Friday, March 28, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 03/28/08

Genealogy research and study was fairly minimal today. I spent the morning reading email and blogs, then posted three blogs on Genea-Musings. Then I prepared several more posts for the weekend. I researched on WeRelate, MyHeritage and FamilyLink a bit, testing them again and trying to compare the social network capabilities of each site. I like WeRelate the best.

We went to the Padres-Angels game tonight - left at 5 p.m. on the trolley to downtown, ate fish and chips at the Tin Fish, and watched the game under our blanket. We were home by 10.

Genealogy today was all of 6 hours - 1.0 hour reading and writing email, 1.0 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, and 2.0 hours testing the social network sites.

We are off for Anaheim on Saturday morning to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and should be back by noon on Monday. I won't be posting here unless something really important happens!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 03/27/08

Another day in the genealogy jungle doing semi-random things...

I was on the computer by 8:15 a.m., and read my email and Bloglines. I did some research on Alexa before posting "Free Genealogy Database Site Traffic." Then I did more research about social networking sites to try to get a complete list. At 11 a.m., I got ready to go to lunch (McDonald's - 6 nuggets, 3 choc chip cookies, choc shake, yum!) and my walk on the bayfront with George (from Goodrich, where I used to work). On the way back I stopped by the library and turned in my overdue book, and got gas ($3.53/gallon).

I was home by 1:30 p.m. and read my email and blogs, then posted "Genealogy social Networking Sites". I downloaded and read the May 2008 issue of Internet Genealogy, and found that Jasia's blog and the Carnival of Genealogy were written up, so I blogged about that also. By this time, I figured I'd done enough blog damage and I really needed to do something genea-useful. So I found the Carringer family letters and transcribed four of them. I made advance posts on Genea-Musings for over the weekend. I was tired, so I watched some TV and took a nap before dinner.

After dinner, I was on the computer by 7, and decided to look at Rootsweb and see how many functions had been put on the Ancestry domain. More than yesterday, I think. I updated the four research problem forms based on the edits from the researchers, then did some looking on ancestry to try to solve some of them. They're difficult problems - that's why they haven't been solved! OK, I'm done after posting this.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours - 1.0 hour reading and writing emails, 1.5 hours reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hours researching social networks and traffic, 2.0 hours transcribing letters, and 2.0 hours working on CVGS research problems.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 03/26/08

This was a busy day for genealogy. I was on the computer by 8:30 a.m. and quickly made my CVGS meeting agenda program and the speaker certificate. I read my email and Bloglines, then researched and wrote "Commercial Genealogy Site Statistics" on Genea-Musings. I gathered all of my papers for the CVGS meeting and went off to the UPS Store to make copies of the agenda and help John with the April flyers. We were done by 11 a.m., so I went to the post office and got the CVGS mail, went by the bank, then went to the library and got the conference room and auditorium doors opened for us. Dearl came soon after and set everything up.

The library doors opened at 12 noon, and the CVGS flock came into the conference room, signed in, picked up handouts, bought a drawing ticket and adjourned to the auditorium. The meeting started at 10:20, and at 10:45 Connie introduced our speaker, June Hanson, who spoke for an hour on "English Research." After the meeting, I was home by 2:40 p.m.

I read email and Bloglines, and noticed that Thomas MacEntee had tried the American Accent test so I did too and posted about it here. Then I wrote up the CVGS meeting summary and posted it on both the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog and on Genea-Musings. I did some chores, watched TV and we had dinner.

I was back on the computer at 7 p.m., and after reading email and Bloglines I made a few changes to my seminar presentation, and deleted two slides, and pronounced it "ready to go." I'll review it several more times and practice a bit. Then I typed up four Elusive Ancestor forms from our members for the seminar and sent them to the members for review and editing. I did a little research in Ancestry looking for one of the elusives - I couldn't resist! I found the 1880 census record already in hand, but none other. It's still a mystery! Lastly, I wrote this post and will go try to finish my overdue book while watching the news.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 1.0 hour reading email, 1.0 hour reading Bloglines, 1.5 hours blogging, and 5.0 hours doing CVGS work.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 03-25-08

I stayed home today, but had some household chores to do - like finish the taxes (we get to pay lots more...) and mow the front lawn (I fertilized a month ago, and now it's too long after one week).

I was on the computer after 8 a.m., and read my email. I had a response to my John McCain post on the APG list and took some time to respond to it. Then I read my Bloglines and decided to post the last Carringer family letter already transcribed on Genea-Musings. I did a little more research on Alexa.com and posted "5 Year Statistics for Ancestry.com Traffic." It should garner some interest! I played with Alexa, Quantcast and Compete a little longer, then decided to finish the taxes. I use Turbotax and had entered all of the data two weeks ago. I checked everything out and printed out one copy to send to the IRS and Cal FTB. I rewarded myself with lunch - baloney, cookies, pudding.

I read my email and Bloglines again, and posted "Christine Rose Seminar in Carlsbad CA on Saturday March 29" on Genea-Musings. I answered several emails and did some searching for the Kemp data I posted earlier - without luck. I did find the list of people in a photograph I was searching for, however! I sent the Elusive ancestor form out to the CVGS list for people to use at the seminar. I checked out the newest Ancestry databases and the Rootsweb databases. Then I bought the Professional Genealogy book online and made a hotel reservation for this weekend (to celebrate our anniversary). Linda came home and needed the computer, so I read the paper and watched TV, then went out front and mowed the lawn. Dinner time.

After dinner, I was on the computer at 6:30 p.m. and read everything one more time. I worked two hours on my April 5 presentation, adding the final touches - only 65 slides for a 75 minute presentation (BG). I'll have to talk fast, I guess! No questions. Then this post, and I'm done for the night - I have an overdue library book and need to finish it!

Genealogy today was 7.0 hours - 1.0 hour reading/writing email, 1.0 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours blogging, 0.5 hour working on CVGS things, 1.0 hour doing research and 2.0 hours on my presentation.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 03/24/08

This was an interesting genealogy day... interrupted by an abortive shopping trip to buy my wife an anniversary gift.

I was on the computer soon after 8 a.m., and read my email and Bloglines. I posted "'English Research' is CVGS Program on March 26" on Genea-Musings. I spent an hour or so trying to figure out how Kory Meyerink ranked the 50 top genealogy web sites and I think I figured it out. I made a list of Kory's 50, then used Quantcast to determine the reach, then checked Alexa. I compared Kory's list to my earlier list, and found that I missed quite a few of his top 50. Oh well. I exercised Alexa.com a bit more and found I could compare Ancestry with Rootsweb and other sites, so I played with that for awhile, saving the graphs.

At 10:30, I took off for Costco and Walmart to look for jewelry for my Angel Linda. What a bust. I did get flowers at Costco - two dozen roses for $14.95 - a great deal! I had a Polish dog there for lunch. At 12 noon, I was at the library, looked in on Shirley's class, and joined John and Dearl at the weekly table talk. I read the new Everton's GH too. I headed for the shopping center and struck out again - not what I want, too expensive, etc. I was home by 2 pm.

I checked email and Bloglines again, then posted "Ancestry and Rootsweb Traffic" on Genea-Musings. I posted about Santa Cruz and several funnies on Randy's Busy Life, then answered some email. One emailer had found my web page and helpfully suggested I could find more English ancestry of Joseph Clark of Dedham MA in the January 1998 issue of NEHGR. I dug it out and input the excellent data into my FTM database. By this time, it was 5 p.m., so I went in and read the paper, took a brief nap, and we had dinner, then watched the news a bit.

I was back on the computer at 7 pm. and decided I'd better get my April 5 presentation in hand. I moved some things around to make the flow better, removed some duplication, added more pictures and document images with labels, and have it now almost ready to go. I need to caption some pictures, add a summary chart and run through it again for content, typos, flow and interest. I checked my email and Bloglines and wrote this post. I'm done.

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 1.0 hour with email, 1.0 hour with Bloglines, 1.5 hours blogging, 1.5 hours researching the Top 50, 1.0 at the library with CVGS, 1.0 hour adding data to my database, and 2.5 hours working on my presentation.

We've decided to gift ourselves with another weekend away from home - we're off to Disneyland (again) next weekend - we'll meet Lolo and her parents on Sunday for fun at the Magic Kingdom. Angle Linda loved the roses - there are enough that she can share them with shut-ins and friends.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 03/23/08

It's been a long week - I've posted some summaries on Randy's Busy Life blog at http://randysbusylife.blogspot.com for those interested in my family matters.

I was able to read my email, read Bloglines and post one or two previously prepared blog posts each day. My daughter got the tablet Windows computer fixed, so at least I wasn't fighting the MacBook keyboard and browser. I can't connect my laptop to their network. Other than posting and reading, I did no genealogy work until today at the airport where I reviewed my 5 April presentation on the laptop and tried to see how it flowed - it sucks... I need to move things around and add even more charts.

I arrived in San Diego at 1:30, Linda picked me up and we went to Hob Nob Hill for a late lunch. We were home by 3:45 p.m. I unpacked, finally found my keys, and lurched to the computer. My goal today was to read everything, make a list of things to do and blog about, and post the Best of the Genea-Blogs for the week. Unfortunately, I hadn't written anything down while at my daughter's, so I had to hunt for the posts I thought I remembered. The one thing that struck my fancy was the John McCain genealogy story - that he is related to Robert the Bruce and Charlemagne. As someone said, aren't we all? I Googled a bit, read the newspaper article, found some web sites and wrote my post "John McCain's family link to Robert the Bruce." There - that should get some knickers twisted!

Genealogy today was all of 5.0 hours - 0.5 hour to read email, 0.5 hour to read Bloglines, 1.0 hour reviewing my presentation, and 3.0 hours blogging happily away!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 03/17/08

Today was not a wonderful genealogy day because I was in a rush to get things done before my trip to Santa Cruz tomorrow morning.

After reading email and reading blogs on Bloglines, I went searching for my missing Rootsweb Reviews. I found them, and signed up for receiving them via email again (somehow I was unsubscribed a month ago). Then I posted "Are you reading Rootsweb Review" and after doing a bit of research, "Using SearchThingy." I opened up my Seaver database and checked to see if I had the information from the first 50 matches in my database - I found several that I did not have, so I put them in the database. That took me up to about 11:15, so I gathered my stuff and went down to McDonald's for lunch and then to the Library.

I stopped at the Computer Basics class in the Computer Lab and watched for awhile. I accessed Ancestry Library Edition and found three marriage and death records in Canadian records and sent the links home via the "Share" button. Then I went back to the table by the "Family Research" section and talked to Dearl for awhile. I went over to see John helping two of our new members on the computers in ALE. I was home by 2 p.m.

I checked my email, and clicked on the three messages from myself that Ancestry kindly sent me with links to the images I saw on ALE. I clicked on the image, and it said that I had already seen five images like this and they weren't going to show me anymore. Hmmpphh! The nerve of those Ancestry folks... I'll get them at the FHC next time I go - there's more than one way to skin that cat.

Then I read my blogs, and saw Lisa Cooke's post about the LOC's Chronicling America having more newspaper images posted. I spent a good hour browsing through them after I posted "Chronicling America has 500,000 Images."

I wondered what new databases Ancestry had put online since I last checked, and found they had the Missouri marriage and death indexes. I opened my Seaver database again and entered data for a number of folks - mostly death dates and locations that I didn't have previously. I'm amazed at how many Seaver people I don't have in my database - probably two thirds of the ones on the Missouri death database. I went in to read the paper, watch the news and get ready for dinner.

After dinner, I was on the computer at 7 p.m. I copied the databases, my blog pages, my 5 April presentation and several other items onto my flash drive to transfer to the laptop - that way I can work on my databases or presentation if I have the opportunity while I'm away. I changed my Genea-Musings blog colors back to not all-green. Linda needed to use the computer, so I read my book for 90 minutes before coming back to put my "light blogging" post on Genea-Musings and write this ode to inanity.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours blogging, 2.0 hours on CVGS things at the library, 2.0 hours researching and entering database information, and 1.0 hour messing with my directories and copying files for the laptop.

The Geneaholic will go dark for the next five days - I doubt if I'll have a chance to post while I'm in Santa Cruz. I'll be back Sunday night.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 03/16/08

Today was a typical Sunday - go to church, come home, blog, have lunch, do chores, blog, take a nap, watch TV, eat dinner, blog, research, etc. Do you get the impression that my life revolves around blogging? Maybe I should be the Geneablogaholic! I don't need another blog...

We went to church early today at 8:30 because Linda had to teach Sunday School at 10 and had her deacons meeting at 11:30. I came home at 10 and read email and blogs to my hearts content. I posted "Best of the Genea-Blogs, March 9-15, 2008" and went off in search of more blog topics. I almost posted another diatribe about the Ancestry/Rootsweb TIAT (that's a Tempest in a Teapot, folks) but decided not to right now. I've said my piece. The APG list has many comments on both sides - interesting.

I had lunch and watched some basketball, but was back on the 'puter by 12:30 p.m. and did a bit of searching in Ancestry using both the Old and New search boxes. I emailed my observations to Kendall about them. I answered several emails from distant cousins - one that just found me after I dropped messages on the boards for him. Then I posted the TOC for the May 2008 Family Tree Magazine. It's another good one - there are some active article links at their web site. I went to watch the NCAA brackets on TV and took a nap, then watched TV and read the paper until dinner time.

After dinner, I was back on the computer at 7 p.m. and read email and blogs. I posted several posts on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog, wrote an email to the CVGS email list, and added another 6 posts to my "bank" for next week when I'll be up in Santa Cruz. It's almost 9:30 so I'm going to go read my murder mystery and watch TV.

Genealogy today was 7.0 hours - 1.0 hours reading and answering email, 0.5 hours reading blogs, 4.5 hours writing blog posts, and 1.0 hour working with Ancestry.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 03/15/08

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This was not a day for genealogy research - I really didn't do much today but write blog posts and read. I had my men's Bible study breakfast today at 8 a.m., and got home around 9:30. I was ready to go, but the d*mn 'puter froze up and I rebooted, wasting about 30 minutes. Then I read my email and blogs using Bloglines. I posted my "It's St. Patrick's Day!" on the multi-hued green Genea-Musings. Then I posted "New England Historic Genealogical Society databases" to summarize what is on that web site, and to indicate that it is not served well by sites that list vital records available on the Internet. Finally, I wrote most of the next "Best of the Genea-Blogs" so I can post it tomorrow morning.

It was lunch time, so we had leftover pizza, then I went out and cut the back "lawn" (more like weeds...) before the rain comes tonight. I came in tired and cold, watched basketball on TV and read the paper, fell asleep but was awakened by the doorbell, and watched the Fox News Watch program. We're trying to figure out where to go for our anniversary, so I looked for hotels in downtown San Diego since we have Padre tickets for opening day. Everything is sold out - there must be a convention that week! Then it was dinner time.

I was on the computer by 7 p.m., and read email and blogs. I made a long comment on Eastman's blog about the Rootsweb/Ancestry thing. Then I started "banking" some blog posts for next week when I'm in Santa Cruz. My computer time will be limited but I should be able to post one or two items each day in the evening. It's 9:45 pm. and I'm done for the night.

Genealogy today was all of 5.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, and 4.0 hours writing blog comments and posts. I'm just a genea-blogging fool, eh?

Friday, March 14, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 03/14/08

Today was not a day of much genealogy research or effort because Lolo and her mother were here. I had breakfast (waffles and banana) and Disney Channel duty this morning - and finally handed her off at 9:30 a.m. - they went shopping. They left tonight after dinner - we hate to see her go because she is so much fun to be with, really a delight in all ways.

My genealogy efforts started with reading email and blogs using Bloglines during one of the Disney shows, and then after Lolo and her mom went shopping I posted "Rootsweb to be in Ancestry domain," which addressed the issue raised yesterday on many lists and blogs. Then I filled out the latest "New Ancestry" survey and answered my email about it, and then tested it for more than an hour. This time I captured several screens on the New Ancestry to be able to show how it works, and also captured screens for the same searches using Old Ancestry. I like Old Ancestry searches much better, frankly, at least at this point in time.

After lunch at home, I had to find more images on NEHGS www.newenglandancestors.org so I did that and emailed them off. I searched on NEA for Russell Smith data (I think I did that previously ...). I decided to see what databases there are on NEA and was surprised to find so many useful ones. I knew they were there, but haven't really investigated them for a long time. NEHGS doesn't advertise them much - they could do a much better job, I think. Lolo came home, it was nap time and I came back to the computer at 4 p.m. and read email and blogs. Lolo woke up and we went off to dinner at Chick-fil-A - we met Linda and Tami there, they'd been shopping (big surprise, that!). Lolo and I shared a chocolate milk shake (you should see the big eyes when she is sucking on the straw!). Priceless. After we ate, she played about 30 minutes on the equipment with about 10 other kids.

When we got home, Tami packed up, Lolo gave hugs and kisses, and they left for home - we were immediately lonesome! I watched some of the SDSU-BYU basketball game (SDSU lost) and came back to the computer and puttered around for awhile. I found some Seaver data on the NEHGS site and entered it into the Seaver database. It's 9:45 p.m. and I'm done!

Genealogy today was 7.0 hours, of which 0.5 hour was reading email, 0.5 hour was reading blogs, 1.5 hour was writing my one blog post of the day, 1.0 hour was researching for colleagues, 2.0 hours was researching on the NEHGS site, and 1.5 hour was playing with New Ancestry.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 03/13/08

I accomplished nothing significant today in genealogy terms, mainly because Lolo and her mom came to visit and I enjoyed five hours of Lolo-centric activities. We watched TV eating crackers, she played on the floor while I napped, we went out to dinner, we watched the Peter Pan movie when we got home, she got me all wet while taking her bath, we hugged and tickled and played a lot - isn't making family history great fun? I think so!!

Then I got a bonus tonight - Logan and Lucas and their mom called and we talked for about 20 minutes - I'm going up there next week, so it was fun to talk to them - I can't understand anything Logan says, but he tries so hard - he's just 2. Lucas talks a mile a minute and I have to slow him down sometimes - he's 4 and a half.

After reading my email and blogs this morning, I posted my biography/musing about Abigail A. (Vaux) Smith, my great-great-grandmother who lived in an interesting and full life. I wrote this for the upcoming Carnival about Women in my ancestry. That took me right up to lunch time - I ran down to McDonald's for my weekly McNuggets and choc chip cookies, then picked my friend George up for our two mile walk on the bayfront - it was about 70 F and clear, a beautiful March day! I was home by 1 p.m., and gathered some material together in my "to-do" file and input it into my Seaver database. In the process, I found more to do but didn't have time to do it. Then I posted "I Love conference Syllabi" and Lolo came before 3 to brighten the rest of my day and night.

Tonight, after she went to bed, I spent about an hour reading email and blogs and then found six entries in the NEHGS database for Massachusetts VR for a friend. The blogs and mailing lists are full of the news about Rootsweb being taken into the Ancestry.com domain names - I think the concern is warranted, but panic and doom and gloom worrying about it is not. As long as Ancestry keeps their promise to keep Rootsweb and other free web sites FREE to everyone, I don't see a problem. Just my $.02.

Genealogy today was only 5.0 hours - 1.0 hour reading and answering emails, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours blogging, 1.0 hour in my Seaver database and 1.0 hour finding Mass VRs on the NEHGS site.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Genealogy Journal - 03/12/08

The day started with email reading at 8:30 a.m. and blog reading using Bloglines. I posted "WDYTYA Coming to NBC in USA" on Genea-Musings. I printed off some forms and two of my Beginner's Guides, plus my Genealogy News for March, and gathered up my Legacy and FTM charts and got ready to go to the CVGS Research Group meeting.

After lunch at home, I went to the post office box to get the mail, then to the library for the 12 noon meeting. We had 14 there, including 5 recent new members, so we took some time with introductions and explanations. I left after 2 and was home by 2:30 p.m. I quickly sent the Genealogy News for March to the email list, then posted it on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog here. I also posted the Research Group summary on both the Cafe and Genea-Musings. I post it both places because Genea-Musings has more readers than the Cafe and perhaps other researchers will have comments or offer to help. Linda came home about then, so I removed to the family room and watched Fox News then took a nap before dinner.

After dinner, I was back on the computer at 6:30 p.m. I read email and blogs, and then went searching for two images for my 5 April presentation. I also made a Oneida County NY deed index for David and Russell Smith and will use that in my presentation too. I spent several hours trying to find data for our new member Charlotte in the MA Vital Records on the NEHGR site www.newenglandancestors.org. I finally found them - they spelled the name different and collected birth records of 5 children, death records of the father and one child, and the parents' marriage record. I looked for the next generation back without much luck. I saved all of them as JPG files off the NEA site and will email them to Charlotte tomorrow. She will do a happy dance, I think! Then I checked for more census records, but I didn't find many for these people - their parents came from Ireland to New Brunswick and the kids came to Boston I think in the 1860-1880 time frame. That was fun!

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 1.0 hour reading and writing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours blogging, 3.5 hours on the CVGS meeting, 1.0 hour on my presentation and 2.0 hours researching in the MA vital records and census.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Family History Journal - 03/11/08

I stayed home all day and did genealogy work most of the time.

I read my email and blogs using Bloglines, then wrote " 'Learning to unlock their past' article on SDGS" on Genea-Musings. I followed that up with "My top 3 'genealogical regrets' " and then got ready to not go out. I researched my Genealogy News of the Month feature for CVGS and will post it tomorrow on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog. Lunch time ....

After lunch, I worked for awhile on gathering the forms for my CVGS Beginner's Guide, and I created a few new forms and edited some old ones of mine. I'm also a formaholic and a formaphobe, it seems. I love to make them, but have
resisted using them regularly - I use them for my brickwall cases. I answered some email and Googled for awhile for Stephen Feather's Revolutionary War records - I didn't find any, notwithstanding what some books say. Frustrating! Linda needed to do her email, so I went and watched TV and took my nap, then had dinner (she went out with a friend to see a performance of some kind).

After dinner, I checked email and blogs again, and wrote "My top 3 "genealogical smart moves" in response to footnoteMaven's post about regrets and smart moves. Then I spent about 3 hours working on my 5 April seminar presentation on "Finding Your Elusive Ancestors." I added a whole bunch on the GPS, used Mark's Research Map, added more documents and images, and had a great time. I figure I'm about 80% done now - I'm up to 58 pages of Powerpoint slides.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours - 1.0 hour reading and answering email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours blogging, 1.5 hour researching the Genealogy News, 1.5 hours on CVGS things, 1.0 hour researching Stephen Feather, and 3.0 hours working on my presentation.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Family History Journal - 3/10/08

Read, Blog, Google, Library, Research, Chart - my six word memoir for today's genealogy day.

I was reading my email and blogs by 8:30 a.m. and posted "The Elusive --?-- (Wife of Cornelius Feather)" on Genea-Musings. She is really an FNU LNU person! Reading through my notes, I realized that I could find a few more things about Cornelius and his wife, so I Googled them for awhile, especially in Trumbull County, Ohio. I found the "Treasures of the Past" web site and posted about it at "I Wish Someone Would Visit My Grave". Then I opened my database and spent two hours entering some of my new found data about Cornelius Feather and his FNU LNU wife. I had a quick lunch, then went off to the library to visit with John and Dearl.

Shirley had her computer class going, and I popped in twice, but spent about 90 minutes back with John and Dearl in the Family Research stacks. We swapped stories for awhile. I went to the bank on the way home, and was back on the computer at 2 p.m. The mail came, and I received two packages - one with the "Bad Baby Names" book and the other with the 2006 and 2007 St. George (Utah) Conference Syllabuses on CDs. I read all of them over the next three hours, and blogged about the " 'Bad Baby Names' Book is Great." I love conference syllabuses, although I wish some authors would provide more than a list of references for their talks. Dinner time ...

After dinner, I was back on at 7 p.m., checked my email and blogs, and wrote several emails for CVGS issues. I explored the tree charts made by FTM so that I could compare the charts with Legacy Charting. I made several with a nice background and printed one out - 12 pages big. There is no "save to .jpg" like Legacy has. I don't usually do many tree charts because I find ahnentafel and descendant lists more useful for my own research. Just me. I had written down some web sites from the conference syllabuses, so I explored them for awhile - I found nothing extraordinary.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours blogging, 1.0 hour doing research and database entry, 2.5 hours doing CVGS things, 2.5 hours reading my new books and syllabuses, and 1.0 hours doing FTM charts.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Family History Journal - 03/09/08

This was an off-day for genealogy, mainly because I was tired out. I ate too much last night, and woke up at 11:30 with acid reflux. Then I woke up every hour for most of the night, and finally got up at 7:30 PDT and was groggy and grumpy all morning. We went to church and I dozed/nodded through the sermon - the pastor asked me later if I was OK. When we got home, I took a one hour nap then had lunch.

At 1 p.m. I finally read my email and blogs using Bloglines. I posted "Best of the Genea-Blogs - March 2-8, 2008" and "Crime, Punishment and Your Ancestors" by Kathleen Trevena at SDGS Yesterday" and went in and took another hour long nap. It was too warm outside (about 80F) to do any hard work, so I pulled weeds in the shade for awhile, then we had dinner and watched the "About San Diego" program with San Diego historical vignettes. Then I went and cut the front lawn (I fertilized it two weeks ago - it grew!), which took almost an hour since I trimmed up the neighbor's side also.

Finally at 7:30 p.m. I was back on the computer, and read email and blogs, then wrote some CVGS emails, downloaded and read the March newsletter, and made a form for the April seminar. I played a bit with Legacy Charting making a mtDNA chart for my grandmother, but it wouldn't let me make a .jpg out of it - out of resources. Oh well. Where did the time go?

Genealogy today was only 4.5 hours - 1.0 hour reading email and blogs, 1.5 hours blogging, 1.0 hour doing CVGS things, and 1.0 hour messing with Legacy Charting.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Family History Journal - 03/08/08

My six word genealogy memoir for today is Read, Blog, FHC, SDGS, Shop, Research.

As always, I started my genealogy day at 8:30 a.m. reading my email and blogs using Bloglines. I posted "The Elusive Sarah Sephrona Fletcher ..." about one of my elusive female ancestors. I printed off about 30 flyers to take with me today to the SDGS meeting. Then I tried to post another blog, but Blogger was messed up so it waited until I got home.

I remembered my flash drive and I was off to the FHC at 10 a.m. I copied the Oneida County NY deeds for Russell Smith from film to the flash drive, then ordered 3 more films, and helped a fellow do some census research. At 11.15 I jumped in the car, ate my quickie lunch, and went to the SDGS meeting. I talked to Marna beforehand and was able to put my flyers out. I bought several paperback books for leisure reading, then enjoyed the two talks by Kathleen Trevena. The goodies were excellent today - donuts, cookies, candy, etc. Then it was home by 3 p.m. I quickly got back into blogger and posted "My Ancestral Homes Bucket List" and created a few more "elusive female ancestors" in FTM, and edited some of the notes too. Then I shopped for some genealogy books and bought 3 at Eastman's bookstore.

We went out to dinner to the Butcher Shop tonight - it's my favorite place to eat - a nice filet mignon, salad, baked potato, and garlic bread is my kind of meal. Mine was fine, Linda's came late and wasn't so good. We talked about a cruise, Jamboree and other genealogy things. I ate too much We were home by 7 p.m. and I did my hubby-do chores - swifter the tile and vacuum the floors.

Then on the computer I did a little research for the Trevena topics, then wrote the post "Ancestral Dollars and Cents by Kathleen Trevena at SDGS Today." I checked Ancestry to see what new databases they have (lots!) and tried to read the latest Ancestry Magazine (I'm locked out for some reason - it's supposed to be free for Ancestry subscribers). Then I looked for early census records for Cornelius Feather in PA and John Kenyon in RI/CT, and had only some luck. Time to stop and watch the news, I think.

Genealogy today was 7.5 hours - 0.5 hour reading email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours blogging, 1.0 hour at the FHC doing research, 2.5 hours at the SDGS meeting, and 1.5 hours messing around on Ancestry.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Family History Journal - 03/07/08

Read. Write. Think. Library. Taxes. Charts. That's about it for today. My six-word biography for 3/7/08!

At 8:30 a.m. I was reading my email and blogs via Bloglines, and then posted "Frustration turns to success - and lessons relearned" about my search for Mary Lou Olson's name for Sue yesterday. Then I read Mark Tucker's blog ThinkGenealogy and downloaded the picture of the Genealogy Research Map to use as wallpaper on my computer. I blogged about it at "My Wallpaper is Mark's Genealogy Research Map" just in case people missed his post (did you - tell the truth now - you really need to read Mark's stuff!). I photo-shopped a number of images I'm using for my presentation to crop them and improve the contrast. At this point, I was pretty bored and uploaded 7 humor/wisdom items to my long neglected (two weeks!) Randy's Busy Life blog - I'm too busy to write on it every day. I had lunch and took off for the library.

At the library, I made copies of about 5 Chula Vista Star-News newspaper articles about the Mary Lou Olson kidnap and murder back in January 1960. The copier acted up a bit and some of the copies are terrible. I headed home, and decided I'd better do my taxes, so I spent the rest of the afternoon battling Turbotax - they changed it again! I was used to the previous screens and liked it better. Linda needed to send an email so I went in and read the paper and watched the news until dinner at 6.

After dinner, I was back on the computer. I tested the "new look" Ancestry some more and still don't like it...I filled out their feedback form about what I liked (not much) and needed improvement (most everything). Argggh. Why do people have to change things that aren't broken? Then I went into Legacy Charting again to test out some of the options. I ended up printing some 4, 5 and 6 generation charts on 8.5 x 11 paper, and blogged about it at "Testing Legacy Charting - Post 2." So far, no other blogger has posted anything about this except the press release and Legacy images.

Genealogy today was only 6.0 hours - 0.5 hour reading and writing email, 1.5 hours blogging, 1.0 hour getting newspaper images, 1.0 hour testing new Ancestry, and 2.0 hours working in Legacy Charting.

Tomorrow I will go to the FHC with my flash drive, then to the SDGS meeting. I need to work more on my presentation charts.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Family History Journal - 03/06/08

Busy. Frustrated. Frustrated. Busy. Exhilarated. That was my genealogy day. Now the details:

I was on the computer by 8:30 a.m., and read my email and blogs using Bloglines. Then I posted my "How good was Della's list?" post - turns out she was pretty much right on! Smart girl, my great-grandmother. Who cares? I do! I answered a few emails and got ready to go to the FHC. I got to the FHC and then realized that I had left my flash drive at home. Drat (strongly worded exclamation deleted!)!!! So I read my two films of Oneida County NY deeds, and listed the Hawkins, Pray, Wade and White names from the Grantor Index of Glocester RI deeds, and went to lunch (McDonalds).

Then I had a haircut and went to the Chula Vista library and read the latest Everton's Genealogical Helper and went to the National City library to look for a newspaper article from 1961 for my correspondent, Sue. 90 minutes later, I'd had enough - didn't find the murder victim I was looking for. I went home and
read email and blogs again, then posted "SDGS Library in El Cajon" for my San Diego readers. I read the paper, watched TV and we had dinner.

At 6:30, I was back on the computer and posted two items on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog about upcoming programs. Then I downloaded a modified version of Legacy Charting and it worked on my uncompacted FTM database. I spent about 3 hours working on my presentation for 5 April - I have quite a bit of it done now, it needs bells and whistles and polishing. I scanned about 10 pages to use in the presentation. Finally, I Googled a bit to try to find the name of the girl who disappeared in National city in 1961 - I found it was in early 1960, and sent an email to Sue with two newspaper page images from Ancestry as proof. Success!

Genealogy today was 11.0 hours - 1.5 hours reading and answering email, 1.5 hours reading blogs and writing blog posts, 2.0 hours at the FHC researching Russell Smith, 2.0 hours at the NC library and home researching the missing girl, 1.0 hour at CV library reading EGH, and 3.0 hours working on my presentation.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Family History Journal - 03/05/08

It was a beautiful day, so what did I do? I spent most of it inside working on genealogy things. I did go out for a bit, as we'll see.

I was on the computer by 8:30, and read my email and blogs on Bloglines. I posted "SDGS Meeting on Saturday features Kathleen R. Trevena" and then did some research to answer another query about living people - I found an obituary and a contact number for my queryist. I printed off several CVGS papers and organized my pack for later, then posted "Descendants of Sam and Mary Ann - Post 7" about their son, Amos Vaux. Sad...

Then it was a quick lunch at home, and I was off to the post office to get CVGS mail then to the library for the board meeting at noon. We were done before 2 p.m. and I was home by 2:30. I read email and blogs, then Linda wanted the computer and I went in and read the paper and took a nap before dinner.

After dinner, I was back on at 6:30 p.m. I wrote an email to the CVGS members, then wrote my newsletter articles and emailed them off to the editor. I posted two articles on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog. I decided to finish the research on Della's list of grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Samuel and Mary Ann Vaux, and created a post to put up tomorrow. Then I input data for several census years for two families in my database. That completes the census data for the descendants of Samuel Vaux (finally).

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours, of which 1.5 hours was reading and writing emails and reading blogs, 1.5 hours was blogging, 4.0 hours was CVGS business, and 3.0 hours was researching and entering data in my database.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Family History Journal - 03/04/08

I spent just about all day slaving over a smoking keyboard... typing, not playing music.

The day started at 8:30 a.m., with reading email and reading blogs, although bloglines was problematic for awhile. I posted "Descendants of Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux - Post 6" on Genea-Musings while waiting for Bloglines to heal itself - it did. Then I posted "43rd Carnival of Genealogy has 32 Submissions" soon after. Marna wanted me to look at the new SDGS web site and comment on it, so I did - I really like the look and content, and told her so. I'm trying to put together a short Beginners Guide for our new members, so I went looking for all of the forms I've made over the years. I edited them to add up-to-date web sites and links, and when I looked up it was noon time.

After a quixk lunch (soup and GS cookies), I answered several emails of CVGS queryists and sent scans of obituaries to two people. I listened to the latest Genealogy Guys podcast while doing this - multi-tasking! I received an email this morning from Legacy Family Tree about a free trial period for Legacy Charting. I downloaded it, installed it and imported an FTM file and it didn't work well. I wrote a nasty-gram to Legacy and then uploaded a GEDCOM of another database and that worked great, so it must have been my raw FTM file. I got a quick response that said to "compact" my FTM file and try again, and this time it worked, so there was something wrong with my FTM file. I posted my observations with some screen shots in "Using FREE Legacy Charting Pre-release Edition" on Genea-Musings, and had to edit it later. Then it was nap time and paper reading because Linda came home and needed the computer for awhile.

After dinner, I was back on at 6 p.m., and did some research on the "Cousin Mida" Vroman families I found the other day. I exercised the California BMD indexes a bit and found quite a few dates for many of Almeda's descendants. In every family, it seems like there is tragedy - a child dies, a wife dies, a baby is orphaned, etc. I input all of that info into my FTM database. Then I chased other Underhill lines on WorldConnect - my cousin Alison Pligman has done a nice job on her side of the Underhill family. I printed off several lines, and input them to my database which didn't have them before for some reason. Gee, it's 10 p.m. now - I'd better stop.

Genealogy today was 11.0 hours - reading and answering email was 2.5 hours, reading blogs was 1.5 hours, working on the forms was 2.0 hours, working with Legacy Charting was 1.0 hour, and researching the Underhill/Vaux cousins was 4.0 hours.

Tomorrow is a busy day - we have the CVGS Board meeting and I need to deliver flyers, among other things. I've been forgetting to post on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog and I need to do that too, plus write my newsletter articles for the month. Always some - idle hands are the devil's tools, they say.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Family History Journal - 03/03/08

Just another mostly genealogy day - with quite a bit of variety too!

After reading email and blogs via Bloglines, I posted "Descendants of Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux - Post 5" on Genea-Musings. I emailed two correspondents with the results of my obituary and online searches, attaching images of the obituary pages. Then I started on a Beginners Guide for the CVGS new members. I stopped at three pages.

After a quick lunch, I went to the library with three more queries to work on. John and Dearl were there helping a young lady with her Filipino family data. I listened and kibitzed for awhile, then went and did the queries. I was home by 2:15, but Linda was on the computer so I took a nap. I came back at 3 p.m. and had no clue what to post, so I decided to start my "Elusive Women" series - I chose Mary Kent (1726-????, wife of William Cutter) as my first one - I don't know who her parents are. Maybe someone else does.

We went to Rubio's for dinner and Linda took food to the hospital for her friend who was real hungry for tacos, while I drove around and listened to the radio. San Diego has a new Oldies station at KURS-1040. Cool, fun. We got home before 7 p.m., but Linda had email to do so I finished the paper and watched Jeopardy - I got Final Jeopardy right again (Mount Rainier) -- I love the geography and history questions!

Then I was back on the computer and after reading email and blogs, I posted about the SCGS Jamboree program, which I am going to attend and be a small part of. Then I went searching for "Cousin Mida" who shows up in Abby (Vaux) Smith's letters in the 1890s. I found her - she was Almeda (Underhill) (Vroman) Willoughby, who was Abbie's first cousin. Almeda is in every census from 1850 to 1930 (of course, I can't find the 1890, but I'll bet she's in it!). She and her brood end up in Los Angeles, and there are several distant cousins probably living there still.

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 2.0 hours reading and answering email and Bloglines, 1.5 hours blogging, 4.0 hours on CVGS activities, and 2.0 hours of researching Almeda.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Family History Journal - 03/02/08

Sunday's are usually not big genealogy days for me, but today was somewhat different, in more ways than one!

I read my email and blogs on Bloglines at 8:30, and posted "Descendants of Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux - Post 4" before we went off to church. We stayed for our friend Lillian's memorial service at noon and a nice reception afterward (she planned everything out herself...) and we were home by 2 p.m. It was nice to see several old friends, but not under those circumstances.

I was on the computer from 2 until 5 p.m. I posted "The Matri-Name Game" and got kind of carried away with the "what ifs." Then I researched and posted "Best of the Genea-Blogs - 24 February - 1 March 2008." This always takes some time even when I have made a list of candidates during the week (that really helps!). I went in and read the paper, watched TV and we had dinner. I regularly watch Ken Kramer's program called "About San Diego" - it's about San Diego history, and is on at 6 p.m. Sundays on KNSD-7/39. He has several 2-5 minute vignettes with stories and lots of historic San Diego pictures. I keep hoping that I'll see my grandparents or great-grandparents in the pictures!

At 7 p.m., I came back to the computer and read email and blogs, then decided I had better start on my presentation "Finding Your Elusive Ancestors" for the 5 April CVGS Seminar. I spent about two hours on it, and have the format set and 8 pages done. About 30 more to go! I have a general idea what I need to prepare and present - but these things never go exactly as I planned! I need to scan a bunch of papers and photos to add graphic detail to the presentation. I use OpenOffice 2.2 for this and present it from my laptop on an LCD projector. That's on the "to-do" list for tomorrow and this next week.

Genealogy today was 6.5 hours - 1.0 hour reading email and blogs, 3.5 hours blogging, and 2.0 hours preparing my presentation.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Family History Journal - 3/1/08

It's March already - Tempus Fugit, I think, is the Latin term.

After reading email and blogs on Bloglines this morning, and posting "Descendants of Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux - Post 3," I shepherded my CVGS group to the San Diego Family History Center - 13 in all went. We left the parking garage at 9:35 a.m. and returned at about 2:25 p.m., and I was home by 2:45. I read email and blogs again, but was tired so I went in and took a nap in my recliner. I read the paper, finished my Richard North Patterson book, and we had dinner and dessert.

I came back to the computer after 7 p.m., read email and blogs, and posted "CVGS Research Trip to the FHC Today" to document what happened at the FHC - not much! I was frustrated by the lack of success and not being able to do any of my own research - two films came today! I checked Ancestry for their latest databases to see if I've missed anything. Nope! Then I decided to go hunting for surname web sites that might identify some elusive ancestors or enrich my databases. I went through my list of "elusive women" and all I really found was my own message board posts and web site matches for most of them! I think I'll start an "Elusive Women" series after I finish the Vaux descendants posts. I did find Spangler and Pickel web sites that have authoritative data on those families in PA and NJ, respectively.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 1.0 hour reading email and blogs, 1.0 hour blogging, 5.0 hours on the CVGS research trip, and 1.5 hours of furious Googling...