelevision. They put Audrey down for a nap, and left for the mall, and I posted Listening ... to Aunt Gerry. Audrey woke up at 12 noon and I fed her and me, and played with her. They came home after 1, and Lolo went down for her nap. I watched TV with James for awhile, then came in and posted two blogs on the South San Diego County Graveyard Rabbit blog. Everybody was up by 4:15, and we got ready to go out.

We left after 4:30 for Coronado - we celebrated Linda's birthday at The Brigantine - we all had fish, except for Lolo who had chicken strips. Lolo blew out the candle on Linda's creme Brulee and ate half of it. Audrey was great - watching from the high chair and playing with toys. After dinner, Tami took her family over to the Hotel del Coronado to see the Christmas lights, and we came home.

We were home by 7 p.m., and I checked in on Facebook, then typed several pages of Gerry's autobiography into my Christmas Journal. Only 5 more pages to fill! Then this post, and I will check my statistics before going in to watch the TV news.

Genealogy today was maybe 6.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour on Facebook, and 2.0 hours working on the Journal.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving Journal - 11/27/08

Read, work, eat, play, talk, watch football, clean up, care for granddaughters, read. That's the day today!

Other than read my email, read my blogs and check in on Facebook several times today, I did nothing genealogy related. The two posts dated today were created last night to post this morning. It was a day of Thanksgiving.

Linda went off to feed her friends cats and then the spa in the morning, and I had the kitchen floor washed, the carpets vacuumed and the wood floors swept by the time she got home. We put the turkey in at 11:15 a.m. for a 3 p.m. feast, set the table for five with our good china and silverware, and I even caught a little nap before I peeled potatoes while watching football.

Tami and James were here with Lolo and Audrey by 2 p.m., and James and I played with the girls while Tami and Linda got dinner in the oven, then carved the turkey, and on the table by 3:30 p.m. It was really good - the traditional turkey with dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon, and Tami's peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert after awhile. Tami cleaned things up fairly well, and got everything in the dishwasher. She and James left for a movie at 6:30 and Linda and I got Audrey fed and dressed and down by 7:45, and Lolo bathed, dressed, read to and rocked, and she was in bed by 8:15 p.m. And quiet. Then Linda and I put away the silverware and china, washed the dessert dishes and assorted trays and bowls,

This was the most stress-free Thanksgiving we've had in years, thanks to a small crowd, advance planning and teamwork. I am really thankful for that!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/26/08

I didn't do much genealogy beyond email, blogging and CVGS today.

I was on the computer by 8:30, and posted FamilySearch Research Wiki is growing before I went in to get ready to go off to the CVGS meeting. I gathered my papers and my camera and left at 10:15 to go to the UPS Store for copies of the agenda and member survey, then to McDonald's for lunch, the PO Box for mail, and then to the library. I went in early down below and we had everything set up by 12 noon when the doors opened. The meeting started at 12:25, the elections were held, and Connie introduced the speaker at about 12:55. Georgie Stillman provided an excellent program - you can read about it "Heirloom discovery Day" at CVGS with Georgie Stillman on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog.

I was home by 3 p.m. and posted Family Photographs - Post 31: WW2 dads and sons on Genea-Musings. I checked in on Facebook for awhile, before Linda decided we should go out to eat. We went to Oggi's out in Otay Ranch for pizza. We were home by 6:30, and I read the paper and watched the news for awhile. I came in and read email and blogs, then posted some jokes and my NFL Picks (not a joke...) to Randy's Busy Life. I then wrote two Thanksgiving Day posts scheduled for Thursday, and also posted my Georgie Stillman post on Genea-Musings to reach a wider audience. Then I wrote this post, and am almost done for the night.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, and 4.5 hours on CVGS activities.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/25/08

This was a genealogy day and I touched almost every base on the field, it seems, plus a few.

I read my email and blogs, explored Sean Sexton's post and posted about Microsoft's Deep Zoom Technology Demonstration. I checked in on Facebook, and then posted Randy Revealed - tagged again with eight things about me. I stayed home for lunch, and browsed Ancestry for awhile, and downloaded pictures from my camera, then made the program and the member survey pages for the CVGS meeting on Wednesday.

I posted Tombstone Tuesday - the DeFrances on Genea-Musings and CVGS Computer Group Pictures on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog. It was time for some serious genealogy work, so I added sources to about 100 persons in my database from notes made years ago from the Woburn MA Vital Records book. I uploaded some photos of the grandchildren to my Facebook album, and finally at 3:15, I went in to read the paper, watch TV and take a nap. I came back at 4:30 to browse through the New Jersey Archives databases, and to see what NJ databases are available on Ancestry there isn't much overlap. Then it was time for dinner and more news.

I came in at 6:30 to do more work on my family Journal, but I got sidetracked by unanswered email and finally got to editing pictures from my Aunt Gerry and putting them in the 2008 Journal. I looked up at 9:40, and wondered where the time went.

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour on Facebook, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour on CVGS business, 1.5 hours putting sources in my database, 1.0 hour browsing in online databases, and 2.0 hours working on photos and my Journal.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/24/08

Ah, back to genealogy all day...

I was on the computer early, reading my email and blogs, and then posted I'm thankful for my ancestors, and repositories, and the Internet, and... as a response to two Thanksgiving memes. I got ready to go out later, and then I read Susan's blog post and wrote Addendum to "Best of the Genea-blogs" in order to note her post. At 11:45, I had lunch and then went to the library for the CVGS Table Talk.

John, Dearl and Gary were at the library, and we talked about CVGS tasks and projects, and I did two more pages of indexing the Spanish-Mexican Families of early California. I left at 1:45 p.m. and was home shortly after 2 p.m. I emailed the CVGS member list the information about the Wednesday meeting, and posted CVGS Meeting on Wednesday, 11/26 - Heirloom Discovery Day on both Genea-Musings and the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe. After reading my blogs, I posted Some Civil War databases free on Footnote.com through AccessGenealogy on both blogs. I poked around in Facebook for awhile, making comments and checked on several of my groups there.

I went exploring in the Legacy 7 and Legacy Charting software to figure out how to create a Calendar of birthdays and anniversaries for 2009 and a Bookmark showing several generations. I struggled with Tags for awhile, but managed to make a calendar. I wanted a bookmark with 6 generations, but it came out too small on an 8.5 x 11 sheet. It looks like three generations is about as good as it gets. If I had photos of my ancestors, aunts, uncles and cousins loaded into Legacy, I could make some nice charts, but I don't yet. Linda needed to use the computer, so I went in to watch the news, read the paper, and we eventually had dinner watching the football game.

At 7:30 p.m., I came back and worked a bit more in Legacy 7.0 and Legacy Charting. I downloaded the latest Legacy Charting software. Then I added articles from 2005 to 2007 to my index of the Seaver-Richmond Family Journal, and started work on the 2008 Journal. It is going to take some time. Finally, I wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours on CVGS activities, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 2.0 hours in Legacy, and 1.5 hours on my Journal.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Family History Journal - 11/23/08

This was day 5 of the LAVWM - and the last day. Not much genealogy.

The girls were up by 7:30 and 8:15, and we got them fed, dressed and off to church at 9:30 a.m. We went to the Bagel shop for lunch and were home by 12 noon. Both girls ate and went down for their naps at about 12:30 p.m.

I read my email, ready my blogs, and wrote The Best of the Genea-Blogs - November 16-22, 2008 while they were sleeping. I even checked in on Facebook. Lolo was up first, and we watched some football, played out in the back yard, and then watched Dora. Audrey no sooner woke up at 3:15 and Tami came - the girls were really happy to see her. We were too! They all went out to dinner at Panera while I ate Dinty Moore Beef Stew leading up to the Chargers game at 5:15. They got home just before halftime, and Tami got everything packed and the girls bathed and dressed for the ride home. The house sure got quiet, but then my Chargers lost 23-20 in the last seconds (4th time this year).

Genealogy today was 3.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook, and 1.5 hours writing blog posts.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Family History Journal - 11/22/08

Day 4 of the Lolo-Audrey Visitation Without Mommy (LAVWM). Lots of little girls, not much genealogy. That's OK - I had fun!

Lolo woke up at 3:15 a.m. with a bad dream, so I got to go settle her down. I ended up sleeping there on the lower bed until we got up at 6:30. Linda went off to her breakfast, and Lolo and I had our banana, waffles and apple juice. Audrey woke up at about 7:15, so I got her changed and fed while Lolo watched TV. Linda came home around 9 a.m., so I put Audrey down for her nap and I took one too. We got up at 10:30, and I got dressed and we were out the door at 11:30 to pick up some books from a CVGS colleague, then to Rubio's for lunch (3rd day in a row - Lolo loves fish tacos), and home by 12:45. We put the girls down for naps, and Linda too.

I read my email and blogs, and Facebook, then did a little review work and posted Building a Genealogy and History Library - my own, in digital format. I finished it just as Audrey woke up at 3:15, so we went in to watch the news and feed her. Lolo got up a little later, and we played a bit on the floor. At 5 p.m., we went out to dinner at Chick-Fil-A - Lolo ate well, we shared a Peppermint Chocolate Chip milk shake, and she played on the equipment for awhile. We were home by 6:30, and we got Audrey bathed, dressed and fed while Lolo went to a neighbor's house to see her little friend. We put Audrey down at 7:15 and watched the Aztecs win one for a change. Lolo came back after 8, and we got her bathed, dressed, read to and in bed by 9 p.m. Whew.

I read my email, and blogs, then Facebook, and posted It's Saturday night, let's have some genealogy fun! If you haven't had any fun today - go do it! Then this post and that's it - I'm done.

Genealogy today was 4.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 0.5 hour on CVGS things, and 2.0 hours writing blog posts.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Family History Journal - 11/21/08

This was Day 3 of the Lolo and Audrey visitation sans mommy, and it was fun in the main. Not much work done, but fun to be with my two little girls.

Lolo was up early, and we had our frozen waffles and banana while watching The Wiggles and HiggledyTown Heroes. Then all the other shows, up until about 11 a.m., but we played blocks, and puzzles, and on the computer, and took a walk, etc. Audrey woke up at 8:30 a.m. and since Linda was gone, I had double duty. Audrey went back down for a nap at 10:30, so I read email and blogs and posted "Every House has a story..." Linda came home after 11, so we took the girls to Rubio's for lunch and stopped at Costco too. We were home by 1:15 and I put both of them down for naps.

I read a bit on the computer, then posted the Test Drive of Family Historian 3.1 - Post 4. I spent some time working on Ancestry's new MyCanvas product trying to create a coffee table book - I ended up making an OpenOffice presentation file of it for a future post. I'm not impressed by MyCanvas yet.

The girls got up from their naps, and we played a bit, and went out for dinner to Mr. V's down the street. Audrey had prunes, Lolo had some of my spaghetti and some of Linda's submarine sandwich, and we had a good time. We were home by 6:30, and I got Audrey and Lolo in the bath and out, and in bed - Audrey by 7:15 and Lolo by 8 p.m.

I posted two articles on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe, one article on the SSDC Graveyard Rabbit and this post to cap off a six post blogging day.

Genealogy today was 5.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 2.0 hours writing blog posts and 1.5 hours on MyCanvas getting frustrated.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/19/08

Not too much genealogy work done today -but lots of family history made with Lolo and Audrey here.

Audrey woke up at 4:30, but went back down until 9 after feeding. Lolo woke up at 7:30 and we shared our standard breakfast - two frozen waffles with butter and a banana. This is one of our little rituals. Linda got them off to go swimming by 10:30 and I left for my 11 a.m. lunch. In the mean time, the Family Historian 3.1 article posted this morning, and I wrote the MyHeritage and Family Tree DNA Partner post in between Disney cartoons. That was about all the useful genealogy work I did today.

I was home at 1 p.m. from my retired engineers lunch, and read my email and blogs and played a bit with Ancestry's new Family Tree mapping feature. Just like Legacy, FTM 2009 and others, it seems. Then I worked a bit with the Family Tree chart on MyCanvas. I'm unimpressed still. Linda brought the girls home by 2, and they took naps. I went in at 3:30 and took a short nap, and the girls woke up at 4. We had dinner at 5, and Linda went out for her church circle at 5:30, leaving me to bathe the girls and put them down. I had them bathed and in their jammies by 7 when the TGSG chat started. I put Audrey down at 7:15, and Lolo watched videos until 8:16, when the chat ended. Then I read her books and rocked with her and she went down without a peep.

Genealogy today was about 5.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour writing blog posts, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 1.5 hours on TGSG chat, and 1.5 hour playing on Ancestry. I really accomplished nothing, eh?

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/19/08

Genealogy related activity was the focus until about 2:30 p.m., when Linda came home with Lolo and Audrey - we have them until Sunday to love, feed, bathe, cherish, put to bed, and play with.

I read my email and blogs, and posted Meet the South San Diego County Graveyard Rabbit in hopes that more people might go to The Graveyard Rabbit blog and read my article there and then visit my GYR blog. I also posted Family Photographs - Charles Auble's Gravesite with pictures of a grassy spot at Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego. Then I went off and worked on my Randy's Busy Life blog for awhile, ending with posting my NFL Picks for Week 12. I started a post on the SSDCGYR blog but didn't get it finished before I ate lunch and left for the library.

We had the CVGS Computer Group meeting today and had a full house - 13 folks frustrated that the library computers wouldn't permit access to the Family History Archive at BYU (wouldn't permit use of an .exe file) or the FamilySearch Record Search Pilot (wouldn't permit download of a Flash player) site. Big AAARRRGGGGHHHHH. The group went off to Rootsweb, Interment.net CousinDiggins.com and several other sites. After the meeting, I went and copied the NGSQ article for our TGSG chat on Thursday night. Now I need to read it!

I was home by 2:15, and did more work on the SSDCGYR post, but the girls came and I devoted my time to them until after bedtime (started at 7, finally asleep around 9 p.m.). I finished the SSDCGYR post that will post tomorrow, then I worked on a Family Historian post that will publish tomorrow morning, since I anticipate being with the girls most of the morning.

Genealogy today was 5.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hours on CVGS activities, and 0.5 hour on TGSG activities.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/18/08

It was a day different from most genealogy days, except I didn't really advance my research, which made it like most genealogy days! Oh well.

After reading email and blogs, and checking in on Facebook, I posted My Grandson made my day... on Genea-Musings. We should all be so lucky, eh? I had to leave at 9:30 a.m. for the car dealer for my regular maintenance, so I packed my camera. I got the paper read and at noon they said the car was ready. I gobbled some Oreo cookies and my apple for lunch, and stopped at Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego to find some graves. I found Charles Auble, the DeFrances, but not the Smiths. Oh well. I was home before 2 p.m., with lots of pictures of monuments and stones in the camera.

I posted Tombstone Tuesday - the Seaver Family Stone and then worked in my database modifying sources and adding information from some of the papers I copied at Carlsbad over a month ago. At 5 p.m., I went in to watch the news, take a nap and have dinner. I was back at the computer by 6:30 p.m. I answered some emails, checked on Facebook, read my blogs, talked on the phone to a colleague, started work on my Christmas family journal, uploaded my new pictures and looked in vain for a web site to blog about. Finally, I spent awhile looking for discounted FTM software with a 6 month Ancestry subscription (there were none with 12 months). Found one! Bought 6 months for $40. Searched for more web sites, got frustrated and gave up.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hours at the cemetery, 2.0 hours working in my database, 0.5 hour on pictures, 0.5 hour on the Christmas Journal, and 0.5 hour on finding discounts.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/17/08

I was back on the genealogy bandwagon today, but didn't really get a lot done in terms of advancing my research.

After reading email and blogs, I posted Test Drive of Family Historian 3.1 - Post 2. I went looking for genealogy source citation templates for my database before I realized I didn't need them in my software, but I wrote Genealogy Source Citation Templates so that my time was not wasted. It was time for lunch, so I had leftovers from Black Angus (potato skins), and then went off to the library for Table Talk with John and Dearl.

At the library, I read the Everton's Helper magazine for awhile, then got the Spanish-Mexican Families book and indexed almost 100 pages of heads of families. We left at 2 p.m. and I was home in time to find Linda doing email, so I went in and took a short nap. When I awoke, I was back on the computer and checked email, blogs and Facebook. Thomas had found Testalyzer.com, so I wrote Genea-Musings is written by an ISTP. Yep, that's me, unless I'm an ESTP like on Geneaholic. My daughter called and said that my grandson needs a family tree done - I said "how many generations do you want?" She said five is enough, he's only five. I spent some time in FTM16 bringing in data from two other trees (his dad's and my wife's) into my master tree database. Then I made some trees using the Chart functions. It was TV time and dinner time.

After dinner, I was back on the computer by 7:30, and after reading everything I worked on my source citations. I decided that I'd better make them as perfect as possible, so I got out the Mills' Evidence! book and then found the books using Google to get the source information, which I put into the FTM16 source form. I did maybe 20 books this way, and managed to download about 10 of them from Google Books. At 9:30, I was tired of that, so I went looking for the NGSQ article for the TGSG group - and NGS doesn't have it online and I don't have it on my bookshelf. Uh-oh - another library trip! Then I wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours at the library, 1.0 hour doing a chart for my grandsons homework, 2.0 hours working on sources and downloading books, and 0.5 hour looking for the NGSQ article.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/16/08

Happy birthday, brother Scott!

This was not a big genealogy day - Sundays rarely are for me. I did read my email and blogs before going to church. I was home at 11:30 a.m. and wrote Best of the Genea-blogs - November 9-15,2008. Then it was football time, and I watched the Chargers game right to the bitter end of an 11-10 loss. Arrgghh. I checked in on Facebook, puttered with email, and then took my wife out to dinner with friends from church.

We went to the Black Angus and were home by 7 p.m. I watched some of the SNF game, then answered several emails that I'd been working on. One kind correspondent gently suggested that I had some place names wrong in New Jersey, and I was able to figure out why. I need to change them in my database and on my web site, I guess. Then it was Desperate Housewives time - a good one! At 10 p.m., I came back to write this post. That's it!

Genealogy today was 4.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts and 1.0 hour trying to find my mistakes in my database.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/15/08

What a great genealogy day - I went to the CGSSD meeting, actually advanced the ball in my ancestral database, read some interesting articles, and posted some blogs.

I was up early, and read my email and blogs before I had to go off to my men's breakfast in National City at 8 a.m. I had set Test Drive of Family Historian 3.1 - Post 1 to be posted this morning. I left NC at 9:05 full of eggs, bacon, pancakes and scripture, and headed for UCSD, arriving at 9:35 a.m. at the CGSSD meeting place. I left there and headed home at 12:20 p.m.

When I got home, I read email but Bloglines was down, so I checked Facebook instead. I posted "Unclaimed Trains" case in San Diego about a local newspaper article. I've been meaning to work in my database creating sources for the birth, marriage and death dates/places for many persons. I decided to start with some of my Massachusetts families - I have notations like (MA VR 35:236) and (VR, 77) in some of my place fields - these are shorthand for (Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910, Volume 35, page 236) and (Vital Records, page 77) which relate to a specific town or county. I probably have several thousand people with notations like this in my Master database, and I need to get them into my Source field and out of my Place field if I'm every going to publish anything worthwhile. I found that I could quickly add Sources and page citations, and delete shorthand items, by working in a family, since most births, marriages and deaths all occurred in the same town. I worked on this until 3:40 p.m., when I thought I would go in and take a nap. I didn't take a nap, but I did watch TV and we had dinner and I watched some of the SDSU-Utah game (up until it was 21-7, it ended 63-14)..

I was back on the computer by 6:30, and worked for another hour doing the source work. I estimate I worked on over 300 people. That's great - only anouther 20,400 to go - but they all don't have these shorthand citations - probably about 5,000 do. The rest don't have any sources at all, unfortunately!
At 7:30, I stopped and wrote CGSSD Meeting report about this morning's meeting at UCSD. I worked on Facebook for awhile, checked the Unclaimed Persons report #49, and then downloaded the Everton's magazine for Nov-Dec 2008 and read the first 90 pages of it. I checked Bloglines, and finally some posts came through, but I think it is constipated again. Finally, this post.

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours at CGSSD meeting, 3.0 hours doing sources in my database, and 1.0 hour reading Everton's magazine.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/14/08

This was a different genealogy day... but I didn't really advance the ball on any front. But it was fun!

I read my email and blogs, then posted Touched by Alzheimer's Disease for the Carnival of Genealogy. That took awhile, and I got ready to go to the library but checked in on Facebook first. I noticed the latest Unclaimed Person case, so I printed it to work on at the library. I got there at about 10:15, and checked the 1970 to 1984 city directories for a George Schott. No luck, plenty of Schott's over the years, but no George. I left at 11:30 and went to Mickey D's for lunch (nuggets, chocchip cookies, choc shake) and picked up friend George for our weekly walk on the bayfront. It was a beautiful day - 80 F, no wind, flat bay, good scenery. I was home by 1 p.m.

When I got home, I checked email, blogs and Facebook. I summarized my negative findings on Unclaimed Persons, then did more investigating in SD Superior Court records, and googled the subject and found a useful blog item, all of which I posted on the Case discussion thread. I read Brenda's post about Why Do You Do Genealogy, and decided to write my own blog post about it, and incorporated a number of other thoughts from a Google search. I worked for awhile capturing screens from Family Historian 3.1. At 5 p.m., I went in to watch TV, and then we went to Daphne's for dinner. We were home by 6:30, and Linda needed to use the computer, so I read the paper and my mystery novel. At 7:30, I came in and checked email, blogs and Facebook, then saved the FH3.1 screens as images, and wrote a post for tomorrow on FH3.1. Somehow, I got hooked on www.generatus.com and played with it for awhile.

It's 9:15 and I'm bored, so after this post I'm going to go read my book some more. Tomorrow is the CGSSD meeting - I will try to share about the WG/TMG cruise.

Genealogy today was 7.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour reading Facebook, 3.0 hours on Unclaimed Persons research, 1.0 hour on FH3.1 research, and 2.0 hours writing blog posts.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/13/08

I woke up later than usual - got almost 9 hours of sleep - I think I'm finally back on regular time after the vacation. I read email and blogs, and investigated Family Historian 3.1, downloaded and installed and tested it, before I posted Try Family Historian 3.1 before you buy. After that, I checked in on Facebook, looked at Ancestry's new databases, and tried to find Shirley's problem in the 1900 US census without success. I uploaded my cemetery pictures and then posted about La Vista Memorial Park on the SSDCGYR blog before lunch.

After lunch, I posted my pictures of the Carringers at La Vista in Tombstone Thursday - DJ, Rebecca and Devier Carringer. Then I did my NFL picks on Randy's Busy Life and posted some funnies and political things. There were problems with Bloglines all day, and I wasted a lot of time wading through them. Finally, I installed Family Tree Maker 2009 and tested it for awhile - it looks and feels just like FTM 2008. I'll have to read over the differences to see what I'm missing. At 3:30, I was tired so I went in to watch the news and take a nap. I never did... Randy the contractor came to finish off the bedroom, and I talked to him for awhile before dinner and the NFL game.

I came back in at 6:30 p.m. and read email, read blogs (Bloglines was fixed), and Facebook, then commented on an Unclaimed Persons case from San Diego. Linda needed the computer, so I went for a walk, then watched CSI and ER before coming back to write this post.

Genealogy today was 7.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 1.0 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour on Facebook, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour on FH3.1, 1.0 hour on FTM2009, and 0.5 hour working on Ancestry.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/12/08

I was on the computer early reading email and blogs, and posted Family Photographs - Post 29: Thomas Richmond before I packed up and left for my dental appointment at 9 a.m. After the appointment, I went to the bank, then out to La Vista Cemetery in National City to take some pictures and gather information for the SSDCGYR blog. I found my Carringers, and even found the Blanchards just by wandering around. I drove over to Costco and looked at the toys and books, then had a Polish dog and churro for lunch before heading to the library.

The CVGS Research Group meeting started at 12 noon, and we had a pretty good time sharing our genealogy experiences over the past month, and hearing several research problems out. I was home by 2:30, and read my email and blogs, then posted about the CGSSD meeting on Saturday. I checked in on Facebook, then emailed the CVGS list about the genealogy news summary. Then I posted Genealogy News Summary for November before going in to put my Dinty Moore stew in the microwave for dinner.

I was back to the computer by 6:30, and posted CVGS Research Group Highlights - Wednesday, 12 November on both the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe and Genea-Musings. I went looking for the "Ancestors" series TV shows on BYU TV and posted about them in BYU "Ancestors" Television Series. I checked email, blogs and Facebook again, and went off to watch TV. I came back to write this at 10 p.m.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours on CVGS activities, and 1.5 hours at La Vista, and 0.5 hour researching La Vista for a SSDCGYR post. .

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/11/08

I stayed home today (the library wasn't open...) and never really got excited about genealogy things, although I spent almost all day doing genealogy things, except for the memorial service for Denny.

I got on the computer at 8:30 (Linda had to do her minutes and agenda for Deacons) and read my email and blogs, then posted Veterans Day - my heroes with a picture of my grandfather in his Marine uniform. I checked Facebook, worked on the Genealogy News of the Month for the CVGS Research Group tomorrow, and also researched a bit for a colleague, with some success. We had lunch, and then went to church at 1 pm. to help set up the reception in the fellowship hall, and the service at 2, and the reception at 3. We were home around 4 p.m. I checked email and blogs and Facebook, but didn't do anything useful until after dinner.

I posted Book Review: "Google Your Family History" - it took me awhile to put it together. After that, I emailed my CVGS list about the November newsletter, copied and pasted all of my vacation narratives into an MSWord document. My daughter called at 8 and again at 9:15 and we talked for awhile - Logan is talking more clearly, it was fun to hear him string words together. I posted about the Footnote.com reduced rates for Veterans, good until 30 November. Then this post and I'm done.

Genealogy today was 7.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 0.5 hour on the vacation document, 2.0 hours on the news of the month, and 1.5 hour doing research.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/10/08

Time sure flies when you're having fun. Where did this day go? What did I do?

My genealogy pursuits were occasionally interrupted by Linda's luncheon party for her women's group. I helped set up tables and chairs for 20 people, and then put stuff away afterwards. I sampled about six things from the potluck for lunch, too.

I read my email and blogs, and posted How do you self-identify your ancestry? as a followup to my post yesterday about the election based on the book Generations, prompted by Drew Smith's comment. I checked in on Facebook, worked a bit transcribing data from the material I got at NYPL into FTM16, had lunch, and at 12:15 p.m. I went off to the Chula Vista library for Table Talk. While there, I found an obituary to answer a query that came in several weeks ago. We talked a bit at the table about my vacation, too. I was home by 2:15 or so, very sleepy. Linda reminded me about the Padres' ticket deadline, so I ordered them online. Then I went into the family room and took an hour nap in my chair, and when I woke up I watched Fox News for awhile.

I read my email and blogs the looked at the Perry-Castaneda Map Collection before dinner, and after dinner I started my post on US Exploration and Settlement Maps on Genea-Musings. I transcribed the obituary and sent it off to the queryist. Then I posted two items on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog. A fellow in Oz saw my post about GeneTree results and phoned me at 7 p.m. to ask me about it. Since the person in question isn't in my database, I couldn't help him much. I uncovered some new family names in my Lewis and LaTourette ancestry in Staten Island, so I checked for information on WorldConnect about the families, and found more information that gives me several more ancestral families. I'm not averse to name collecting! After that success, I checked several more elusive ancestors on WorldConnect to see if anything new has been found recently. Not much. At about 9 p.m., I went in to read my book and watch the end of the football game, then watched news and the Palin interview on FNC. Then I wrote this post and I'm done for the night.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours on CVGS activities, 1.5 hours working in my database, 1.5 hours in WorldConnect, and 0.5 hours on the phone with the Oz fellow.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/09/08

Sunday was a pretty typical football season Sunday - not much genealogy, church and a Chargers game to watch.

I read email and blogs before going to church. I called my contact (Ed's brother) in Georgia to see if we had a time for our phone call with them, but I had to leave a message. We went off to church at 9:30, and got home by 11:30, so I called again and talked to him at some length. We have to postpone the phone call until later in the week. I called Ed to tell him, and he was disappointed but understood. Before the Chargers game, I did manage to squeeze out Best of the Genea-blogs - will be back next week. Then it was time for NFL football. Hopes were high that my Chargers would find a defense and improve on offense. The Chiefs played a pretty good game, but missed an extra point on a bad snap. When they closed to 20-19 late in the 4th quarter, they went for two points to win it rather than the kick to tie it. Bad decision, they failed and the Bolts were lucky to win 20-19. The Chargers played poorly on offense, and not great on defense, but it was good enough to win.

I finished the paper during the game, so I started reading the Google Your Family History book by Dan Lynch. Great book! I had to g out after the game and cut the front lawn, then watched the night game for awhile before dinner, and after dinner I did some honey-dos helping Linda get ready for her meeting at our house tomorrow. Finally, at 7:30, I came back to the computer and decided to write I Knew How the Election Would Go ... Then it was time for Desperate Housewives, and I came back after that to write this post. I'll watch the news and sports soon.

Genealogy today was 4.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 0.5 hour on Project M, and 2.0 hours writing blog posts.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/08/08

This was another fairly full genealogy day, but a little different from recent genealogy days.

After reading my email and blogs, I decided to add some genealogy cartoons to my Genealogy Web Sites You Can Use presentation. I added five Genetoons to the slides, saved it, put it on the flash drive, and then onto the laptop to take to the SDGS meeting. I thought that I'd better post something on Genea-Musings, so I posted "Genealogy is Like Sex!" T-Shirt. I packed everything up for the SDGS meeting at noon. Before I left at 10:15, I printed off some FHLC items for Westmoreland County PA to investigate and/or order at the FHC.

At the FHC, I found the book of Church Records for Westmoreland County PA and checked for Hoax type names - there were plenty, and I didn't finish the task. I ordered the microfilms of the Grantee and Grantor deed indexes for Westmoreland County PA 1773 to 1891 for the letter H. Then it was off to the SDGS meeting. I arrived there at 11:45, and talked to everybody about the logistics. The meeting started after 12 noon, and Pam Journey did her presentation from about 12:20 to 12:45. After the break, I was up for my Genealogy Web Sites You Can Use presentation. It went about 75 minutes, with Q&A, and I was home just after 3 p.m. I read email and blogs and Facebook, then sent an email to CVGS members about November programs. I was sleepy, so I went in and took an hour nap with the football game on TV - didn't hear a thing! We had dinner at 5:30, and I came back to the computer at 6:30. I posted SDGS Meeting Report - 8 November 2008 about the meeting and my presentation. I spent some time doing my NFL Picks and posting them on Randy's Busy Life, and read my politics sites. Then I posted Oh, Baby! Smile for the Camera later. I was bored, so I watched Saturday Night Life for awhile, then the news, and came in to post this and I'll go to bed afterwards.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hours doing Hoax research at home and the FHC, 1.0 hour working on my presentation, 3.0 hours at the SDGS meeting, and 0.5 hour on Facebook.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/07/08

This was a fairly full genealogy day for me - no real research progress, but some progress on genealogy tasks.

I was on the computer by 7:30 a.m. reading email and blogs, then checked Facebook. I decided that I'd better blog about something, so I posted about the Glen Abbey Memorial Park on the South San Diego County Graveyard Rabbit blog (before I lose my charter membership), and then about American Migration Trails on Genea-Musings. After that, I checked Ancestry.com and WorldVitalRecords.com for new databases. At 11:15, I packed up to go to lunch at McDonald's, the post office box and the library.

We had our CVGS Board meeting at noon, and I was home by 2:30 p.m. after getting library books. I decided that I'd better work on my Research Plan homework, so I modified what I had into a form that is fairly general yet very useful, at least for me. I sent the example research plan to my ProGen Study Group colleagues. Then it was time for watching TV news and dinner (after Linda did her email).

I was back on the computer by 7:30 p.m., and wrote two posts on Genea-Musings - Great Advice - read a blog! and Learning from the Masters. I checked in on Facebook again, then decided to do one last edit and practice run for my talk at SDGS on Genealogy Web Sites You Can Use tomorrow.

Genealogy today was 10.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours on CVGS activities, 2.5 hours on the ProGen homework Research Plan, and 2.0 hours on the presentation.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 11/06/08

We are back from our two week vacation. I posted a number of articles about our vacation travels and genealogy exploits on www.geneamusings.com starting on 22 October. We got home last night before 7 p.m., and I was in bed by 9 p.m.

I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 3 a.m.... couldn't sleep - it was 7 a.m. Puerto Rico time! We got the wash done, the mail read, the papers sorted, and a start on the papers before breakfast at 5 a.m. I read my email and blogs and posted two things on Gene-Musings before 7 a.m. I even made a to-do list for the day! I managed to complete that list except for a post on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog. Tomorrow?

I worked on my presentation for Saturday with minor edits. I checked Facebook, and found the book Census Atlas of the US and started downloading that. At 11, I had lunch and went off to pick up George for our walk on the bayfront. I was home by 1, and completed downloading the census book and then posted Book: Census Atlas of the USA. Nap time.

I was back at 3 p.m., and started reading my ProGen chapter and creating a research plan for the homework. I added a photo album for our vacation to Facebook and sent an email about it. This took until 5 p.m. when I went in to watch the news. We ate dinner at 6:30, and I watched the NFL game until almost 8, since Linda had email to finish. I called Ed to try to set up a phone call for Sunday.

At 8, I jumped into the ProGen chat led by Sheri and we IMed until almost 9:30. I checked email and blogs, and found a book about 30,000 German immigrants to PA in 1727-1776, which I downloaded from the LDS BYU Family Archive site. Then this post and I'm going to watch ER then go to bed.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours blogging, 1.0 hour on Facebook, 2.0 hours on the Census book, 0.5 hour on the BYU book, 2.0 hours on the ProGen homework and 1.5 hours on the ProGen chat.