I'm not the only one writing about Geneaholism and recovery...
I don't know why it took me so long to discover ... GENanon, a blog by Thomas Hamburger Jnr who describes his blog as:
"We are a not-for-profit group that exists to provide succour and support to anyone, anywhere, anytime who has become addicted to the pursuit of their family history. "
He, of course, demonstrates his proclivities by writing a serial genealogy story at http://harrymcfryinvestigates.blogspot.com/ - where Harry McFry is the intrepid hero. There are 130 chapters so far - I'm not sure that is enough for a true Geneaholic. We'll see!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Philias and Phobias
It might be that we geneaholics can be called by other names - here are several (from here):
* Nomatophiliac - one with an abnormal affection for names
* Syngenesophiliac - one with an abnormal affection for relatives
* Taphephiliac - one with an abnormal affection for cemeteries (or for being buried alive)
* Mnemophiliac - one with an abnormal affection for memories
* Patroiophiliac - one with an abnormal affection for heredity
Somehow, "Syngenesophiliacs Anonymous" just doesn't light my fire...
* Nomatophiliac - one with an abnormal affection for names
* Syngenesophiliac - one with an abnormal affection for relatives
* Taphephiliac - one with an abnormal affection for cemeteries (or for being buried alive)
* Mnemophiliac - one with an abnormal affection for memories
* Patroiophiliac - one with an abnormal affection for heredity
Somehow, "Syngenesophiliacs Anonymous" just doesn't light my fire...
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Two good genealogy days
I finally was able to get two full days of doing fun genealogy efforts today and yesterday - a full 10 hours on Wednesday (I had to go to a memorial service in the morning) and I expect a good 10 hours today.
On Wednesday, I worked on my wife's friends ancestry - and blogged about it here. The effort included digging out census and vital records from online databases, putting the information into a FamilyTreeMaker database, and printing out a report. Then last night I found info in online databases for several of her ancestors. I also wrote an email to her asking her for the names of her mother's parents and siblings, and where they lived.
Today, I got the answer to my questions and now I have more research to do. Great! More fun! Maybe tonight.
Because I have gotten lazy (frankly, I'd rather do the survey type of research) about reducing my paper piles, I realized I had better put the Rhode Island probate record data I collected two weeks ago into my FTM database. I worked on the probate records of Nathaniel Horton (1730-1819) of Foster RI a week ago, and posted them here. This morning, I entered the probate records of Richard Pray ( 1683-1755) of Scituate RI into the database, including transcribing the will, the court orders and the itemized inventory. This afternoon, I am going to start transcribing the probate records of Nathaniel Wade (1709-1754) of Scituate RI.
I need to enter the new data for our friend's ancestry into the database, then start on finding her mother's ancestry. I'll start that tonight (no Padres game again!) but it might stretch into tomorrow.
It amazes me that we can do a significant part of the survey phase of the research process online in hours - it used to take weeks or months to find the county books, the census records, the vital records, etc. Of course, that doesn't help a true geneaholic recover, does it? S/he (hmmm, I!) can get more work done in a shorter period of time.
On Wednesday, I worked on my wife's friends ancestry - and blogged about it here. The effort included digging out census and vital records from online databases, putting the information into a FamilyTreeMaker database, and printing out a report. Then last night I found info in online databases for several of her ancestors. I also wrote an email to her asking her for the names of her mother's parents and siblings, and where they lived.
Today, I got the answer to my questions and now I have more research to do. Great! More fun! Maybe tonight.
Because I have gotten lazy (frankly, I'd rather do the survey type of research) about reducing my paper piles, I realized I had better put the Rhode Island probate record data I collected two weeks ago into my FTM database. I worked on the probate records of Nathaniel Horton (1730-1819) of Foster RI a week ago, and posted them here. This morning, I entered the probate records of Richard Pray ( 1683-1755) of Scituate RI into the database, including transcribing the will, the court orders and the itemized inventory. This afternoon, I am going to start transcribing the probate records of Nathaniel Wade (1709-1754) of Scituate RI.
I need to enter the new data for our friend's ancestry into the database, then start on finding her mother's ancestry. I'll start that tonight (no Padres game again!) but it might stretch into tomorrow.
It amazes me that we can do a significant part of the survey phase of the research process online in hours - it used to take weeks or months to find the county books, the census records, the vital records, etc. Of course, that doesn't help a true geneaholic recover, does it? S/he (hmmm, I!) can get more work done in a shorter period of time.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Latest Roadblocks to True Geneaholism
Life conspires against the addicted geneaholic to deprive him of his needed research time. In the last month, the following have happened to me that cut into my research time:
1) Jury Duty - four days, from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, of sitting in a courtroom listening to attorneys and witnesses, and the judge's jokes and restaurant recommendations. I coulda been home finding more cousins or putting data into my database.
2) Grandchildren come visit: five days, from 6:30 AM to 8 PM, of feeding, diapering, clothing playing, chasing, helping, loving, laughing, sharing ice cream, bathing and reading to a 2 year old. I wouldn't give that up for any genealogy work in the world.
3) Furniture shopping: we only did this three times, and for about 2 hours each, but the hassle of it all is debilitating. We found a nice leather couch set with two recliners, two other seats and two storage/drink holder areas. When it was delivered, one of the recliners was damaged. Now they can't find another one to replace it. We have to make more trips back to the store to decide if we want something else or stick with what we have. Arrgggh. I hate shopping - I'd rather be in a library.
4) Watching baseball games: We have a Padres 20-game ticket plan, so about once a week we go to the game. It ruins a whole night - from 5 PM to 11 PM. When we don't go, we watch the game on TV, which takes only 2 to 3 hours. I get the paper read, and then the current book read, so it isn't a total waste of time. I'd rather watch them all on TV, but all genealogy and no outside time makes Randy a pale wretch.
These aren't cures at all - they are roadblocks to consistently enjoying my addiction! But some of the roadblocks are very enjoyable!
What are your roadblocks to your geneaholism? Or your cures? (And don't say "take your wife to Hawaii for a week" - that's coming soon!).
1) Jury Duty - four days, from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, of sitting in a courtroom listening to attorneys and witnesses, and the judge's jokes and restaurant recommendations. I coulda been home finding more cousins or putting data into my database.
2) Grandchildren come visit: five days, from 6:30 AM to 8 PM, of feeding, diapering, clothing playing, chasing, helping, loving, laughing, sharing ice cream, bathing and reading to a 2 year old. I wouldn't give that up for any genealogy work in the world.
3) Furniture shopping: we only did this three times, and for about 2 hours each, but the hassle of it all is debilitating. We found a nice leather couch set with two recliners, two other seats and two storage/drink holder areas. When it was delivered, one of the recliners was damaged. Now they can't find another one to replace it. We have to make more trips back to the store to decide if we want something else or stick with what we have. Arrgggh. I hate shopping - I'd rather be in a library.
4) Watching baseball games: We have a Padres 20-game ticket plan, so about once a week we go to the game. It ruins a whole night - from 5 PM to 11 PM. When we don't go, we watch the game on TV, which takes only 2 to 3 hours. I get the paper read, and then the current book read, so it isn't a total waste of time. I'd rather watch them all on TV, but all genealogy and no outside time makes Randy a pale wretch.
These aren't cures at all - they are roadblocks to consistently enjoying my addiction! But some of the roadblocks are very enjoyable!
What are your roadblocks to your geneaholism? Or your cures? (And don't say "take your wife to Hawaii for a week" - that's coming soon!).
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Just what I need - a T-shirt!
JMK Genealogy Gifts is offering a T-shirt (and other genealogy items) with the slogan "Geneaholic Anonymous - It's a Disease, not a Hobby."
Pretty Cool - thanks Jimmy!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
New signs of geneaholism
Having worked awfully hard at trying to identify, acknowledge and conquer my addiction, I have discovered some new signs of the disease "geneaholism:"
1) Constantly tinkers with genealogy blog colors and fonts to make all four blogs "look better."
2) Will travel to faraway cities two days before a scheduled speaking engagement, take his laptop and blog away for hours in the hotel room. (My excuse was that the TV channel selection was really limited).
3) Goes twice a week to the Family History Center to fill up his flash drive with images from microfilms that are nearly unreadable - then prints them out at home.
4) Keeps Bloglines as his number 1 tab (in IE7) and reads new posts every time one comes in.
5) Finds himself searching in Ancestry.com for strange and funny census names, especially around holidays. Even worse, he posts a blog about them!
6) Tries to access the wireless internet at the library in the conference room for "show and tell," even though he knows that the wireless signal is weak and unreliable. To compensate, he downloads web pages to the flash drive at home and loads them onto the laptop for "show and tell" when the signal fails.
7) When a friend asks him to search for information about a defunct church, he also searches for the friend's ancestry and provides a 4 generation ahnentafel report a week later.
8) Plans all week to perform the "library trifecta" - three libraries in three hours to find three different unrelated genealogy treasures. This is followed by writing three blog posts.
9) Does not shy away from transcribing documents written in early colonial handscrawls, and forgets to eat lunch while doing so. M&Ms really help, though. Only 64 pages left to go!
10) While in New England for a funeral service, drags his wife around town to find the ancestral homes and gravestones of his family - again! I did it last year alone. My excuse was that it wasn't raining this year and the pictures would be better.
A bonus item:
11) "What? I cut the lawn four weeks ago. I watered the plants last week sometime. When did you buy new furniture?" I guess it's time to come out of the Genea-Cave.
Ah yes, I am addicted to genealogy and know it.
1) Constantly tinkers with genealogy blog colors and fonts to make all four blogs "look better."
2) Will travel to faraway cities two days before a scheduled speaking engagement, take his laptop and blog away for hours in the hotel room. (My excuse was that the TV channel selection was really limited).
3) Goes twice a week to the Family History Center to fill up his flash drive with images from microfilms that are nearly unreadable - then prints them out at home.
4) Keeps Bloglines as his number 1 tab (in IE7) and reads new posts every time one comes in.
5) Finds himself searching in Ancestry.com for strange and funny census names, especially around holidays. Even worse, he posts a blog about them!
6) Tries to access the wireless internet at the library in the conference room for "show and tell," even though he knows that the wireless signal is weak and unreliable. To compensate, he downloads web pages to the flash drive at home and loads them onto the laptop for "show and tell" when the signal fails.
7) When a friend asks him to search for information about a defunct church, he also searches for the friend's ancestry and provides a 4 generation ahnentafel report a week later.
8) Plans all week to perform the "library trifecta" - three libraries in three hours to find three different unrelated genealogy treasures. This is followed by writing three blog posts.
9) Does not shy away from transcribing documents written in early colonial handscrawls, and forgets to eat lunch while doing so. M&Ms really help, though. Only 64 pages left to go!
10) While in New England for a funeral service, drags his wife around town to find the ancestral homes and gravestones of his family - again! I did it last year alone. My excuse was that it wasn't raining this year and the pictures would be better.
A bonus item:
11) "What? I cut the lawn four weeks ago. I watered the plants last week sometime. When did you buy new furniture?" I guess it's time to come out of the Genea-Cave.
Ah yes, I am addicted to genealogy and know it.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
My 24 Hours of Genealogy
NASCAR has its 24 Hours of Daytona, and Jack Bauer manages to pack a year of anti-terrorist activities into the Fox TV program "24" - I thought I would lay out my own "24 Hours of Genealogy" in "24" format.
3 AM to 4 AM: Awake and can't sleep - worrying about all I have to do today. Turn on computer, access Outlook Express and read my email (all three accounts). Click on Internet Explorer 7 and access my Bloglines account to see what other genea-bloggers are up to.
4 AM to 5 AM: Find interesting web links in some blog posts - open another tab in IE7 and access my Blogger Dashboard. Write two posts to Genea-Musings to start everybody's day off with some useful news.
5 AM to 6 AM: Open another IE7 tab, and access Ancestry.com. Search for census records for 1900 to 1930 for the families in my latest project. Find them in all four years. Capture the images to my hard drive in my project file, and transcribe the family data to paper.
6 AM to 7 AM: My wife is up and wants to read and respond to her email on the desktop computer. OK - I fire up the laptop computer and take it into the family room. I get my banana and Rice Krispies cereal and then read my favorite political news sites on the laptop (see - not everything is genealogy!).
7 AM to 8 AM: I shut down the laptop and get back on the desktop computer. I need to prepare for our CVGS meeting today. I gather the material for the meeting agenda and open Microsoft Word. I find last month's agenda and rename it for this month. I delete last month's program information and change the dates. I review the agenda to make sure everything is covered. Then I add the speaker and program information to the agenda, edit it and print out the masters. Then I work on the program flyers for next month. I take the flyers (one color, one black and white) from last month and edit them to reflect the correct dates and speaker presentation information. I print off two black and whites and 15 color flyers (while doing something else). I open last month's certificate file, edit it for the date and speaker's name and title, and print it off on a gold embossed form, then sign it and put it in a folder.
8 AM to 9 AM: Time to get ready to go out - shave, brush teeth, shower, comb hair, deodorant, get dressed, XYZ, find keys, wallet, watch, get an apple out of the fridge, etc. In the computer room, gather up what I need for the program meeting (tote bag, laptop, iPod, nametag, flyers, agendas, publicity boards, flash drive) and put at the front door.
9 AM to 10 AM: Off to the copy shop. Make 40 two-sided copies of the meeting agenda and 150 copies of the black and white program flyers. I fold the agendas while the flyers are copying. Charge it to the CVGS account. Then off to the Post Office and check the society mailbox for mail. On the way to the Library, I eat my apple. I get to the library at about 9:45, so I go in the back door to setup before the 10 AM opening of the library. Several others are already there setting up the snacks in the conference room and the audio-visual equipment. I set out the publicity boards at the auditorium door and the conference room door. put the handouts on the table, take some into the auditorium to handout if people forget to get it in the conference room.
10 AM to 11 AM: The library doors open, and here comes the crowd. They sign in, pick up the handouts, buy a raffle ticket, etc. I meet and greet, then go down to the auditorium to make sure the people there have signed in and have handouts. I check to make sure the speaker has arrived, meet the speaker and s/he is getting set up for their presentation. At 10:15, I give a 5 minute warning to the crowd in the conference room. We start our business meeting at 10:20 AM, and hear reports of activities, treasury, membership and programs. Then the raffle, and finally the program chairman introduces the speaker. The speaker starts and I sit down to listen and read the handout.
11 AM to 12 noon: The speaker continues until 11:45, then takes several questions. At 11:55, I stand up and say "one more question" and after the answer I thank the speaker, and present the certificate of appreciation to them. The crowd disperses - many of them to the conference room for some goodies. I make sure the speaker comes and has a drink and some members ask more questions. I give flyers to several members to deliver to other libraries and senior centers (the color flyers are for posting, the black and whites for handouts).
12 noon to 1 PM: Eventually the crowd leaves, and the conference room cleanup is finished. I gather the publicity boards and the leftover handouts. I escort the speaker to their car and point out where we are going for lunch. I walk over to the restaurant and meet the speaker and other society members and we order lunch. During the meal, we talk about different societies, other speakers, our own research experience - a great time of sharing and fellowship.
1 PM to 2 PM: After lunch, I bid the speaker goodbye with thanks. I go back to the library and give flyers to the staff for posting on the bulletin boards and handouts in the pickup slots. I put some flyers in the Family History area for pickup by patrons. Then it's off to the Family History Center. This is a 20 minute drive, so I fire up the iPod and listen to a genealogy podcast on the way.
2 PM to 3 PM: At the FHC, I put a color flyer on the bulletin board and put black and white flyers on the shelf below. Then it is off to review my microfilm. I scroll through, and note the pages I want to copy. Over to the microfilm scanner/printer/computer setup, and I transfer the microfilm images to the computer, then get out my flash drive and copy them from the computer to the flash drive. I delete the computer files, extract my flash drive, exit from the computer, put the microfilm away, and pay for use of the scanner/computer.
3 PM to 4 PM: Back in the car, heading home. I listen to another genealogy podcast on the iPod - this takes about 30 minutes since it is rush hour. At home, I unload everything, check the snail mail, and go to the desktop computer and check my email. I printout any queries I have received that need action at the library.
4 PM to 5 PM: My wife comes home and wants to check her email on the desktop. I go into the family room, turn on the TV news, pick up the paper and doze for about 20 minutes. My wife comes in to start dinner, and I go back to the computer. I check Bloglines for new posts, and create a blog post on Genea-Musings about today's society program.
5 PM to 6 PM: Dinner is on the table, and we talk about our day's activities. After dinner, I wash the dishes and then go watch the TV news and finish the newspaper.
6 PM to 7 PM: I go back on the computer, and check my email again. I decide that I better do something useful so I get the flash drive out of my pocket and copy the files from the microwave onto the hard drive. I rename these files so that I know what they are, and then print them out while doing something else. I remember that I found some census data this morning, so I open up Family Tree Maker and enter that data into the notes for the people in my project database.
7 PM to 8 PM: I need more genealogy podcasts to listen to, so I go to Family roots Radio and download the last two programs. Then I go to the Genealogy Guys and download the last two podcasts. I open iTunes and add them to the Podcast menu, then connect the iPod to the computer and load the podcasts onto the iPod. I find that I can concentrate on the podcasts while driving but not while working on the computer.
8 PM to 9 PM: I'm getting tired, but the evening is still young! I'm going to watch "24" tonight and see if I can get some tips from Jack Bauer on how to handle the society workers and library staff. For now, I decide to transcribe one of the files I downloaded from microfilm at the FHC. I open FTM and find the ancestor of interest, and use my magnifying glass to try to read the handwriting in the record I printed. Some of it is very difficult to read, mainly because of the quality of the film image. I love challenges like this, though!
9 PM to 10 PM: Time to watch "24" - I tell my wife she can check her email if she wants to. While watching the program, I read the latest issue of the NGS NewsMagazine that came today. I didn't get very far in the magazine - Jack Bauer was really active tonight!
10 PM to 11 PM: Back to the computer, check my email and Bloglines again. I decide to post some information on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog and write up some research tips and a notice about the next program meeting. Yawn - OK, I need to do something interesting and useful for the rest of the hour. I should check the New England Vital Records for 1880 to 1910 to see if the people in my project have birth, marriage and death records. I go to www.newenglandancestors.org (I'm a member of NEHGS) and go to the database and enter some surnames and locations, limiting the years to 1880 to 1910. I start with marriages and find some likely candidates. I click on one of the records, and the dang viewer won't load unless I click something. I do, then click on "allow this viewer every time." OK - the record looks pretty good, I transcribe it to paper and then download it to my project directory on the computer, and go back to the list of marriages. My wife calls out "are you coming to bed soon?" I respond "pretty soon, dear." And under my breath I say "Boy, there's a bit more data to find for this project."
11 PM to 12 midnight: Boy, how time flies when you're having fun. Sleep? Nah! I can sleep in tomorrow. I'm finding all kinds of good stuff in the births and deaths on the MA VRs for the families that I found census data for this morning. There are three families to find all of the births for, and then to check on deaths for.
I know that Jack Bauer is still up, and if he can do it, I can do it - I'm heading for the 24 Hours of Genealogy.
12 midnight to 3 AM: OK, I think I have them all - 21 records in all. Big yawn. Shoot - it's almost 3 AM. Oh well - that was a long slog but it was fun. I can enter the new data into the computer tomorrow, er, today.
Yeah! Cool! I did it. Yawn. Zzzzzz. Off to bed finally, and I hope Elizabeth (Dill) Smith comes to me in a dream to tell me her parents' names. Or Thomas J. Newton.
Obviously, I left out some of the details all of the really personal stuff! (BG). But I do keep periodicals near the toilet and on my reading table in the family room.
I guess the "24 Hours of Genealogy" won't be on TV, or even Roots Television, any time soon. Do you think that vignettes on YouTube would work?
3 AM to 4 AM: Awake and can't sleep - worrying about all I have to do today. Turn on computer, access Outlook Express and read my email (all three accounts). Click on Internet Explorer 7 and access my Bloglines account to see what other genea-bloggers are up to.
4 AM to 5 AM: Find interesting web links in some blog posts - open another tab in IE7 and access my Blogger Dashboard. Write two posts to Genea-Musings to start everybody's day off with some useful news.
5 AM to 6 AM: Open another IE7 tab, and access Ancestry.com. Search for census records for 1900 to 1930 for the families in my latest project. Find them in all four years. Capture the images to my hard drive in my project file, and transcribe the family data to paper.
6 AM to 7 AM: My wife is up and wants to read and respond to her email on the desktop computer. OK - I fire up the laptop computer and take it into the family room. I get my banana and Rice Krispies cereal and then read my favorite political news sites on the laptop (see - not everything is genealogy!).
7 AM to 8 AM: I shut down the laptop and get back on the desktop computer. I need to prepare for our CVGS meeting today. I gather the material for the meeting agenda and open Microsoft Word. I find last month's agenda and rename it for this month. I delete last month's program information and change the dates. I review the agenda to make sure everything is covered. Then I add the speaker and program information to the agenda, edit it and print out the masters. Then I work on the program flyers for next month. I take the flyers (one color, one black and white) from last month and edit them to reflect the correct dates and speaker presentation information. I print off two black and whites and 15 color flyers (while doing something else). I open last month's certificate file, edit it for the date and speaker's name and title, and print it off on a gold embossed form, then sign it and put it in a folder.
8 AM to 9 AM: Time to get ready to go out - shave, brush teeth, shower, comb hair, deodorant, get dressed, XYZ, find keys, wallet, watch, get an apple out of the fridge, etc. In the computer room, gather up what I need for the program meeting (tote bag, laptop, iPod, nametag, flyers, agendas, publicity boards, flash drive) and put at the front door.
9 AM to 10 AM: Off to the copy shop. Make 40 two-sided copies of the meeting agenda and 150 copies of the black and white program flyers. I fold the agendas while the flyers are copying. Charge it to the CVGS account. Then off to the Post Office and check the society mailbox for mail. On the way to the Library, I eat my apple. I get to the library at about 9:45, so I go in the back door to setup before the 10 AM opening of the library. Several others are already there setting up the snacks in the conference room and the audio-visual equipment. I set out the publicity boards at the auditorium door and the conference room door. put the handouts on the table, take some into the auditorium to handout if people forget to get it in the conference room.
10 AM to 11 AM: The library doors open, and here comes the crowd. They sign in, pick up the handouts, buy a raffle ticket, etc. I meet and greet, then go down to the auditorium to make sure the people there have signed in and have handouts. I check to make sure the speaker has arrived, meet the speaker and s/he is getting set up for their presentation. At 10:15, I give a 5 minute warning to the crowd in the conference room. We start our business meeting at 10:20 AM, and hear reports of activities, treasury, membership and programs. Then the raffle, and finally the program chairman introduces the speaker. The speaker starts and I sit down to listen and read the handout.
11 AM to 12 noon: The speaker continues until 11:45, then takes several questions. At 11:55, I stand up and say "one more question" and after the answer I thank the speaker, and present the certificate of appreciation to them. The crowd disperses - many of them to the conference room for some goodies. I make sure the speaker comes and has a drink and some members ask more questions. I give flyers to several members to deliver to other libraries and senior centers (the color flyers are for posting, the black and whites for handouts).
12 noon to 1 PM: Eventually the crowd leaves, and the conference room cleanup is finished. I gather the publicity boards and the leftover handouts. I escort the speaker to their car and point out where we are going for lunch. I walk over to the restaurant and meet the speaker and other society members and we order lunch. During the meal, we talk about different societies, other speakers, our own research experience - a great time of sharing and fellowship.
1 PM to 2 PM: After lunch, I bid the speaker goodbye with thanks. I go back to the library and give flyers to the staff for posting on the bulletin boards and handouts in the pickup slots. I put some flyers in the Family History area for pickup by patrons. Then it's off to the Family History Center. This is a 20 minute drive, so I fire up the iPod and listen to a genealogy podcast on the way.
2 PM to 3 PM: At the FHC, I put a color flyer on the bulletin board and put black and white flyers on the shelf below. Then it is off to review my microfilm. I scroll through, and note the pages I want to copy. Over to the microfilm scanner/printer/computer setup, and I transfer the microfilm images to the computer, then get out my flash drive and copy them from the computer to the flash drive. I delete the computer files, extract my flash drive, exit from the computer, put the microfilm away, and pay for use of the scanner/computer.
3 PM to 4 PM: Back in the car, heading home. I listen to another genealogy podcast on the iPod - this takes about 30 minutes since it is rush hour. At home, I unload everything, check the snail mail, and go to the desktop computer and check my email. I printout any queries I have received that need action at the library.
4 PM to 5 PM: My wife comes home and wants to check her email on the desktop. I go into the family room, turn on the TV news, pick up the paper and doze for about 20 minutes. My wife comes in to start dinner, and I go back to the computer. I check Bloglines for new posts, and create a blog post on Genea-Musings about today's society program.
5 PM to 6 PM: Dinner is on the table, and we talk about our day's activities. After dinner, I wash the dishes and then go watch the TV news and finish the newspaper.
6 PM to 7 PM: I go back on the computer, and check my email again. I decide that I better do something useful so I get the flash drive out of my pocket and copy the files from the microwave onto the hard drive. I rename these files so that I know what they are, and then print them out while doing something else. I remember that I found some census data this morning, so I open up Family Tree Maker and enter that data into the notes for the people in my project database.
7 PM to 8 PM: I need more genealogy podcasts to listen to, so I go to Family roots Radio and download the last two programs. Then I go to the Genealogy Guys and download the last two podcasts. I open iTunes and add them to the Podcast menu, then connect the iPod to the computer and load the podcasts onto the iPod. I find that I can concentrate on the podcasts while driving but not while working on the computer.
8 PM to 9 PM: I'm getting tired, but the evening is still young! I'm going to watch "24" tonight and see if I can get some tips from Jack Bauer on how to handle the society workers and library staff. For now, I decide to transcribe one of the files I downloaded from microfilm at the FHC. I open FTM and find the ancestor of interest, and use my magnifying glass to try to read the handwriting in the record I printed. Some of it is very difficult to read, mainly because of the quality of the film image. I love challenges like this, though!
9 PM to 10 PM: Time to watch "24" - I tell my wife she can check her email if she wants to. While watching the program, I read the latest issue of the NGS NewsMagazine that came today. I didn't get very far in the magazine - Jack Bauer was really active tonight!
10 PM to 11 PM: Back to the computer, check my email and Bloglines again. I decide to post some information on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog and write up some research tips and a notice about the next program meeting. Yawn - OK, I need to do something interesting and useful for the rest of the hour. I should check the New England Vital Records for 1880 to 1910 to see if the people in my project have birth, marriage and death records. I go to www.newenglandancestors.org (I'm a member of NEHGS) and go to the database and enter some surnames and locations, limiting the years to 1880 to 1910. I start with marriages and find some likely candidates. I click on one of the records, and the dang viewer won't load unless I click something. I do, then click on "allow this viewer every time." OK - the record looks pretty good, I transcribe it to paper and then download it to my project directory on the computer, and go back to the list of marriages. My wife calls out "are you coming to bed soon?" I respond "pretty soon, dear." And under my breath I say "Boy, there's a bit more data to find for this project."
11 PM to 12 midnight: Boy, how time flies when you're having fun. Sleep? Nah! I can sleep in tomorrow. I'm finding all kinds of good stuff in the births and deaths on the MA VRs for the families that I found census data for this morning. There are three families to find all of the births for, and then to check on deaths for.
I know that Jack Bauer is still up, and if he can do it, I can do it - I'm heading for the 24 Hours of Genealogy.
12 midnight to 3 AM: OK, I think I have them all - 21 records in all. Big yawn. Shoot - it's almost 3 AM. Oh well - that was a long slog but it was fun. I can enter the new data into the computer tomorrow, er, today.
Yeah! Cool! I did it. Yawn. Zzzzzz. Off to bed finally, and I hope Elizabeth (Dill) Smith comes to me in a dream to tell me her parents' names. Or Thomas J. Newton.
Obviously, I left out some of the details all of the really personal stuff! (BG). But I do keep periodicals near the toilet and on my reading table in the family room.
I guess the "24 Hours of Genealogy" won't be on TV, or even Roots Television, any time soon. Do you think that vignettes on YouTube would work?
Monday, May 7, 2007
Getaways are a sure cure...
Well, there's nothing like being away from home to give yourself a break from the rat race of genealogy.
We were in New England from Thursday to Sunday last week attending my aunt's funeral service. I managed to do a bit of research - I found the ancestral homes they lived in in Leominster MA, plus talked to many cousins at the service and reception - some of them I hadn't seen for 25 years. The highlight wasn't the adults - it was the 4 little grandchildren of one of my cousins! I had a great time talking to them and playing with them.
Over the weekend, I was presented with my aunt's papers and photo albums to take home and sort out - another task, but a welcome one. There are some treasures in this lot and I will probably post about them sometime on Genea-Musings.
I had the laptop with me over the weekend, and was able to post some notes about my exploits in Massachusetts.
Now it's off to Santa Cruz on Tuesday, returning on Sunday, to see my daughter's family, including the 1 year old and 3-1/2 year old grandsons. Oh boy! The little one is walking, and the older one is finally talking intelligibly. I will have the laptop with me, so should be able to read my email and post on the blog occasionally, but I doubt if I'll do much research.
My sure-fire way to put the little ones to sleep is to recite their ancestry in a monotone voice - I usually get back 5 generations or so before they drop off. The older guy wants stories, so I tell him about his ancestors (especially his grandfather!), but I embellish them a bit. Who knows what he will remember!
I can get back to the genealogy rat race next week - this week I'm going to play with the boys and enjoy myself.
We were in New England from Thursday to Sunday last week attending my aunt's funeral service. I managed to do a bit of research - I found the ancestral homes they lived in in Leominster MA, plus talked to many cousins at the service and reception - some of them I hadn't seen for 25 years. The highlight wasn't the adults - it was the 4 little grandchildren of one of my cousins! I had a great time talking to them and playing with them.
Over the weekend, I was presented with my aunt's papers and photo albums to take home and sort out - another task, but a welcome one. There are some treasures in this lot and I will probably post about them sometime on Genea-Musings.
I had the laptop with me over the weekend, and was able to post some notes about my exploits in Massachusetts.
Now it's off to Santa Cruz on Tuesday, returning on Sunday, to see my daughter's family, including the 1 year old and 3-1/2 year old grandsons. Oh boy! The little one is walking, and the older one is finally talking intelligibly. I will have the laptop with me, so should be able to read my email and post on the blog occasionally, but I doubt if I'll do much research.
My sure-fire way to put the little ones to sleep is to recite their ancestry in a monotone voice - I usually get back 5 generations or so before they drop off. The older guy wants stories, so I tell him about his ancestors (especially his grandfather!), but I embellish them a bit. Who knows what he will remember!
I can get back to the genealogy rat race next week - this week I'm going to play with the boys and enjoy myself.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Early signs of Geneaholism
I found this list of early signs of Geneaholism at http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/1416/geneaholic.htm. The full article is reprinted from The Missing Link newsletter, Volume 7, Number 7, 17 February 2002.
"Answer these questions to see if you are in the early stages of addiction.
* Home: Has genealogical paperwork taken over any room in your house?
* Friends: Is genealogy interfering with your social life? Do people edge away from you at parties when you burst into tears over the 1890 U. S. census?
* Family: Do your relatives' eyes glaze over when you explain your latest research? Do you find dead people more fun than live ones?
* Work: Is genealogy interfering with your job? How many hours of each workday do you spend on the Internet, or checking your RootsWeb e-mails?
* Marriage: Has your spouse ever asked you, "Aren't you done yet? How far back are you planning to go?"
* Health: Are you starting to show the physical and mental signs of geneaholic deterioration, such as red-rimmed eyes, a loss of interest in current events, a shortened attention span for non-ancestral topics, excessive viewing of the History Channel?"
That's a pretty good list. The "cure" prescribed for this is scary though -
"If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you are on the road to genealogical addiction. You must not research even one more ancestor! You must stop NOW, before it's too late! When you feel an overwhelming urge to research, repeat the following until the urge goes away: "My mother found me in a cabbage patch. My mother found me in a cabbage patch. My mother found me in a cabbage patch." Good luck and God help you."
Not me. Yet. I'm still having too much fun.
"Answer these questions to see if you are in the early stages of addiction.
* Home: Has genealogical paperwork taken over any room in your house?
* Friends: Is genealogy interfering with your social life? Do people edge away from you at parties when you burst into tears over the 1890 U. S. census?
* Family: Do your relatives' eyes glaze over when you explain your latest research? Do you find dead people more fun than live ones?
* Work: Is genealogy interfering with your job? How many hours of each workday do you spend on the Internet, or checking your RootsWeb e-mails?
* Marriage: Has your spouse ever asked you, "Aren't you done yet? How far back are you planning to go?"
* Health: Are you starting to show the physical and mental signs of geneaholic deterioration, such as red-rimmed eyes, a loss of interest in current events, a shortened attention span for non-ancestral topics, excessive viewing of the History Channel?"
That's a pretty good list. The "cure" prescribed for this is scary though -
"If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you are on the road to genealogical addiction. You must not research even one more ancestor! You must stop NOW, before it's too late! When you feel an overwhelming urge to research, repeat the following until the urge goes away: "My mother found me in a cabbage patch. My mother found me in a cabbage patch. My mother found me in a cabbage patch." Good luck and God help you."
Not me. Yet. I'm still having too much fun.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Top Ten signs that you ARE a Geneaholic
10. You introduce your daughter as your descendant.
9. You've never met any of the people you send e-mail to, even though you're related.
8. You can recite your lineage back eight generations, but can't remember your nephew's name.
7. You have more photographs of dead people than living ones.
6. You've taken a tape recorder and/or notebook to a family reunion.
5. You've not only read the latest GEDCOM standard, but you also understand it.
4. The local genealogy society borrows books from you.
3. The only film you've seen in the last year was the 1880 census index.
2. More than 1/2 of your book collection is made up of marriage records or pedigrees.
1. Your elusive ancestor has been spotted in more different places than Elvis!
This was found at http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~bibblineage/humor.html.
9. You've never met any of the people you send e-mail to, even though you're related.
8. You can recite your lineage back eight generations, but can't remember your nephew's name.
7. You have more photographs of dead people than living ones.
6. You've taken a tape recorder and/or notebook to a family reunion.
5. You've not only read the latest GEDCOM standard, but you also understand it.
4. The local genealogy society borrows books from you.
3. The only film you've seen in the last year was the 1880 census index.
2. More than 1/2 of your book collection is made up of marriage records or pedigrees.
1. Your elusive ancestor has been spotted in more different places than Elvis!
This was found at http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~bibblineage/humor.html.
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