Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 30 November 2010

11 months of 2010 are past - I wonder how I'm doing with my 2010 goals and objectives?  Probably too late to recover.  Oh well.  This was a full genealogy day with only a break in the evening.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Tuesday's Tip - Find Online U.S. Vital Records Data at Joe Beine's sites

*  Worked in FTM 2011, RM4 and LFT7 to figure out best way to resolve my place names.  Each program is different.  Got cleaned up, then wrote Standardizing Place Names in my Genealogy Database and set it for early afternoon.  Had lunch.

*  Got FTM 2010 up on laptop and FTM 16 on desktop and worked on my Source citations and place name problems.  Got T, U, V and some of W places done.  One more day of that to go, although I probably should make a clean copy of the finished product and go through the places one at a time.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV, read the paper, have dinner, help Linda with Thunderbird email, and wash dishes. 

*  Back online at 7:15 p.m. to finish up the CVGS Member Survey results and send it to the CVGS Board for meeting on Wednesday. 

*  Wrote Genealogy Days in Chula Vista - December 2010   and one more post on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog.  Checked that Gmail account too.

*  Checked Facebook, read everything, and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 11.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours working in software, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 4.0 hours working in the database on sources and places, 2.0 hours working on CVGS surveys.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 29 November 2010

Almost a completely genealogy day!  Even did some searching and finding, and worked on CVGS surveys some more.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote Amanuensis Monday - Will of Samuel Peirce (1712-1772) of Waltham MA and tweeted it. 

*  Downloaded FTB 5.0 and worked in it for awhile, then wrote MyHeritage Announces new (free) Family Tree Builder5.0 Software

*  Got Linda's Thunderbird account set up.  Had lunch, went off to the library for CVGS Table Talk.

*  Home by 1:30 p.m., read everything, watched the Bernie Gracy videos and wrote Applying the FAN Club Principle - Bernie Gracy Videos.  Searched for more info on Arnett Speer for Pat - found great airplane pix on San Diego Aerospace Museum site. 

*  Went in at 5:30 p.m. to eat dinner, and watch TV news and the football game.  Back online at 6:30 p.m.

*  worked on the CVGS surveys - almost done now.  Worked on census citations in my database, then searched for and found more descendants from Devier and Abbie (Vaux) Smith - descended from David D. smith and Maybelle (Smith) Milner.  Found a death date for John Milner, a 1930 census record for Milner family, an obituary for Lous Milner's wife, Margaret, and birthdates of their children.  Added everything to the database.  Couldn't find Matie (Smith) Cramer in the 1900 census, forgot to look in 1910 and 1920!  Drat.

*  Checked Facebook, checked Twitter, wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 11.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour watching video, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour working in FTB software, 0.5 hour working on queries, 1.5 hours working on CVGS surveys, 1.0 hour at library, and 2.0 hours doing online searches and adding to database.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 28 November 2010

A little downloading, a little scanning, a little chatting, a little email fixing, a little blogging, and watching football.  A busy day.

*  Read email and blogs, then downloaded RootsMagic again and made it work (don't know what happened on Thursday night...but it disappeared).  Downloaded Mozilla Thunderbird and shunted all emails to it.  Played with the Contacts import.  Got cleaned up and off to church at 9:30 a.m.

*  Home at 11:30 a.m., got into Scanfest right away and chatted, then scanned about 40 images of letters, photos and other ephemera.  Stopped at 2 pm. to go have lunch and watch football.

*  Spent some time putting my email groups together in Thunderbird.  I think that will work out fine.  Noted that Best of the Genea-Blogs - Week of 21-27 November 2010 posted.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch the Chargers/Colts pregame show, then the game.  Read the paper, ate dinner, rooted my Bolts to a 36-14 victory. 

*  Back online at 9 p.m. to read everything, check in on Facebook, post Nominations are still open for Top 40 Genealogy blogs and write this post.

Genealogy today was 5.5 hours - 0.5 reading email, 1.0 hour working on Thunderbird, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour writing blog posts, 2.5 hours scanning and chatting, and 0.5 hour working with RootsMagic.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 27 November 2010

This was a stay-at-home full genealogy day, with a break at dinner time.  Even got some genealogy tasks started and finished.

*  Read email and blogs, then researched and wrote Surname Saturday - PEIRCE (England > MA).  Got cleaned up.  Answered some email that had piled up.

*  Thrashed around for awhile looking for a topic for SNGF, decided on and wrote Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - The Games People Play and set it for later.  Had to help Linda clean out the pantry for an hour or so.  gladly... had lunch.

*  Checked out Windows Live Photo Gallery and it won't edit images the way I want to.  Looked for free photo editing software and downloaded PhotoScape, worked with it awhile and like it.  Edited some of Gerry's photos and saved them as JPGs for use in blog posts and the Family Journal. 

*  Worked on the CVGS Member survey responses to 25 questions - got 10 out of 24 tabulated on a form. 

Why can't people follow directions?  Is it too hard to read a question and answer it with a Yes or No, or judge something Excellent down to Poor?  Why won't people make constructive suggestions when asked? 

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch the Aztecs game, read the paper and eat dinner.  Helped Linda on her Gmail again.  Aztecs beat UNLV 48-14 to finish 8-4 - they lost 4 games by a total of 15 points. 

*  Back online at 7:30 p.m., wrote the Best Of post for Sunday.  Tested the new scanner - figured out best way to scan something and save it.  Checked in on Facebook. 

*  Played with Legacy a bit, then couldn't find RootsMagic although I know I downloaded it on Thursday night!  MIA.  Gotta do it again, I guess! 


Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 1.5 hours doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours working with photos, 2.0 hours working on CVGS survey, and 1.0 hour working with software.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 26 November 2010

The Geneaholic is back in the office chair again after two hectic days of little blogging and lots of computer stuff.

*  Up early, read email and blogs, got cleaned up, wrote The Day After... Thanksgiving.

*  Wrote several posts for the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog, and then wrote  Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe Servings. 

*  Tabulated the CVGS Program Survey responses.

*  Searched databases for Henry Pickford and Samuel Crouch and Devier or DJ Smith, but found nothing useful on Footnote, American Ancestors, World Vital Records, FamilySearch, Ancestry and GenealogyBank.

*  Went out at 3 p.m. to mow the front lawn.  Back in at 4 p.m. and read email and blogs.  Sleepy, so watched news and napped, then read the paper and new magazines while watching the Oregon/Arizona game.  Took Linda to Barbara's to take in the mail, then we had dinner watching the game.  Linda had first extended trial on Gmail - did OK.

*  Online again at 8 p.m. to read everything, check Facebook, then worked on census source citations in my database to try to standardize them.  Lots more to do!  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours working on CVGS surveys, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hour doing online searches, and 1.5 hour working on database source citations.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 23 November 2010

Really not much of a genealogy day - but did buy a new computer!

*  Up early with the grandgirls, got them fed and entertained until Tami got up.  Read my email and blogs and got cleaned up.  Noted that Tuesday's Tip - Find Research Ideas in Ancestry.com's FREE Article Archives posted.

*  Researched and wrote Enhanced Ancestry.com Member Tree Viewer then ate lunch and went out.

*  Over to Best Buy to buy the new computer - a Dell Inspiron 560 with 4 gb RAM, 500 gb hard drive, Windows 7, bundled with a display, printer and speakers.  Brought it home and it's sitting on the living room table (the only free space in the house).  James is coming on Wednesday and maybe we'll set it up on Thursday together.  Need an email client - either Windows Live Mail, Gmail or Thunderbird, I guess.  I'm not sure how Linda will adapt to Gmail although the idea of having saved emails in the cloud is attractive after 12 years of Outlook Express.  Need to collect the programs to load onto it - I made a list last week, wonder where it is?

*  Home at 1 p.m., read everything, looked for Windows 7 information online, puttered around wondering if I was related to Kate Middleton (looks like the answer is no), and the girls got up from their naps and we played a bit.

*  Went to dinner at Rubio's at 4:30 p.m., then I brought the girls back with me so Linda and Tami could shop a bit, kept them entertained, we had apples for snack, and Tami came home to give them a bath and put them to bed while I helped wrap gifts with Linda.

*  Back online at 8:30, read everything and bored...tried to write a Wordless Wednesday post for the morning but Blogger wouldn't upload my photograph.  Drat.  Complained to Blogger.  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 5.0 hours -0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blog posts, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hours searching online for Kate M stuff and looking in my Medieval database, 1.0 hours editing data in my database, and that's about it!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 22 November 2010

Genealogy the first part of the day, then Chargers football and grandgirls in the evening.  Three of my favorite things!

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Amanuensis Monday - Ebenezer Phillips (1695-1746) Will posted. 

*  Worked on and posted Using the FAN Club Principle - Thomas J. Newton Problem - Post 2: Which Repositories? and hoped for some helpful comments.  Have received some!  Great.

*  Got cleaned up, ate lunch, left at 11 a.m. for the library.  Gary showed me how to work the microphones, and did some research on a query in the SDUnion newspaper index and the City Directories.

*  Forgot to go to Best Buy afterward to get the new computer... is this a sign of old age, or am  I just reluctant to buy it?  Home at 2:15 p.m.

*  Read everything, looked around the FS Wiki and noted the State Resource Guides in PDF, so wrote State Research Outlines Available in PDF Form Through FamilySearch Research Wiki.  Wrote a post for Tuesday.

*  Went in at 3:30 to watch news, read the paper, take a nap, and prepare for the Chargers game at 5:30.  Did some chores, we had dinner, and settled in to watch the game. 

*  Chargers beat Denver 35-14, after falling behind 7-0 in the first two minutes.  Tami and the girls came at 7:30, and I got them bathed during game timeouts. 

*  Back online at 9 p.m., answered some emails, read everything, checked Facebook and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 1.5 hours doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours working on the FAN Club research, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours on CVGS activities, and 0.5 hour on Facebook/Twitter.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Randy's Semi-Genealogy Day - 21 November 2010

"Semi" because it was kinda halfway a day and mostly not.

*  Read email and blogs, and started the Best Of ... post before getting cleaned up and off to church at 9:30 a.m.

*  Home from church at 11:30, finished up the Best of the Genea-Blogs - Week of 14-20 November 2010 post and tweeted it. 

*  Went in to watch football, read the paper and take a nap.

*  Back online at 3 p.m., read everything, checked Facebook and Twitter, must have done something for an hour or so, wrote a post for Monday,  before going back to watch the end of the game and see highlights shows, then we had dinner.

*  Back online at 5:30 p.m., answered several emails, then wrote CVGS Program on Wednesday, 24 November - "Heirloom Discovery Day" with Georgie Stillman, ASA  on both blogs and emailed it to the CVGS list.  Answered more emails and Facebook messages and wrote two posts for next week.

*  Went in at 8:45 p.m. to watch football, then Football Night in SD.  Back online at 10 p.m. to write this post. 

Genealogy today was 5.5 hours - 1.5 hours doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, and 0.5 hour on Facebook/Twitter.  See, it was semi - social stuff and no real genealogy work product.  Drat.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Randy's Non-Genealogy Day - 20 November 2010

Not much of a genealogy day today - I'm feeling a bit burned out on blogging and dreading the next month - so much to do and now under pressure to do it.  New computer.  Thanksgiving with the grandgirls.  Linda's birthday.  CVGS tasks.  The Christmas letter and Seaver-Richmond Family Journal.  The Christmas trip.  Other than that, I can still blog, I guess.

*  Up early and out for the 7 a.m. breakfast at Carrow's with Linda's swim friends.  Home by 8:30 - decided not to go to CGSSD meeting due to rain and bad night's sleep. 

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Surname Saturday - REED (England > MA) posted.  Reviewed more Best Buy computer webpages and printed some off.  Saved some emails to HTML files on the desktop computer. 

*  Bored out of my mind... opened GenealogyBank and found Seaver obituaries and transcribed about 10 into the database.  I'm through 25 out of about 3,000.  Yikes - a lifetime job!  Noted that Saturday Night Genealogy Fun- What are you thankful for?  posted.

*  Went in to have lunch, watch football, read the paper, take a nap, and then got ready to go to the wedding at 3 at church.  Nice wedding, good reception, talked a little genealogy with friends.

*  Home by 6 p.m., read everything, check Facebook, answered some email, and went in to watch the SDSU/Utah game on TV.  Utah won 38-34 as SDSU shot themselves in the foot once too often.  Good game.

*  Online at 10:20 to read everything, then write this post. 

Genealogy today was 3.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour writing blog posts, and 1.5 hours working GenealogyBank and the database. 

Friday, November 19, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 19 November 2010

Stayed home today and did genealogy things all day!  Made a little database progress, even made a little research progress.

*  Read email and blogs, and wrote New England Historical and Genealogical Register - Volume 164, Number 4 (October 2010) Table of Contents.  Read the issue too.  Learned something!

*  Worked in www.AmericanAncestors.org for awhile finding Brigham and Newton data, and added source citations to database. 

*  Reviewed my Thomas J. Newton material and wrote Using the FAN Club Principle - Thomas J. Newton, Father of Sophia Newton (1834-1923) - Post 1 in effort to move the ball here.  Lots of checking back and forth to get things right - kept adding items to the database.

*  Loaded FTM 2010 on the laptop and FTM 16 on the desktop, and finished off the S's Place Names.  Got sources into source field and counties assigned. 

*  Went in at 5:30 p.m. to watch TV, have dinner, and read the paper. 

*  Back online at 6:30 p.m., read everything, tried to find NEHGR source online and failed, answered email, wrote two posts for Saturday, checked Facebook, and then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 10.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 1.0 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours working in AA.org, 1.5 hours working on FAN Club problem, and 2.5 hours working in the database.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 18 November 2010

This was a very different genealogy day - no work in the database, no society work, and not much blogging.  Because real life intervened today.

*  Read email and blogs, got cleaned up, and noted that Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: Widow's First Declaration posted.

*  Left after 8 to take the Lincoln to the car repair shop for a tire patch.  He put air in it and said to replace the tires, they were ready to blow out.  Went up to Costco but they weren't open until 10, so went home.  Carefully.  Linda called and we decided to get it done after my talk in the afternoon.

*  Read everything, researched and wrote Checking out the new MyHeritage Charts

*  Left at 10:45 a.m. for the Rohr Retired Engineers luncheon down the street - had about 25 there,  Was home before 1 p.m.

*  Packed up the laptop, grabbed the projector, and out the door by 1:10 p.m.  got to library at 1:20, set up laptop and projector.  Ruth brought the microphone system, but I couldn't make it work.  Drat.  Talk started at 2:10, and went to 3:20 p.m.  Good questions at the end.  Packed everything up and we were home by 4 p.m.

*  Drove both cars to Costco, got the tires set up, went to Rubio's for dinner, and dropped Linda off at Costco.  Was home by 5:30 p.m., and she was home by 6 with the car and new tires.

*  Read everything, answered some email.  Tried to understand how to salvage the email collection we've saved.  Looks like the only way is to save them as text or HTML files.  Lots of work, that!  Checked for Frank Munger Civil War file on footnote - 28 pages!  My cousin will be happy.

*  Went in at 9 p.m. to read the paper and watch TV.  Back online at 9:50 to write this email, then done. 

Genealogy today was 6.0 hours - 1.5 hours doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour researching and writing blogs, 2.0 hours doing my presentation, and 1.0 hours working in online databases. 

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 17 November 2010

All set for my talk on Thursday...did some database work today, and some blogging, but not much else.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 129: Lyle and Emily in Love.  Then researched and wrote The Genealogy In Time Advanced Genealogy Search Engine  - big FAIL for me.  Wrote CGSSD Meeting on Saturday, 20 November Features ... elections  and set it for afternoon.

*  Got cleaned up, then Googled some Seaver names from the database and found several obituaries online and added them to the database.  Had lunch at home.

*  Left at 11:30 a.m. for the library for CVGS Computer Group.  Helped get system set up, and Shirley took class through rootsweb again.  Gary showed me how to set up microphone in Auditorium for Thursday.

*  Home by 2 p.m., read everything, worked through the S localities - got through Sa and Sc - with FTM 2010 on the laptop and FTM 16 on the desktop.  Had lots to fix from S. Petherton and San Diego!

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV, read the paper, eat dinner, and put out the trash.

*  Back online at 6:30 - wrote blog post for Thursday since I'll probably go off to fix the semi-flat tire in the morning.  Wrote post on SSDCGYRabbit blog too.  Checked Facebook.  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours at CVGS meeting, and 2.5 hours working in the database.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 16 November 2010

Happy birthday, brother Scott!  It was a stay at home day today and I worked on genealogy for most of the day, but feel like I got very little accomplished.  Kinda bored by the humdrum existence.  I need new ancestors!

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Tuesday's Tip - Ancestry.com Family History Wiki is FREE.  Got cleaned up.

*  Worked on MS Money and balancing checkbooks.  Then reviewed and practiced my Thursday talk one last time, copied it to flash drive, and had lunch.

*  worked on Book Review - "If This Land Could Talk" by Judy R. Cook for awhile and posted it.

*  Got the Places up on FTM 2010 on the laptop and on FTM 16 on the desktop and finished the R places. 

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV , read the paper and eat dinner.

*  Back online at 6:15 p.m., read everything, and messed around in Google looking for information about some of my brick wall families.  Didn't find much.  Found one conflation of two William Browns though, and separated them out.  Wonder how that happened? 

*  Answered some emails, checked in on Facebook, and wrote this post. 

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hours working on presentation, 2.0 hours working in database, and 2.0 hours doing online research on elusives without much progress. 

Monday, November 15, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 15 November 2010

November's half over now... where did the time go?  I feel so behind! 

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Amanuensis Monday - Will of Andrew Phillips (1661-1717) of Charlestown MA.   Wrote There's one in every family!  and set it for later in the morning.

*  Got cleaned up, grabbed some lunch, and off to Best Buy to shop for a new computer.  Too confusing.  No long list of features.  Drat.  Then to library for Table Talk.  Home by 1 p.m.  Looked at Dell online. 

*  Read everything, then did the P and Q Place changes in FTM 16 using FTM 2010 on the laptop.  Sent some emails.

*  Reviewed syllabi from FGS 2009, NGS 2010 and Atlanta FHExpo for useful papers.  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV, take a nap, read the paper, eat dinner, etc. 

*  Back online by 6:30 p.m. to write Nominate your favorite genea-blogs for the Family Tree Magazine Fab 40!  Went through Program Files to see what programs I'll want to install on the new system.  Answered more email.  Checked Facebook, wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 1.5 hours doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours working in database, 1.0 hour on CVGS Table Talk, and 1.0 hour reading conference syllabi.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 14 November 2010

Not much of a genealogy day, although I worked in my database a bit.  Yikes - almost halfway through November and haven't started on Family Newsletter for Christmas.  What to write for the family? 

*  Read email and blogs, then went off to church at 9:30 a.m.

*  Home at 11:40 a.m., wrote Best of the Genea-Blogs - 7-13 November 2010 even though I didn't make my own list.  Noted that FREE Lecture on 18 November - Genealogy: Be An Ancestry Detective! posted.

*  Went in to watch end of early football games and eat lunch.

*  Back online at 1:30 p.m., set up laptop with FTM 2010 and desktop with FTM 16 and worked through the O place names adding countries, fixing shorthand sources, etc.  Lots of them because I used "of a place" a lot...often without county/state.

*  Went in at 3:30 p.m. to watch end of late games, read the paper, tried to nap, failed.  Went out and cut back roses and watered front plants.  Ate dinner watching the evening game until halftime.

*  Back online at 7:30 p.m., read everything, checked Facebook, wrote SDGS 11/13 Program Review - Heirlooms and Cemeteries

*  Checked online trees and web sites for Ebenezer Phillips/Mary Smith family - got into AmericanAncestors and found source pages for these families and added citations to database. 

*  Wrote this post. 

Genealogy today was 6.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.5 hour writing blog posts, and 3.0 hours working in the database.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 13 November 2010

Didn't get a whole lot done today - didn't advance my research ball at all, but got some things ready for the presentation on Thursday.  Still working mostly on laptop, forgot to call Cox about the problems.

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Surname Saturday - FLETCHER (England > MA) posted.  Wrote Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Photo Effects and set it for later.  Got cleaned up, had lunch.

*  Gathered stuff up, left at 11 a.m. for the SDGS meeting in San Carlos.  Enjoyed talking to friends and colleagues, and Hal Horrocks two talks.  Home by 3 p.m.

*  Tweeted the SNGF, and watched my Aztecs come back from 34-14 against TCU to lose 40-35.  A good second half!  Then watched Oregon-California game too, Oregon won 15-13.  Read the paper, took a short nap, had dinner, read my RBParker book.

*  Finally online at 7:45 p.m. - read everything, edited my presentation for Thursday and saved it.  Wrote a post for Sunday, and then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 7.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 3.0 hours at SDGS meeting, and 1.0 hour working on presentation. 

Friday, November 12, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 12 November 2010

Still no decision on the desktop computer - my guess is that we'll get a new system.  The D3000 is five years old and needs more RAM and memory, and is running XP.  Is Windows 7 mature enough?  I don't need a monitor or a printer.  I really don't like the keyboards on the laptops or netbooks.The cold is better - no sniffles, some coughing, no meds today.

*  Read my email and blogs, then researched and posted Improved FamilySearch Beta Features - Library Catalog

*  Gathered my stuff to print, and went down to UPS Store to print and mail CVGS newsletter and print handout for next week's talk.  Then to Costco to drool over computer systems, eat lunch and off to the library to put papers in slots and newsletters in box.  Then I picked up George for our walk on the bayfront.  We talked about the grandkids and my computer problem.

*  Home by 1 p.m., read everything, then researched and wrote Dear Randy: Which program creates the best narrative report? 

*  Worked on the Place names in my FTM database - had FTM 2010 on laptop with place names and usage, and modified FTM 16 file on desktop.  Got the N's done. 

*  Went in for dinner and TV watching.  Back online at 6:30 p.m.  Read everything, answered some emails.  Checked Facebook.  Wrote the Surname Saturday post for the morning.  Read some posts on Eastman and Tanner and GI and AI to see if I missed anything.  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour on CVGS newsletter, 2.0 hours working in the database, and 1.0 hour working in software. 

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 11 November 2010

We're back from the high desert where we entertained, fed, clothed and chauffeured two little girls for a week.  We got back on Wednesday morning, but I had to go off to the library for the CVGS Research Group meeting.  When I got back, I found the computer problems.  McAfee Security was missing, and the Internet was messed up - anything with Flash or Java didn't work.  Ergo, Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter, etc. don't work.  A virus or trojan messed things up somehow.  Email works on the desktop, and programs on the desktop like MSWord and FTM16 work, but anything that accesses the Web with Flash doesn't work.  I have my crack PC IT guy on the case...  In the meantime, I'm working on the laptop trying to stay up to date on blogs and writing blogs. 

Today, was on early to read email and blogs, and posted Veteran's Day - Thank You, Gramps then wrote Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Pension Declaration.  Wrote Ancestry.com has Military Collections FREE from 11-14 November 2010  and November 2010 CVGS Newsletter is Available plus one more post for Friday on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog. 

*  got cleaned up, and wrote Recent Collections Added at FamilySearch Beta  and Target the FAN Club to tackle "Elusive Ancestors" problems and set them for the afternoon.  Ate lunch.

*  Opened up FTM 2010 on the laptop and FTM 16 on the desktop, and worked my way through the M place names - correcting place names, adding counties, deleting my shorthand sources, etc.  Whew.

*  Read everything, worked on the desktop problem for awhile, then went in for dinner.

*  Back online at 6:30 p.m., wrote some emails, printed off the CVGS newsletter, the newsletter mailing labels, flyers for CVGS, and the handout and flyers for my 11/18 OASIS talk at the library.  Will get newsletter printed on Friday and mailed.

*  Worked on the computer problem again, then moved Legacy and RootsMagic files to where I can find them and printed off a report for my friend Linda.  Checked in on Facebook.  Tried to find program to stitch images together - finally used the HP Image Zone software on my computer to do it.  Three look OK, one is messed up.  Will try again another time.  Backed up genealogy databases to the external drive.

*  Worked a bit more on computer problem, then wrote this post.  I'm frustrated working on two different keyboards and screens, but I can manage this for a short while. 

Genealogy today was 11.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing 8 blog posts, 3.0 hours working in the FTM16 database, 1.0 hours working on computer problem, 0.5 hour on Facebook/Twitter, 1.0 hour working on image stitching, and 1.0 hour on CVGS Newsletter and OASIS talk preparation.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 2 November 2010

Election Day finally, and all the hoopla and phone calls and TV ads are over - hooray!  Back to genealogy.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote Tuesday's Tip - Use Linkpendium.com and then wrote three more posts for next week.  Got cleaned up.

*  Set up laptop and transferred new files over to it.  Sent Online GYR Journal article in one day late.  Drat.

*  Had lunch, went to bank and library, checked on flyers for my OASIS talk - they're ready for distribution.

*  Back home by 12:30 p.m., worked on emails, wrote Imported Master Source Citation Problems in RootsMagic after trying to figure out the problem.  Heard from Bruce B, and found problem, so wrote Stuff Happens Sometimes... RootsMagic 4 Mystery Solved. 

*  Went in for dinner, water the front plants, read the paper and watch news.

*  Back online at 7 p.m., read everything, checked Facebook, worked on CVGS Newsletter.  Got everything submitted in, and about 50% complete.  Copied to USB drives and laptop.  Gathered electronics and chargers for trip. 

*  Wrote CVGS workshop email and Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe post, and checked Gmail accounts.  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 1.5 hours doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours working in software, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, and 2.5 hours on CVGS Newsletter.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 1 November 2010

Time crunch today - didn't get done what I needed to do...now more to do on Tuesday.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Amanuensis Monday - the Will of Samuel Hubbard (1687-1753) of Concord MA.  Got cleaned up.  Posted Genea-bloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories and set it for late morning, but it set up as a Draft so didn't notice that until 6 p.m.  Drat.  Darn Blogger...

*  Went hunting for Seaver obituaries in GenealogyBank.  Amazed by all the old Seaver guys I don't have in my database for one reason or another.  Added about five obits to the database, and added several families as well, based on obituaries.

*  Stephanie, Mary and Lucas (15 months) came at 11 a.m. for a visit, lunch, Lucas's nap, then more play until 4.  Showed Steph how FTM works, and Ancestry too, and talked about DNA and earthquakes with her.  Fun to be with Steph and Lucas!

*  Watched some of the Legacy videos before dinner, then some of world Series Game 5, and back online at 7 to write Some Legacy Family Tree Webinars Available for Limited Time.  Wrote three more posts for the next week, until Linda needed computer for her prayer chain.

*  Finally back online at 9:15 p.m. to read everything, check Facebook, answer some email, and talk to my daughter, then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 5.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour in GenealogyBank having fun, and 3.5 hours writing blogs.