My Genealogy Friday - 25 September 2015

We left last Friday for the Bay area to attend my brother-in-law's 70th birthday party and then spend two days with daughter Lori in Santa Cruz.  There was a surprise at the birthday party - Paul married his longtime girlfriend (I called her my love-in-law) of 23 years.  S it became a memorable event for the family and his friends.  We had fun with three cousins of Linda's too.

We got home on Wednesday afternoon, and went to the Padres game on Thursday night after a full day of reading and blogging, so I didn't journal.  It's been warm here - a high of about 90F today.  So for Friday:

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 91: #111 Mary (Metcalf) Underhill (1780-1855).

*  Edited the Social Media talk and made the syllabus.  After lunch, went to the bank and the library.

*  Home at 1 p.m. to research and write How Complete Is the Ancestry.com Wills and Probates Collection for One County?  Took a nap.

*  Wrote What Happened to the 1656-1785 New Jersey Probate Records on Ancestry.com?

*  Wrote the two Saturday posts before dinner.  Went in at 5:30 p.m. to watch TV news, ate dinner, watered the front plants, and went online to read blogs and email, and answer email, then worked in the Newby database to resolve all place names.

*  Went in at 7:20 p.m. to watch the Padres game, read the paper, and then my Grisham paperback book.  Padres lost to Arizona 6-3, so now 72-82 on the season.

*  Online at 10:15 p.m. to read, check Facebook, and then write this post.  Genealogy today was 8.5 hours.


 

My Genealogy Tuesday - 8 October 2013

Well, we're back from our 16-day cruise from San Diego through the Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale.  We got home last night but all I did was work on email and read Facebook to catch up.

*  Read email this morning, then wrote Tuesday's Tip - Read Genealogy Aggregator Newsletters and Blogs to Keep Up with Genealogy News.  Got the laundry going too.

*  Uploaded 350 photos to the desktop computer, and put 36 in a Best Of folder.  Wrote Legacy Family Tree 2013 Cruise - Post 1: Highlights.

*  Answered many emails, and sorted them into the Tbird folders.  Listened to the Mondays with Myrt HOA while reading blogs on Feedly and adding content to the Best Of post.  Got interrupted several times but managed to get through Monday's and Sunday's blogs.  Read all of Eastman and several other blogs for last two weeks.  

*  Wrote Welcome to Genea-Musings, Legacy Family Tree 2013 Cruisers, washed the car, finished the laundry, and went in at 5:15 p.m. to watch the baseball games.

*  Horacio brought over the newspapers and mail, so sorted through all of that.  Read some of the sports pages.  We ate dinner, and I got the mail sorted out and filed.  

*  Came in at 8 p.m. to read, check Facebook, answered more email, and checked out new databases on Ancestry and FamilySearch.  Updated RootsMagic 6 and Family Tree Maker 2014.  Checked the new Ancestry Related Content feature too.  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours.

Cruise Vacation - Day 12 (Monday, 21 May 2012)

The ship docked in Oslo at 7 a.m. We were up before 6 a.m. And went up for breakfast at 6:15 a.m. Back in the cabin, we gathered our carry-on stuff, and left at 7:15 a.m. for the Schooner Bar on Deck 6 to get off the ship with Group 4.

After a short wait, the group went down to Deck 1 to debark, gather our luggage, and find the bus to the Oslo airport. This was very disorganized – they had a list but didn't assign persons to a bus, and we stood in several lines but the baggage holds filled up and we were shunted to another. We finally got on the 5^th bus to the airport, which left at 8:30 a.m. It got there just after 9 a.m.

At the airport, we checked in at British Airways, received our boarding passes, and then were told to wait until 11:20 a.m. For someone to escort us through security and take us to the gate with Linda in the wheelchair. We objected, and they brought a wheelchair for me to push so that we could shop and get to the gate early. The plane was on time, and we were off to London shortly after the 12 noon scheduled departure. We arrived in London at 1:30 p.m., and they had a wheelchair for Linda waiting, and we were escorted through the maze to immigration and security and then to the train to go to our gate for San Diego. We were able to do a little shopping too.

The British Airways flight to San Diego boarded and left on time, at 3:05 p.m. Linda had an empty seat next to her which was handy since the lady in the seat in front of her wanted to recline her seat which hindered Linda from moving. I finished my Stuart Woods book, ate dinner, and then tried to watch movies (none were worth watching) and TV (ditto) and eventually dozed off for an hour or two. We had a snack over Salt Lake City, and landed at San Diego on schedule at 6:15 p.m.

The immigration line was long, but we had our baggage and called Barbara at 7:05 p.m. She picked us up soon after, and we stopped in Chula Vista for a quick dinner at El Pollo Loco. Then we were home around 8:15 p.m.

I unpacked my suitcase, but Linda got in bed quickly. I turned on the computer, and read my 770 new email messages until 10 p.m. Then I went to bed. Whew.   

Cruise Vacation - Day 11 (Sunday, 20 May 2012)

This was another "at sea" day, this time between Edinburgh and Oslo.  It was also a Legacy genealogy class day.

It was a quiet morning – we slept in a bit, went up to breakfast, and Linda went off to the pool. I read my book in an easy chair watching the ship cut through the fog.

After a quick lunch, I gathered my laptop and headed off at 12:30 p.m. For the Conference Room on Deck 6 for the last day of Legacy genealogy classes. Judy Wight presented “Digging for Gold in British Estate Records,” and then I presented “The Genealogical Proof Standard and doing a Reasonably Exhaustive Search” and “Searching Ancestry.com Effectively.” Ken McGinnis presented “Merging 101 and 202” which I had trouble following in Legacy Family Tree. Then there were questions and answers for all of the speakers. Geoff held the last drawings for Legacy CDs, and made a pitch for the 2013 cruise. We signed up for it!

We had dinner at a different table tonight because we were late to the dining room after trying to sort out the dining staff tips. We ate at the same table with Ken and Diane and Dave and Peggy. After dinner, it was off to the shopping area to buy several cruise pictures, and more gifts.

We knew we had a big travel day on Monday, so we went to bed relatively early after packing and putting the suitcases in the hallway.

Cruise Vacation - Day 10 (Saturday, 19 May 2012)

The ship arrived in Edinburgh this morning, but not near the city.  The ship lifeboats and local boats provided ferry service from the ship to shore.

We did not book a tour for this day because I was concerned about the Tender experience and Linda’s balance (we have to take a small boat between the cruise ship and the pier). Plus, the tours offered involved quite a bit of walking and climbing stairs. Linda suggested that we take a taxi into Edinburgh, but the city is 45 minutes away – it would be very expensive. Hence, we stayed aboard the ship.

After breakfast at 7:30 a.m., Linda went to swim at the Solarium and I watched the Tendering for awhile, then read my book. At 10:30 a.m., I went to the cabin to update this journal, review the class syllabus some more, and work on my presentations.

We went to lunch, and then I came back to the cabin and worked some more on the presentations. I took a nap, and then finished my book and took it back to the library and got another one.

The ship departed from Edinburgh at 6 p.m. We went to dinner, then did some shopping on board. This was a quiet day of rest, which I needed.

Cruise Vacation - Day 9 (Friday, 18 May 2012)

This was an "at sea" day between Liverpool and Edinburgh, Scotland.  The ship sailed north from Liverpool, between the islands of Skye and Lewis, across the top of Scotland heading for Edinburgh.

We were up early because this was a genealogy day at sea – five sessions on Legacy, Irish research and Scottish research in the Some Enchanted Evening lounge (deck 6, aft). After breakfast, the first session was a number of one-on-one sessions with the Legacy team. We clustered around the Legacy team members, who answered questions and demonstrated various uses of Legacy. I got my laptop set up and practiced creating sources.

Geoff presented “Legacy: Especially for Beginners” and demonstrated how to start using the software – including “Set Relationships” (which enables the relationship between my self and anyone else in my database), “Set Direct Line as Preferred” (which highlights the direct line – I chose my daughter as the key person),“Apply Ancestry Colors” (for my four grandparents lines) and setting Bookmarks (I chose myself and Robert Seaver). He also answered many questions about other features, including adding persons and spouses, and working in the Master Location List.

Luc Comeau presented “GENViewer, GENMatcher, GENCatalog and Research Guidance” in the next session, but he didn’t touch on Research Guidance (because we had no Internet connection) and didn’t mention GENMatcher. He demonstrated how GENCatalog works (it’s free at www.mudcreeksoftware.com) to find ALL genealogy database types on a computer drive. This is especially useful if you have databases for different programs in many file folder locations.

GENViewer permits a user to look at GEDCOM, PAF, TMG, FTM, RootsMagic, Temple Submission and Legacy database files for specific persons, can compare information between two files, enables the user to identify “islands” in their database, and more. It is available from the Legacy Store.

We broke up at 11 a.m. and I was greeted by Renee and Don, and invited to their cabin to see Don’s digital picture collection. He has an expensive camera and specializes in large digital photographs that are enhanced by a process that lightens dark areas and darkens light areas to create beautiful detailed images. Then I went to the Solarium and picked up Linda and we went to lunch. The ship was at sea all day today sailing from Liverpool to Edinburgh, and the ride was a bit rocky – it gave me a headache most of the day.

After lunch, I read my book, rested my eyes a bit in the library, and we were back in the lounge at 4 p.m. but the Bingo session ran long until 4:15 p.m. Geoff and his team scrambled to find another venue, but we ended up back in the lounge and Judy Wight started her “Key Genealogical Resources for Ireland” presentation at 4:25 p.m. She covered Civil Registration, Church Records and Census records (and substitutes) in great detail, and offered some excellent guidelines on doing Irish research. The syllabus material is comprehensive and very helpful to me as a “Beginner” in Irish research. There were only a couple of people who proclaimed themselves to be Advanced or Intermediate researchers. Judy’s second presentation was “Key Genealogical Resources for Scotland” and it was similar in content to the Irish research talk – mainly Census, Civil Registration and Church Records, although she covered other record types briefly.

I left at 6 p.m. to go get dressed for the second formal night for dinner – and we got to the dinner table at 6:10 p.m., and sat at Table 32 with four other couples, including Don and Renee.

After dinner, the Legacy group congregated on the stairs in the Centrum and had a group picture taken by the cruise photographers and, hopefully, by several other persons. Several couples had pictures taken in their finery also, including us. Then we went down to the Centrum dance floor and listened to the Blue Waters band play dance music – they were very good, accepted requests, and we danced and talked until 10:30 p.m. with Ken and Diane, and Christy and Steve.  

Cruise Vacation - Day 8 (Thursday, 17 May 2012)

If it's Thursday, it must be Liverpool!  The ship crossed the Irish Sea from Dublin to Liverpool overnight.

We were up early, had breakfast and were ready to go on our tour before the ship docked at Liverpool at 7 a.m. We met in the Masquerade Lounge at 7:45 and got our sticker for the Liverpool and the Beatles tour that departed at 8:15 a.m. We had to walk a bit down the gangplank, up to the street and over to the bus parking lot. We boarded the bus with about 25 others – our guide was Hilary and our driver was Phil.

The first stop on the tour was at Mathew Street, where the Cavern club is located. There are a number of tributes to the Beatles along the street. We did not go into the Cavern club. Back on the bus for a short trip to The Beatles Story museum. We spent over an hour here, and it had the complete history of each member of the group, and of the group itself, with headphones to tell us what we were seeing. Beatles songs blared throughout. We bought T-shirts in the shop.

Back on the bus, we drove around Liverpool seeing sights, and stopped at Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, and the childhood homes of John and Paul. Then it was back to the ship at 12 noon. We missed seeing the Queen, but others in the group did.

Back aboard the ship, we had lunch, and Linda headed off to the Solarium to swim. I read my book for awhile, then walked Deck 10, and stopped to play shuffleboard with Luc and Geoff again. I played poorly with no wind on the deck. I went to get Linda more Benadryl ($5 for 10 tablets) at the medical center, then went to the room and watched BBC news and dozed for a bit. I went to get Linda at 5:15 p.m., and we headed off to dinner at 6 p.m. in the Aquarius dining room. Edvin told his life story, and gave me a special chocolate dessert. We went back to the room and Linda went to bed, while I finished my book and watched TV.

Cruise Vacation - Day 7 (Wednesday, 16 May 2012)

The ship left Cherbourg last night, heading for Dublin, Ireland around the south coast of England.

We were awake early, so got dressed and went up to breakfast at 7:30 a.m. From there, Linda went off to swim in the indoor pool, and I read my book in the Centrum until Geoff and Tanya came along, so we talked until they went in for breakfast at 9:15 a.m. I read for awhile, then came back to the room to catch up this journal and watch the BBC news.

I left at 11 a.m. with my book, went up to Deck 10 to watch the docking, and found Geoff and Luc playing shuffleboard, so I watched them for awhile. The docking was interesting – the ship headed for one bank, then turned about 90 degrees and backed into a second bank while turning another 90 degrees. The ship was docked at 12 noon, right on schedule.

We went for lunch at noon at the Windjammer Cafe, then to the Masquerade lounge to get our boarding pass, and were on the bus for the Leisurely Dublin Highlights tour by 1:15 p.m. The tour drove around Dublin, with the guide talking about Irish history, poets, playwrights, authors, etc. We stopped to see Oscar Wilde’s “statue” in a park, St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Anglican), and then next to Trinity College for shopping. We had thought about eating dinner in Dublin and taking the shujttle back to the ship, but we decided to go back to the ship on the tour.

After stopping at our room, we went up to dinner. Linda had a reaction to the salad, but ate her dinner, took her Benadryl, and went back to the room with chills. She is now out of Benadryl, so I called Medical and they sell it for $5. An emergency visit costs $30.   I'll get some on Thursday!

Cruise Vacation - Day 6 (Tuesday, 15 May 2012)

The ship traveled from Le Havre to Cherbourg overnight.

We woke up at 8:30 a.m., got dressed and up to breakfast by 9:30 a.m. in the Windjammer. Linda wore her bathing suit and I escorted her to the indoor pool where she enjoyed the water for two hours. I read my book and took a walk around the deck.

We did not take a shore excursion today, being tired of buses.

I went back for Linda at !2:30 p.m. so that we could have lunch, and after lunch she took a nap and I went walking again and read my book. I bought the cruise terminal to Oslo airport tickets for Sunday, and turned in our passports as requested for security reasons. I reviewed the syllabus for the four classes that I missed, and reviewed and edited my Genealogical Proof Standard presentation.

We went out at 6 p.m. for dinner in the Aquarius dining room at Table #32. We stayed until 8:15 p.m. talking to each other and the staff. There was a good discussion of Y, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA tests among other topics. Then it was back to the cabin, and I reviewed and edited my Ancestry.com presentation and started to write this daily journal.  We went to bed before 10 p.m.

The ship departed Cherbourg at 5 p.m. and headed for Dublin.

Cruise Vacation - Day 5 (Monday, 14 May 2012)

The ship docked at Le Havre, France at 9 a.m. We were up at 7 a.m. to have breakfast and get ready for our day trip on a bus to do some sightseeing in Paris. We went, with our tickets, to the Masquerade Theater at 9 a.m. and gave them to Dave so that he could get all of the Legacy group on one bus. We had 44 of the 53 seats. We were on the bus at about 10 a.m. with tour guide Fredericka and driver Lou. We rode 2.5 hours through the countryside to Paris. We stopped for a restroom break before entering Paris, and I used the ATM to get Euros and we bought drinks for the bus.

In Paris, we drove down the Champs Elysee, past the Arc d’Triomphe, all of the shops and buildings to Place Concorde, then off on a street to the Opera House and other sites, and stopped at a restaurant Chez Jenny (which we dubbed Chez Jenny-ology). We had a lunch of tomatoes and olives, roast duck leg, and cheesecake. Linda had a reaction to something – probably the duck sauce, so didn’t have much to eat.

Then it was off to drive past Notre Dame, then over to the Left Bank, stopping at Invalides, and then to the Seine River near the Eiffel Tower. We boarded a river boat for a one hour sail on the Seine – up past Ile de France and back. We sat in the middle, so was able to take pictures on both sides, especially of Notre Dame. After debarking, Linda did some shopping for postcards, and I went across to the Eiffel Tower and took some pictures. When I came back, we bought ice creams and enjoyed them before boarding the bus at 6 p.m. for the ride back to Le Havre. After 8 hours on the bus, we were tired of sitting.

We got to the ship at about 8:45 p.m. and went up to the Windjammer Café for a quick dinner. Then to the cabin and to bed at 10 p.m. just as the ship departed for Cherbourg.

Cruise Vacation - Day 4 (Sunday, 13 May 2012)

This was an at sea day between Oslo, Norway and Le Havre, France.  

I slept pretty well, and we didn’t get up until 11:15 a.m. After getting dressed and ready to go up to lunch, I looked at the Legacy schedule and saw that I had missed the morning classes. Drat. My mind was set on afternoon classes, but that is next Sunday! On the way to breakfast, I found the classroom and Dave was still there packing things up. I apologized to him and he said that Geoff had tried to introduce me several times. Great! Now everybody knows that I missed the first session. We had lunch in the Windjammer and afterwards I found Geoff in the Aquarius dining room and apologized to him also. That was embarrassing.

I found the library and checked out a book, and read until 2 p.m., when I decided to take a walk on Deck 10 around the ship (1240 feet for one lap). The ship was going 20 knots into a 20 knot headwind (so about 45 miles/hour) and it was cold, about 13 C (55 F), so I was happy to stop at the shuffleboard on the port side to watch Geoff and Luc play shuffleboard – they do this every cruise, apparently. After awhile, they asked me to play and so we played until about 4:30 p.m. The wind would catch the puck occasionally and move it, and the puck would curve on almost every shot. I was windblown and my head was sunburned…but that was a lot of fun. I got to know Geoff and Luc a bit better, and vice versa.

I rested for awhile in the cabin, and at 6 p.m. we went to dinner in the Aquarius dinging room at Table 32. Some of our seatmates changed. Sandip and Edwin brought Linda’s meal ordered the night before, and I had the Filet of Beef which was excellent. The desserts are very appealing (Edvin gives us the yummy-yummy menu every night) and delicious. I usually have vanilla ice cream.

After dinner, we headed back to the room and I read my book, and we went to bed after 9 p.m. I haven’t opened my laptop computer yet, and it’s been 36 hours since I last checked the Internet. The Internet on the ship is expensive - $50 for 100 minutes, so I’m avoiding it.

Cruise Vacation - Day 3 (Saturday, 12 May 2012)

We started the day in Oslo, Norway in our room at the Scandic Sjolyst Hotel.

We got dressed, packed our suitcases, and went down for breakfast at 8 a.m. I retrieved my iPhone from the desk, fully charged. I checked my email and Facebook on the hotel computers, and went up and watched TV and read until 10:30 a.m. We took everything down to the hotel lobby, which was packed with tourists waiting for their sightseeing buses. We checked out, and had them call a taxi, which came within five minutes. The taxi ride to the cruise ship terminal was only about three miles and cost 170 kroner (about $30).

The taxi dropped us off right at the baggage area of the terminal, and we handed over the bags there. Then we checked in at the security station, received our room key cards, had our picture taken, and boarded the Vision of the Seas cruise ship at about 11:30 a.m.

We went up to the Windjammer Café on Deck 9 for lunch right at 12 noon, and enjoyed salad, fruit and bread. We were able to go to our cabin 3006 at 1:30 p.m. and settle in. At 3 p.m., we went to the Legacy Family Tree meet and greet on Deck 5, and met Geoff, Ken, Dave and Luc from Legacy, plus the travel agent Christy, and a number of other cruisers, including geneabloggers Kay Haden and Donna Peterson.

The lifeboat drill was at 4:30 p.m. – we’re assigned to lifeboat 2. After that, we went back to the cabin and unpacked the suitcases which had arrived while we were at the Legacy meeting. The cruise ship departed Oslo at 5 p.m. – the maneuvering engines in the bow are right below our stateroom.

Then it was time for dinner at 6 p.m. – the Legacy group – 170 strong – was assigned to Tables 18 to 42 in the Aquarius Dining Room. Our assigned table was 32 with Sandip, Edvin and ??? as our waiters. Linda explained her allergy problems to Sandip and Edvin, and they reviewed the menu and suggested the Top Sirloin steak for her. Our table-mates this first night included Ken and Diane, Bruce and Patsy, Virgil and Kay, and Dennis and Barbara. I had the top sirloin steak also. Linda asked for a rarer cut twice…

After dinner, we went to the Masquerade Lounge and caught the end of the first show. Then it was down to our stateroom, a check of the TV news, and to bed by 9 p.m., since we were still not on a good sleep schedule yet.

Cruise Vacation - Day 2 (Friday, 11 May 2012)

I fell asleep easily at 11:30 p.m., but woke up at 2 a.m. wide awake. Of course! After tossing and turning until 6, I slept until 7:30 a.m. when we got up and went down for breakfast. After breakfast, we went back to the room and slept from about 9 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. I was supposed to call Torill Johnsen before 1 p.m., so I did that and she came to pick us up at 2 p.m.

Torill drove us through western Oslo and up the Helmankoller mountain to the north of the city, showing us some Olympic facilities and other points of interest. We stopped at the Riksarchivet (the Norway National Archives), and saw some of the research areas, and took some pictures.

 Then it was off the mountain to stop at a shopping center so Linda could buy something from Norway. She didn’t. We toured around downtown Oslo after most of the rush hour traffic was gone, and stopped for dinner at the Engebret restaurant, where we treated Torill to dinner. 

 It was too late to do more sightseeing, so Torill dropped us back at the hotel at about 8 p.m. I posted two pictures to Facebook from the Riksarchivet.

I decided to charge my iPhone because I had taken pictures and checked the Internet occasionally over the last two days. My iPhone charger did not fit into my power adapter, and my extension cord did not fit into it either, and the adapter would not fit into the wall plug. I went down to the desk and they said I could buy an adapter two blocks over, but the shop was closed. The desk man offered to charge the iPhone, so I took him up on it and worried all night about it! I used the hotel Internet to read my email, read blogs (595 since Wednesday afternoon) and check in on Facebook.

We were asleep by 9:30 p.m. and slept poorly until about 7 a.m. with quite a few wakeups.

Cruise Vacation - Day 1 (Thursday, 10 May 2012)

DAY 1 – Wednesday, 9 May 2012 to Thursday, 10 May 2012, San Diego to London to Oslo, Norway

We boarded British Airways Flight 272, a Boeing 777, in San Diego at 9 p.m. on Wednesday night  The scheduled departure was 8:20 p.m., and we departed at 9:30 p.m. The legroom was cramped but we had aisle seats to minimize the getting in and out problem. There was a dinner meal – it was forgettable. Linda had half of her Subway sandwich. I watched the movie The Descendants on the flight and some TV shows, and dozed a bit. We arrived at Heathrow Airport in London about 1.5 hours late, but our connecting flight to Oslo was also delayed a bit. Linda had a wheelchair, and we were escorted from the arrival gate through a vast underground maze by a wheelchair pusher to the Oslo gate. British Airways has 66 gates at Heathrow. I exchanged dollars for Norwegian kroners at the airport (highway robbery!).

The British Airways flight to Oslo departed at 6:15 p.m. (supposed to be 5:15 p.m.) and they served only flavored chips and a drink. Linda had the second half of her Subway sandwich. We got to Oslo Airport at 9:30 p.m. After the wheelchair ride through the airport from the departure gate through immigration, then claiming out two suitcases, to the airport entry, we bought tickets for the 25 minute train ride from the airport to the central Oslo station for 170 kroner each (a kroner is about 18 cents American). We barely got off the train with our two bags and Linda’s walker, plus our carry-ons, and walked to the street to hail a taxi. That cost 350 kroner (about $55) for a 15 minute ride. The Scandic Sjolyst Hotel is on the west end of Oslo near Bygdoy, and seemed to specialize in business travelers during the week and tourists on the weekend. We got into our room with no problem, pushed the twin beds together, and tried to sleep.  It was a long day and night!