Saturday, October 31, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 31 October 2009

October is done..daylight savings time is over, the heat comes on in the morning, and I'm sure that I have hardly dented my 2009 New Years Goals and Objectives. Too late now?

* Read email before going off to the 7 a.m. Dolphin club breakfast at Carrows. Was home by 8:45 a.m.

* Finished email, read blogs, and Twitter, noting that the Hallowe'en Names had posted while I was enjoying my morning repast.

* Worked in the database resolving my sources - changing from shorthand to real source citations in FTM 16. Stayed mainly in the Seaver surname data because that's where a lot of it is. Probably fixed 200 to 300 of them - many more to do! This is so boring, but has to be done.

* Had lunch, and noted that Saturday Night Genealogy Fun --Tricks and Treats posted while I was enjoying my hostess cupcakes. Also changed my blog colors for awhile...do you like? Didn't even notice, probably.

* Back in the database - decided to "flesh out" my Massachusetts Vital Records book sources - find full title, author, publisher, etc. and add them to the Master Sources. Probably did 20 or 30 of them - many are on Google Books, so I put several in my Google Books library. Then went through database randomly looking for errors - trying to give widows their maiden names back and add the first husbands to their data, then added lots of Vaux christenings and burials as births and deaths in the database.

* Decided to research and write Surname Saturday: CARRINGER and scheduled it for the evening, while I was watching the World Series (and enjoying my ice cream bar).

* After the game, read everything, checked in on Facebook, and then started on the Best of the Genea-Blogs post and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, and 7.0 hours working in the FTM 16 family tree database.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 30 October 2009

This was a pretty fun day - some blogging, some research, some database work. Where did the time go?

* Read email, blogs and Twitter before writing Follow Friday - "GeneaBloggers". Wrote Obtaining my 43-Marker Y-DNA Test Results and scheduled it for late in the morning.

* Tried to find the books I can't find, and found them! Then tried to find the extra FTM 2010 package and it is still hiding from me. Tried to organize some of my piles...put like things together but the piles are just a bit neater now.

* Got cleaned up, went to lunch at Costco, then walked on the bayfront with George. Got home by 1 p.m.

* Decided to work on the San Francisco families of my wife - Schaffner, Paul, Whittle, and McKnew. Went through the SFGenealogy.com site pretty carefully, then found lots of obituaries in the SF Chronicle on Footnote.com. Saved some, transcribed some into my database, plus the death dates found. Wrote a summary in San Francisco Afternoon Delights.

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

* Back online at 6:30 p.m., researched and wrote two posts for Saturday.

* Started working through the San Francisco City Directories on Footnote.com for the SF surnames, plus Seaver. Found a pretty easy way to do it - will have to describe it in a post soon. Got through 1861 to 1873.

* Read everything, checked Facebook, wrote this post, and ready to read my Koontz novel for awhile.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter and Facebook, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 3.5 hours in SF Chronicle obituaries, and 2.0 hours in SF City Directories.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 29 October 2009

A different genealogy day ... no deadlines, clean up some loose ends, have some research fun, grabbed opportunity for Y-DNA test.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter. The post BIG Footnote.com Announcement - US Census Records was scheduled for early morning so that my commentary was first on the block.

* Wrote CVGS Program on "Genealogy Vacations" and scheduled it for late morning. Posted it on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog too.

* Worked for awhile on my Marketing Plan for the ProGen study group. Finished an outline, worked on business cards, thinking about a flyer, checked out potential website names - fun work! Had lunch, I think.

* Wrote Follow-up to Footnote.com Announcement and posted it.

* Accepted the offer of SMGF and GeneTree to have 43-marker Y-DNA results analyzed - paid $19.50 for the results. Input them to DNA Ancestry and YSearch also. Several Seaver people on GeneTree, none on DNA Ancestry or YSearch. Checked Family Tree DNA Sevier group too - no matches. Captured screens for another Y-DNA series.

* Read everything, got email from Footnote answering my questions in first post. Edited the BIG Footnote.com Announcement - US Census Records post.

* Went in at 5 p.m. to watch World Series, took a short cat nap, had dinner, bored by baseball, came back at 6:30 for some census work.

* Searched for census records for Linda's Brocke family - found several generations in 1860 to 1930 census records. Used Michael Neill's Ancestry census links - much easier than clicking back through Ancestry.

* Went in at 8:30 to watch end of game, and back at 9:15 to read everything and write this post.

Genealogy today was 10.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 3.0 hours working on ProGen study group, 3.0 hours working through Y-DNA markers and databases, 2.0 hours working on Ancestry.com census records and the database.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 28 October 2009

Ah, October is finally over as far as the To-Do list is concerned. Er, except for the ProGen things I've put off...

* Read email, blogs and Twitter and perused the photo files for a decent photograph for Wordless Wednesday. Settled on the 1913 photo in Not So Wordless Wednesday - Family Photographs: Post 77 - Della's Relatives in 1913.

* Edited "Genealogy Vacations" one last time, saved it, copied to two flash drives and the laptop, and packed the bag for the CVGS meeting. Wrote Make an Ancestral Map and posted it.

* Got cleaned up and had lunch. Left at 11:20 a.m. for the library. Got set up before noon, and set off my "Genealogy is Fun" presentation for the attendees to laugh at as they straggled into the auditorium. The darn thing still won't advance on the timer for some reason - maybe I need to upgrade my OpenOffice software.

* CVGS Program meeting started at 12:20, was introduced and started "Genealogy Vacations" around 12:45. 81 slides and 70 minutes later - whew. They seemed to like it. Enough humor, vacation pictures and research stories to offset the deadly boring word slides.

* Was home by 2:30, read everything, and wrote Eight More Days of Voting for Best Genealogy Blogs and voted myself (again, forgot to do this for the last three weeks).

* Checked Twitter and Facebook, checked new databases on Ancestry and Footnote, and answered email.

* Went in at 5 p.m. to watch the World Series, took a nap, had dinner, read the paper, and started my Dean Koontz novel.

* Back online at 9:15 p.m., read everything, wrote two blog posts for Thursday, and then this post.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blog posts, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 3.5 hours on CVGS presentation and meeting, 0.5 hour on Twitter and Facebook, and 0.5 hour checking websites.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 27 October 2009

Read, blog, edit, research, data entry, blog, nap, tilt - dinner and a play out tonight.

* Read my email, blogs and Twitter before researching and writing Online Historical Directories. I really like Miriam's website!

* Worked more on the Vacations presentation, and practiced it once. 81 slides, about an hour. That works!

* Got into Google Books and found some San Diego historical data, then looked for Seaver data I didn't have. Found several vanity books, and entered biographical data for 8 persons into my database. Wrote it up in Mining Google Books for Seaver Data.

* Linda needed the computer at 3:30, so went in and took a short nap, then we got ready to leave at 4 p.m.

* Went to downtown San Diego to get tickets for Lion King at 7 p.m. at Civic Theater, then to Horton Plaza for dinner at the Great Steak Escape place, checked out the bookstore, and then to the theater. We were home by 10:15 p.m.

* Read everything, checked Facebook, wrote this post, and I'm done.

Genealogy today was 6.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hours working on presentation, 2.5 hours in Google Books and adding info to the database.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 26 October 2009

Blogging, class, blogging, downloading, fixing, napping, eating and checking.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter, then posted FamilySearch Community Trees - A First Look.

* Had to leave at 9:15 a.m. for my OASIS class, got there at 9:45, class over at 12:15, stopped at McDonalds for lunch, then the library, home by 1:30 p.m.

* Copied CVGS Program on 28 October - "Genealogy Vacations" post for Genea-Musings and tweeted it.

* Downloaded some of the FS trees as GEDCOM files to build a medieval database. Combined them all into one tree. Lots of duplications. Drat.

* Went in at 4:45 to watch TV, read paper, nap a bit, watch football, eat dinner, etc.

* Back online at 6:30 p.m., read everything, worked on Genealogy Vacations for awhile - pretty much done!

* Worked on medieval database for awhile - wasted too much time. Checked Miriam's City Directories pages for San Diego County - a really nice job! A blog post for Tuesday! Wrote this post.

* Found out that my spam folder on Cox Webmail snags Miriam's email and several others so I don't see them. Wonder how to fix that?

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blog posts, 1.5 hour researching and writing blog posts, 2.5 hours at OASIS, 0.5 hour for CVGS, 2.0 hours in databases, 1.0 hour on presentation, 0.5 hour on Facebook and 0.5 hour on SD city directories.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 26 October 2009

Blogging, football, chatting, editing, presentationing, baseball, blogging. The day always seems to come full circle!

* Read email, blogs and Twitter before posting "Every Life Has a Story" Seminar Summary and adding several late posts to the Best of the Genea-Blogs post.

* Time for football! Stayed home from church to watch the Chargers game in hopes that they would finally play to their potential. I'm not sure that the 37-7 romp over the Chiefs reflects good Chargers play, or poor Chiefs play, but it was more enjoyable than the Denver game. No stress. Enjoyed my popcorn in the second half.

* Looked in briefly at halftime on the Scanfest chat hosted by Miriam Midkiff on the Ancestories blog, then went back to the game.

* After the game, came back for an hour on the Scanfest chat. didn't scan anything, though. Enjoyed chatting with my blogging friends.

* Did a final edit for the handout and presentation for the OASIS class on Monday. Printed off the handouts, and copied all to the flash drive.

* Worked on the Genealogy Vacations presentation a bit - polished things up, added some content, hope I can get through all of it. I need a nice fun ending.

* At 5 p.m., went in to watch the ALCS game, read the NGSQ and Family Tree Magazine, and eat dinner. Finally over at 9 p.m. Yankees won, 5-2, as expected.

* Back online to read everything, check Facebook, write two blog posts on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog, and then this post.

Genealogy today was 6.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hours on Scanfest, 1.0 hour on OASIS class, and 1.0 hour on presentation.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Journal - 24 October 2009

Spent almost the whole day doing genealogy work, and play! No baseball game tonight allowed me to work on my presentation and I'm feeling better about having it done by Wednesday.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter this morning, and watched Blogger publish Surname Saturday - SEAVER, which I wrote last night. Checked out the FamilySearch Community thing before packing up and leaving at 9:30 a.m.

* To Fredericka Manor for the CVGS Seminar on Every Life Has a Story, presented by Susan Walter, and followed by lunch in the Fredericka dining room. We had about 70 in attendance, including quite a few people not in CVGS or residing in Fredericka. Was home by 1:45 p.m.

* Read everything, and tweeted about Saturday Night Genealogy Fun which posted in the early afternoon.

* Scanned in about 30 photos from 1990-1999 vacations for use in my presentation. The new scanner works well, but the image quality isn't any better, I fear.

* Went in at 3:45 p.m. to watch the end of the SDSU/CSU football game, then more football, and we had dinner too.

* Back on the computer at 6 p.m., worked on the Vacations presentation. Got text and pictures in for most of it - just have more introductory stuff, one more vacation, and a summary to finish up.

* Started the Best of the Genea-Blogs post for Sunday, since Chargers game is at 10 a.m. here. Won't do Scanfest either. Wrote this blog post.

Genealogy today was 11.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blog posts, 0.5 hour on Twitter and Facebook, 3.5 hours at CVGS seminar, 2.0 hours scanning photos, 3.0 hours working on presentation, and 1.5 hours writing blog posts.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Journal - 23 October 2009

My grandsons sang Happy Birthday to me tonight - "Happy Birthday to you, You live in a zoo, you look like a monkey, you smell like one too." They laughed and laughed about their old grandpa tonight. I said: "well, do you want to come to Grandpa Camp next year?" and they both answered "Yes." Then I said "You better be nice to your old grandpa..."

I missed my report for Thursday, but I did nothing genealogy oriented. Of course, it was all family history oriented! We went to Disneyland with Audrey and Lolo, with their parents joining us there for the day. We had fun in both Disneyland and California Adventure, ate dinner in Downtown Disney and left after 6:30 p.m. We stayed in a cheap motel with no Fox TV for the Yankees/Angels game. Oh well.

On Friday (my birthday):

* We went back to Disneyland for the morning so I could get the $72 gift card they give to birthday people, but you have to spend it at the park. We rode Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones, and Pirates of the Caribbean before shopping. We left at 11:30 and stopped at Ruby's Diner in San Juan Capistrano for lunch. We were home by 2:30 p.m.

* Linda checked her email, and I finally got online at 3:30. Had over 200 emails to read and over 300 blogs to read. We left at 5:15 p.m. for dinner at the Butcher Shop, and were home by 7 p.m.

* Finished reading, checked in on Facebook and Twitter, wrote Follow Friday - "Genealogy's Star" and then posts for tomorrow too, since I'll be at the CVGS Seminar from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 4.5 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 1.0 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter and Facebook, and 2.0 hours writing blog posts.

Still have the presentation for next Wednesday to do - more charts, scan some photos and put them all together in some coherent. I'll be glad when next week is over - can get back to ProGen work and working in my database for awhile. Um, that's right, have Christmas coming up too.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Journal - 21 October 2009

Another genealogy day, and now I'm off for two days or so. Tami's birthday on Thursday, mine on Friday, we're off to Disneyland!

* Tried to read email, blogs and Twitter before Lolo got up - failed! But Tami and Audrey didn't get up until almost 9 a.m., so I got it done.

* Google Alert told me about the Calvary Cemetery article, so I wrote San Diego's Pioneer Park - not what it seems. Then wrote Not So Wordless Wednesday - Family Photographs:: Post 76: Something Different and scheduled it for later in the morning.

* Worked awhile on the presentation - added several charts but haven't started the scanning chore yet. Had lunch at home, gathered up stuff and went to the library.

* Attended the CVGS Computer Group meeting. Found a death record on the SF Funeral Home database on FamilySearch. Home by 2 p.m.

* Researched and wrote New "Living Tree" on FamilyLink then wrote Calvary Cemetery in San Diego on the SSDC Graveyard Rabbit blog. Put class handouts and presentations as PDFs on website.

* Went in at 3:45 to read paper, watch TV and take a nap. Failed at the nap, because we had to leave at 4:30 to pick up the girls at Michelle's, then took them and Abigail to dinner at Rubio's in Otay Ranch. Audrey ate beans and rice and quesadilla. They all chased bubbles for awhile too. We were home by 6:30, got the girls bathed and PJed, and Audrey down by 7:30. Lolo is still awake at 9:40 as I write this.

* Wrote several posts for the next two days as we are off to Disneyland early in the morning on Thursday with two excited little girls. Wrote this post too.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter and Facebook, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours at CVGS meeting, 1.0 hour on presentation, 0.5 hour on class.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Journal - 20 October 2009

Seven days and counting...until the CVGS presentation that I've barely started. I hate pressure! But I do good work under pressure.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter, then researched and wrote Sharing Ancestry.com images on Facebook, Twitter and Email. Works well for me!

* Worked on the presentation - got the Google Maps made for our 1990, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2008 and 2009 vacations. Now need the pictures to go with them. They're all in the scrapbooks before 1999...in my computer files after that.

* Was thinking about patents, and searched for "genealogy" which led to the post Genealogy and Family Tree Patents which took awhile to research and write. Had lunch during this marathon event.

* Answered some email and burned down my email list a bit, made a reservation for Thursday night at Disneyland, then Tami brought the girls at 2:20 p.m. and all genealogy stopped for awhile.

* Linda, Lolo and Tami slept while I had Audrey to keep me awake. What a cute little 18 month old girl. She's stolen grandpa's heart, again. Busy, never still, up, down, chase, tease, play, make a mess, hug, tickle, laugh, stumble, eat, drink, get everything out...typical second year. Lots of verbalizing, getting many words, she mimics her sister a lot.

* At 4:30, we left for Plaza Bonita and the Pumpkin Patch. The girls played for awhile - rode the train, Audrey rode the 25 cent horsies and cooed at the chickens, Lolo jumped in the Pumpkin jump house and went down the big air slides. Had dinner at the food court - Linda and Lolo had Subway sandwiches, Audrey and I had Panda Express. Then shopping at Target really dragged.

* Home by 7:10, got girls bathed and dressed, had ice cream, Audrey begged to go to bed. Tami came home and she and Linda worked with Lolo for awhile. I rocked Lolo and she went to bed at 9 p.m.

* Back online finally - read everything, checked Facebook and wrote this post.

Genelaogy today was 5.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours researching and writing blogs, 2.0 hours on presentation making google maps, and 0.5 hour on Twitter and Facebook.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Randy's Journal - 19 October 2009

Yikes! Only 9 more days until my CVGS presentation on Vacations and I've barely started.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter and posted "Best Strategies for Searching Ancestry.com" Webinar available after watching most of it. Learned a few things, too.

* Got my stuff together and left at 9:15 a.m. for the OASIS class, got set up and greeted students at 10 a.m., started at 10:15 after last one straggled in - on time, but... Done at 12:15 p.m. Stopped at McDonalds for lunch, the library to get a book and say hi to CVGS folks, and home by 1:30.

* Read everything and posted World Genealogy Web Sites after questions at the class. Found a neat map of descendants of Noah too!

* Watched Angels/Yankees, napped a bit, read the paper, watched news, then Chargers game came on, and watched to the dreadful end. Rats... offensive line can't protect or block, defensive line can't rush passer or sack. Bad combo - looks like an 8-8 season again. Glad I haven't expended energy or time predicting outcomes like previous years.

* Back online at 9:30 p.m., read everything, checked Twitter and Facebook, wrote this post, and that's probably it for the night.

Genealogy today was 5.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter and Facebook, 1.0 hour researching and writing blog posts, and 2.5 hours on OASIS class.

Need to turn up the burner on Tuesday for next presentation...scan a bunch of photos, make some Google maps and somehow package it in a presentable and humorous format.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Journal - 18 October 2009

Not much of a genealogy day, although the baseball game was so bad that I did more than I thought I would!

* Read email, blogs and Twitter before church, left at 9:35 a.m. Good to see Jay back from Norway trip and John from Midwest vacation.

* Home from church at 11:35, finished up the Best of the Genea-Blogs post and had lunch, watched football games, read the paper, had a nap.

* Back at 2:30 p.m., posted CVGS October 2009 Newsletter is Online and New or Updated Genealogy Databases - October 2009 on Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog. Sent email to CVGS list about next Saturday's seminar at John's request.

* Printed off my OASIS class handouts, modified presentation and copied all to the flash drives.

* Back to watch end of football game, had another nap, watched baseball game, ate dinner, gave up game in 4th inning.

* Back online at 6:30 p.m., worked more on the Genealogy Vacations presentation. Need to scan lots of pictures and make some Google maps.

* Worked in my FTM 16 master database - deleting duplicate people (from when I merged five databases into one) and adding source notes to some. Added cousin Laura's line also. Tried to find SSDI entries for some distant cousins. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 6.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter and Facebook, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour on OASIS class stuff, 1.5 hours on presentation, and 1.0 hour on genealogy database.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 17 October 2009

A hectic genealogy morning - then a lazy afternoon and evening.

* Up early, read email, blogs and Twitter, and posted Please Take Elyse's Genealogy Survey. No sooner did it post and Elyse's survey was taken offline. She got it back up and I revised my post in the evening.

* Left at 8:10 a.m. for UCSD in La Jolla - got to the CGSSD meeting at 8:45 a.m. Gary got me hooked to the projector and to the Internet, and I was ready to roll at 9 a.m. sharp. My "Exploring Footnote.com" presentation went well with about 50 in attendance - and finished by 9:55 a.m. (I was worried about that!). There were refreshments after that, then I attended Ellen Barbieri's talk on sorting out Italian and Polish ancestors in two different segments. Was home by 12:15 p.m.

* Read everything, and posted Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - A Family's Increase. Took some time to sort out my own list of descendants. Hope people enjoy doing the work and realizing that they need to find and stay in contact with those second and third cousins.

* Putzed around for awhile looking for vacation pictures in my albums showing genealogy pursuits - need them for the next talk to CVGS on 10/28. Reviewed articles on Ancestry.com about vacations too.

* At 2:30, went in to watch football game, took a nap, read the paper, then watched the SDSU-BYU game, then the Yankees-Angels came came on at 5. We ate dinner before the TV flipping between football and baseball. Cleaned out the pantry to get rid of bugs, and watered the front plants.

* Got out the laptop and read things while watching baseball game - finally over at 10:15 p.m. Put it away, came in to read email and blogs, start the Best of the Genea-blogs post, and then this post.

Genealogy today was 7.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter and Facebook, 1.0 hour writing blog posts, 3.0 hours at CGSSD meeting, and 1.5 hours looking for vacation pictures and articles.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 16 October 2009

I spent the day blogging, finalizing my Footnote.com presentation, and getting the laptop ready for Saturday while watching the baseball game.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter and posted The ProGen Group Monster Mash and Should Your Society Have a Blog? (Of course it should, one of my three local societies have one - the one I write!). Wrote CVGS Research Group Summary - 14 October and scheduled it for noon time.

* Worked on my Footnote.com presentation - did another timing practice run and I think I can do 75 slides in 50 minutes (that's the time I have!) - mostly screen shots with annotations.

* Went off to the bank and the library and returned to eat lunch at home.

* Read everything, and wrote Genealogy Source Citations Quick Reference Guide before going into Footnote.com to gather info for Using Wild Cards for Footnote.com Searches which was scheduled for late afternoon.

* Went in to watch baseball game, came back and read stuff at 4:15, then we went out to Oggi's for dinner at 5 and got back at 7 in time to watch the end of the Angels/Yankees game.

* Got the laptop out and did some housecleaning, then copied the Footnote.com presentation files to the laptop using the flash drive, and checked Facebook.

* After the game, came in and wrote two posts for Saturday, since I'll be gone from 8:15 a.m. to almost 1 p.m. So, with this post, that makes 8 blog posts for the day! Whew.

Genealogy today was 7.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter and Facebook, 4.5 hours researching and writing blog posts, and 1.5 hours on Footnote presentation.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 15 October 2009

Stayed home all day, celebrated my dad's 98th birthday by thinking about him and his "increase." Did some useful genealogy work too.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter before writing Learning new Footnote.com Search Tricks. Having learned them, added some pages to the Footnote.com presentation - up around 75 pages now in 50 minutes...gotta talk fast on Saturday!

* Submitted my earlier post to the Carnival of Genealogy, wrote CVGS Research Group Meeting Summary on 14 October and had lunch at home.

* Wrote AB 130 signed Into Law - California Vital Records Access and reviewed the legal language. May be wrong, but maybe it will restrict access to records, or at least prohibit posting of records on the Internet.

* Read everything, and reviewed Tom Kemp's presentation on Genealogy in the Cloud. Checked Twitter and Facebook. At 4:45, went in to read paper, watch TV and watch ball game. Had dinner.

* Came back to computer at 6:30 p.m., reviewed the TGF review article again and participated in the monthly TGF chat. After chat, went in to watch end of game.

* Back on at 9 p.m. and read everything, then searched for awhile in San Francisco Chronicle newspaper for those elusive Seaver folks. Some interesting articles. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter and Facebook, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour on AB130, 1.0 hour on presentation, 1.0 hour on Kemp's presentations, and 1.5 hours working in Footnote.com.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 14 October 2009

It was an interesting day - blogging in the morning, CVGS meeting at noon, worked on presentations in the evening.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter and posted Not Wordless Wednesday - Family Photographs: Post 75: Mother and Daughter before getting cleaned up. Wrote Michael John Neill's "Casefile Clues" and scheduled it for late morning. Wrote Chula Vista Civic Center Library Closed and CVGS Fall Seminar on Saturday, 24 October on Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog.

* Ate lunch at home, packed up my FGS papers and went off to the South Chula Vista Library for the CVGS Research Group meeting. The Civic Center library is closed for maintenance and we may be at South library for several months. They let us use the Conference Room and we had 7 in attendance. Was home shortly after 2 p.m.

* Read everything, and posted CGSSD Mini-Fair on Saturday - 4 Presentations! then went and took a nap. Watched TV and read the paper, then had dinner, took out trash, watered front plants, and watched more news.

* Came in at 6:30 and worked on my Footnote.com presentation - got it annotated and practiced once. Worked on Class 3 and 4 OASIS presentations too. Did some research on Footnote in RevWarPensions. Checked Twitter and Facebook, wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter and Facebook, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours at CVGS meeting, 2.0 hours on Footnote presentation, and 1.0 hour on OASIS class presentations.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 13 October 2009

The cold is worse - lots of coughing and sniffles when I don't medicate with the Tylenol 4-in-1 pills. Then the lozenges when the cough overcomes the Tylenol.

* Up early and online early because of the schedule today. Read email, blogs and Twitter, and posted Google News Search Archive quickly before leaving at 8:15 a.m.

* Off to Carlsbad for the NSDCGS meeting. Traffic stop and go in places, got there at 9:15 a.m., met everyone, talked to Gwynn, got set up for the 10 a.m. start. Pauline introduced me and off I went at about 10:10. Last slide (#119) at 11:30, whew! done right on time! Packed up, and then talked to Mary Van O for about 30 minutes about genealogy and libraries and the future.

* Stopped at Carl's Jr for lunch, then drove home - no traffic and was home by 1:30 p.m. Checked email and blogs, and wrote "Family Trees Yield Big Coin" about JMSeaver.

* Email had a query about the Vaux/Munger family, so hunted census records and newspaper records on Ancestry and Google fore info about extended family. Found some things, and entered them into the database. Fun to be doing something productive and helpful to others!

* Went in at 4:45 to read the paper and watch TV, ate dinner in back yard, put seed in the bird feeder, weeded the front plants, and had ice cream for dessert.

* Back online at 7 p.m. - did more research on Munger family and added Kansas State Census records to the mix. Kinda feel like I goofed off today! Wrote Genealogical Societies - Socialization Networks for the Carnival of Genealogy, checked in on Facebook and Twitter, then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter and Facebook, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours at NSDCGS, 4.0 hours doing online research.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 11-12 October 2009

Ah, I missed last night, didn't I? Didn't really have much to say. Today was a decent genealogy day - busy so not much blogging.

On Sunday, 11 October:

* After reading email, blogs and Twitter, posted Gena Ortega Wows Them at SDGS Meeting (written the night before) and wrote most of the Best of the Genea-Blogs post before going to church at 9:30 a.m.

* Back from church at 11:45, checked blogs again, and posted Best of the Genea-Blogs.

* Gathered up CVGS newsletter masters, mailing list and stamps, and went off to UPS Store to publish October newsletter. Susi helped. Was home by 12:45 p.m. Tweeted about Best of the Genea-Blogs. Printed the OASIS class handout for Monday and put everything on flash drives.

* Went in to watch NFL game and baseball games, had a nap, ate popcorn, and then at 4 p.m. got ready to go out.

* Went to dinner at Panera Bread in Coronado, then ice cream at Moo-Time across the street, and the play Joyful Noise at the Lamb's Players Theater. Home by 9 p.m.

* Watched ball game, read everything online, and went to bed.

Genealogy on Sunday was 4.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 0.5 hour on CVGS newsletter, 1.0 hour on class handouts.

On Monday, 12 October:

* Up early, read email, blogs and Twitter and posted City Directories on Footnote.com. Got ready to go off to the OASIS class - left at 9:15 a.m.

* OASIS class is 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., committed to doing it again in February, stopped at McDonalds for lunch, stopped at library but it was closed for emergency maintenance, and was home by 1:30 p.m.

* Read everything, posted Fortune Cookie Advertising, sent CVGS newsletter to email list, and went in to watch news at 1:45 - took a nap, then watched baseball game at 3 p.m. Had dinner, watered front, and set up laptop to check it out and copy recent stuff to it for Tuesday.

* After the game, came in and modified the Ancestry.com pitch for Tuesday again, and practiced it again. Not sure that it flows well, but too late now!Copied it to flash drive and laptop. Checked Twitter and Facebook. Wrote this post. Need to work on a post for Tuesday morning.

Genealogy on Monday was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blog posts, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours on OASIS class, 2.5 hours on Ancestry.com presentation.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 10 October 2009

A fairly full genealogy day, highlighted by SDGS meeting. Finished my CVGS newsletter just in time to publish on Sunday!

* Read email, blogs and Twitter before getting cleaned up. "Nooks and Crannies of Ancestry.com" at North San Diego County Genealogical Society on Tuesday posted while I was in the shower!

* Wrote Discount for World Vital Records Memberships and then Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post (set to post in early afternoon) before taking off after 9:30 a.m.

* Attended the SDGS RootsMagic software meeting at 10 a.m.. Chris went through working with RootsMagic-To-Go and other sundry tasks. The program meeting started at 12 noon, and Gena Ortega was the speaker. Left at 2:30 and home by 3 p.m.

* Tweeted the SNGF post, read everything, went in and watched baseball game, took a nap, cut the front lawn, had dinner, watched end of ball game, and was back to desk at 7 p.m.

* Added content to CVGS Newsletter for October, proofed it, spell checked it, made PDFs, printed out copy for publishing, made the mailing labels, and I'm ready to go on Sunday.

* Wrote post about SDGS meeting to post on Sunday, then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 4.5 hours at SDGS meeting, 2.5 hours on CVGS newsletter, and 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 9 October 2009

It only gets busier now...next week should be lots of genealogy fun! But I'm ready I think (I hope...).

* Read email, blogs and Twitter, then posted Found some new cousins! Worked a bit in Ancestry.com on 1930 census stuff.

* Neighbor's alarm company called and said something wrong there, so went down and they were OK, and alarm disarmed. Armed it, then found out they didn't want it armed, called company to see what to do, nobody knows password code, so their back door is armed now. Back at 9:50 a.m.

* Wrote 1930 US Census on Ancestry.com - must have misunderstood what I thought I heard in Little Rock. Terrible indexing decisions in 1930 census, now A.com wants users to add content to birthplaces.

* Worked on OASIS class 2 handout and presentation for awhile. Added some pages and made them consistent.

* Went to Costco for lunch, then picked up George for our weekly walk on the Chula Vista bayfront. Back home by 1 p.m.

* Read everything, checked Facebook, then worked on CVGS newsletter for awhile. Almost done - needs some filler stuff. Wrote California Genealogy and History Archives and then went in for the baseball game, a nap, read the paper, have dinner, and watch more of the Yankees-Twins game.

* Back online at 7:30 after game, wrote blog post for Saturday AM, then saw Chris's post and responded with LOL- the Laziest Man in Genealogy? Added one chart to the Ancestry.com presentation and did some editing.

* Back in to watch end of Angels-Sox game, and then back to read everything and write this post.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours researching and writing blog posts, 1.0 hour on OASIS class, 2.5 hours on CVGS newsletter and 1.0 hour on Ancestry.com presentation.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 8 October 2009

Woke up in the middle of the night fearing that I had missed a scheduled speaking engagement - hate it when that happens. Let's see, 10/12, 10/13, 10/17, 10/19, 10/26 and 10/28 - that's all for this month!

* Read email, blogs and Twitter before posting "Stones, Bones and Ancient Tomes" Seminar at Corona on 17 October to help Jean Hibben publicize the Corona event. Sounds like a wonderful time to help bring the community into Family History month. Not sure how much help I can be.

* Wrote Colleen Fitzpatrick's Articles in "Orange County Register" after reading the articles. Then researched and wrote Ancestry.com Old Search vs. New Search Update and scheduled it for later in the day.

* Had lunch at home, and worked on the Footnote.com presentation. Got it pretty much finished - need to double-check links and find some supporting information, then make the handout.

* Went in at 3 p.m. to watch end of Rockies game and woke up in 3rd inning of dodgers game. Ho hum. Read paper, had dinner, and at 6:30 p.m. came back to read everything.

* worked on CVGS Newsletter - need a feature article and the computer stuff and its pretty much done. Read online stuff and then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours researching and writing blog posts, 3.0 hours doing Footnote presentation, and 3.0 hours doing CVGS newsletter work.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 7 October 2009

A blogging fool type of day, but I did buckle down in the evening to work on my next presentation.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter, then posted Wordy Wednesday - Family Photographs: Post 74: Georgianna (Kemp) Auble, The Geneaholic's New Workstation, SDGS Meeting -- Gena Ortega on "Using Google for Your Genealogy," and SDGS Seminar on 14 November: Ancestry.com and scheduled them throughout the day. Checked Ancestry.com card catalog for databases with few index entries. More than I thought!

* got cleaned up, had lunch and left at 11:30 a.m. for the library for the CVGS Board meeting. Uneventful...was home by 2 p.m.

* Posted The Genea-Monster Mash and Michelle Obama's Roots - Video and Article after watching the video and reading the article. good work!

* Sleepy, so went in to watch baseball game, read paper, water back lawn and front plants, have dinner, watch baseball game, got bored.

* Back online at 7 p.m., read everything and checked Facebook. Started work on footnote.com presentation for 17 October at CGSSD. Got about 65% done.

* Wrote this post. Done for the night!

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 1.0 hour reading email and blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hours on CVGS business, 0.5 hour watching RootsTV video, 0.5 hour working in Ancestry card catalog, and 3.0 hours working on Footnote.com presentation.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 6 October 2009

Stayed home today and got tired of doing genealogy things - all work and no play...need to do some research and have some fun rather than write and make presentation charts.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter, then wrote Ancestry.com teams with NARA, Databases Coming Soon to Ancestry.com, and Ancestry Product Updates.

* Worked on the FORUM Genealogy 2.0 article - finished it, proofed it and sent it off to the editor. Whew!

* Worked on the Exploring Ancestry.com presentation. Took a break for lunch, and went until 3 p.m. and got it pretty much done. Need to polish it up, annotate and check flow, but almost done! Wrote NEHGS has Genealogical Journals Online webpage and San Diego Cemetery listings in California Genealogy and family History Archives on SSDC Graveyard Rabbit blog.

* Went in at 3:30 to watch Twins-Tigers game, took a nap, read the paper, watched to end of game at 7 p.m. Didn't get the front lawn cut again. Still.

* Online at 7 p.m., read everything, checked Twitter and Facebook, answered some email, voted again for Top 40... wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 1.0 hour reading email and blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour working in Ancestry.com, 1.0 hour working on FORUM column, 3.5 hours working on presentation, and 1.0 hour answering email.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 5 October 2009

It was a busy genealogy day - not much blogging, some teaching, and some presentation work.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter and "Is She the World's Greatest DNA Detective?" posted before I got cleaned up and ready to go out. Excellent article about Colleen and Andy - more to come! Genealogy gets publicity!

* Left at 9:15 a.m. for Mission Valley for my first OASIS class of this round - four Mondays in October. Had 10 students, started on time, gave briefing on basic principles of genealogy research, some software views, and then online in FamilySearch and Rootsweb. Gave them a 14 page handout (from my new printer!) and homework. Left at 12:30, stopped at McDonalds for lunch and the library to return a book, home by 1:15 p.m.

* Read everything, watched some of FTM 2010 webinar and posted Family Tree Maker 2010 Webinar Available. Took a nap!

* Back at 4 p.m., started on my Exploring Ancestry presentation. Almost every screen shot needs to be replaced since I did this in May at CGSSD. Arrggghhh.

* Stopped for dinner and the MNF game, but back at 7 p.m. Wrote Vote for Your Favorite Genealogy Blogs and added some of the nominees to my Bloglines list. Then back to the presentation mods, finally stopped at 10:30 p.m., but took about 20 minutes off to watch end of the game. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 1.0 hour reading email and blogs, 1.0 hours researching and writing blog posts, 0.5 hour watching FTM webinar, 2.5 hours on OASIS class, 0.5 hours adding blogs, and 4.0 hours working on Ancestry presentation.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 3-4 October 2009

There was precious little genealogy work done this weekend - I barely got the regular Saturday and Sunday posts out. Fortunately, I had the OASIS class preparation done late last week or I'd be up sh!t creek today.

* On Saturday, read email and blogs, and wrote Free Databases on Ancestry.com, before going off to my men's Bible study breakfast at 8 a.m. Went to Costco afterwards and bought an HP Photosmart 6350 All-in_One printer/scanner/copier since my old HP 2355 crapped out on me last week. Got home by 10 a.m. and got it out of the box and on my desk.

* My brother and his wife stopped by at 10:30 a.m., and we had a nice visit, a good lunch at Oggi's, and when we got back we loaded the family Melodeon (we were told it was a Melodeon, it is a Harmonium, I think - smaller than a piano, but with piano-like keys, foot pedals and push-pull things) into his SUV. The Melodeon was bought by our Carringer great-grandparents in the 1920's, and my daughter took it when my mother died and we were trying to find a home for all the furniture. She needed the space, so my brother agreed to take it. It doesn't work, but is an interesting piece of furniture. They left at 2:30 p.m.

* I was late getting Saturday Night Genealogy Fun posted, but did it in a hurry and then set my sights on installing and making the new printer work. It took awhile but had no problems. Did some test prints, including some pictures.

* At 5 p.m., we left for our last Padres game of the year. Ate dinner at El Pollo Loco and got to Petco Park by 6:30 p.m. on the trolley. The Pads beat the Giants 2-0, and we were home by 10:30 p.m.

* Read email, blogs and Facebook before turning in.

Genealogy on Saturday was maybe 2.0 hours - 1.0 hour of reading email and blogs, and 1.0 hour of writing blog posts.

* On Sunday, read my email and blogs before church. There was a potluck lunch and children's program at church, so we didn't get home until 1:30 p.m.

* Wrote Best of the Genea-Blogs in a hurry, then started printing out my OASIS class handouts - went pretty fast because the new printer is faster. Used up all of the black ink provided in the box, though. Glad I bought more ink cartridges, but worried that this printer will eat more ink faster than the previous one - the cartridges are expensive.

* Went in to watch the Padres game and the NFL games, read the paper, and copied my genealogy files onto the laptop (this is a monthly process). Also installed FTM 2010 on the laptop and made it work. Padres lost 4-3 to Giants in 10 innings.

* Ate dinner while watching the Chargers game - Bolts lost 38-28 and it was a wipeout through three quarters (28-7). Damn team can't play run or pass defense well, and cannot run block at all. Very frustrating to have a team loaded with talent but not winners.

* Came in at 8:30 p.m. to read everything, copied updated OASIS class files to two flash drives and to the laptop so that I have backups on Monday if needed. Wrote a post for Monday morning just in case I'm busy...need to be at OASIS before 10 a.m. Wrote this post.

Genealogy on Sunday was 4.0 hours - 1.0 hour reading email and blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour on OASIS class handouts, and 0.5 hour loading FTM 2010 on the laptop.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 2 October 2009

I'm feeling a lot better about my to-do list - I did three more items today and need to get started on my three presentations. But I still have the printer problem - which I'm going to solve by buying a new one tomorrow!

* Read email and blogs and Twitter, read FamilySearch wiki articles, then posted Family History Library Favorites and wrote FamilySearch Wiki Research Articles.

* Worked on the FORUM column and got it pretty much done. Still too long - needs some editing and polishing.

* Had lunch at 11:30 and went off to pick up George foro ur weekly walk on the bayfront. Cool today - low 70s and a bit cloudy. Home by 1 p.m.

* Worked on the first two OASIS class handouts and presentations, and got them whipped into shape (I think).

* Wrote Updated List of Unindexed Ancestry.com Databases to update the list, and found two lists of FREE Ancestry.com databases. Put them on my Ancestry handout. Emailed handout to NSDCGS program chairman.

* Time for TV and dinner, and came back at 6:15 p.m. to read everything and check Facebook, then back to Padres game.

* Copied genealogy data to flash drive and got laptop out to update virus protection and scan system. Used laptop during Padres game (we lost 7-2 to Giants) to check blogs and Facebook.

* The power went off last night, and when everything rebooted, the printer went on the fritz again. Checked it out, read the manual, absolutely no help. Won't turn on when connected to power, let alone when connected to computer. I think it's dead. Need to print stuff on Sunday for Monday OASIS class so I'll go get a new all-in-one printer at Costco on Saturday. Didn't waste much time on this today!

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 1.0 hour reading email and blogs, 2.0 hours researching and writing blog posts, 1.0 hour reading articles on FS wiki, 2.0 hours on FORUM column, 3.0 hours on OASIS class handouts and presentations, and 0.5 hour on Facebook.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Genealogy Journal - 1 October 2009

It was a full genealogy day primed with lots of frustration over the damned HP 2355 Printer. Still got lots done, but could have done more, and now worry about printer failure at the wrong time, like the night before a presentation.

* Online before 8 a.m., read email and blogs and Twitter, posted "Lost and Forgotten Cemeteries of San Diego" Program Summary and then buckled down to work on the FORUM column. Looked up and it was lunch time.

* Edited the ProGen Proof Argument one last time, and sent it to the peer group for review and comment. Added the CVGS Program summary to the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog, and wrote another post there for tomorrow.

* Fought the printer issue for almost three hours - finally posted about it on Facebook and got advice. Downloaded the updated drivers and installed them, but still didn't work. Ready to go to Costco for a replacement for Old Faithful, I cursed at it, unplugged it and replaced the color cartridge, then plugged it back in and it worked! After about ten reboots and many complaints on Facebook. How long will it last - I have no clue. If it dies, I hope it's on a Tuesday - I need it on Sundays to print my syllabus material for the adult ed classes.

* Posted Stymied on Devier J. Lamphear Smith problems in order to surface some ideas and comments. Time for news, paper and dinner.

* Back online at 6:15, worked on my Exploring Ancestry.com handout - checked all links and added some and deleted some (where did the Coming Soon page go?).

* ProGen chat started at 8 p.m. about Marketing Strategies.

* Read everything, then decided to write my Blog Obituary for the Carnival of Genealogy. Then wrote this post. Six blog posts today!

Genealogy today was 10.5 hours - 1.0 hour reading email and blogs, 1.0 hour on Twitter and Facebook, 3.0 hours on FORUM column, 2.0 hours on ProGen homework and chat, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour on Ancestry presentation, and 3.0 hours fighting the damn printer problem (not counted in the above).