Sunday, February 28, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 28 February 2010

A partly sunny day here in green Chula Vista - and I spent it inside doing, what else, genealogy.

* Read email and blogs before going off to church, noted that The Menu at the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe posted.

* got cleaned up and off for 8:30 church service, since Linda had to teach Sunday School and I wanted to attend Scanfest. Worked out fine...was home by 10 a.m.

* Read everything, finished up the Best of the Genea-Blogs post and set it for early afternoon.

* Signed into Scanfest at 11 a.m. and worked right through until 2 p.m. Scanned about 60 images of birth, marriage and death records (certificates, pages from town records) for my Seaver side of the ancestry. Will have to do Carringer side another time. Had a good time chatting with everybody, you can read the logs at Miriam's AnceStories blog.

* Went in at 2 p.m. to watch the end of the US-Canada hockey game, won by Canada in overtime 3-2. Read the paper, took a nap, did some chores, had dinner.

* Back online to read everything, worked on my final OASIS class presentation and handout, and printed off the handouts. Modified the presentation a bit to eliminate message boards/mailing list charts and add more info from handout. Checked in on Facebook.

* Found and wrote post for Amanuensis Monday, since I have to leave after 9 a.m. for the OASIS class. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 3.0 hours on Scanfest, and 2.0 hours working on OASIS class.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 27 February 2010

It rained off and on all day today - got drenched tonight coming out of the restaurant. Did genealogy, ate and watched TV all day.

* Up early to go to Dolphin breakfast at 7 a.m., home by 8:30. Read email (only 70 list items), blogs and Twitter. Surname Saturday - SAWTELL posted.

* Wrote The Demise of RootsTelevision.com...or not? and Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - If you won... (set for early afternoon). Answered some email.

* Worked in the genealogy database for awhile - adding sources, eliminating sources from localities, then went online to find data for several families - had good success for Smith and Richards! Checked in on Facebook. Worked on CVGS program stuff for Ruth.

* Went in at 1 p.m. to watch the tsunami events, much ado about nothing, which is good I think. Had short nap, read the paper, finally back online at 3 p.m.

* Read everything, worked in the database some more, and did more online searches for ancestral data. Found several Google books that added information.

* Watched TV at 4:30 p.m., then went to dinner with Ron/Kathy at Butcher Shop until 7 p.m.

* Home to read everything, then work on Best of the Genea-blogs for Sunday. Had to shut down IE twice due to runaway tabs for some reason. Didn't lose anything, though. Wrote this post. Will write onem ore for Sunday.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 0.5 hour on CVGS stuff, 3.0 hours working in database, 3.0 hours writing blog posts.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 26 February 2010

Pretty much a genealogy day, although I did venture out into the sun twice today...

* Read email (only about 85 on mailing lists), blogs and Twitter, wrote Follow Friday - MoSGA Messenger and SCGS Genealogy Jamboree Brochure is available before getting cleaned up.

* Wrote an email to the CVGS Program team offering teaching and speaking services for rest of 2010 - trying to react to WDYTYA projected deluge of new members.

* Had lunch at home, left at 11:45 a.m. to go for my walk with George on the bayfront. Home by 12:50 p.m.

* Took a short nap after the walk, then back online at 1:45 p.m. to write Ancestry.com Contest - Travel Money Plus... Worked in GenSmarts for awhile, and wrote Using GenSmarts - Post 2: First Looks and set it for later in the afternoon. Answered several emails.

* Went in at 5 p.m. and took Linda out to dinner at Rubio's. Saw guacamole being made - highlight of our evening! Home by 6:15, watched TV and read paper until 7 p.m.

* Wrote two posts for Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe, then wrote Surname Saturday post for Genea-Musings. Checked Facebook too. Wrote this post and I'm done!

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.5 hours on GenSmarts, 1.0 hour on CVGS programs, and 4.5 hours writing eight blog posts.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 25 February 2010

A stay-at-home genealogy day - few interruptions too!

* Read email (110 messages again from mailing lists... arghh), blogs and Twitter, posted Treasure Chest Thursday - Richmond Obituaries and "Faces of America" Profiles and Family Trees before getting cleaned up.

* Worked for awhile in GenSmarts, created screen shots, then wrote Using GenSmarts - Post 1: Loading a Database File.

* Had lunch at my desk, answered some email, worked in database adding sources, removing sources from localities, etc. Added more notes for Medfield families from Medfield MA book. Finished that task - been trying to do it for 15 years!

* Printed off NGSQ article for TGSG chat tonight. Went in at 4 p.m. to watch news, read NGSQ article, read paper, take a nap, eat dinner. Successful completion of all tasks.

* Back online at 6:30 p.m., read everything, wondered what to write about. Downloaded SCGS Jamboree brochure and read it. TGSG chat started at 7 p.m. with Melissa leading, done by 7:45.

* Wrote How Deep? to link to Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal column. Did a little research for one of my students - found her target and sent her census record. Cleaned up my Bloglines list a bit - deleted about 8 non-functioning blogs. Checked in on Facebook. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 10.5 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 1.0 hour in GenSmarts, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, 1.5 hours on TGSG article/chat, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, and 4.0 hours working in database on sources and notes.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 24 February 2010

Some timeouts in an otherwise full genealogy day...

* Read everything, wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 92:Carringer House in 1926 and got cleaned up. Linda's friend came at 9:15 so I had to show her the family pictures. Linda home at 10 from swimming, so back online I researched and wrote Active Ancestry.com World Archives Projects.

* Checked out new Ancestry databases (none US oriented this week), Footnote new filmstrip, and gathered papers to go off to the CVGS meeting.

* Had lunch, went to library at 11:20, CVGS meeting started at 12 noon, home by 2:30.

* Read everything, wrote Ancestry Magazine Article: Ten Places You Didn't Think to Look.

* Tried TV and the cable box was back, but colors messed up. Waited for cable guys at 3-5 p.m., finally came at 4:30, told them my problem, he tweaked the cables into the box and color back to normal.

* Watched end of US-Switz hockey game, read paper, took a nap, had dinner, washed dishes, etc.

* Back online at 7 p.m. - read everything, wasted time, and at 7:55 went in to watch Faces of America. Dislike the format even more - too many subjects, not enough research details.

* Back online at 9 p.m., wrote 2/24 CVGS Program Summary - Margaret Lewis summary, checked Facebook and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.0 hour watching Faces of America, 2.5 hours writing blog posts, and 2.5 hours at CVGS meeting.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Randy's Busy Life - 23 February 2010

It was a pretty busy genealogy day - plus the teeth-cleaner and hair-cutter. Then the cable disaster...

* Read everything, wrote What Does It Take To Be A Successful Genealogist? and Is this why they came to San Diego? before getting cleaned up.

* Wrote GenerationMaps Announces Family ChArtist and left at 10:30 a.m. for the dentist's office to get teeth cleaned. Then to the barber to get a haircut. What hair, you say? Well, I do have some, and it gets frowsy no matter how hard I try to trim it. Gotta look good on vacation!

* Home at 12:20 for lunch, then worked in database adding notes to the Medfield MA folks from the Medfield book. Worked all afternoon, until a phone call at 4:30 p.m. asking me to re-boot the cable TV modem. Looked like there was nothing wrong, but unplugged it and plugged it in and then it went dark. Several times. Called Cox Cable, no result, they'll come out on Wednesday afternoon. Drat - have to do genealogy all night!

* Went in at 5:30 p.m. for dinner, back online soon after - posted So what happens to DynasTree family trees? and got immediate email reply from TJ who says they changed the policy after many complaints in Europe. Went back to working on Medfield families - added many sources, fixed many English sources too.

* Checked in on Twitter and Facebook, then 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, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, and 5.5 hours working in database.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 22 February 2010

Happy George Birthington's Washday...old George was actually born 11 February 1731, but the 1752 calendar change moved the date to 22 February 1732. An interesting genealogy day...

* Read email, blogs and Twitter, and thrashed around thinking about a topic for Monday - finally wrote Amanuensis Monday - Martin Carringer's Will after finding a copy of it in my notebook with a source citation (and put the source in my database).

* Got cleaned up, gathered my laptop and flash drives, and took off for the OASIS place at 9:20 a.m.

* At OASIS at 9:45, got room set up (laptop, projector, 10 PCs), got presentation and websites on the laptop, and handouts laid out, all ready for students. Had 8 out of 10, and had a good class. Was able to spend an hour on presentation and an hour on questions and research problems. Some hard ones! Left at 12:30 p.m., stopped at McDonalds for lunch, to CV library at 1 p.m. in time to see everyone leaving, so got some books and was home by 1:30.

* Read everything, and saw that I missed the big Top 40 blogs announcement. Wrote Genea-Musings made the Top 40 Blogs list anyway... who's number one? They didn't say.

* Got email from Champoux at NEHGS, so posted Ancestry - NEHGS "Family History Day" a Smashing Success with pictures. Wish I could have been there!

* Worked on some of my students research problems for awhile. Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV and read the paper. Had dinner, watched more TV, washed dishes, back to computer at 7 p.m.

* Read everything, looked for gravestone pix in my files, then online for a number of ancestors, but found none useful. Did find one that I missed earlier in my files, so will use it on Tuesday. J sent me link to try her new program, so I did. Had some questions, emailed her with them.

* Went in at 9 p.m. to watch 24, and back online at 10 p.m. to read, then write this post and check in on Facebook.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 2.5 hours at OASIS, 1.0 hour doing research, 1.0 hours looking for online gravestone pix, 0.5 hour working with J's program, and 2.0 hours researching and writing blog posts.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 21 February 2010

Really feel like I got a lot done today in a few hours of work. Tying up loose ends before we go on holiday.

* Read everything, noted that CGSSD Program Review - Aaron Underwood - GenSmarts posted. Looked for my Best of list and realized I'd forgotten to do it - need to write mea culpa when back from church.

* Cleaned up, went to church at 9:30, home by 11:30 a.m. Went online, wrote Best of the Genea-Blogs - February 14-20, 2010 and Miriam had mercy on me - gave me a nice list. Nobody else has!

* Researched and wrote next Digging for Answers column for The Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal. Wait and see!

* Updated handout and presentation for 3rd session of OASIS Beginning Computer Genealogy class. Printed out the handout. Made PDFs and added to flash drives.

* Went in at 3 p.m. to watch Olympics, took an hour nap watching curling...so exciting! Read the paper, had dinner, took food to friends, washed dishes.

* Back online at 7 p.m., read everything, posted CVGS Program on 24 February - "Wrong Name, Right Man - Right Name, Wrong Man" to Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe and Genea-Musings, checked both Gmail accounts, and sent emails to CVGS board members about CSGA things, then to CVGS members about Wednesday program.

* Saw Angela's interview on Twitter, so posted "An Ancestry of African-Native Americans" article in Smithsonian Magazine to gain more exposure. Excellent piece.

* Made hotel reservations at Radisson in SLC for NGS, and plane reservations on Southwest - $89 each way. Checked in on Facebook too. Wrote this blog post.

Genealogy today was 7.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.0 hour on Graveyard Rabbit column, 0.5 hour on CVGS activities, 1.0 hour on OASIS handout/presentation, and 2.5 hours writing blog posts.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 20 February 2010

A pretty full genealogy day with the CGSSD meeting, blogging and testing MyHeritage and GenSmarts a bit.

* Read everything, noted that Surname Saturday - DILL posted, got cleaned up, and went off to CGSSD meeting at 8:15 a.m.

* At CGSSD meeting at 8:45 a.m., frustrated by first hour about Ancestry.com when Del's computer wouldn't connect to UCSD wireless, and then he used Gary's and Del couldn't connect to Ancestry.com. I had no problem connecting to both in the audience!

* Met Aaron and Angie Underwood in lobby at 10 a.m., found a seat in top row with an electrical outlet for laptop. Worked in GenSmarts all through Aaron's presentation on GenSmarts. Walked down to parking lot with Underwoods, who are vacationing in San Diego and don't mind the rainy weather (they live in Chicago). Was home by 12:30 p.m.

* Read everything, noted that Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Happy Dance, Ah-ha Moments or Genea-gasms! posted, and tweeted it. Wrote and sent talk summary of SDJGS meeting. Checked out Ruth's article in LA Times, and wrote Ruth's Grandma Camp makes the LA Times about it to post later.

* Worked in MyHeritage for awhile, downloaded latest Flash software, then made a Family Crest for their contest. Checked out if my DynasTree database is there - it is!

* Really sleepy at 3:30, went in to read paper, watch TV, and take a nap. Watched Olympics until dinner.

* Back online at 7 p.m., read everything, wrote MyHeritage.com Family Crest Contest and sent my crest entry to MyHeritage. Worked a bit more in MyHeritage - still pretty clunky. Checked in on Facebook.

* Wrote blog post for Sunday morning. Installed GenSmarts Version 2 on desktop computer, and worked with it for awhile. Much better than Version 1! Will probably do some demos on Genea-Musings of it. 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, 0.5 on Twitter/Facebook, 3.0 hours at CGSSD meeting, 1.0 hour in MyHeritage, and 1.0 hour on GenSmarts.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 19 February 2010

We're back from our four days in Santa Cruz visiting Lori and the grandsons. It was a fun time - the boys (ages 6 and 4) are really into sports - hockey, soccer, baseball, football in that order. For Logan's birthday, we got him a table-top hockey game where you manipulate the six players with push-pull-rotatable levers and move the puck around. They love it!

While there, I accessed my email and Bloglines every day, but only made one extra post over and above the ones I created last weekend.

We were home by 1:30 p.m. today, so I was able to get back in my genealogy routine for half of the day.

* Read everything, wrote A Tribute to Marsha Hoffman Rising CG, FASG then burned down some of my email list. Helped Linda with mail, wash and papers. Called about appointments and a credit card charge.

* Checked Ancestry.com for useful new databases - nothing but German additions this week. Drat.

* Went in at 5:30 to eat dinner, watch TV, read papers and was back online at 7 p.m.

* Researched and wrote First American Ancestors Magazine issue, then answered more emails. Wrote up a program description for a talk, and then wrote two blog posts for Saturday (since I'll go off to the CGSSD Meeting in the morning). Finally, wrote this blog post.

Genealogy today was 5.5 hours - 1.5 hours doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 0.5 hour on presentation description, and 2.5 hours writing five blog posts.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 15 February 2010

Not much of a genealogy day - other than the OASIS class and some blogging. Packed for the trip to Santa Cruz on Tuesday.

* Read email,. blogs and Twitter, tried to find something useful to blog about but ran out of time, got cleaned up and ready to leave for the OASIS class at 9:15 a.m. Amanuensis Monday - Isaac Buck Revolutionary War Affidavits posted earlier.

* Got to OASIS at 9:40 a.m., got set up, two students came early and asked good questions, class started at 10:15, and I talked all the way to 12:15. Shoot - wanted to give them time to work on the computers. Did demo of Legacy data input, Ancestry trees, WorldConnect, Rootsweb SSDI and CA Death Index - all should be helpful to them. Left at 12:30, had lunch at McDonalds, stopped by the library but nobody there, home at 1:30 p.m.

* Read everything, researched and posted Joe Beine's Research Guides and Indexes. Checked Facebook. Bored and sleepy, went in at 3:45 to nap, read paper, watch TV, eat dinner, back on computer at 6:30 p.m.

* Read everything, wrote a post for Friday and the "blogging is light" post, read political stuff, and went in at 8:30 to watch Olympics and then 24.

* Back online at 10 p.m., 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, 2.5 hours on OASIS class, 1.0 hour looking at online databases, and 2.5 hours researching and writing blog posts.

Will be away until Friday, so Geneaholic will be dark until then. May not have access to Internet. Will have big withdrawal symptoms, I fear!!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Weekend - 13-14 February 2010

Oops, completely forgot to write my daily journal entry on Saturday. Stopped "work" early to read for 90 minutes... oh well, here it is for the weekend:

Saturday - 13 February 2010

* Read everything, noted Surname Saturday - GATES posted in the morning. Scrambled thinking of topic for SNGF, finally wrote Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - A Valentine's Day Story and thought there would be a deluge of posts and comments. Nope... oh well!

* Got cleaned up, had lunch, left at 11 a.m. for SDGS meeting. There at 11:30, networked with SDGS folks for awhile, then the two presentations by Caroline Rober with a break between them. Was home by 2:15 p.m.

* Read everything, but sleepy so went in and napped for awhile. Listened to a podcast, answered some email, worked on the OASIS Class 2 presentation and handout, and time for dinner!

* Back online at 6:30 p.m., wrote the SDGS Program Summary - Caroline Rober post to publish on Sunday morning. Got most of Best of the Genea-Blogs written to post Sunday noon. Checked on Facebook. Stopped early to read my online ebook and then my mystery novel while watching Olympics.

Genealogy Saturday was 8.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook. 2.5 hours at SDGS meeting, 1.5 hours on OASIS class stuff, and 2.0 hours writing blog posts.

Sunday - 14 February 2010

* Read everything before church, modified the Best of post a bit. Noted that the Caroline Rober piece posted, wrote Happy Valentine's Day Genealogy Lovers! and Lisa Kudrow on Lisa Cooke's Genealogy Gems Podcast #81 before church.

* Home from church at 11:45, had some lunch, noted Best of the Genea-Blogs - February 7-13, 2010 posted. Worked on SDGS newsletter article about Rober presentations and emailed it off.

* Linda wanted her prayer chain email list on Webmail updated, so spent an hour doing that. Worked on OASIS class materials getting them synced and accurate. Wrote four blog posts for next week while we are away - more to do!

* Took Linda out to dinner at Oggi's at 4:30 p.m., home by 6:30 p.m. Read everything, wrote some emails about CVGS, and printed off the OASIS class handouts. Put PDFs on my two flash drives and stowed everything in laptop bag.

* Watched 60 Minutes and Olympics for awhile, back online at 8 p.m. to mess around on some websites, checked Facebook, bored, so wrote this post.

Genealogy on Sunday was 7.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 0.5 hour on SDGS article, 1.0 hour on OASIS materials, and 3.5 hours writing blog posts.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 12 February 2010

Really not much of a genealogy day - a late start, some afternoon interference, and reading/blogging in the evening.

* Up before 7, Lolo up, then Audrey, took care of them until Tami got up at 9 a.m. She packed up and they took off for home at 9:30.

* Read everything, wrote Follow Friday - Anglo-Celtic Connections and got cleaned up. Found the PHMC site and saved the Carringer patent map.

* Ate lunch at home, then off to pick up George for our walk on the bay - sunny day, 65 F, some wind. To the bank, got gas, home by 1:15 p.m.

* Researched and wrote Pennsylvania Warrantee Township Maps, and more then read everything before going in for my nap. Went out at 4 p.m. to mow the front lawn - long because of all the rain, and dry enough to cut now.

* Watched TV, read the paper, had dinner, and back to computer at 6:30 p.m.

* Read everything, researched and wrote The 2009 iGene Awards for Genea-Musings. Took awhile, since I had to go through almost 1,000 posts to decide best of. some tough choices. Wrote the Surname Saturday post for Gates. Checked in on Facebook and got caught in a global warming discussion. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 5.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 0.5 hour working in PHMC site, and 3.5 hours writing blog posts.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 11 February 2010

Did some blogging and not much else today because grandgirls are here.

* Finally online at 9 a.m., read everything and posted Treasure Chest Thursday - a General Land Office Record. Tami, Linda and girls left at 9:30 to go to Sea World.

* Got cleaned up, wrote Using Google Documents - Post 1 and set it for late morning, ate lunch, then went off to Costco for Valentine's Day roses and to Rite-Aid for a card. Shopping's done! Got roses early because we're leaving on Tuesday for three nights and wanted Linda to enjoy them.

* Home at 12:30 p.m., read everything, answered some email, wrote CVGS Research Group Summary - 10 February 2010 on the CV Genealogy Cafe, and the kids came home and went down for naps.

* Went in at 2:45 to read paper, take a nap, and woke up to Lolo watching PBS kids shows. Audrey woke up at 4, so played with her until Tami got up and we all went to dinner at Rubios, meeting Abigail and her mom.

* Home from dinner at 6:30, Lolo, Abigail and Audrey had ice cream, played well together, and took a bath. Abbie's mom came at 8 to get her and we put the girls down.

* Back online at 8:30, wrote Recent Articles on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog, checked in on Facebook and wrote this post. Wonder how traffic will spike on CVGC after the links?

Genealogy today was only 5.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, and 3.0 hours writing blog posts.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 10 February 2010

It was a different genealogy day - had lots of fun at the CVGS Research Group today!

* Read everything, and posted (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 90: Effie Smith of Concordia KS 1885 before getting cleaned up for the day. Came back and think I found Effie in the 1880 census as a 13-year old girl.

* Researched and wrote New Databases on FamilySearch Record Search. Others have posted the projects in work, but no one is posting the databases actually available for research on the FamilySearch Record Search site.

* Checked in on Facebook, then gathered papers up to go to the library for the CVGS Research Group.

* Had lunch at McDonalds, got to the library at 11:45, and the gang of 13 trickled in over the next 30 minutes. Had a fun and informative meeting with three visitors, one a new researcher, one coming back to research after 30 years away, and a veteran visiting us for the first time. The other ten were CVGS members. Every one contributed to the conversation which was neat. Spent some time with Marta who has San Diego and BCN heritage back into the 1800s.

* Home by 3 p.m., and posted SDGS Meeting on Saturday, 13 February - Carolyn Rober then answered some emails. Added more files to Google documents, including my current FTM16 database. Will do this weekly in order to keep a recent backup offline. Added some of my presentation files too.

* Went in at 4:45 p.m. to read paper, watch TV, take a nap and have dinner. Was back online at 6:45 p.m.

* Wrote Valentine's Day is Special for Me for the Smile for the Camera Carnival. Checked back on Facebook for awhile.

* Went in at 7:45 p.m. to watch Jeopardy and Faces of America on PBS. It was pretty good. Tami and grandgirls came at 8:30 so I helped with bath and bedtime.

* Back on computer at 9:15 p.m., wrote a post for Thursday morning and read everything, then wrote this post. So six blog posts today!

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 3.0 hours at CVGS meeting, 1.0 hour watching genealogy TV, and 4.0 hours writing blog posts.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 9 February 2010

Stayed home and worked on genealogy most of the day. More rain today, couldn't mow the front lawn. Drat. :)

* Read email, blogs and Twitter, then posted Tombstone Tuesday - the Sovereens in Delhi, Norfolk County, Ontario. Got cleaned up.

* Wrote and posted Wednesdays at the SDGS Library and then worked in the database for awhile sorting out Sovereens and Hutchinsons. Answered some emails and commented on some blog posts.

* Had lunch at home, found the Vermont births 1909-2008 in an Ancestry database, so happily added 100 births to my database. Went to the pharmacy to pick up my meds and shop for Linda, I got out and had a little fresh air and walk. Very little... not as much as if I had mowed the lawn! Posted Vermont Vital Records 1909 to 2008 on Ancestry.com. Checked in on Facebook too.

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

* Back at it at 6:45 p.m. - read everything, figured out the GTGW contest winners - will post on Wednesday. Looked at NGS schedule and looked for airfares on Southwest. Answered more emails. Posted February 2010 Issue of CVGS Newsletter and wrote four more posts for the next week on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 11.0 hours - 1.0 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.0 hour looking at NGS details, 0.5 hour on GTGW contest, 3.5 hours adding Seaver data to database, 1.0 hour on Sovereens/Hutchinsons in database, and 3.0 hours researching and writing blog posts.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Randy's Big Family History Day - 8 February 2010

Not much genealogy, but some great family history...

* Up early, got cleaned up, managed to read email before we left at 7:30 a.m. Amanuensis Monday - Shubael Seaver's estate distribution posted.

* Drove to LaVerne University... got there before 10 a.m. when daughter Tami was scheduled to defend her doctoral dissertation. It started on-time, Tami introduced her guests, the evaluation board introduced themselves, and Tami presented her dissertation findings to the group. The board asked some questions, and Tami responded cogently and well. They asked us to step outside, and when we went back in they said that she passed the defense and there were no revisions required to the dissertation. Doctor Tami. We were so proud. Tami and her hubby treated everybody to lunch in Azusa at their favorite restaurant. It was good, and we enjoyed the company of her friends and classmates. We left at 2 p.m. and were home by 4:15 p.m.

* While we were eating, Using Online Genealogy Message Boards - Post 5 (GenForum 2) posted.

* Checked email, blogs, Twitter and Facebook, and went in at 5:30 p.m. to watch news and read the paper, had dinner, and back online at 6:30 p.m. Answered some emails. Checked Ancestry.com databases, then worked in my database fixing sources and place names.

* Went in at 9 p.m. to watch 24, and back online at 10:15 after washing dishes to read everything and write this post. Done!

Genealogy today was only 3.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 0.5 hour writing blog posts, and 1.5 hour working in the database.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Randy's Not-so-Genealogy Day - 7 February 2010

It wasn't much of a genealogy day. But it was a great football game.

* Read email, blogs and Twitter before going off to church at 9:30 a.m.

* Home at 11:40 a.m., finished up the Best of the Genea-Blogs post, and gathered up the CVGS Newsletter stuff and left at 12:15 p.m. The Best of post published a little later.

* Got CVGS Newsletter copies made, labeled and taped, but didn't have enough stamps so brought them home and used my own stash for now. Home at 12:45, read everything, checked Facebook.

* Went in to eat lunch, read paper, watch Super bowl pre-game show, had a nap, and watched the game. Good game - back and forth like I thought it would be, until the fatal mistake. Peyton is imperfect! Brees was near perfect.

* Came in at 7:30 p.m. after post-game show, read everything, answered some email, wrote two blog posts for Monday because we're leaving in the morning and won't be home until evening. Off to see daughter Tami defend her EdD dissertation at LaVerne University. Wrote this post.

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

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 6 February 2010

Spent most of the day doing blogging and database work, with a little CVGS newsletter work completed.

* Read everything, got cleaned up and went to men's prayer breakfast and Bible study at 8 a.m. Home by 9:30 - noted that Surname Saturday - SOVEREEN/ZAVERING posted.

* Wrote Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - the Super Bowl of Genealogy and set it for early afternoon. Changed blog colors for Valentine's Day - do you like them? :) Checked in on Facebook and Twitter.

* Pulled out my "to be entered into the database" file and started in on some of the NJ families - Ayers and Dunham. Took time out for lunch, and to help Linda when she came home, but finally put my head up at 5:45 p.m. Where did the afternoon go? Lost in the ancestral database! Passed 39,000 persons too!

* Dinner guests arrived at 6 p.m., had a nice visit, good dinner, long chat and was back on computer at 8:20 p.m.

* One last edit on CVGS Newsletter, then save as PDF, create black/white version and printed that out for photocopies. Made the mailing list, put everything in the bag. Ready to publish on Sunday!

* Realized I hadn't written my SNGF - the Super Bowl of Genealogy post, so I did. Then started the Best of the Genea-blogs post - got it about 40% done. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blog posts, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 1.0 hour on CVGS newsletter, 2.0 hours writing blog posts, and 5.0 hours working in FTM16 database.

Oh - Saints 41, Colts 38 in down to the wire action!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day -- 5 February 2010

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Wimped out on taking a walk at the bayfront with George - rain clouds on horizon and cool (um, for San Diego)). Stayed home and wrote and worked.

* Read everything before writing Follow Friday - Rootdig and Casefile Clues post. Got cleaned up. Wrote Internet Genealogy - March 2010 Table of Contents and set it for later in the morning.

* Sorted through the Carringer treasure box stuff again, and pulled out the "good" photo album to see what I don't have scanned yet. Cropped, rotated, saved and labeled remaining photos from Scanfest. Did 69 scans of 105 photographs. Plenty more to do, plus artifacts!

* Ate lunch at home, back quickly to read everything and worked in the database for awhile. Changed background on Twitter and checked in on Facebook. Looked at GenSeek application on Facebook - still as bad as it was in August. Feel a rant coming...

* Ranted, er, wrote Whither GenSeek.com? and felt better afterwards - rant off! Wonder when it will launch? NGS Conference? SCGS Jamboree? FGS Conference?

* Went in to watch TV, read paper, take nap, eat dinner. Success in all of the above.

* Online at 7 p.m. to read everything, then worked on CVGS Newsletter. Finished by 9 p.m. - lots of news for our readers! Checked Twitter and Facebook, wrote Surname Saturday post, and then wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours today - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading genealogy blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 2.5 hours labeling photos, 1.0 hour in database, 3.0 hours researching and writing blog posts, and 2.0 hours working on CVGS newsletter.
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Thursday, February 4, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 4 February 2010

A full genealogy day at home - some blogging, some database work, some treasure finding, and working on the newsletter.

* Read everything, researched and posted Treasure Chest Thursday - My Parent's Wedding Announcement and then researched and wrote Using Online Genealogy Message Boards - Post 4 (GenForum 1) and set it for after noon.

* Got cleaned up, and had a fun time going through the Treasure Box - laid everything out on the extra bed in piles trying to collect similar stuff. Found postcard collection, packets of photos not yet scanned, original papers and artifacts, and two photo albums - one from a distant cousin and the other for the 1915 Exposition in San Diego - my grandfather's photos. Did a little research to find Carlie Brown-Smith without any results in 1880 or 1900 census.

* Had lunch, answered two emails about Seaver folks, and then worked in Family Tree Builder and Family Tree Maker 2010 seeing if same-sex marriages are permitted. They are, and seems like the labels are good to - Spouse instead of Husband/Wife or Father/Mother. Checked in on Facebook.

* Did some source fixing in the database, and added some data from the "to be entered" file, but got sleepy and went in to watch TV and take my nap. That led to dinner and more TV before returning to the Genea-Cave at 6:30 pm.

* Read everything, sent my blog presentation to the EGS guy, enjoyed Maureen Taylor's Analysis of Annie Moore Photographs, then worked on CVGS newsletter for several hours. About 85% done now...need half of one page and corrections to another, and done. Added more graphics to this issue. Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 11.0 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 in photo/treasure collection, 1.0 hour doing online research, 1.5 hours working in database, 1.0 hour working in software, and 2.5 hours working on CVGS newsletter.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 3 February 2010

Reading, Blogging, CVGS meeting and newsletter, and a little research and database work made this day a decent genealogy day.

* After reading everything, posted (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 89: Carlie Brown-Smith using one of the newly scanned photos. Saw Megan's article, so wrote New Annie Moore Photos too.

* Got cleaned up, and gathered stuff to take to meeting. Wrote Using Online Genealogy Message Boards - Post 3 (Rootsweb) before I left for lunch.

* Left at 11:15 for McDonalds lunch, then to post office box, and to library for CVGS Board meeting. After meeting, found two death notices in SD Union for a query. Home by 3:30 p.m. Put out trash, watched TV and read paper while Linda on computer.

* Online at 4:15, read everything, watched WDYTYA trailer, and found more McKnew data in Washington Post on Ancestry.com - added about 20 death dates, and about 5 marriage dates, plus sources to my database.

* Went in for dinner at 6 p.m., back online at 7 p.m. Read everything, answered some emails, nothing to blog about. Started on CVGS Newsletter draft. Got 7 out of 10 pages done. Wrote this post. Will check Facebook and Twitter one more time tonight.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 5.5 hours on CVGS meeting, 1.0 hour in online research, queries and newsletter, and 2.0 hours writing blog posts.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 2 February 2010

A long genealogy day, with not much to show for it. Lots of forgettable moments, I fear that I wasted hours just messing around looking for nuggets in the chaff.

* Read everything, posted Tombstone Tuesday - Rev. Obadiah Holmes (1610-1682), Baptist Minister and collected Rootsweb message board information.

* Check on Facebook and Twitter, wrote Using Online Genealogy Message Boards - Post 1 and answered some emails, then had lunch.

* Got about half of the scanned photos from Sunday Scanfest separated, cropped and named as JPG files. Had to scan five more because I messed up the first time around. Finished one bag of photos - two more to go. Tried to incorporate info on back into file names, and have image of back for some with lots of writing.

* Worked in RootsMagic a bit trying to decipher how to make a group and how to set up same-sex marriages. Failed at both tasks. Used another Tag in Legacy to set up descendants of Robert Seaver - worked like a charm!

* Went in at 4 p.m. to watch TV, take a nap, and eat dinner. Linda went off to church to feed the homeless.

* Back online at 6 p.m. Wrote Using Online Genealogy Message Boards - Post 2 and then wrote Genealogy Days in Chula Vista - February 2010 on Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe.

* Worked in Chronicling America, NewspaperARCHIVE, Ancestry and Footnote newspapers trying to find some Fitchburg Sentinel and Washington Post articles for Richmonds and McKnews. Failed miserably - spent several hours with no results. Major league Drat! Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 10.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Twitter/Facebook, 2.5 hours researching and writing blog posts, 1.5 hour in software, 2.5 hours in online databases, and 2.5 hours working on scanned photos.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Randy's Genealogy Day - 1 February 2010

This was a palindromic day 01-02-2010 if you do it the European way... or 2 January was if you do it the American way. Anybody else catch that? Next one is probably 11-02-2011 (European). And then 21-02-2012, and 02-02-2020, 12-02-2021, 22-02-2022. And then 10-12-2101 - a long wait, eh?

* Up early due to 4.4 earthquake off Rosarito, felt it, no problem. Read email, blogs and Twitter, and noted that Amanuensis Monday - The Probate Packet of Simon Gates (1667-1752) of Stow MA posted. Got cleaned up, gathered laptop case and left at 8:45 a.m.

* Got to car dealer at 9:15 a.m. - the appointment time, and walked the 15 minutes to Macy's for the OASIS class. Perfect timing. Had ten students - all skill levels, but interested in Beginning Computer Genealogy. Cool. Started at 10:15 a.m., had a good class until 12:30 p.m. Had lunch at mall food court, walked to car dealer, bailed out the Lincoln and was home by 1:45 p.m. Linda was on computer, so snoozed in my chair until 2:45. I needed that!

* While at class/dealer, Win a FREE Subscription to GenealogyToday and GenWeekly - Enter Today! posted. Had about 20 responses so far. Read everything, helped Linda with groceries, messed around until 5:15.

* Neighbor came at 5:15 p.m. for dinner, walked her home at 6:30, back on computer to read everything, then research and write Tagging Groups of People in Legacy Family Tree. Checked in on Facebook and Twitter.

* Went in at 9 p.m. to watch 24, back online at 10:15 after telephone call with Lori. Wrote this post.

* Noted that January 2010 was best traffic month ever for Genea-Musings - 17,004 visits and 26,772 page views according to Sitemeter. Those are averages of 548 and 864 per day. Thank you, readers!

Genealogy today was 6.5 hours - 0.5 hour doing email, 0.5 hour reading blogs, 0.5 hour on Facebook and Twitter, 1.5 hours writing blog posts, 2.5 hours on OASIS class, and 1.0 hour in software.