Saturday, December 18, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 18 December 2010

Hmmm, I missed journaling yesterday, eh?  I can't remember what I did, except doing more place name standardizing and blogging.  Oh, and shopping - mostly a failure again.  Only 6 more days now, and we're going on the road for all of them.  For today:

*  We were out for the swim club breakfast at 7 and I went to the Men's Bible Study breakfast at 8, then went to the mall and shopped a bit but failed again. 

*  Home by 9:30 a.m., Read email and blogs, noted that Advent Calendar - 18 December: Christmas Stockings and Surname Saturday - PRESCOTT (England to Massachusetts) posted.

*  Wrote Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Dear Genea-Santa and set it for later.  Wrapped the gifts I do have for Linda.  Shopped online for things and bought some.

*  Helped Linda clean out the car, had lunch, watched some football.  Back online at 1 p.m. to work on standardizing my place names - did T through Z and then went through the whole list looking for ones I missed.  There were quite a few, so I fixed them too.  Copied the file to the USB drive, and installed FTM 2011 on the laptop. 

*  We went to the neighbors to share gifts, and then out to Lolita's for dinner and were home by 5:30 p.m.  Watched the news and read the paper, then packed while Linda did her email.

*  Wrote the SNGF - Dear Genea-Santa post and then Best of the Genea-blogs for Sunday.  Checked Facebook.  Gathered the chargers and connectors for the trip.  What did I forget?

Genealogy today was 7.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 3.5 hours working in the database.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 16 December 2040

8 more shopping days...will Linda receive a significant gift this year?  This was a busy day of blogging and watching the Chargers game, but I got in a little bit of database work.

*  Read my email and blogs, noted that Advent Calendar - 16 December: Christmas At School posted, then wrote Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: 1900 Status Report.

*  Got cleaned up, and back to write I'm an Official RootsTech 2011 Blogger, but can't attend and set it for later in the morning.  Wrote CVGS Holiday Luncheon Summary on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog.  Notified that the CVGC blog was spam infested, so deleted all past comments and set up the Captcha system.  Did that for this blog too (already had it on Genea-Musings). 

*  Had lunch.  Worked in the database for almost an hour and got through the "Probablys" finally.  Lots of work there!  Now I need to finish the alphabet P-Z.  Checked in on the Build a Better GEDCOM blog to read comments.

*  Entered the Doctor data into the database, created a new source citation in FTM 2011 using the template, and captured screens in the process.  Wrote Adventures in FTM 2011 - Creating a Source Citation.

*  We left at 3:45 p.m. for the mall to have dinner with Tami in the food court - she and I had Panda Express, Linda had Subway.  Linda and I walked down to Penney's to shop for her, and I hustled the quarter mile to get the car and come pick her up so we could rush home to watch the Chargers game.

*  Watched Chargers game - another good one, 34-7 over the 49ers.  Chargers are getting breaks now they didn't get the first half of the season.  Still making special teams mistakes.

*  Back online at 9:15 to read everything, check in on Facebook, and write this post.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 1.0 hour reading blogs, 3.5 hours researching and writing blog posts, and 2.5 hours working in my database on places and sources.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 15 December 2010

Only 9 more shopping days until Christmas... I still don't have Linda's big gift... wonder what she wants?  Oh well, genealogy comes, um, second, right?

*  Read email and blogs, and noted that Advent Calendar - 15 December: The Holiday Happenings posted.  Searched for Christmas photos from days of yore and found one - posted (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 133: Randy and Santa.


.*  Got cleaned up, and ready to go to the CVGS Holiday Luncheon with Linda.  We had a nice lunch, a slide show of CVGS events, and then the drawings.  I got to install the new officers. 
 
*  We were home by 2:15 p.m. and I noted that All I Want for Christmas is... Isaac's Civil War Pension File! posted. 
 
*  Read the new Better GEDCOM blog and made some comments, then wrote Building a Better GEDCOM - my ruminations.
 
*  Went in to watch the news and read the paper, and Ron came at 5:30 for dinner. 
 
*  Back online at 7:30 p.m. to read everything, answer some email, check Facebook and write some future blog posts.  Worked a bit on the "Probably" place names.  Posted Blog Caroling - Angels We Have Heard On High.  Wrote this post.
 
Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 1.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour working on database, 3.0 hour writing blog posts, and 3.0 hours at CVGS meeting.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Randy's genealogy Day - 14 December 2010

Hmmm, only 10 shopping days left until Christmas - better get started!!!  In that spirit, I found what I wanted today online, and also ordered something genealogy for me.  Now, I'd better work on Linda.  Stayed home all day, not sure how much progress I made...

*  Read emails and blogs, then noted that Advent Calendar - 14 December: Fruitcake - Friend or Foe? posted.  Wrote Tuesday's Tip - Use the FamilySearch Library Catalog and FHL Microforms.  Answered some emails.

*    Noted the FamilySearch.org site had changed, so researched and wrote The new www.FamilySearch.org is live!  quickly and posted it.  Wrote a post for Tuesday next week.  Added some blogs to the Reader, and voted for blogs again.

*  Had lunch, then worked in the database doing Place Name standards in FTM 2011 - got through the Ns and into the Os.  Got stuck in the Ps with the "probably" entries - lots, and all need editing.

*  Read first 50 pages of the new book i'm reviewing.  Interesting.  Back into the database, and got about halfway through the Probably entries before almost dozing off.  Downloaded new RootsMagic version and checked it out.  Copied my FTM 2011 database to BackUpMytree.com.

*  Stopped at 5 p.m. to watch TV, read the paper, eat dinner,.  Back online by 6 p.m. to read everything, then answer some email.  downloaded a Civil War file from Footnote for a cousin and emailed it to him.  Found Isaac Seaver's Civil War pension file number and ordered it online at NARA for my Christmas present to me.  Wrote about it for Wednesday.

*  Watched TV and read my book while Linda did her email.  Came back to write more posts for next week when we're gone.  Checked some WeRelate modifications and changed some data in FTM 2011 database to correspond.  FTM 2011 is really hard to enter data into, I think.  Checked Facebook, wrote this post, where did the time go?

Genealogy today was 11.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 1.0 hour reading blogs, 4.0 hours writing blog posts (10 or more?), 1.0 hour doing online research, and 4.0 hours working in my database. 

Monday, December 13, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 13 December 2010

A pretty full day of genealogy tasks...even some blogging!

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Advent Calendar - 13 December: Holiday Travel posted.  Saw that the Family Tree 40 vote has started, so posted Vote for your favorite Genea-Blogs NOW!  Unfortunately, I couldn't list all of the nominated blogs due to time constraints and Blogger problems. 

*  Got cleaned up, and wrote Amanuensis Monday - the Probate Records of Simon Gates (1739-1803) of Gardner MA and set it for later in the morning.

*  Added some sources to several families in the database.  Had lunch, gathered my stuff at 11:15 and went off to the  post office to mail the Family Journals, and then to the library for Table Talk.  Researched a query too.  Then off to the mall for more shopping (didn't see much for Linda), and home by 1:30 p.m.

*  Read everything, answered some email, and got into the database Repository list - editing the extraneous stuff out and merging duplicates.  Wrote Managing Repositories in Family Tree Maker 2011 after awhile ... and finished the editing. 

*  Went in at 5:30 p.m. to watch TV, eat dinner, read the paper, watch the football game, etc.

*  Back online at 7 p.m. to work on finances, and then wrote the rest of the Advent Calendar posts.  Gotta start stockpiling posts for the Christmas trip.  Checked Facebook, and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blog posts, 1.5 hours on CVGS at the library, 3.0 hours researching and writing blog posts, 3.0 hours in the database working on sources and repositories.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 12 December 2010

Almost a perfect Sunday - got to church on time, blogged, the Chargers won, got my Journal done, worked in the database.  I wonder what I forgot to do?

*  Read email and blogs, started the Best of post before church.  Noted that Advent Calendar - 12 December: Charitable/Volunteer Work posted this morning.

*  Got cleaned up, off to church for my committee meeting, then the service, and kibitzing afterwards.

*  Home by 11:45 a.m., finished up the Best of the Genea-Blogs - December 5-11, 2010 post and tweeted it and went in to watch football.

*  Had lunch, watched end of Raiders game (they lost) and all of the Chargers game (beat Chiefs 31-0).

*  Back online after 4 p.m., read everything, answered some email, found the Guild article on AA that Martin referred me to.  Checked out other articles on AA. 

*  In for dinner at 5:30 p.m., watched some TV afterwards, and back online by 7 p.m.  Worked on the Family Journal - collating pages, then stuffing envelopes, putting stickers and stamps on, sealing and taping.  Done!  16 pages, 22 copies, 2 sets of ink cartridges, yikes! 

*  Checked Facebook, wrote CVGS Holiday Luncheon is Wednesday, 15 December and worked in the database on Place Name standardization.  Got the G through L done today!  There are fewer that need work the later in the alphabet I go.

*  Wrote this post.  Done!

Genealogy today was 7.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour on Family Journal, 2.0 hours working in database, and 1.0 hour in online databases.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 11 December 2010

This was publishing day for the 16-page Seaver-Richmond Family Journal. 

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Advent Calendar - 11 December: Other Traditions posted, and wrote Surname Saturday - GUILD (England > Dedham/Medfield MA).

*  got cleaned up, and wrote Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Contribute to GeneaLeaks! and set it for early afternoon.

*  Went out to the mall to shop for Linda for Christmas.  Not very busy, but nothing that I think she has to have.  Will go to other places next week and may end up with gift certificates.

*  Home by 12 noon to have lunch, watch a bit of Army-Navy, then worked in the database on standardizing place names - got through the D's.  Had a problem with how to delete duplicate Facts.  Wrote a blog post complaining about FTM 2011, and hit Publish just before I found the answer in the Help file.  It was on Google Reader instantaneously.  Deleted the post, but it's still on Google Reader.

*  Went in at 3:30 to watch TV, take a nap, read the paper, and at 4:45 we left for dinner at Brigantine out in Eastlake.  Pretty good.

*  Home by 6:30 p.m., read everything, wrote Be Careful with the Publish button...  Worked more on the standardized place names - got through the Fs tonight.  Checked Facebook.

*  All the while I've been printing 23 copies of the 16 pages, two sided (no, the printer doesn't do two sided).  Did the odd pages on the Lexmark printer and exhausted most of the ink.  Am doing the even pages on the HP Connected to the old computer (thank God for USB drives).  Had a problem with the MSWord document not being the same on the two computers...had to redo two pages. 

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 3.0 hours working on place names, and 2.0 hours working on Journal.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 10 December 2010

Three more weeks until I report on my 2010 New Years Resolutions, yikes!  I'd better get to work.

*  Read my email and blogs throughout the day...noted that Advent Calendar - December 10: Christmas Gifts posted.  Worked on and set for later Ancestry.com Quirk in 1930 US Census fixed!

*  Left at 10:30 a.m. to mail Christmas cards at post office (only 3 in line!), then to Costco for lunch and shopping, then to pick up George for our 2-mile walk on the bayfront.  It was almost jacket weather - about 65, cloudy, little wind. 

*  Home by 1 p.m., researched and wrote Free Family Forest Ancestral eBook.  Got mine (Edward III descendants - over 10,000 pages!), and browsed through it for awhile.  Saw only Olive Welby as one of my ancestors, which was expected.  I had hoped for more.  Will look for famous folks in the book to brag about distant cousinships.

*  Got through the S to Z in the place name standardization in FTM 2011, selecting standard names from the list.  Still need to go back and standardize the non-standard names.

*  Sleepy at 3:30, so went in to take a nap while Linda worked her email.  Too many interruptions, finally napped at 4:30 for awhile.  then dinner, read the paper, did more Christmas card folding, stuffing and sealing.


*  Back online at 6:30 p.m. to read everything, answer some email, write three Advent posts for the weekend, and got the late Bs done in standard place names. 

*  Added more content to Family Journal and finished it tonight.  Now to print it - I think I'll need ink for both printers!  Drat.  Checked Facebook, then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours writing blogs, 1.0 working through FamilyForest ebook, 2.0 hours working in database on place names, and 1.5 hours working on Family Journal.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 9 December 2010

I still haven't gone Christmas shopping, but we now have the cards done and I have the Family Journal almost finished. 

*  Read my email and blogs, and noted that Advent Calendar - December 9: Christmas Weather posted.  Wrote Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: General Affidavit #2, and set it for later in the morning.

*  Got cleaned up, wrote CVGS Research Group Summary - 8 December 2010 and a post for Saturday on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog, and then worked on Standardizing Place Names - Using FTM 2011 to Fix Non-standard Place Names and set it for mid-afternoon.  Watched almost an hour of the Escondido bomb house burning down for some reason.

*  Had lunch, answered some email, and worked on the place name standardization in FTM 2011.  I got from the Os through the Ss before the dozing bug got me.   Checked Twitter and Facebook, and had a snack, then back into the database and fixed the Bs in non-standard place names. 

*  We went out to dinner at Rubios, and back about 5:15 p.m.  Watched TV, folded Christmas letters, read the paper, had dessert while Linda did her email.

*  Online at 7 p.m., read everything, added photos and a descendants list to the Family Journal and it's almost done (the descendants list is 2.5 pages).  Need to finish it up and print it over the weekend - 25 copies of 16 pages. 

*  Checked Facebook for family news - saw we have a new cousin, and added him to the database.  Wrote the Advent Calendar post for Friday, then wrote this post...

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours researching and writing 6 blog posts, 3.0 hours working in the database, and 3.0 hours working on the Family Journal. 

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 8 December 2010

I got quite a bit done today...some blogging, some database work, the CVGS research group and progressed on the Family Journal.

*  Read email and blogs, and noted that Advent Calendar - December 8: Christmas Cookies posted.  Wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 132: Emily and Betty in the Woods.

*  Got cleaned up, then researched and posted Standardizing Place Names - Using FTM 2011 to Merge Place Names.   Gathered papers and magazines, and printed out some Genea-Musings posts, and went to lunch at McDonald's, and to the library by 11:45 a.m. for the CVGS Research Group.

*  CVGS Research Group went well, some interesting stories by Ann and Myrna.  Stopped by Best Buy for Lexmark printer ink.  Glad I did!

*  Home by 2:45 p.m., worked in the FTM 2011 database - got place resolutions done from I to O, and then got the A's done fixing the outliers.   Printed off about 60 Christmas letters.

*  Went in at 5:45 p.m. to eat dinner, take out the trash cans, read the paper, watch TV news, and fold the first batch of Christmas letters.  Linda stuffed the envelopes.

*  Back in the cave at 7 p.m. to work on the Family Journal while printing more letters.  Got four more pages done, so need material for two more plus the family pictures.  Struggled to capture a map off of Ancestry - had to use a screen capture finally.  Drat, wonder why?

*  Checked Facebook, then wrote this post.


Genealogy today was 11.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours at CVGS meeting, 3.0 hours working in the database on place names, and 3.0 hours working on the Family Journal.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 7 December 2010

Pearl Harbor Day - nobody attacked us again - 69th straight year since the big one!  Thank goodness.

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Advent Calendar - December 7: Christmas Parties posted, wrote Tombstone Tuesday - Julian Cemetery.

*  Got cleaned up, Linda came home with new license plates for the cars - switched them out and she took old plates back to DMV. 

*  Wrote First Look at Google eBooks and then did a lot of reading. 

*  Finished adding sources to database in FTM 16 that were in place names and adding info to place names - got from West-- to Z today, finding them in FTM 2011.  Had lunch.

*  Wrote CVGS Newsletter for December 2010 is online on Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog. 

*  Compacted FTM16 file, then read it into FTM 2011.  Started resolving place names.  Got from A to I.  Lots still to fix...I didn't do a good job at the start of the alphabet. 

*  Went in at 4:30 to watch TV, read the paper, put stamps and return labels on Christmas card envelopes, and we had dinner.

*  Back online at 6 p.m. to get the Christmas card mailing labels fixed and printed.  Worked on the Christmas letter and have it ready to copy. 

*  Updated the Family Journal index to include the last two years.  Started Volume 23 of the Family Journal.  Can't decide on pictures to use - too many bad ones, not enough good ones not used before.  Drat.  Wrote four pages of content - only 12 more to do!

*  Keyboard went screwy - typed upper case with Caps lock off and highlighted everything when I moved the mouse.  Happened in OpenOffice and Thunderbird, so rebooted and it seems to be fixed.  Must have done something wrong!

*  Checked Facebook, wrote this post, and I'm done!

Genealogy today was 12.0 hours today - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour in Google eBooks, 4.0 hours working in database adding sources, correcting errors and resolving places, and 4.0 hours working on the index, photos and Journal.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 6 December 2010

We got back from Julian on Sunday morning, in time for me to finish the Best of post and watch the Chargers game.  I managed to finish the CVGS Newsletter on Sunday evening.

Today was a busy day blogging, publishing, reading and writing.  No real genealogy...

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Advent Calendar - December 6: Santa Claus posted.  Wrote The 100th Carnival of Genealogy is Here!

*  Got cleaned up, then wrote Amanuensis Monday - the Probate Records of Daniel Smith (1642-1681) of Watertown, Massachusetts and set it for later in the morning.

*  Had lunch, gathered up the CVGS Newsletter material and went to The UPS Store to publish the December 2010 edition.  From there it was off to the library for Table Talk.  I checked on a query item too.

*  Home by 1:45 p.m., wrote Book Announcement: Atlas of East and Coastal Georgia Watercourses and Military Districts

*  Started proofreading of the next FORUM mag for Sandra, but Linda decided we had to go to the DMV to renew her license, so off we went.

*  Home by 4:15 p.m., and continued to review the magazine. 

*  Linda called for dinner at 5:30, then watched the football game for awhile and read the paper. 

*  Back online at 7 p.m., started the family Christmas letter.  Found pictures that will do, and integrated them into the text.  Had to resize some of my pictures down for the letter. 

*  Wrote three Advent posts for the week, and they're ready to go.  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 11.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours on CVGS tasks, 1.5 hours proofing FORUM, 2.5 hours working on Christmas letter, and 3.0 hours writing blog posts. 

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 2 December 2010

Linda's birthday is tomorrow.  I need to buy a card and a gift.  Anyone have any ideas for a woman who has almost everything, including me?  I wonder if she wants another genealogy subscription?

*  Read my email and blogs, then wrote Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: General Affidavit #1.   Found the stitched images on the laptop, transferred them to the desktop computer.  Noted that Advent Calendar - December 2: Christmas Food  posted.

*  Changed the colors on Genea-Musings to bright red and kinda pukish green.  May change it again - need to find the right HTML color codes.

*  Worked on several posts for the weekend.  Answered some email.  Got cleaned up.  Wrote some more weekend posts.  Had lunch.

*  Wrote New or Updated Collections at FamilySearch Beta to capture the new additions - I need them for the CVGS Newsletter.

*  Tami came and Linda wanted to do her email, so I went in to watch TV.  We left at 4 p.m. for Rubios for dinner so Tami could get to her class on time.  We were home by 5 p.m., so I watered the front plants, fixed the front door lock, and watched TV while having my Choc chip ice cream.

*  Back online at 6 p.m. to read everything, work on a query, and then worked on the CVGS Newsletter.  Got everything in that I have - still waiting on Board members reports.  It may have to wait until Tuesday to be published.

*  Sent email about FTM FT40 blog candidates.  Worked on the Best of post for Sunday, checked Facebook and wrote this post. 

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour on FTM FT40, 2.0 hours on CVGS Newsletter, 1.0 hour doing online research, and 4.0 hours writing blog posts. 

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 1 December 2010

So it begins - the last month of the first decade of the 21st century.  What a change there has been in my life and in genealogy.  I'm still having lots of fun!

*  Read email and blogs, then researched and wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 131: Lyle and the Morgan Girls.  Got c;leaned up, and printed off the papers I needed for the CVGS Board meeting.

*  Played with OpenOffice some to see what the CVGS Newsletter looks like - ohmigod, the formatting of the MSWord document is gone!  Shoot, a major revamp in the offing?  I could use the laptop which has MSWord on it. 

*  Had lunch.   Left at 11:20 for the church office to sign check requests, to the bank to deposit checks, and to the library for the CVGS Board meeting.  Long meeting...I presented the survey results.  home by 3 p.m.

*  Wondered what to blog about - read email and blogs and saw FTB 5.0 was officially released, so researched and wrote Making Family Tree Builder Reports - Post 1: Ancestor Report.  Checked nominations for FTMag 40 Blogs on Diane's spreadsheet and added about 15 new blogs to my Reader list!
*  Went in at 5 p.m. to eat dinner, then watch TV and read the paper while Linda worked on email.  She's getting the hang of it and says it is getting easier. 
 
*  Back online at 6:30 to start CVGS Newsletter editing on laptop.  Sent emails to several board members requesting information.  Got basic format ready for material, adding the content I already have, and waiting for more.
 
*  Wrote Advent Calendar - December 1: The Christmas Tree and five more posts.  I'm glad that Thomas didn't change the order of the topics this year!
 
*  Checked Facebook, and Twitter, and wrote this post.  
 
Genealogy today was 10.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 working on FTMag Top 40 blogs, 3.0 hours working on CVGS meeting, 2.0 hours on CVGS Newsletter, and 2.5 hours writing blog posts.