Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 30 December 2009

One more day left in 2009 - better get my Goals for 2010 together. But first, I wanted to summarize 2009.

* After reading email, reading blogs and Twitter, posted Grading my Progress on 2009 Goals and Objectives (written last night). Researched and wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday -- Honeymoon Couple and set it for later in the day.

* Got cleaned up, and researched and wrote Top Ten Genealogy Moments in 2009, and set it for early afternoon. The earthquake hit (5.8 centered near Mexicali) and tweeted that at 10:50 a.m. - light shaking here lasted 10 to 15 seconds.

* Had lunch at home, went off to the bank and library, back home worked on the bedroom TV settings - got it right on first try - no swearing, either! Linda's can now watch her favorite channels lying in bed. Put stuff back on top of family room TV cabinet, and stowed handbooks in appropriate places.

* Back on computer at 2 p.m., tweeted the Top Ten post. Worked in the database adding sources for awhile. Found some ancestors poorly defined, so Googled two of them (Henry Ambrose and William Worcester) and found decent ancestral information that looks right. Added the information to the database with the source cited.

* We went to dinner at Oggi's at 5 p.m. - watched Holiday Bowl game there. Home by 6:30 and watched more of the game, but boring.

* Back on computer at 7, read everything, checked Facebook, researched and wrote Find Latitude and Longitude of Any Place. Worked more in database adding sources to Seaver data and deleting duplicate Facts (caused by merging two databases). Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 7.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 3.0 hours researching and writing blog posts, and 3.0 hours working in database adding sources and deleting duplicate Facts.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 29 December 2009

Two more days, and I got another major project done! Cool - now two talks to finish up by 21 January!

* Read email, blogs and Twitter, and posted My Favorite Online Genealogy Newsletters. Researched and wrote Ancestry.com New Databases for 2010 and set it for late morning. Got cleaned up but stayed home.

* Finished up my proofreading of the FORUM magazine - sent it off to Sandra. Worked for quite awhile looking at different wiki platforms. Worked in WeRelate the longest to get more familiar with navigation and features. Had lunch at home.

* Started FORUM column for Spring 2010 issue - deadline is 31 December. Got it pretty much completed - need final edit and link check before sending to editor. Took awhile!

* Uploaded GEDCOM to AppleTree, and captured some screens for future blog post. Checked Facebook.

* Went in to have dinner, read paper, watch TV. Still don't have TV right. Got email from Cox with a PDF that explains how to set it up. Did what it said and voila, our HD TV now gets HD in all of its beauty - full screen too, that's what was the problem.

* Read everything, wrote Pictures of Annie Moore! and then captured some WeRelate screens for future blog posts. Wrote blog post on meeting 2009 goals and objectives for Wednesday morning. Spent time checking out the LatLon.com site - cool! Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 11.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 4.5 hours working on FORUM column, 2.0 hours on WeRelate and AppleTree, and 1.0 hour on Twitter/Facebook.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 28 December 2009

Three more days in 2009 - and I still have projects to finish! Time waits for no genealogist!

* Read email, blogs and Twitter, then researched and wrote Mystery Monday - Finding Jane and Elijah in the 1860 Census after my search last night. Wrote "Playing with DNA" Article and set it for later in the morning.

* Modified my FORUM column for the Winter 2009 issue to add links and modify text about Facebook due to changes on Facebook. Sent it off to editor.

* Had lunch, then went to Chula Vista library to do queries. Closed - until 4 January! Oh well. Home by 1 p.m.

* Spent two hours going page-by-page on Ancestry in 1880 census in San Francisco looking for 19th Street - didn't find many, and not the McKnews, although they were almost certainly there.

* Researched and wrote A Mayflower (1620) Research Article Index.

* Went in to install HD on our digital TV in the family room. some frustrations, but not bad. It almost works perfectly - some remote buttons don't work and I don't see the 1080 dpi on the cable box. Will call Cox on Tuesday. Need to install digital on the bedroom TV tomorrow.

* Read the paper, had dinner, watched football, came in at 7 p.m. to read everything, wrote a post for Tuesday morning.

* Proofed most of the Winter 2009 FORUM magazine for Sandra. Got late, so wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours searching Ancestry in 1880 census for McKnews, and 2.5 hours on FORUM column and proofing.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 27 December 2009

A real no-stress and fun genealogy day - even got some research in!

* Read email, blogs and Twitter before going off to church at 9:30 a.m. Was home by 11:45.

* Added about 20 blogs to my Bloglines account. I know - you say "you already read 560, why do you want 20 more?" Well, there are new genealogy blogs added every week - I use Geneabloggers to keep track of the new ones.

* Ate lunch, checked on football games, started writing Best of the Genea-Blogs. Finished it and went in to read paper and watch football, then highlights and news, and had dinner.

* Back online at 6:30, decided to get more SF City directories on Footnote.com for McKnew, Paul, Schaffner, Seaver and Whittle surnames. Worked from 1878 to 1887. Whew!

* Went searching census for Whittle folks to see if I could find Joseph and Rachel, or possible siblings. Thought Deering Whittle may be a sibling - found him in 1860, 1870 and 1880, and widow in 1900. Looked for Jane Whittle (used Jane Whit* born in Australia as search term) and found her in Tuolumne County in 1860 age 13, living with W.B. and Elizabeth Ray (born England). Maybe Elizabeth is Jane's sister? Need to chase her down. And found Elijah Picrell (birth name Elijah Pickrell McKnew) born MD two houses away from Jane! Cool!

* Checked on Facebook, tried to add the Video to my profile but can't figure that out. Frustration! Help is no real help on this... Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 6.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour on Twitter/Facebook, and 3.0 hours doing online research.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Randy's Family History day - 26 December 2009

We returned from Victorville in the high desert at about 1 p.m. today. We had a great fun time with the grandgirls and their parents over three days, including a visit from Santa Claus at their house on Thursday evening. Not much genealogy done - although I did keep up my online reading of blogs and email on the laptop.

* After we got home, Linda checked her email and somehow the router got messed up. I went through the debugging process with Cox Cable on the telephone automated help line and got online by disabling the router. Then I found the CD and instructions, and the darn thing wouldn't even turn on. Need to check it further. That wasted almost two hours.

* Transferred the Flip videos to the computer, then backed them up to the external drive. Played all 46 of them... some are decent and may go up on Facebook.

* Went in to watch TV at 5:30 p.m. and had dinner, watched news, then came back and uploaded one video to Facebook. Wrote SNGF: The best genealogy gift was ... family videos and tried to embed a video in the post - no luck.

* Answered some email and did a little research to answer several correspondents. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 4.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.0 hour doing video work, and 1.0 hour writing blog posts.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 22 December 2009

Three more days until Christmas! Two more shopping days. I tried, I really did, to find something great for Angel Linda...but ...

* Read email, blogs and Twitter. Advent Calendar - Day 3 - Christmas and Deceased Relatives posted before I got up, and NARA Laguna Niguel Move to Perris CA posted while I was reading.

* Got another McAfee renewal notice - I just had a hassle two months ago, so wrote a request to cancel and refund the automatic renewal. I'm confused by all of the McAfee products - what I have and what I need are not the same, I guess. Wasted an hour with this - frustrated.

* got cleaned up and went off to the bank and then the mall, then two drug stores and came home empty handed gift-wise. Wrapped what I have and that will have to be good enough. Tired and frustrated some more.

* Home by 12:30, ate lunch, read everything online and wondered what to post. Checked out some of the Ancestry.com military databases -they are really helpful if you have the persons in them.

* Watched the Helen Leary videos on the NGS site - pretty good. Checked to see if I had all of the NGSQ PDFs in my files from 2002 on - I didn't, so downloaded them.

* Answered several pending email requests for family information. Downloaded the new pictures from the camera and the videos from the Flip cam. Made sheet of pictures for Linda to share.

* Researched and wrote Types and Number of Databases on Ancestry.com to use as a benchmark. It will be interesting to see how their collection grows.

* Took Linda out to dinner at Oggi's - had pizza and salad. Home by 6:30 p.m., watched some of BYU/OSU game then to the computer.

* Had response from McAfee agreeing to cancel one service - but now I wonder if what I still have is really what I need. Looked over their website and was still confused, so answered the email from McAfee with questions. Wasted another hour! Dammit.

* Wrote several blog posts for the rest of the week, since we are leaving for Victorville on Wednesday. Be back on Saturday, I think. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 6.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour on NGS site, and 1.0 hour researching for the email responses.

No Geneaholic reports until probably Saturday, and maybe not until Sunday, due to outtatown schedule.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Days - 20-21 December 2009

Three more shopping days until Christmas. I need to hit the mall on Tuesday...and then wrap everything. Genealogy took a backseat to family history over the weekend - Lori and the boys left this afternoon to go back to Santa Cruz, so I was able to get some genealogy work done this afternoon and evening.

Sunday, 20 December - a good football day in San Diego!

* Got the boys fed and set up on the TV, and was able to read email and blogs before going off to church at 9:40 a.m. Home by 11:30 - stopped off at the hillside to pick up two of the balls that went over the wall on Saturday. Boys had been playing with RC helicopters outside - one went on the roof - Lori climbed up and got it.

* Lori, Linda and the boys left for the Fleet Science Theater to check out the exhibits and see one of the IMAX films. Left me all alone with the TV - my Chargers played the Bengals at 1 p.m., and won 27-24 in the last seconds. Good game - playoff caliber. They came back at 3:30 just in time to see the end of the game.

* Played with the boys outside, then we had dinner, and watched the SNF game until the boys went to bed. Read everything, checked Facebook and Twitter, wrote a blog post for Monday morning, and not much else!

* Blogging? Advent Calendar - Day 5: Religious Services posted early in the morning, Best of the Genea-Blogs - December 13-19, 2009 posted while I ate lunch, and 12 Days of a Genealogy Christmas posted while I was watching the Chargers game. All written before Sunday.

Genealogy on Sunday was 3.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour writing blog posts, and 1.0 hour on Twitter and Facebook.

Monday, 21 December 2009

* Advent Calendar - Day 4: Christmas Music posted before I got up, and Massachusetts Vital Record Books Online posted while I was playing baseball with Lucas.

* Got the boys fed and ready to go - was able to read email and blogs while they were watching TV. Played a little baseball with Lucas, flew the RC copters with both boys, and tickled Logan. They wanted one last go at Grandpa Monster, too. Helped Lori find everything to pack. We left for the airport at 11:15 a.m. minded the boys while waiting in the checkin line, and said goodbye at 12:15 and headed home. Ate lunch at McDonalds.

* Went up to the health center to get a release form, took longer than expected, finally home at 2:30, and sent info to insurance company.

* Read everything, checked Twitter and Facebook, and wrote Megan's List. Went in for dinner, then watched MNF game for awhile.

* Back online at 6:30, cleaned up the email list a bit, wrote posts for Randy's Busy Life, then wrote two posts for the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe, and two for Tuesday on Genea-Musings.

* Watched Find My Family at 9 p.m. - in the first case, they used birth records to compare to Catholic high school graduations to find a match in San Diego area - there was only one, and it was the son given up for adoption. In the second case, they knew the mother's maiden name, but not her married name or parents names. Mother's birthplace was on adoption record as Africa, so they searched for military men that served in Africa, found one, and found the birth mother. In none of the six cases I've seen so far have they looked for the birth father - it's always been the birth mother.

* Came in and read everything, then wrote this post.

Genealogy on Monday was 5.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, and 1.0 hour researching websites.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Randy's Family History Days - 18-19 December 2009

Missed posting yesterday - was really tired! You'll see why...

Friday - 18 December:

* Barely got email, blogs and Twitter read in the morning due to feeding and playing with Lucas and Logan while their mom slept and Linda went off on errands.

* Advent Calendar - Day 7: Christmas Stockings posted while I slept, Follow Friday -- Family Matters posted while I monitored Disney Channel, and Christmas Names in the Census Records posted while I was napping in the afternoon.

* We left for the San Diego Zoo at 10 a.m. - took the skyride across, walked through Elephant Odyssey (first time for Logan and Lori), and had lunch at the place on the north end. Lori and the boys ice skated for 20 minutes at the small rink there - not real ice, but realistic skating except for the air temperature. Walked through to the exit, and were home by 2 p.m. I took a nap, but nobody else did I think.

* Played outside with the boys - baseball and chase tag. Watched TV, had dinner, and then we went out to see Christmas Circle here in Chula Vista with lighted Christmas displays of all kinds. We walked the mile course. Home by 7 p.m, got boys bathed, dressed and fed dessert, then to bed.

* Wrote two blog posts for Saturday...working ahead!

Genealogy today was 2.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, and 1.0 hour writing blog posts. Lots of family history though! We were all tired, even the boys.

Saturday - 19 December:

* Got boys fed breakfast, then I went off to men's bible study breakfast, home by 9:30 a.m. Played baseball outside, had lunch, then decided to go to the beach at Imperial Beach in the afternoon.

* Was able to read email and blogs and Twitter and check Facebook throughout the morning.

* Advent Calendar - Day 6: Christmas Shopping posted while I was sleeping, Surname Saturday - SMITH of Medfield and Dedham MA posted while I was having breakfast, and Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Genealogy Gift posted while I was at the beach!

* Left at 11:30 for the beach - warm air, cold water, but the boys got all wet and loved it. Played catch with Lucas there, but didn't even get my feet wet. We were home by 1:30 p.m. to help Linda get ready for dinner and the crowd.

* Tami and her family came at 4 p.m., and we had gift opening for almost an hour. The kids tore into everything and I got some pictures and video. We had dinner and dessert, and some pictures, then Tami and her family went home to Victorville, leaving after 7 p.m. The boys bathed and dressed and went to bed easily.

* Came in and read everything, then wrote the Best Of post for Sunday, and then this post.

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

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 17 December 2009

Only seven more shopping days until Christmas. Linda brought home some clothes that she would like to have - I wrapped them quickly! Really not much of a genealogy day today - only some reading and blogging - no research, no other writing, too busy getting ready for Lucas and Logan coming tonight.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter, then noted Advent Calendar - Day 8: The Family Journal posted this morning.

* Researched and wrote Ancestry.com's New Database Browse Features and then Treasure Chest Thursday - World War I Draft Registration and set it for early afternoon.

* Got cleaned up, left at 10:10 to pick up my eyeglasses at the medical center. Close vision is not as good as what I have, but distant vision is better. They said "put them on first thing in the morning and your brain will adjust quickly." We'll see. That was Frustration #1. Frustration #2 was I stopped at the Lab to get the blood taken that the doctor wanted several weeks ago. They had no order for it, and the doctor's office said he was out of town. So no text. When I got home, the doctor's office called and said "we need you to go to the medical records office and sign a waiver." I was just there, of course, Frustration #3. Was home by 11:30 thoroughly pissed and still couldn't read using the new glasses.

* Decided to tackle the mess in the genealogy cave. Put the 8 inches of paper back on top of the bottom 8 inches, straightened up the stacks a bit, and tackled the pile of financial papers on the table. Threw out a bunch, whittled it down to five inches in neat folders. Took several hours.

* Linda came home and we wrapped all the gifts we have for the kids, and put them by the tree. Read everything and was sleepy, so went in at 4 p.m. to read paper and watch TV. We left at 4:45 for Toys R Us to buy whiffle ball stuff, then to airport to pick up Lori and the boys, and then to Rubios for dinner. Home by 7:30.

* Played with the boys for awhile - then they had baths, watched the Santa personalized video with each of them (pretty cool) and they went to bed. I read online and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 3.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, and 2.0 hours writing blog posts.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 16 December 2009

It was a genealogy day, but with no research...so does that count?

* Read email, blogs and Twitter, and noted that Advent Calendar - Day 9: Christmas at School posted on schedule. Before I knew it, Blog Caroling - "Angels We Have Heard on High" posted also. Love it when I don't have to write on deadline.

* Wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Too Much Eggnog? and set it for later in the morning. Got cleaned up and ready to go out.

* Left at 10 a.m. to go to Costco to get veggie platter and then to Walmart to get Santa hat - I wanted one to go with my Santa shirt. Got to library right at 11 a.m. and the tables were already set up. Took my stuff in, and enjoyed talking to folks. Nice not being the leader...get to hobnob with folks and have no stress. Holiday Luncheon was fun!

* Home by 2:30 p.m., read everything, wrote an email, checked Facebook, wondered what to blog about, and eyes were drooping so went in and took a nap in my chair - first one in weeks I think - too much food? Probably. Wrapped boys Christmas gifts, watched TV, ate dinner, avoided doing anything strenuous.

* Back online at 7 p.m., read everything, wrote CVGS Holiday Luncheon Highlights and tweeted it. Did a little online research, but had no success. Copied pictures from camera to computer. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 7.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 3.5 hours at CVGS luncheon, 1.0 hour doing online research.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 15 December 2009

Pretty much genealogy all day except for my good deed and dinner. But what did I accomplish?

* Read email, blogs and Twitter, then wrote Mundia.com on Facebook in a hurry.

* Got cleaned up and left at 8:40 a.m. to pick up Ruth and take her for her blood test. The lab moved so it was a hassle because of the wheelchair, in and out of the car four times, etc. Was home by 10:30, though.

* Found Father Jack's obituary, and wrote my own tribute to him in Father Jack Pejza - Rest in Peace, my Friend. Found his online database on ancestry.com, so it will last forever (?). Emailed some DX friends about him.

* Had lunch, checked email, researched and wrote Advent Calendar - Day 10: The Holiday Happenings - the only really new post this year.

* Worked in the database correcting and adding sources for awhile - kind of random, really. Did some Googling of couples for whom I don't have much narrative material, found some but not much. Probably should go through my notebooks again to add notes and sources.

* Checked in on Facebook and tried to work in We're Related but it's gone! Goes right over to FamilyLink, where I'm the only person in my file now - had about 12 people in the We're Related file before.

* Went in at 5:30 p.m. to read paper, watch TV, eat dinner, and do the wash. Back online at 7 p.m. and found Laura's Ancestry database and entered data into my database for awhile. Got curious about Mark P's other find in November - the parents of Sarah Kinnan, and found lots on WorldConnect for the line - if it's right. Several Mayflower folks in early generations. Cool - more work!

* Wrote up the first draft of my goals for 2010 - need to present them tomorrow at CVGS luncheon. Wrote this post. Need to wrap gift later tonight.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour in Ancestry.com, 1.0 hour on Twitter and Facebook, 1.5 hours searching for ancestral couples, and 2.0 hours in my database adding and editing data and sources.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 14 December 2009

The blogging fool rode high today - 20 posts written, er, prepared for today and the future.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter. Advent Calendar - Day 11: Fruitcake - Friend or Foe? posted before I got up this morning. TGF list had two useful posts - wrote about OurTimeLines.com works great! and Madness Monday -- "God, Love and Lust..." Fascinating Article.

* Got cleaned up, and started on Advent Calendar posts through 24 December. Then wrote more for the days we'll be offline. Most of them from last year or year before. Nobody remembers - right?

* Had lunch, left at 11:45 a.m. for post office to drop Family Journals in mail, then to library for Table Talk. Left at 1 p.m., home by 1:30.

* Read everything, wrote CVGS Holiday Luncheon on Wednesday, 16 December and posted it to Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog too. Continued to write blog posts for next two weeks.

* Wrote Dear Genea-Santa Redux for Carnival of Genealogy, and then checked Facebook for awhile. Went in at 5 p.m. to read paper, watch TV, and we had dinner at the table.

* Watched MNFootball for awhile, back online at 6:30, added some data came via email on Seaver lines, then worked on sources for awhile.

* Researched and wrote More Info about Mundia.com and then tweeted about it. Checked back on Facebook too. Finally, wrote this post. Six newly written posts, and about 15 copy/paste posts put up today.

Genealogy today was 11.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.0 hour at CVGS, 0.5 hour on Ancestry/Mundia, 1.0 hour in database, and 6.0 hours writing blog posts.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Randy's Football Day -- 13 December 2009

Not much of a genealogy day, although got one project completed! Chargers won, all's right in the football world.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter before church - had to go early to chair my committee meeting.
Advent Calendar - Day 12: Holiday Travel posted before I got up. Got word at church that Father Jack Pejza passed away on Saturday coming off the Holland America cruise ship here in San Diego. A loss - what a wonderful man and priest.

* Home by 11:30 a.m., plunged into Best of the Genea-Blogs post and got it up before 12:30 p.m. Went in to watch Denver lose to Indy and Saints squeak by Falcons. Watched Chargers-Cowboys game - a good one. Bolts won 20-17.

* Linda left at 4:45 for her Deacons meeting and dinner, so cooked (yes, Genea-Santa can cook if he needs to) scrambled eggs and leftover veggies for dinner, topped off by the Dove bar.

* Worked up some Mundia screen shots, checked Facebook, and wrote Family Trees on Mundia.com. It still works slow.

* Went in to watch Giants-Eagles game, and collated my Family Journal, got them into the envelopes, stamped, stickered and sealed the envelopes, and they're good to go tomorrow. Another project finished. Now need to email the Christmas letter to online friends. Watched to the end of game, then Chargers highlights too.

* Linda came home and had lots to share. Came in and read everything, then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 4.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 0.5 hour working more in Mundia, and 0.5 hour putting the envelopes together.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 12 December 2009

On the 13th day of Christmas, we shopped! Got a good head start on Linda's gifts, and some of mine too. No secrets after 40 years? Wrong!

* Read email, blogs and Twitter. Advent Calendar - Day 13: Charitable/Volunteer Work and Surname Saturday - KEMP posted this morning, having been written on Friday.

* Wrote How can I preserve my family memories? and Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Another Wish List before getting cleaned up and heading out for Costco.

* Scouted out the TV, portable hard drives and flash drives before Linda got there. We got quite a bit done for each other, and several others, and had a hot dog and churro before heading home.

* Home by 1 p.m., read everything, tweeted about SNGF, and settled in to print out the back pages of the Family Journal. Tried to answer the pending messages on Ancestry.com and some email messages from several months ago. Then worked on sources in my database for awhile.

* Checked email and saw that Mundia.com had been discovered this morning and I missed it because of shopping... did some testing and searching on the site, and then took Linda out to dinner.

* Went to Oggi's in Otay Ranch for dinner, were home by 6:30 p.m., and worked more on Mundia. Had to do some work for Linda, then back to Mundia and wrote A First Look at Mundia.com. Then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 7.5 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour in the database, 1.0 hour answering Ancestry messages, and 1.5 hours working on Mundia.com.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 11 December 2009

Only 13 more shopping days until Christmas. Linda informed me we have to finish shopping on Saturday. Blogging may be light! ;)

* Read email, blogs and Twitter. Advent Calendar - Day 14: Other Traditions posted early in the morning. Wrote Follow Friday - Geneablogie!, New and Updated Genealogy Databases - November/December 2009 , and Chula Vista Genealogical Society Activities (set for later in the morning).

* Got cleaned up and went off at 9:15 a.m. to pick up Ruth and Kurt and take them to the doctor in Chula Vista in the rain. Then to the pharmacy, and then to their rest home, where we had lunch. Was home by 1:30 p.m. My good deed for the day!

* Linda came home, helped her unpack, put stuff away. Read everything, found MA VRs in LDS Record Search, added some data to database, then added/corrected sources in database for awhile. Did a bit of research for a colleague. Researched and wrote Massachusetts Marriage Records on FamilySearch Record Search.

* Came in at 5 p.m. and watched TV, read paper, and we had soup and crackers for dinner.

* Back to work at 6:30 p.m. Checked Facebook. Proofed the Family Journal one last time - added some color and minor edits. Printed out the odd numbered pages - 26 copies. Will do even pages (back sides) tomorrow. New printer works fast, but uses lots of ink, even for non-bold pages.

* Checked Fitchburg newspapers for Shaw data, and found some useful items. Checked USGenWeb site for Windham County CT data - really messed up now, broken links, no links to useful data, etc. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 7.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blog posts, 0.5 hour on Facebook/Twitter, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour working in database on sources, 1.5 hour doing online research, 1.5 hours working on Family Journal.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 10 December 2009

Was all set for a big genealogy day, and then fate stepped in ... to make it a frustrating day all-around. Oh well, tomorrow is another genealogy day with Linda off in Victorville having fun with the grand-girls.

* Read email, genea-blogs and Twitter, and noted that Advent Calendar - Day 15: Christmas Gifts posted early in the morning. Need to add pictures to it for the Smile for the Camera Carnival.

* Started to write a blog post, but noted that my McAfee Security Center subscription expires on 12 December. Ah, I renewed back in September. Found the registration number, went to the site, downloaded the update, but it wouldn't install over the current software. I couldn't figure out how to uninstall or delete the old one. Contacted Help desk and after two chats with helpful people in India I had the uninstall software loaded and working, and then installed the new software. However, I lost 2.5 months of the new subscription because the expiration date is 12 months after the purchase. Just damn! Very frustrating. That plus two hours of wasted time. I'll have to do the same thing with the laptop soon.

* Posted Treasure Chest Thursday: Seaver-Richmond Wedding Announcement before heading off to lunch at Costco, window shopping at Costco, and then a walk with George on the bayfront. After that, went to Best Buy, Verizon and Wal-Mart looking for gifts but didn't find what I wanted. Another frustrating shopping experience. Arrgghhh.

* Home by 1:45 p.m., read everything and posted Footnote.com Available to NEHGS Members. Worked for a while in Los Angeles and Philadelphia City Directories on Footnote.com for a colleague.

* Read the Ancestry.com blog post about Nebraska State Census records and found the D.J. Smith family and posted The Nebraska State Censuses - 1860 to 1885.

* Checked in on Facebook, and noticed my most recent Twitter posts were not listed. The blog posts were, but not the tweets. Drat. Must have done something in the new Privacy settings.

* Went in at 5 p.m. to read paper, watch TV news, and have dinner. Back on the computer at 6 p.m.

* Reorganized some of my genealogy computer files - tried to get all of the newspaper images in one place and named consistently - had three of same thing in different folders. Organized Seaver and Carringer data into sub-folders also. Need to go through a major consistency in naming exercise and get them into my erstwhile new filing system.

* Transcribed several more wedding announcements into the Family Journal, edited the 16 pages, and have it pretty much ready to print off. Need to edit it one more time - read it carefully, and look for content, punctuation and grammar problems.

* Wrote this blog post and I'm done for the night.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blog posts, 1.0 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 2.5 hours researching and writing blog posts, 1.0 hour doing online searches, 1.5 hours organizing genealogy files, and 2.0 hours working on Family Journal.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 9 December 2009

Now only 15 shopping days until Christmas - I'm feeling the pressure. I resolve to go shopping on Thursday before the next rain storm hits.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter. Advent Calendar: Day 16 - Christmas Weather posted before I got up, and wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Family Photographs: Post 83 - Randy and Santa before getting cleaned up.

* Wrote SDGS Seminar features Jean Wilcox Hibben for posting later. Found some Seaver family newspaper articles on NewspaperARCHIVE via NEHGS and saved them. Linda came home, Tami called, and Linda decided to go to Victorville to help her after lunch.

* Left at 11:15 a.m. for McDonalds for lunch, then to library for CVGS Research Group meeting at 12 noon. Was home by 2:45 p.m.

* Read everything, posted Gifts for the Genealogist and worked in NewspaperARCHIVE some more, checked in on Facebook.

* Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV, read the paper, have dinner, and came back to computer at 6 p.m.

* Wrote CVGS December Newsletter is online and CVGS Research Group Summary - 9 December 2009 then wrote five more Advent Calendar posts.

* Added some photos and newspaper transcripts to the Family Journal - almost done now. One more page of newspaper articles to go. Wrote this post. Wrote 11 blog posts today.

Genealogy today was 11.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook/Twitter, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours at CVGS meeting, 2.5 hours in NewspaperARCHIVE, and 2.0 hours working on Family Journal.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 8 December 2009

Only 16 shopping days until Christmas...where did the time go? I got sidetracked today on several tasks rather than concentrating on the Family Journal task. It stopped raining overnight, and was cloudy and cool all day. Finally found the missing trash can 100 yards down the street. Had to pick up all of the trash in the backyard can that got strewn across the yard by the wind last night. Put birdseed down on the cement for the bigger birds - the wrens use the feeder, which was really wet today.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter. Advent Calendar: Day 17 - Christmas Cookies posted in the morning. Researched and wrote Some Ancestry ExpertConnect Examples.

* Got cleaned up, did the backyard chores, and came back to answer some of the long-suffering Ancestry mail - answered four of the pending ones - there are five more to do. Of course, I expect them to answer ASAP which increases the load again.

* Saw Barbara's post about Anne Bradstreet, so wrote Tombstone Tuesday - Anne (Dudley) Bradstreet. Martin responded with a comment and a post, so had to look for Anne's baptism record and failed - my data is probably wrong - have no clue where I found it, of course, way back when, like 1991.

* Had lunch, ordered Christmas gifts for the grand-boys online, then worked more in the database on sources. Got sidetracked in Ancestry while looking for Pray surname records - found land records in the 17th century Providence RI town records book on Ancestry. They also have the Portsmouth RI town records book.

* Checked in on Facebook and Twitter, and answered some FB status lines. Somehow it got to be 5 p.m. without any memory of what I'd done since 3 p.m. Aha - remember that I worked on the Richman and Rich families (they weren't!) sorting out duplicate Facts and getting sources better.

* Went in to watch TV, read the paper and eat dinner, then waited for Linda to finish with computer. Came back in at 7 and read everything.

* Transcribed another page from Aunt Gerry's memories for the Journal, and added the Isaac Seaver biography and William Carpenter biography. So now I have 9 pages done, need to decide on pictures to add to it, then the front and back and I'm almost done. Lori called to talk about Christmas and stuff.

* Wrote this post, and am done for the night.

Genealogy today was 10.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.0 hour answering Ancestry mail, 1.0 hour in Ancestry books, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours working in my database, and 2.5 hours working on Family Journal.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 7 December 2009

It rained today - all day - never let up, and then the wind started blowing tonight. Back yard stuff is all over the yard - someone forgot to bring it in.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter, and Advent Calendar: Day 18 - Christmas Parties posted before I awoke. Helped Linda fold Christmas letters and stuff envelopes for the letters we had done.

* Wrote Honors: The Genea-Speak Award and let Pat and Megan know about their award.

* Edited out the pictures and text in last year's Seaver-Richmond Family Journal so I could start fresh for 2009. Went looking for photographs to use - had to rotate, crop and brighten up several photos from Aunt Gerry's albums.

* Ate lunch at home, went off to the library at 11:45 a.m. for Table Talk. Ruth, John, Dearl and I worked on the 5-generation chart books. Need to decide how to make them useful. Was home by 1:30 p.m.

* Read everything, checked on Facebook, wrote Santa Claus in the Census? and tweeted it. Made more copies of Christmas letter, and Linda stuffed envelopes. Part 1 - the cards with letters - is done. Part 2 is sending the letter with the Journal. Back to work on the Journal. Found text from Gerry's tapes to use. Need to pic two immigrant ancestors to write about.

* Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV news, read paper, and eat dinner. Linda on computer until 7:30, so read my Andrew Gross novel and watched football game.

* Started transcribing Gerry's transcript (I only have a typed copy, not digitized) for the Journal. Stopped at 9 p.m. to go watch Find My Family.

* Back at 10 p.m., read everything, saw Cheryl had success after her Genea-Santa letter (funny how that happens - not even Christmas Eve yet!). Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook/Twitter, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hours at CVGS, 1.0 hour working on letter, 3.0 hours working on Journal.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 6 December 2009

Not much of a genealogy day...typical Sunday with church, blogging, football, then some genealogy work.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter before finishing up the Best of post. Advent Calendar: Day 19 - Santa Claus posted earlier in the morning. Left for church at 9:30 a.m.

* Home from church at 11:30, looked in on football game, had lunch, read email, read some of Shades magazine, gathered CVGS newsletter bag and went off to publishing party at 12:15. Home by 12:45 p.m. Best of the Genea-Blogs - November 29-December 5, 2009 posted while I was gone (written last night and this morning).

* Watched Chargers-Browns football game. Chargers ahead 13-7 at half, 27-7 in 4th quarter, ended up 30-23. Got Christmas tree, ornaments, angels and stockings down from garage rafters. Put up and decorated tree while watching game.

* Printed off about 60 family Christmas letters today - two sides. Linda brought home more inkjet supplies just in time after lunch! Have about 60 more to do. The new printer is a lot faster, but the ink is expensive.

* Watched Sunday Night game and had dinner, saw the grandgirls briefly when Randy came to pick up the diaper bag left in our car on Thursday night.

* Read everything, checked Facebook and Twitter, read more of Shades, printed more letter pages, and talked to daughter on phone. Worked in database resolving sources for awhile. Wrote Getting History Right post after reading Megan's article. Wrote this blog post.

Genealogy today was 5.5 hours -0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blog posts, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 0.5 hour reading Shades magazine, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 0.5 hour on CVGS newsletter, and 1.5 hours in database.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 5 December 2009

It started out as a Family History Day, but turned into a genealogy day. Got several tasks accomplished, and almost had a disaster.

* Diana and Pam were here from New Hampshire, but I snuck in to check email and blogs before breakfast. The Advent Calendar: Day 20 - Outdoor Lights and Surname Saturday - LAMPHIER > SMITH (NY>WI>IA>MO>KS>NE>CA) posts published this morning (written yesterday).

* We left at about 11:30 to take the ladies to the cruise ship terminal, and visited Coronado on the way. Dropped them off at about 12:15 and headed home. Had lunch, watched some football, and Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Dear Genea-Santa posted.

* Edited the CVGS Newsletter draft, and got it all ready to print off for publishing on Sunday. Printed off the newsletter mailing list labels too.

* Edited and printed the family Christmas letter mailing list labels, and started adding pictures to the letter itself.

* Went in several times to watch football games, but came back and wrote SNGF- Dear Genea-Santa: Just One Small Hint...

* We left at 5:30 p.m. for Rubio's for dinner. Back home by 6:30. Checked football games, and came in to work on Christmas letter some more. Got a draft with pictures done and Linda proofed it. Checked Facebook.

* Got the CVGS Newsletter draft ready - decided to shift some articles around. In the process, I lost two whole pages somehow and saved the file before I realized it. Oh boy - they were original pages...not copied and pasted like some of them. Wait! when I backed up the computer on Wednesday night, I had those pages. Checked the backup on the external drive, found the pages, and copied and pasted them into the current version (edited on Friday). Whew! Backup saves me lots of time! Backed up the current version quickly!

* Looked for the Family Journal copies and my Aunt Gerry's narrative notebook. Found everything and sorted some paper in the process. Will start on Family Journal on Monday. Need to print off the Christmas letter too - probably need a run to Costco for printer ink.

* worked on the Best of post, and then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 7.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blog posts, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours working on CVGS newsletter, and 2.0 hours working on Christmas letter and Family Journal. No research done at all.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Randy's Family History Days - 3 and 4 December 2009

These have not been genealogy days, but they have been Family History days.

On Thursday 3 December:

* Advent Calendar: Day 22 - Christmas Tree Ornaments posted before I got up. Found a Family Home on Google... and Family Tree Maker Cannot Make an Ahnentafel List - Still! posted later. All were written Wednesday night.

* We were up early and left at 7:45 a.m. for Disneyland. Got there before 10 a.m. opening, went to Soaring over California and shopped a bit before meeting Tami and grandgirls at 11. Tried to go to Toy Story ride but closed, ate lunch at Boudins, and headed to Small World in Disneyland. Did that, then Linda spent more of her gift card on mouse ears, and then off to Haunted House. Major delay there because ofl imits on number of wheelchairs in show at one time. We were done - left at 5, ate at El Pollo Loco, headed home at 6:30, dropped girls at Michelle's at 8:15, home by 8:30 p.m.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter and decided to go to bed early.

On Friday, 4 December:

* Read email, blogs and Twitter and noted that Advent Calendar: Day 21 - Christmas Cards posted. Wrote Follow Friday - the California Genealogical Society and Library Blog and Making FTC Disclosures about Blog-swag.

* Created an ahnentafel list in RM4 and ahnentafel report in FTM2010 and compared - sent to Russ for his review. Wrote blog posts for Saturday morning and noon. Accidentally posted SNGF for an hour this morning - meant to date it on Saturday.

* Ate lunch, left at 11:45 a.m. for airport to pick up cousin and friend, who are taking a Holland America cruise out of San Diego on Saturday. Drove out to Cabrillo Monument to see San Diego Bay and back country on a fairly clear day - about 50 mile visibility. Then around the bay, through downtown, over to the 30th Street house and through Balboa Park and stopped for dinner at Hob Nob Hill restaurant. Got home in traffic by 5:30.

* Talked about family and friends. Got out Aunt Gerry's box of albums and papers, and we went through them. Diana took some of her extended family, since I have them all scanned. Some wouldn't come off the album page, so made copies from the scanned images. Had fun talking about family and events.

* Came in at 9:30 p.m. and read email, blogs, Twitter and Facebook. Wrote this post.

Genealogy on Thursday was 1.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook.

Genealogy on Friday was 6.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 0.5 hour making ahnentafel reports/lists, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, and 2.0 hours talking about family with Diana.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 2 December 2009

Didn't do any research today, but did a lot of genealogy oriented work. Did some shopping too - Linda's birthday is Thursday. We're going to Disneyland on Thursday to celebrate, and she gets $70 in free money to spend in the shops. I hope they have something nice! We'll bring the grand-girls home with us for two nights with Michelle and then to us on Saturday for the weekend.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter. Advent Calendar: Day 23 - Holiday Food posted early in the morning. Got cleaned up and dressed, and (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Family Photographs: Post 82 - Seaver Christmas Tree posted as well.

* Wrote Are There Errors in the Social Security Death Index? and set it for early afternoon. before my phone conversation with the Ancestry Search people. Talked with them for an hour, then gathered my CVGS stuff and had lunch at McDonalds.

* To the library by noon, attended the CVGS Board meeting until after 2 p.m. Stopped at Costco on the way home and bought 20 red roses for Linda's birthday - only $14.

* Home by 3 p.m., read everything, checked in on Twitter and Facebook, and checked some things on Ancestry.com. Was having so much fun that 5 p.m. came and went in to watch TV, read the paper, have dinner, take out the trash, and wash the dishes.

* Back online at 7:30 p.m., and worked on CVGS newsletter for awhile - all done except for everybody else's material - hopefully here by Friday! Wrote two posts for Thursday, and then this post.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 2.0 hours at CVGS Board meeting, 2.0 hours on CVGS Newsletter, 1.5 hours on Ancestry Search, and 2.0 hours writing blog posts.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Randy's Genealogy Day - 1 December 2009

The choices are hard sometimes - genealogy or shopping? Linda's birthday is Thursday, and all I have planned so far are flowers...

* Read email, blogs and Twitter and posted "Find My Family" on ABC-TV. Wrote Advent Calendar: Day 24 - The Christmas Tree and got cleaned up to go out. The bathroom floor is pretty dry after running the fan all night.

* Had a dermatologist appointment for my scalp, face and body - full inspection of my largest organ, I always like to say. She zapped me in about 10 places with CO2 (it's really cold!) to prevent cancers. Went shopping at Plaza Bonita looking at clothes and jewelry for Linda. Saw one outfit I liked but wrong size. Saw nice jewelry but too expensive. Was home by 11:40 a.m.

* Had lunch at my desk, and started posting Advent Calendar blogs scheduled for the first nine days of December. Wrote Genealogy Days in Chula Vista - December 2009 and then CVGS "Heirloom Discovery Day" Highlights.

* Wrote Orphans of two kinds for the Carnival of Genealogy (deadline today), and had to research some of the dates and details on the Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910 database at www.NewEnglandAncestors.org. Took the opportunity to look at about 20 other people in the database and add source citations to many of their BMDs. Also captured images of the vital records.

* Answered a few emails, and checked in on Facebook. Helped Linda with groceries, put the bathroom back together, and emptied the guest bedroom.

* Went in at 5 p.m. to hear Obama's boring Afghanistan speech, read the paper, have dinner, and watch TV news.

* Back online at 6:30 - worked on the CVGS newsletter and got it about 60% done. Won't have much time on Friday or Saturday to get it ready for Sunday publishing.

* Read everything, wrote the Wordless Wednesday post for Wednesday, and wrote this post. 15 blog posts today... a record for me, I think! But 9 are copy and paste jobs.

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours working in MA VRs and my database, 3.0 hours working on CVGS newsletter.