Saturday, December 18, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 18 December 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 16 December 2040

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 15 December 2010

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

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


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

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Randy's genealogy Day - 14 December 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday, December 13, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 13 December 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 12 December 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*  Wrote this post.  Done!

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

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 11 December 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday, December 10, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 10 December 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 9 December 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 8 December 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*  Checked Facebook, then wrote this post.


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

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 7 December 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday, December 6, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 6 December 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 2 December 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 1 December 2010

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 30 November 2010

11 months of 2010 are past - I wonder how I'm doing with my 2010 goals and objectives?  Probably too late to recover.  Oh well.  This was a full genealogy day with only a break in the evening.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Tuesday's Tip - Find Online U.S. Vital Records Data at Joe Beine's sites

*  Worked in FTM 2011, RM4 and LFT7 to figure out best way to resolve my place names.  Each program is different.  Got cleaned up, then wrote Standardizing Place Names in my Genealogy Database and set it for early afternoon.  Had lunch.

*  Got FTM 2010 up on laptop and FTM 16 on desktop and worked on my Source citations and place name problems.  Got T, U, V and some of W places done.  One more day of that to go, although I probably should make a clean copy of the finished product and go through the places one at a time.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV, read the paper, have dinner, help Linda with Thunderbird email, and wash dishes. 

*  Back online at 7:15 p.m. to finish up the CVGS Member Survey results and send it to the CVGS Board for meeting on Wednesday. 

*  Wrote Genealogy Days in Chula Vista - December 2010   and one more post on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog.  Checked that Gmail account too.

*  Checked Facebook, read everything, and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 11.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours working in software, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 4.0 hours working in the database on sources and places, 2.0 hours working on CVGS surveys.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 29 November 2010

Almost a completely genealogy day!  Even did some searching and finding, and worked on CVGS surveys some more.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote Amanuensis Monday - Will of Samuel Peirce (1712-1772) of Waltham MA and tweeted it. 

*  Downloaded FTB 5.0 and worked in it for awhile, then wrote MyHeritage Announces new (free) Family Tree Builder5.0 Software

*  Got Linda's Thunderbird account set up.  Had lunch, went off to the library for CVGS Table Talk.

*  Home by 1:30 p.m., read everything, watched the Bernie Gracy videos and wrote Applying the FAN Club Principle - Bernie Gracy Videos.  Searched for more info on Arnett Speer for Pat - found great airplane pix on San Diego Aerospace Museum site. 

*  Went in at 5:30 p.m. to eat dinner, and watch TV news and the football game.  Back online at 6:30 p.m.

*  worked on the CVGS surveys - almost done now.  Worked on census citations in my database, then searched for and found more descendants from Devier and Abbie (Vaux) Smith - descended from David D. smith and Maybelle (Smith) Milner.  Found a death date for John Milner, a 1930 census record for Milner family, an obituary for Lous Milner's wife, Margaret, and birthdates of their children.  Added everything to the database.  Couldn't find Matie (Smith) Cramer in the 1900 census, forgot to look in 1910 and 1920!  Drat.

*  Checked Facebook, checked Twitter, wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 11.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour watching video, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour working in FTB software, 0.5 hour working on queries, 1.5 hours working on CVGS surveys, 1.0 hour at library, and 2.0 hours doing online searches and adding to database.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 28 November 2010

A little downloading, a little scanning, a little chatting, a little email fixing, a little blogging, and watching football.  A busy day.

*  Read email and blogs, then downloaded RootsMagic again and made it work (don't know what happened on Thursday night...but it disappeared).  Downloaded Mozilla Thunderbird and shunted all emails to it.  Played with the Contacts import.  Got cleaned up and off to church at 9:30 a.m.

*  Home at 11:30 a.m., got into Scanfest right away and chatted, then scanned about 40 images of letters, photos and other ephemera.  Stopped at 2 pm. to go have lunch and watch football.

*  Spent some time putting my email groups together in Thunderbird.  I think that will work out fine.  Noted that Best of the Genea-Blogs - Week of 21-27 November 2010 posted.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch the Chargers/Colts pregame show, then the game.  Read the paper, ate dinner, rooted my Bolts to a 36-14 victory. 

*  Back online at 9 p.m. to read everything, check in on Facebook, post Nominations are still open for Top 40 Genealogy blogs and write this post.

Genealogy today was 5.5 hours - 0.5 reading email, 1.0 hour working on Thunderbird, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour writing blog posts, 2.5 hours scanning and chatting, and 0.5 hour working with RootsMagic.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 27 November 2010

This was a stay-at-home full genealogy day, with a break at dinner time.  Even got some genealogy tasks started and finished.

*  Read email and blogs, then researched and wrote Surname Saturday - PEIRCE (England > MA).  Got cleaned up.  Answered some email that had piled up.

*  Thrashed around for awhile looking for a topic for SNGF, decided on and wrote Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - The Games People Play and set it for later.  Had to help Linda clean out the pantry for an hour or so.  gladly... had lunch.

*  Checked out Windows Live Photo Gallery and it won't edit images the way I want to.  Looked for free photo editing software and downloaded PhotoScape, worked with it awhile and like it.  Edited some of Gerry's photos and saved them as JPGs for use in blog posts and the Family Journal. 

*  Worked on the CVGS Member survey responses to 25 questions - got 10 out of 24 tabulated on a form. 

Why can't people follow directions?  Is it too hard to read a question and answer it with a Yes or No, or judge something Excellent down to Poor?  Why won't people make constructive suggestions when asked? 

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch the Aztecs game, read the paper and eat dinner.  Helped Linda on her Gmail again.  Aztecs beat UNLV 48-14 to finish 8-4 - they lost 4 games by a total of 15 points. 

*  Back online at 7:30 p.m., wrote the Best Of post for Sunday.  Tested the new scanner - figured out best way to scan something and save it.  Checked in on Facebook. 

*  Played with Legacy a bit, then couldn't find RootsMagic although I know I downloaded it on Thursday night!  MIA.  Gotta do it again, I guess! 


Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 1.5 hours doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours working with photos, 2.0 hours working on CVGS survey, and 1.0 hour working with software.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 26 November 2010

The Geneaholic is back in the office chair again after two hectic days of little blogging and lots of computer stuff.

*  Up early, read email and blogs, got cleaned up, wrote The Day After... Thanksgiving.

*  Wrote several posts for the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog, and then wrote  Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe Servings. 

*  Tabulated the CVGS Program Survey responses.

*  Searched databases for Henry Pickford and Samuel Crouch and Devier or DJ Smith, but found nothing useful on Footnote, American Ancestors, World Vital Records, FamilySearch, Ancestry and GenealogyBank.

*  Went out at 3 p.m. to mow the front lawn.  Back in at 4 p.m. and read email and blogs.  Sleepy, so watched news and napped, then read the paper and new magazines while watching the Oregon/Arizona game.  Took Linda to Barbara's to take in the mail, then we had dinner watching the game.  Linda had first extended trial on Gmail - did OK.

*  Online again at 8 p.m. to read everything, check Facebook, then worked on census source citations in my database to try to standardize them.  Lots more to do!  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours working on CVGS surveys, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hour doing online searches, and 1.5 hour working on database source citations.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 23 November 2010

Really not much of a genealogy day - but did buy a new computer!

*  Up early with the grandgirls, got them fed and entertained until Tami got up.  Read my email and blogs and got cleaned up.  Noted that Tuesday's Tip - Find Research Ideas in Ancestry.com's FREE Article Archives posted.

*  Researched and wrote Enhanced Ancestry.com Member Tree Viewer then ate lunch and went out.

*  Over to Best Buy to buy the new computer - a Dell Inspiron 560 with 4 gb RAM, 500 gb hard drive, Windows 7, bundled with a display, printer and speakers.  Brought it home and it's sitting on the living room table (the only free space in the house).  James is coming on Wednesday and maybe we'll set it up on Thursday together.  Need an email client - either Windows Live Mail, Gmail or Thunderbird, I guess.  I'm not sure how Linda will adapt to Gmail although the idea of having saved emails in the cloud is attractive after 12 years of Outlook Express.  Need to collect the programs to load onto it - I made a list last week, wonder where it is?

*  Home at 1 p.m., read everything, looked for Windows 7 information online, puttered around wondering if I was related to Kate Middleton (looks like the answer is no), and the girls got up from their naps and we played a bit.

*  Went to dinner at Rubio's at 4:30 p.m., then I brought the girls back with me so Linda and Tami could shop a bit, kept them entertained, we had apples for snack, and Tami came home to give them a bath and put them to bed while I helped wrap gifts with Linda.

*  Back online at 8:30, read everything and bored...tried to write a Wordless Wednesday post for the morning but Blogger wouldn't upload my photograph.  Drat.  Complained to Blogger.  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 5.0 hours -0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blog posts, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hours searching online for Kate M stuff and looking in my Medieval database, 1.0 hours editing data in my database, and that's about it!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 22 November 2010

Genealogy the first part of the day, then Chargers football and grandgirls in the evening.  Three of my favorite things!

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Amanuensis Monday - Ebenezer Phillips (1695-1746) Will posted. 

*  Worked on and posted Using the FAN Club Principle - Thomas J. Newton Problem - Post 2: Which Repositories? and hoped for some helpful comments.  Have received some!  Great.

*  Got cleaned up, ate lunch, left at 11 a.m. for the library.  Gary showed me how to work the microphones, and did some research on a query in the SDUnion newspaper index and the City Directories.

*  Forgot to go to Best Buy afterward to get the new computer... is this a sign of old age, or am  I just reluctant to buy it?  Home at 2:15 p.m.

*  Read everything, looked around the FS Wiki and noted the State Resource Guides in PDF, so wrote State Research Outlines Available in PDF Form Through FamilySearch Research Wiki.  Wrote a post for Tuesday.

*  Went in at 3:30 to watch news, read the paper, take a nap, and prepare for the Chargers game at 5:30.  Did some chores, we had dinner, and settled in to watch the game. 

*  Chargers beat Denver 35-14, after falling behind 7-0 in the first two minutes.  Tami and the girls came at 7:30, and I got them bathed during game timeouts. 

*  Back online at 9 p.m., answered some emails, read everything, checked Facebook and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 1.5 hours doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours working on the FAN Club research, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours on CVGS activities, and 0.5 hour on Facebook/Twitter.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Randy's Semi-Genealogy Day - 21 November 2010

"Semi" because it was kinda halfway a day and mostly not.

*  Read email and blogs, and started the Best Of ... post before getting cleaned up and off to church at 9:30 a.m.

*  Home from church at 11:30, finished up the Best of the Genea-Blogs - Week of 14-20 November 2010 post and tweeted it. 

*  Went in to watch football, read the paper and take a nap.

*  Back online at 3 p.m., read everything, checked Facebook and Twitter, must have done something for an hour or so, wrote a post for Monday,  before going back to watch the end of the game and see highlights shows, then we had dinner.

*  Back online at 5:30 p.m., answered several emails, then wrote CVGS Program on Wednesday, 24 November - "Heirloom Discovery Day" with Georgie Stillman, ASA  on both blogs and emailed it to the CVGS list.  Answered more emails and Facebook messages and wrote two posts for next week.

*  Went in at 8:45 p.m. to watch football, then Football Night in SD.  Back online at 10 p.m. to write this post. 

Genealogy today was 5.5 hours - 1.5 hours doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, and 0.5 hour on Facebook/Twitter.  See, it was semi - social stuff and no real genealogy work product.  Drat.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Randy's Non-Genealogy Day - 20 November 2010

Not much of a genealogy day today - I'm feeling a bit burned out on blogging and dreading the next month - so much to do and now under pressure to do it.  New computer.  Thanksgiving with the grandgirls.  Linda's birthday.  CVGS tasks.  The Christmas letter and Seaver-Richmond Family Journal.  The Christmas trip.  Other than that, I can still blog, I guess.

*  Up early and out for the 7 a.m. breakfast at Carrow's with Linda's swim friends.  Home by 8:30 - decided not to go to CGSSD meeting due to rain and bad night's sleep. 

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Surname Saturday - REED (England > MA) posted.  Reviewed more Best Buy computer webpages and printed some off.  Saved some emails to HTML files on the desktop computer. 

*  Bored out of my mind... opened GenealogyBank and found Seaver obituaries and transcribed about 10 into the database.  I'm through 25 out of about 3,000.  Yikes - a lifetime job!  Noted that Saturday Night Genealogy Fun- What are you thankful for?  posted.

*  Went in to have lunch, watch football, read the paper, take a nap, and then got ready to go to the wedding at 3 at church.  Nice wedding, good reception, talked a little genealogy with friends.

*  Home by 6 p.m., read everything, check Facebook, answered some email, and went in to watch the SDSU/Utah game on TV.  Utah won 38-34 as SDSU shot themselves in the foot once too often.  Good game.

*  Online at 10:20 to read everything, then write this post. 

Genealogy today was 3.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour writing blog posts, and 1.5 hours working GenealogyBank and the database. 

Friday, November 19, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 19 November 2010

Stayed home today and did genealogy things all day!  Made a little database progress, even made a little research progress.

*  Read email and blogs, and wrote New England Historical and Genealogical Register - Volume 164, Number 4 (October 2010) Table of Contents.  Read the issue too.  Learned something!

*  Worked in www.AmericanAncestors.org for awhile finding Brigham and Newton data, and added source citations to database. 

*  Reviewed my Thomas J. Newton material and wrote Using the FAN Club Principle - Thomas J. Newton, Father of Sophia Newton (1834-1923) - Post 1 in effort to move the ball here.  Lots of checking back and forth to get things right - kept adding items to the database.

*  Loaded FTM 2010 on the laptop and FTM 16 on the desktop, and finished off the S's Place Names.  Got sources into source field and counties assigned. 

*  Went in at 5:30 p.m. to watch TV, have dinner, and read the paper. 

*  Back online at 6:30 p.m., read everything, tried to find NEHGR source online and failed, answered email, wrote two posts for Saturday, checked Facebook, and then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 10.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 1.0 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours working in AA.org, 1.5 hours working on FAN Club problem, and 2.5 hours working in the database.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 18 November 2010

This was a very different genealogy day - no work in the database, no society work, and not much blogging.  Because real life intervened today.

*  Read email and blogs, got cleaned up, and noted that Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: Widow's First Declaration posted.

*  Left after 8 to take the Lincoln to the car repair shop for a tire patch.  He put air in it and said to replace the tires, they were ready to blow out.  Went up to Costco but they weren't open until 10, so went home.  Carefully.  Linda called and we decided to get it done after my talk in the afternoon.

*  Read everything, researched and wrote Checking out the new MyHeritage Charts

*  Left at 10:45 a.m. for the Rohr Retired Engineers luncheon down the street - had about 25 there,  Was home before 1 p.m.

*  Packed up the laptop, grabbed the projector, and out the door by 1:10 p.m.  got to library at 1:20, set up laptop and projector.  Ruth brought the microphone system, but I couldn't make it work.  Drat.  Talk started at 2:10, and went to 3:20 p.m.  Good questions at the end.  Packed everything up and we were home by 4 p.m.

*  Drove both cars to Costco, got the tires set up, went to Rubio's for dinner, and dropped Linda off at Costco.  Was home by 5:30 p.m., and she was home by 6 with the car and new tires.

*  Read everything, answered some email.  Tried to understand how to salvage the email collection we've saved.  Looks like the only way is to save them as text or HTML files.  Lots of work, that!  Checked for Frank Munger Civil War file on footnote - 28 pages!  My cousin will be happy.

*  Went in at 9 p.m. to read the paper and watch TV.  Back online at 9:50 to write this email, then done. 

Genealogy today was 6.0 hours - 1.5 hours doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour researching and writing blogs, 2.0 hours doing my presentation, and 1.0 hours working in online databases. 

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 17 November 2010

All set for my talk on Thursday...did some database work today, and some blogging, but not much else.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 129: Lyle and Emily in Love.  Then researched and wrote The Genealogy In Time Advanced Genealogy Search Engine  - big FAIL for me.  Wrote CGSSD Meeting on Saturday, 20 November Features ... elections  and set it for afternoon.

*  Got cleaned up, then Googled some Seaver names from the database and found several obituaries online and added them to the database.  Had lunch at home.

*  Left at 11:30 a.m. for the library for CVGS Computer Group.  Helped get system set up, and Shirley took class through rootsweb again.  Gary showed me how to set up microphone in Auditorium for Thursday.

*  Home by 2 p.m., read everything, worked through the S localities - got through Sa and Sc - with FTM 2010 on the laptop and FTM 16 on the desktop.  Had lots to fix from S. Petherton and San Diego!

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV, read the paper, eat dinner, and put out the trash.

*  Back online at 6:30 - wrote blog post for Thursday since I'll probably go off to fix the semi-flat tire in the morning.  Wrote post on SSDCGYRabbit blog too.  Checked Facebook.  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours at CVGS meeting, and 2.5 hours working in the database.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 16 November 2010

Happy birthday, brother Scott!  It was a stay at home day today and I worked on genealogy for most of the day, but feel like I got very little accomplished.  Kinda bored by the humdrum existence.  I need new ancestors!

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Tuesday's Tip - Ancestry.com Family History Wiki is FREE.  Got cleaned up.

*  Worked on MS Money and balancing checkbooks.  Then reviewed and practiced my Thursday talk one last time, copied it to flash drive, and had lunch.

*  worked on Book Review - "If This Land Could Talk" by Judy R. Cook for awhile and posted it.

*  Got the Places up on FTM 2010 on the laptop and on FTM 16 on the desktop and finished the R places. 

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

*  Back online at 6:15 p.m., read everything, and messed around in Google looking for information about some of my brick wall families.  Didn't find much.  Found one conflation of two William Browns though, and separated them out.  Wonder how that happened? 

*  Answered some emails, checked in on Facebook, and wrote this post. 

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hours working on presentation, 2.0 hours working in database, and 2.0 hours doing online research on elusives without much progress. 

Monday, November 15, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 15 November 2010

November's half over now... where did the time go?  I feel so behind! 

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Amanuensis Monday - Will of Andrew Phillips (1661-1717) of Charlestown MA.   Wrote There's one in every family!  and set it for later in the morning.

*  Got cleaned up, grabbed some lunch, and off to Best Buy to shop for a new computer.  Too confusing.  No long list of features.  Drat.  Then to library for Table Talk.  Home by 1 p.m.  Looked at Dell online. 

*  Read everything, then did the P and Q Place changes in FTM 16 using FTM 2010 on the laptop.  Sent some emails.

*  Reviewed syllabi from FGS 2009, NGS 2010 and Atlanta FHExpo for useful papers.  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV, take a nap, read the paper, eat dinner, etc. 

*  Back online by 6:30 p.m. to write Nominate your favorite genea-blogs for the Family Tree Magazine Fab 40!  Went through Program Files to see what programs I'll want to install on the new system.  Answered more email.  Checked Facebook, wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 1.5 hours doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.0 hours working in database, 1.0 hour on CVGS Table Talk, and 1.0 hour reading conference syllabi.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 14 November 2010

Not much of a genealogy day, although I worked in my database a bit.  Yikes - almost halfway through November and haven't started on Family Newsletter for Christmas.  What to write for the family? 

*  Read email and blogs, then went off to church at 9:30 a.m.

*  Home at 11:40 a.m., wrote Best of the Genea-Blogs - 7-13 November 2010 even though I didn't make my own list.  Noted that FREE Lecture on 18 November - Genealogy: Be An Ancestry Detective! posted.

*  Went in to watch end of early football games and eat lunch.

*  Back online at 1:30 p.m., set up laptop with FTM 2010 and desktop with FTM 16 and worked through the O place names adding countries, fixing shorthand sources, etc.  Lots of them because I used "of a place" a lot...often without county/state.

*  Went in at 3:30 p.m. to watch end of late games, read the paper, tried to nap, failed.  Went out and cut back roses and watered front plants.  Ate dinner watching the evening game until halftime.

*  Back online at 7:30 p.m., read everything, checked Facebook, wrote SDGS 11/13 Program Review - Heirlooms and Cemeteries

*  Checked online trees and web sites for Ebenezer Phillips/Mary Smith family - got into AmericanAncestors and found source pages for these families and added citations to database. 

*  Wrote this post. 

Genealogy today was 6.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.5 hour writing blog posts, and 3.0 hours working in the database.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 13 November 2010

Didn't get a whole lot done today - didn't advance my research ball at all, but got some things ready for the presentation on Thursday.  Still working mostly on laptop, forgot to call Cox about the problems.

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Surname Saturday - FLETCHER (England > MA) posted.  Wrote Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Photo Effects and set it for later.  Got cleaned up, had lunch.

*  Gathered stuff up, left at 11 a.m. for the SDGS meeting in San Carlos.  Enjoyed talking to friends and colleagues, and Hal Horrocks two talks.  Home by 3 p.m.

*  Tweeted the SNGF, and watched my Aztecs come back from 34-14 against TCU to lose 40-35.  A good second half!  Then watched Oregon-California game too, Oregon won 15-13.  Read the paper, took a short nap, had dinner, read my RBParker book.

*  Finally online at 7:45 p.m. - read everything, edited my presentation for Thursday and saved it.  Wrote a post for Sunday, and then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 7.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 3.0 hours at SDGS meeting, and 1.0 hour working on presentation. 

Friday, November 12, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 12 November 2010

Still no decision on the desktop computer - my guess is that we'll get a new system.  The D3000 is five years old and needs more RAM and memory, and is running XP.  Is Windows 7 mature enough?  I don't need a monitor or a printer.  I really don't like the keyboards on the laptops or netbooks.The cold is better - no sniffles, some coughing, no meds today.

*  Read my email and blogs, then researched and posted Improved FamilySearch Beta Features - Library Catalog

*  Gathered my stuff to print, and went down to UPS Store to print and mail CVGS newsletter and print handout for next week's talk.  Then to Costco to drool over computer systems, eat lunch and off to the library to put papers in slots and newsletters in box.  Then I picked up George for our walk on the bayfront.  We talked about the grandkids and my computer problem.

*  Home by 1 p.m., read everything, then researched and wrote Dear Randy: Which program creates the best narrative report? 

*  Worked on the Place names in my FTM database - had FTM 2010 on laptop with place names and usage, and modified FTM 16 file on desktop.  Got the N's done. 

*  Went in for dinner and TV watching.  Back online at 6:30 p.m.  Read everything, answered some emails.  Checked Facebook.  Wrote the Surname Saturday post for the morning.  Read some posts on Eastman and Tanner and GI and AI to see if I missed anything.  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.0 hour on CVGS newsletter, 2.0 hours working in the database, and 1.0 hour working in software. 

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 11 November 2010

We're back from the high desert where we entertained, fed, clothed and chauffeured two little girls for a week.  We got back on Wednesday morning, but I had to go off to the library for the CVGS Research Group meeting.  When I got back, I found the computer problems.  McAfee Security was missing, and the Internet was messed up - anything with Flash or Java didn't work.  Ergo, Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter, etc. don't work.  A virus or trojan messed things up somehow.  Email works on the desktop, and programs on the desktop like MSWord and FTM16 work, but anything that accesses the Web with Flash doesn't work.  I have my crack PC IT guy on the case...  In the meantime, I'm working on the laptop trying to stay up to date on blogs and writing blogs. 

Today, was on early to read email and blogs, and posted Veteran's Day - Thank You, Gramps then wrote Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Pension Declaration.  Wrote Ancestry.com has Military Collections FREE from 11-14 November 2010  and November 2010 CVGS Newsletter is Available plus one more post for Friday on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog. 

*  got cleaned up, and wrote Recent Collections Added at FamilySearch Beta  and Target the FAN Club to tackle "Elusive Ancestors" problems and set them for the afternoon.  Ate lunch.

*  Opened up FTM 2010 on the laptop and FTM 16 on the desktop, and worked my way through the M place names - correcting place names, adding counties, deleting my shorthand sources, etc.  Whew.

*  Read everything, worked on the desktop problem for awhile, then went in for dinner.

*  Back online at 6:30 p.m., wrote some emails, printed off the CVGS newsletter, the newsletter mailing labels, flyers for CVGS, and the handout and flyers for my 11/18 OASIS talk at the library.  Will get newsletter printed on Friday and mailed.

*  Worked on the computer problem again, then moved Legacy and RootsMagic files to where I can find them and printed off a report for my friend Linda.  Checked in on Facebook.  Tried to find program to stitch images together - finally used the HP Image Zone software on my computer to do it.  Three look OK, one is messed up.  Will try again another time.  Backed up genealogy databases to the external drive.

*  Worked a bit more on computer problem, then wrote this post.  I'm frustrated working on two different keyboards and screens, but I can manage this for a short while. 

Genealogy today was 11.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing 8 blog posts, 3.0 hours working in the FTM16 database, 1.0 hours working on computer problem, 0.5 hour on Facebook/Twitter, 1.0 hour working on image stitching, and 1.0 hour on CVGS Newsletter and OASIS talk preparation.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 2 November 2010

Election Day finally, and all the hoopla and phone calls and TV ads are over - hooray!  Back to genealogy.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote Tuesday's Tip - Use Linkpendium.com and then wrote three more posts for next week.  Got cleaned up.

*  Set up laptop and transferred new files over to it.  Sent Online GYR Journal article in one day late.  Drat.

*  Had lunch, went to bank and library, checked on flyers for my OASIS talk - they're ready for distribution.

*  Back home by 12:30 p.m., worked on emails, wrote Imported Master Source Citation Problems in RootsMagic after trying to figure out the problem.  Heard from Bruce B, and found problem, so wrote Stuff Happens Sometimes... RootsMagic 4 Mystery Solved. 

*  Went in for dinner, water the front plants, read the paper and watch news.

*  Back online at 7 p.m., read everything, checked Facebook, worked on CVGS Newsletter.  Got everything submitted in, and about 50% complete.  Copied to USB drives and laptop.  Gathered electronics and chargers for trip. 

*  Wrote CVGS workshop email and Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe post, and checked Gmail accounts.  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 1.5 hours doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours working in software, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, and 2.5 hours on CVGS Newsletter.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 1 November 2010

Time crunch today - didn't get done what I needed to do...now more to do on Tuesday.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Amanuensis Monday - the Will of Samuel Hubbard (1687-1753) of Concord MA.  Got cleaned up.  Posted Genea-bloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories and set it for late morning, but it set up as a Draft so didn't notice that until 6 p.m.  Drat.  Darn Blogger...

*  Went hunting for Seaver obituaries in GenealogyBank.  Amazed by all the old Seaver guys I don't have in my database for one reason or another.  Added about five obits to the database, and added several families as well, based on obituaries.

*  Stephanie, Mary and Lucas (15 months) came at 11 a.m. for a visit, lunch, Lucas's nap, then more play until 4.  Showed Steph how FTM works, and Ancestry too, and talked about DNA and earthquakes with her.  Fun to be with Steph and Lucas!

*  Watched some of the Legacy videos before dinner, then some of world Series Game 5, and back online at 7 to write Some Legacy Family Tree Webinars Available for Limited Time.  Wrote three more posts for the next week, until Linda needed computer for her prayer chain.

*  Finally back online at 9:15 p.m. to read everything, check Facebook, answer some email, and talk to my daughter, then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 5.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour in GenealogyBank having fun, and 3.5 hours writing blogs. 

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 31 October 2010

Ten months down in 2010 - and two more busy months to go.  Only one more talk to prepare and give this month, but I will be away for at least one week on grandpa duty.

*  Read email and blogs before church, and noted that  Hallowe'en Names in the Records posted on schedule.

*  Home from church at 11:30 a.m., joined Scanfest in progress, and stuck with it until 1 p.m.  Scanned Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File - only 16 pages, but some are on longer paper and I had to make two scans to get it all, and now need to find a way to stitch  them together. Noted that Best of the Genea-Blogs - Week of 24-30 October 2010 posted soon after noon. 

*  Listened to Chargers football game (blacked out here), watched some football on TV, then came in and worked on my Online Graveyard Rabbit Journal article.  Chargers beat Tennessee, 33-25, but it was close. 

*  Went in at 4:30 to watch game highlights, then the start of the World Series game, ate dinner, watered the front plants, filled the bird feeder.  Back online to write 1733 Massachusetts Marriages on eBay and a future blog post, then back to watch end of baseball game and then Charger highlights.

*  Back online at 9 p.m. to write email about CVGS programs, another future blog post, checked Facebook and then wrote this post. 

Genealogy today was 7.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.5 hours on Scanfest, 2.0 hours working on my OGYRJ article, and 2.0 hours writing blog posts.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 30 October 2010

It was a stay-at-home day and I worked on genealogy things quite a bit, interspersed with football and baseball on TV.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote Surname Saturday - MARTIN (England > NH > NJ) and already have a correction to it from Martin H.  Good!  Wrote Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Hallowe'en Personality

 and set it for after noon.

*  Answered some emails, then watched Aztecs game off and on - they beat Wyoming 48-38.  Lunch.

*  Worked in the database on place names and shorthand sources - through K's and L's - only about 50% done.  It's slower now because I'm adding counties to places that didn't have county names.  Finding lots of errors too - towns in wrong counties.  The mistakes I didn't know that I had! 

*  Went in at 4:30 p.m. to watch World Series game, read the paper, doze a bit, eat dinner. 

*  Back online at 7 p.m. after game, wrote two blog posts for Sunday and two for later in the week.  Found Isaac Seaver's Civil War pension file for Scanfest on Sunday, looked through old papers and stuff hiding in the file cabinet.  Cannot get to bottom drawer of 4-drawer, or to either drawer in 2-drawer.  Wonder what goodies they hold?  Found old San Diego High School yearbooks from 1906 to 1917 from my grandparents years.

*  Checked in on Facebook, wrote this post and I'm done. 

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 4.0 hours writing blog posts, 3.5 hours worknig in the database and 1.0 hour digging in file cabinets.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 29 October 2010

A pretty full genealogy day, highlighted by a trip to the San Diego Public Library on an IAOGK mission.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote FamilySearch Bloggers Day - Software Community. 

*  Had lunch at home, left at 12 noon for downtown San Diego on my Intentional Act of Genealogical Kindness (IAOGK).  Found a 2-hour parking place one block from library, and easily found my target newspaper article for Pat.  Copied the pages and enlarged the target articles, and was on my way home by 1:20 p.m. 

*  Home by 1:45 p.m., read everything, then scanned the copied pages and emailed them to Pat with explanation of process.  She wrote back and I put the pages in an envelope and put it in the outgoing mail.  Nice to complete a project quickly!  Pat appreciated it!

 *  Wrote and posted Genealogical Treats at FamilySearch Beta - New Collections.  Tried out some of them - no luck in Idaho Marriages for Grieser and Brocke.  Oh well.

*  Started in on Place names again - got through rest of the Hs, did Is, Js and Ks through King.  Using FTM 2010 to identify places with shorthand sources, also places without counties or with wrong counties.  Changing them one person at a time in FTM 16 (each person is identified with record types in a place).  Almost halfway done!

*  Went out to cut the front lawn at 5 p.m., back in for dinner at 5:45 p.m. and out again to sweep up at 6:15 p.m.  Done by 6:30 p.m.

*  Sent out surveys to CVGS members for their completion.  Shut everything down and installed the MacAfee Security Suite that comes free from Cox...I've been paying for MacAfee for six years.  Drat.  Took about 30 minutes, so got some paper piles organized a bit - sorted and in folders.

*  Decided to write some posts for next week while we're away - got two done on Whittles.  More to do using the record images obtained at FHL last week.

*  Went hunting for Jane Haslam's family in Lancashire and found them - got info on parents and siblings, assuming the info in FS Beta is correct.

*  Checked in on Facebook and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours today - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours on IAOGK task, 2.5 hours in database, 3.0 hours writing blog posts and 1.0 hour working in English parish records on FS Beta. 

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 28 October 2010

Reading, blogging, emailing, that's about it today.

*  Read email and blogs then wrote Treasure Chest Thursday - Betty Carringer's Birth Record.  Worked on FamilySearch Bloggers Day - FamilySearch Indexing and set it for later in the morning.  Got cleaned up.

*  Checked out ordering online documents on NARA site.  Had lunch, and left at 11:30 for my walk on the bayfront with George.

*  Home at 1 p.m., read everything, wrote three posts for the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog, including CVGS Program Review - Alfredo Pena's "Exodus" and two future posts. 

*  We left at 3 p.m. for our financial advisor's office-warming party in her side yard.  Got to talk to staff and old friends, and enjoyed watching and talking to Kim's little girls.  I ate snacks, Linda had little there.

*  Home at 7 p.m., Linda had some soup, we watched end of world Series Game 2.

*  Online at 8:15 p.m., read everything, wrote email to CVGS Board about newsletter.  Check in on Facebook, wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 6.5 hours - 1.0 hour doing emails, 1.0 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour checking out websites, and 3.5 hours researching and writing blog posts.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 27 October 2010

Did some blogging and went to the CVGS meeting, and tried to create source citations for the English parish records I found for Whittles. 

*  Read my email and blogs, then wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 126: What is Betty Eating?  Researched and wrote FamilySearch Blogger Day - The Current and Next FamilySearch Site and set it for later in the morning.



.*  Got cleaned up, waited for Linda to check her Facebook (I knew this would be a problem...), then ate lunch and packed up for the CVGS meeting.
*  Got to meeting at 11:50 a.m., ate goodies, saw friends, settled in auditorium at 12:20 p.m. for the business meeting and then the program by Alfredo Pena on Exodus from Mexico to USA.  Some history, not much genealogy.  Too bad. 

*  Home by 2:30 p.m., read everything, researched and wrote Quickly Searching for FamilySearch Beta Historical Record Collections.  Have no clue what I messed around with for 90 minutes here... must have been important to world history!  Had a problem with my missing Google Toolbar...tried to figure out how to fix it.

*  Went in at 5:20  p.m. to watch the World Series game, eat dinner, put out the trash, and forgot to mow the lawn again.  Drat :)  Stayed with it until the 7th inning, then...

*  Made a flyer for the 18 November OASIS talk at Chula Vista library, sent it to Debbie for review. 

*  Worked in my database creating source citations for the English parish register entries I obtained images of in SLC.  Took an hour and a half for eight of them.  Argghh.  I'll have to show them off in a blog post.

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

Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours at CVGS meeting, 0.5 hour on OASIS flyer, and 1.5 hour on database sources.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 26 October 2010

A pretty full genealogy day - got some things done, got a lot of time in my database.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote Tuesday's Tip - Read the USGenWeb.org and WorldGenWeb.org sites.  Got cleaned up.

*  Researched and wrote FamilySearch Blogger Day - Upcoming Collections.  Wrote email about additional questions to FamilySearch.  Wrote email about OASIS program at CVPL on 18 November.  all set!

*  Had lunch at home, posted Complimentary Q&A Web Chat with Sally J. for "Accidental Archivists," then went with Linda to Verizon store to clear up issues with her phone. 

*  Worked in database - got the G's done in the locality errors using FTM 2010 to find errors and FTM 16 to correct them.  Finding counties, fixing wrong counties, getting shorthand sources out of locality fields, etc. 

*  Went in at 5 p.m. for dinner, watched TV, read the paper.

*  Back to work in database at 6:30 p.m., worked in H's up to Hilperton (lots of shorthand sources in Hilperton, not to mention duplicate facts).  Whew.  Hope I don't have to do another one like that. 

*  Checked Facebook, wrote this post, and done.

Genealogy today was 10.5 hours - 1.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, and 6.0 hours working in the database.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 25 October 2010

It was a full genealogy day since there was no baseball game to watch. 

*  Read my email and blogs, and noted that FamilySearch Blogger Day - FamilySearch Family Tree posted.  Got cleaned up.  Edited the post a bit too.

*  Got my presentation and handout on flash drives, gathered the handouts and laptop and off to the OASIS class in the mist and fog - freeway was busy today.  Got set up, class started at 10:15 and ended at 12:15 p.m.  The students are still enthusiastic as I sent them off into the genealogy wilds to find their ancestors.

*  Stopped at McDonalds for lunch, then the library for awhile, and home by 1:45 p.m.  Read everything, and noted that Amanuensis Monday - the Will of Samuel Graves (1655-1723) of Lynn MA posted.

*  Tried to organize my CVGS mess of papers, and got it stacked neatly, but didn't find the obituary paper I need to respond to a query.  Drat.  Have several more piles to straighten up and separate wheat from chaff. 

*  Sent CVGS survey off to Gary for copying.  Sent meeting notice to CVGS email list.  Researched and wrote Genealogy Blogging over 25 days.

*  Worked in my database getting sources out of place names - finished the Es and Fs using FTM 2010 to find the errors and FTM 16 to correct them.

*  Dinner at 6 p.m., and watched first half of Giants/Cowboys game.  Then back to computer at 7:30 p.m. to work on fixing source citations corrupted by the GEDCOM fiasco.  Got A through E done.  Lots more to do!

*  Answered several emails, read everything, checked Facebook, and wrote this post. 

Genealogy today was 10.5 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.5 hours working on OASIS class, 1.0 hour working on CVGS things, 1.0 hour writing blog posts and 4.5 hours working in the database. 

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 24 October 2010

Church, football and genealogy.  Eating too. 

*  Read my email and blogs, then worked on the Best of blogs posts until time to get cleaned up for church.  We left at 9:30 a.m.

*  Home at 11:45 a.m., wrapped up and posted Best of the Genea-Blogs - 17-23 October 2010. 

*  Went in to have lunch and watch the end of the first games, then watched the Chargers-Patriots game.  A close game, the Chargers lost 23-20 after four first-half turnovers (two of them brain-fart inexcusable)  and came back from 20-3 to come close.  Drat, now 2-5.

*  Read everything, checked Facebook, and collected my Twitter feeds from the Bloggers Day in an MSWord file.  Now what to do with them, they're in reverse order (last tweet is first), and there are 190 of them!

*  Went in for dinner at 6 p.m. and watched football game.

*  Back online at 7:30 p.m. - printed off my OASIS handouts for Monday.  Answered some of the emails sent in by readers. Wrote the Amanuensis Monday post, then a Bloggers Day post - both for Monday posting.  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 5.5 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on OASIS class, and 3.5 hours writing genealogy blog posts.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 19 October 2010

The last day writing this for awhile - maybe back on Saturday.  Rainy day here in San Diego -would have been the first home game for the Padres in NLCS - probably would have been rained out.  We had tickets!

*  Read email and blogs, and noted that Tuesday's Tip - Use Message Boards to Find Distant Cousins posted. 

*  Worked in FTM16, FTM2010, RM4 and LFT7 to create source citation images for a future blog post.  Found out later I was inconsistent.  Drat. 

*  Wrote More thoughts about Ancestry.com Person View  and set it for later in the morning. 

*  Got into the FHL Catalog (the old one!) and printed off pages that might be helpful at the FHL on Friday.  Printed off all of the directions and reservations stuff too.

*  Went off to the bank in the rain - used the drive-by ATM.  Back home soon for lunch. 

*  Wrote the Surname Saturday post and worked in software again - made a new GEDCOM and imported into the other three programs.  Then made inconsistent screen shots again.  Gotta think this through.

*  Wrote I'm off to Salt Lake City for Blogger Day at FamilySearch, and more! and answered some email.  Watched some of the ball game, then took a short nap before dinner and start of the second game.

*  Came in after dinner to read everything, then wrote the Software post for Friday.   Had to revisit each program and capture screens to get it right.  Went in to watch end of Yankees game.

*  After the game, packed the suitcase and packed the laptop case and the FHL case.  Checked in on Facebook, and wrote this post.  I'm good to go, I think! 

Genealogy today was 7.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours researching and writing blog posts, 1.5 hours doing software things, and 1.0 working in the FHL catalog.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 18 October 2010

Genealogy and baseball - not a bad combination!

*  Read email and blogs, and noted that Amanuensis Monday - Will of Crispus Richards (1681-1763) of Lynn, Massachusetts posted.  Set the Ancestry.com post for 1:43 PM in hopes that the A.com blog post would be up by then.

*  Got cleaned up, and gathered my OASIS material and left by 9:10 a.m.  Got to Mission Valley by 9:30 a.m. and got set up - presentation, Legacy, Ancestry, Rootsweb and GenForum on the computer.  Had more time today to do some searching on the screen to demonstrate narrowing the search, and also demonstrated Person View.  Used two guinea pigs - both worked! 

*  Left at 12:20 p.m., stopped at McDonalds for lunch, then the library for meeting with Gary, and rushed home to see if A.com blog post was up yet.  It wasn't.  It was 1:44 p.m. and my blog had posted.  I hurriedly took it down, but it made Google Reader!  Posted The WikiTree is Growing instead.

*  Worked on future blog posts and then at 3:30 p.m. noted that the Ancestry.com blog had the Person View post up and I published mine - Ancestry Labs and Person View - a first look!

*  Created and printed off some ancestor reports to help me in SLC on Friday.  FTM 16 is so easy and consistent!  Wrote more future blog posts.  Copied more files to USB drives.

*  Went in at 5:15 p.m. to watch baseball game, read the paper, eat dinner, and reading my John Sandford book.  Rangers won. 

*  Back online at 8 p.m. - read everything, answered some email, wrote two future posts for Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe, checked Facebook, watched the San Francisco clip from 60 Minutes, and wrote this post. 
.
Genealogy today was 8.5 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours at OASIS class, 0.5 hour at library on CVGS, 1.0 hour printing reports.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 17 October 2010

What a crappy day - the damn Chargers lost and that ruined the whole day.  Got some genealogy chores done, though.

*  Read email and blogs, then played hooky from church to watch the Chargers game.  Bad decision...they lost 20-17 to St. Louis and are now 2-4.  High hopes smashed by poor decisions and poor play. 

*  Noted that Best of the Genea-blogs - 10-16 October 2010 posted after noon, and finally came in at 1:30 p.m. to read everything, and print out my OASIS class handouts.  Then compacted my FTM file and made a GEDCOM of it.

*  Wrote several posts for next week and also Served up at the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe.  Answered some email, checked Facebook, and back to the TV at 4:30 to watch football highlights, then baseball and had dinner. 

*  Copied new files to flash drives and then to laptop, installed RootsMagic-To-Go on new flash drive and tested it. 

*  Went in to watch Charger lowlights, then back to read everything and write this post.

Genealogy today was 5.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hour dealing with software and files, and 0.5 hour working on OASIS class.
\
Down to two days to get things ready for the SLC trip.  Need to write some blog posts for the days I'm gone, print off the microfilm info for the research tasks I want to do at the FHL, pack papers and electronics.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 16 October 2010

A society meeting, some database work, some baseball and football, and a little blogging. 

*  Read email and blogs, then packed up and went to the CGSSD meeting in La Jolla.  Noted that Surname Saturday - DAFOE (Switzerland > NewYork > Ontario) posted.

*  Attended the talk about naturalization experiences and being an American by Del's friend, Aidan Barrett.  Too short, would have liked to have heard more.  Talked to Gary at the break about FamilySearch.  Attended Del's talk on things to do to attract relatives to do genealogy.  Good ideas.  Was home by 11:45 a.m.

*  Read everything, noted that Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Who's to Blame? posted and went in to have lunch and watch football.  Back after awhile to work in the database.  got the Cs and Ds done in removing the shorthand source data from the place names. 

*  Went in at 3 p.m. to watch AL baseball game, read the paper, take a nap.  Watched NL game then, ate dinner, and watched Aztecs game too.  Was in and out several times checking blogs and email, and edited some sketches in my database too.

*  After my Aztecs won 27-25 over Air Force, did more work in the database then wrote the Best Of post for Sunday and this post.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour writing blog posts, 2.5 hours at CGSSD mering, 1.0 hour doing online searching, and 2.5 hours working in my database on places, sources, etc. 

Friday, October 15, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 15 October 2010

October is half gone now, time sure flies when you're having fun!  Quite a bit of genealogy work today, but not exciting.

*  Read email and blogs, and wondered what to blog about.  Finally wrote Why I use several software programs after working through all four of them!  Did more research on how sources came across and am displeased!   

*  Worked in FTM 2010 checking out sources and places.  Practiced resolving place names.  Had lunch, then walked on bayfront with George, got a haircut and home by 1:30 p.m. but Linda on computer until 2:30 p.m.

*  Worked in database correcting place names with source information in them.  Used FTM 2010 place list to find them and modified them in FTM 16.  Got the As and Bs done.  another significant project, but one that has to be done before I resolve all place names. 

*  Blogger's block again, finally wrote Off to Salt Lake City next week - what should I do?  Went in to watch Rangers/Yankees game at 5:15 p.m., ate dinner, read the paper.

*  Back online at 7 p.m. to write two blog posts for Saturday and watched end of ball game.  Then checked Facebook, worked in database on Hilperton sources, and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 3.0 hours writing blog posts, and 4.0 hours working in the database.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 14 October 2010

Another all-genealogy day, with less of a break for dinner, since there was no baseball.  Even got to the FHC for the second time in a month (and this year!).  Month sounded better...

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Treasure Chest Thursday - U.S. Navy Discharge Certificate and researched and wrote Family Tree Tab on FamilySearch Beta - Historical Records.  Learned something there - FamilySearch has indexed more than name, place and date in MA VRs!  They indexed parents too.

*  Got cleaned up, gathered my Whittle papers, and went off to the FHC at 10:30 a.m.  Worked there on two microfilms of English parish records until 12:30 then home by 1 p.m.

*  Copied scanned images to computer from USB drive, then edited the file names.  Worked on my OASIS Class 3 and class 4 presentations and handouts - moved one module from 4 to 3 to even out the time a bit. 

*  Found some Mass VRs on AmericanAncestors to get source data, and started working back on my Massachusetts lines to find marriages and deaths in the 1841-1910 VRs on AA and adding them to the database.  Kinda clunky interface, but manageable. 

*  Wrote Whittle/Mansley/Morley Baptisms in Parish Register Records to show my finds for the day, worked more in Mass VRs to put data into database.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch news, read the paper, ate dinner and back  online by 6 p.m. 

*  Read everything, checked Facebook, worked in the database on Hilperton folks for several hours getting sources right, eliminating duplicates.  Added some Marshman and Rich data too from my Hilperton extractions. 

*  10 p.m., wrote this post. 

Genealogy today was 12.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blog posts, 2.5 hours researching and writing blog posts, 2.0 hours at FHC, 1.5 hours working on OASIS class, 2.0 hours working in Mass VRs and database, and 3.0 hours working on Hilperton PRs and database.