"Welcome to the Weekend Chat!" All Members Invited!! January 8th-10th, 2021 [closed]

+32 votes
3.0k views

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CHANGE TO BEST ANSWER PROCESS:  After much discussion we have come to the conclusion that all answers in the Weekend Chat are of equal importance and weight.  So we are going to discontinue the Best Answer portion as it adds points and then takes them away from posters and is causing some hurt feelings.  So in the interest of everyone is equal and valued we will delete any best answers given which will deduct those points because it has been pointed out that to give everyone best answer is also not a viable option. 

Weekend Chat is for everyone. It's a place to catch up on what people are up to and to share what you've been doing.  New members can say hello, introduce themselves, ask questions, and meet each other.  Our seasoned members can share progress or successes from their projects, give tips and advice, or chime in on hot topics.

Post as many answers and comments as you wish. It doesn't hurt anyone to post a lot and enjoy the multitude of topics.

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Enjoy yourselves and spread the love!

WikiTree profile: Pip Sheppard
closed with the note: Be safe! See you next weekend!
in The Tree House by Pip Sheppard G2G Astronaut (2.7m points)
closed by Pip Sheppard
Pip, short of getting a copy of Linux and trying to boot from that I think Susan actually has the best advice about the computer, look into a new one. I do hope you backed up everything important. I keep an external hard drive to back up my computer at least once a week just in case.
Dale, it’s a two-year old HP All-in-One. I had no warnings that something was wrong.
Pip, Those all in one's are the worst. You still should back up everything to an external drive often. I got this new computer on Monday and I have already set it up to back up to my external drive every week. I already backed up this one once. I had an all in one but never again. The tower systems are easier to fix when broken and even upgrade if wanted.
Dale, you know I’ll be backing up stuff from now on. I’ve been slack in that area. All it takes is one good scare like this one.

I liked the idea of an all-in-one as I am so tech challenged. In my thinking, less cords means easier for me. I’ll remember your advice for the next buy.
Pip, I think modular construction or modular assembly is an engineering concept

When stuff is put together in modules it is easier to repair and with less expense ... prefab construction uses the concept to create the product

That 3-D printer seems to work along side of the concept in that given you have the raw materials you can fabricate the replacement

Dale is correct -- and better you have a collection of objects working together, with a handy dandy shop for repairs and/or parts for replacement or even an online store
All true, Susan. I’ll remember that the next time.

laugh Depend on your experiences -- which have been diverse .. how often have you lost an entire system (all-in-one) or just one piece of it ... printer, monitor, keyboard, "box", cable (they can "burn out"), outer, modem ... mouse .. what else do they have these days? 

? buy a new PC or Laptop with bells and whistles ... although you might want to ask others at WT which browsers are most compatible with the WT apps ... 

Put it on a credit card and pay it off by the month, not all at one time ... ? Use your stimulus check? LOL ... you might want to consider mugging the Sig O and the combined check ? ... depending on who gets how much ... MIGHT be enough to pay cash ... ?  

Eh. You WILL do whatever you WANT to do & CAN do --   sometimes we can't do what we want to do 

Thanks for hosting Pip! Hope you get your desktop problem sorted out. I'm so paranoid about losing my manuscript that I not only save copies to my SD card on the laptop then also save to a flash drive and upload to Google docs. LOL Hate the idea of getting that blue screen!

Lovely that you found that wallet and those pics. What a treasure!
Diane, I am a saving maniac, too. I have multiple flash drives,  etc, for I know there would be no way to recreate what I had.
Diane, problem solved and I also ordered a 5tb external drive to save everyone from three computer! All good.

56 Answers

+20 votes

On this day:

1807: In the First Serbian Uprising, Karadjordje proclaimed Belgrade the Capital of Serbia

1947: The singer David Bowie is born

1996: The former French President François Mitterand dies

by Jelena Eckstädt G2G Astronaut (1.4m points)
Tonight's assignment: The First Serbian Uprising. (I haven't gotten to that yet in the book you recommended.)
I wanted to ask you about that, Pip.
+19 votes
Greetings from Brightlingsea, Essex, England

Am trying to be good and look in on Weekly Chat early, that is to say on Fridays. Always interesting to see how others are doing and to hear about the weather where others live. Its just been cold here, well for us anyway, hovvering a few degrees above freezing. Given current lockdown have been finding things to do around the house and of course there ia wikitree - well on the way to 100  contributions this month. The Royal Naval Association Brightlingsea Branch meets on "zoom"  these days and we had the meeting on Tuesday night. My Dad was in the navy and I had 2 Uncles in the navy along with an Uncle in the Royal Marines. I am an associate member as I supported my Late Dad when he was President of the branch. I still am keen to retain the "navy" link. Usually they run a social programme during the year and this includes the "Trafalgar Dinner" in October. We did manage to commemorate 50th Anniversary of "Black Tot Day" - when the rum ration was withdrawn from the Royal Navy on July 31 1970. We had an outside event in the garden of the University Sailing Association on the Waterside in Brightlingsea.  Suitably socially distance #d of course.

The talk of wallets and contents and then locked safes reminded me of the dilemma I had 5 years ago when the Foresters Hall was sold. It was down to me to get the building cleared and it was going well I had got alot of furniture disposed of. However there were 2 safes in the office. one of which didn't lock for which I had a key and another which I had no key for. It was looking like I needed a locksmith....  However I had not gone along that route and it was fortunate I didn't. Clearing out a drawer in the tiny kitchen, at the back of the drawer - I found a key......... name on the key "Milner" and that is the name on the safe. I go and check, click the safe open, to reveal a cash box, with £2 in small change some second class stamps in it. There were old cheque books but nothing otherwise valuable. But it solved a mystery.. The local scrap man came and took away the safes along with other stuff I could not get dispose of....   That is my safe story...

Have a good weekend everyone
by Chris Burrow G2G6 Pilot (220k points)
Chris, I just recently read about Trafalgar! How cool to still have a celebration of that event.
+22 votes
This week was super slow all these packages showed up in front of mom. I let her receive some so it looked normal but they kept showing up in huge boxes. I am seriously frustrated with my tree apps just when I get going they duplicate or crash. I only have so many moods my research mood my historian mood and my computer nerd mood. My computer nerd mood is the only mood that gets me anywhere. I mean why do anything when its easy to get sidetracked on irrelevant things? As far as my tree goes extras should be first last or during a break! I mean if I am in any other mood and I see more than for example D.O.B. I put out the sign and it's ugh- 'Out To Lunch'.
by Living Zapata G2G6 Mach 2 (24.0k points)

Guadalupe, getting lost "chasing rabbits" or being sidetracked into exploring some other avenue or person ... normal for all people who do genealogy ... 

It has been said by some that after 5 hours of chasing ghosts, rabbits and fog, they gave up for the time being AND STILL HAD NOT FOUND that one elusive proof they had started their search for ... 

Five hours off in Wonderland dancing with Alice, they were 

That’s what happens to me I want to be focused and fall short so much my tree blurs into a big blob. And I can’t help but still feel a false sense of accomplishment! I don’t even feel guilt anymore for losing time. But seriously these packages after I spoke the words I received a medium sized box and in it was those little expensive eye drops I wanted to try because commercials. I was tricked so I had to open it in front of everyone revealing a tiny box and a huge receipt.
Guadalupe, I have had to force myself to focus on just one family at a time. I have a bad habit of trying to do too much at one time, so I have several families sitting in the wings, so to speak.

Here's the beginning of my German line that you asked about: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Clubb-203

laugh Guadalupe, you have what is known as the Scatter-gun Shot -- one cartridge (you, your mind) and when it is fired off the pellets in the cartridge scatter widely ... you are achieving something in the way of genealogy but it is all over the place. 

As far as the guilt thing,  disappointment is one of the techniques parents and other use to train children to be responsible adults, they will project with face and body language and words how disappointed they are at what you did (or did not do)  It is called Guilt-Tripping.  

smiley Not sure how well that will work for you in trying to make YOU become more "focused"  Lot of people use this guilt tripping on themselves to lose weight or quit smoking or stick to some sort of exercise routine or getting housework done or  ... doesn't work for a lot of addictions 

There is in the WT software a page called "Family Activity" and each PM has one. And it lists all the activities you did and anything anyone else did, like Data Doctor, edibot, Admin and so forth that affected the profiles on your watch list -- which is another page we each have for the profiles we manage and THAT one is very useful because you can see right off when was the last time you tinkered with that particular profile. 

So it's not like you can get "lost" there's a few ways to get back on track. I use both pages to "go back and pick up where I left off" -- also use My Contributions page to WT at large -- it keeps track of what I did to ANY profile not just the ones I manage 

And you are no longer a child and so you do NOT need to guilt trip yourself into behaving more like you think you should ... been there, done that, and all things considered, it's like smoking, you have the devil's own struggle to give it up 

I had so much cake this weekend I have foggy thoughts right now minus the Bedrock barbecue I ate. All the floors are getting did apparently its been loud all day so I got to watch a movie no interruptions. I had chicken nuggets for breakfast etc back to my old routine. Tonight its Winter Weather Warning and its going to rain for the next couple of days. I am ready for this change anything really. Its been such a quiet season. I had to lol today I accepted so many merges my email stopped and then after 5 hours it resumed. Out of all the ones that were found I could only do 1. It actually turned out fine because all my night deliveries got rescheduled... I have good luck.

laughWow, Guadalupe, you have more action packed into a day or a week than I have packed into a year !!  

How cold does it usually get where you are? Below 32 very often? Brrrr

January and February are the freezing months but it doesn’t last long it warms back up. It gets 20s 30s usually 40s during the day. They predicted snow in the area but it was so warm nothing happened.
+17 votes

laugh Has anyone given thought to what is meant by "managing your profiles" ? Website I located <manage, managing>  provide seven (7) possibilities ... #2 is to be in charge of, act on, dispose of ... and of the seven that's the only one that makes sense for Profile Managers who are to manage all the profiles they have on their watchlist ... manage, managing, managed, manages- WordWeb dictionary definition

 For me, this means that I "do a sweep" of the profiles on my list, one by one, and look at them from the point of view of whether they are Genealogically Defined 

What this usually means in terms of "management", I also  haunt familysearch.org for more information .. on the more recent sweep I have been converting whatever I HAVE DONE into inline references

The use of inline references is something I swore I would not do, for it is vanity (I thought) but caved in on -- weak willed is what I was  .. and in the process I have not only had to HAUNT familysearch.org for more information, I have also added MORE profiles -- a couple may have had seven children LISTED on their profiles (each) but I had not profiled the children. Those "had to" be done, which added more profiles for me to manage. I might end up adding as many as 30+ more profiles all of them relatives by blood plus spouses

HOWEVER, all of that falls into that definition of "manage your profiles" -- not the fugue and exhaustion, no, just adding and developing and revising profiles

The part of that definition I now wrestle with is "dispose of" -- meh. That's a problem or issue for another day. Or more like for another year (2022 ?) if I'm still around  

At any rate, my watch list just gets bigger (more profiles, and more sources) and hopefully "better" (by virtue of more sources) 

by Susan Smith G2G6 Pilot (652k points)
As PM for a profile, I do much as you. I don't have near as many profiles as you do--1172 on my Watchlist. I'm not PM for all, but I am PM for most. I'm already feeling overwhelmed trying to keep up with the "managing."

laughEh. When you reach the point where you lay down for a power nap and DREAM OF A PROFILE ... you know you are in the zone the grove etc -- or you  have a dream "at night' while sleeping and you kno

Or you are dreaming but there is this profile that keeps appearing and disappearing and you KNOW you have to do something with it ... you awake restless and run immediately to the computer to check on that profile ... and breathe in relief because it did not happen, it was "just a dream" 

Note that the meaning "dispose of" may be different than the modern, common meaning that we use (i.e. we are not throwing it in the trash, or rubbish bin). There is an older usage of the term. Think of it that you are in charge of the "disposition" of the profile (note that it has the same root word). Which basically means that you get to decide "what to do with it". Which then goes back to, "what does a Profile Manager do?". Exactly that: you decide what to do with the profile. Now we are back around, full circle.

 laugh Eric, I do not think anyone will ever accuse you of circular reasoning --  

But as I say the final disposition of those "distant" cousins (5th, 6th, ... nth) is a decision of another day (or year) 

True, Susan, managing profiles adds responsibility, and a lot of profiles means a whole lot of responsibility! That's why I'm trying to reduce my watch list.

Pipster, I BELIEVE you.  You will REDUCE the quantity of profiles.  

Assuming of course you don't add more. laugh 

angelAs of the moment you read this you are no long allowed to add any more profiles, nor create any more profiles .. you are only allowed to finish off the ones you have and disown them  orphan them (sorry) ... 

laugh And if that restriction don't stress you, nothing will ... laugh

Hahaha! I'm trying to remember to orphan them as I finish them....

laugh Going by what you SAY yes you are doing well, you WILL succeed at reducing the number of profiles on your list down to let's see, what is a reasonable goal ...  1,000 ?

Remember the little train engine,  The Little Engine That Could - Wikipedia  The story is used to teach children the value of optimism and hard work. ... first occurred in print in a 1902 article in a Swedish journal.

+22 votes
It will be nice to think about everything this week that is not political.

During the pandemic, I have started meeting twice a week with friends outside for a walk. We usually walk 1-2 miles and then sit or stand with hot drinks from home. On Wednesday, I walked on a rail trail where I had never walked before, but I have ridden my bike. I saw a big old monument along the trail. It turned out to be a gravestone from the early 1900s. What the heck? So I took a picture and contacted a local historian. Turns out the real graves are in the local cemetery with a different gravestone. This one was found in a barn that used to be part of a gravestone factory. Sometime in the recent past someone found it in the barn and decided to put it next to the trail to baffle those of us that walked by. The property is owned by a local organization called ArtYard that promotes local artists.
by Nancy Wilson G2G6 Pilot (145k points)

laugh That is just wrong, would have me going in circles till I found someone to check with.

Nancy, "What the heck" is right! I wonder why there were two gravestones created for the same person. I have seen other instances of this, but this one doesn't make any sense.
+17 votes
Happy weekend, everyone!  (Friday already?  I've lost three days to doomscrolling... but enough about that.)  I'm on furlough again this week, so no work for me!  Housecleaning and genealogy.  I've already gotten my 100 contributions for the month.  Still in the Tortoise Club!  Finished season 1 of His Dark Materials and we've been watching a silly trivia show called Um, Actually... (Chris, it's seriously geeky... might be right up your alley.)  And I just heard that HBO Max will start running Babylon 5 starting later this month, so maybe I can finally get the kid to watch it.  (DVDs are so old school.)

Genealogy:  I made some progress with my Flanagan-Dawson family.  I'm confident now that I've found the right people in the England 1841 census.  I was all set to start updating profiles and researching further back when I got completely sidetracked by a MyHeritage "You've got DNA matches!" email.  There was one match that looked interesting, so I started looking at it, and three days later I've got a whole cluster of matches from all the DNA sites organized on a maternal segment of Chr 13.  A couple of them are definitely 3C to my mom through her Marsh-Tovell line.  Now I want to look at the others to see if I can push the segment any further back.  There's a bunch of brick walls and mysteries back there.

Last night I successfully cyberstalked two of the 23andMe matches (mother and son) to try to figure out our connection, and was all pleased with myself when I was successful.  Updated the 23andMe tree with the connection and let my mom know about my research, and she sent me a photo of the mother, age 4 or so, with her mother and sister and detailed family notes on the back of the photo written by my grandma.  Should have just asked her first!
by Lisa Hazard G2G6 Pilot (263k points)
"Doomscrolling". I'm going to steal that word. I think I've been doing that too.
I just looked up the definition of "doomscrolling" and that is EXACTLY what I did the last couple of days. It said it was detrimental to mental health. Absolutely! I just had to shut it off today.

Hooray for your DNA connection success!

 I TOO had to google it ... Doomscrolling (aka doomsurfing) is the act of consuming a large quantity of negative online news, typically without pause, to the detriment of the mental health of the person consuming it. crying

Lisa, how can you be on furlough when it's the break between semesters?!?
Eric, this was the first time I saw that word, too. How perfect. Makes me want to avoid it all now.

Yay, I've educated people today.  laugh  Pip, I'm not teaching at the moment, but I'm on a 10-month salary, and I'm supposed to be doing teaching prep, research, committee work... stuff like that.  Slows down for the holidays, but right back to it in January, usually.  My second (and final) furlough week will be in June after classes have ended but before we're off salary for the summer.

+20 votes

Wishing you all a happy 2021. 

Thank you Pip again for hosting and it is nice to have the weekend chat back smiley

I have been a little preoccupied with chasing records for Max Jacobowitz's son-in-law Yidore to see if the family had a connection before Rose married him. I really do get distracted easily when it comes to family research (and apparently it doesn't matter who's family research).

On the home front we have had good rain which did not delay the erection of the scaffolding or the delivery of materials for the planned roof repairs next week following the hailstorm some months back. 

We are also enjoying 'a long weekend' at home since we were in the city of Brisbane on the 5th of January and now a case of the more infectious strain of Covid has been confirmed in the north of the City the whole area (and anyone who was in there between 2 - 8) is in lockdown until 6 pm on Monday. Upside is that means more time to WikiTree. wink

I hope everyone made some special memories for themselves and those they love over the holiday season. 

by Rosalie Neve G2G6 Pilot (174k points)
And, it's always good to hear from you, Rosalie! I heard that your area had an arrival of the new strain. It seems to be spreading around the US, too.

Enjoy your extra WikiTree time!
+18 votes
I just finished the sixtysecond  block for a teenage girl charity quilt.  There aren't very many girls in the behavior modification program they are donated to but it can be used some where else if not needed.  It gave me a chance to use up more of my floral cloth supply with a small amount of pink and purple added so I'm sure no boy will choose it.  The guild had donated a Tinkerbell motif backing that I wanted to use up.
I just watched the last episode  of Jeopardy with  Alex Trebeck that he had made before Christmas.  I can usually only answer about 10 of the questions.
We have had a milder than usual December but now have had  teen temperatures over night for two days.  I'm waiting for a new LP stove  so I don't have to wear my hooded sweat shirt if I am in the kitchen at night.  It was ordered in early December but he said January for delivery.  Usually I am in Florida and the kitchen is warm enough with the electric heater in November and April's milder temperatures.   This year I just didn't dare go down.  I have
a furnace in the main part of the house but there is no cellar under the kitchen and ducts could not be run out here.  We used to burn a wood stove but gave that up.  The past 25 years of Florida cut down the demand for heat.
by Beulah Cramer G2G6 Pilot (565k points)
Beulah, I know you are really missing your annual trip to Florida. We had to wait on two new appliances (over two months due to the slowdown in production). I hope you get your LP stove soon.
+17 votes
Hello from Phoenix Arizona! I’m enjoying the time I spend on WT. I’m still learning my way around...

I’ve been working several trees on Ancestry. One of them I’m doing for a 4th cousin DNA match. She is not doing a tree, and I am determined to find out exactly where we meet. She is happy with that. We have communicated several times about “her” tree, she has been able to give me a few small hints. She can view the tree when she has time. I’ve been frustrated with this but it keeps me interested!

I finally got to see my grandchildren yesterday. I hadn’t seen them since early September because of COVID-19. It was so nice to spend time and finally give them their presents. I have three. They are 19, 16, and 13. Their mother is my daughter Stephanie. She passed away suddenly in August 2018. It was hard putting a DOD on her Profile. Their father is a very good person and he takes excellent care of the kids...We are very blessed  

I had a second knee replacement surgery in November. It’s a tough recovery, but I am better and am getting better each day! So now both knees are bionic. Arthritis is not fun. I “thank” my Sicilian grandmother for passing it down to me and my cousins. They have also had joint replacements.

Well on a lighter note, the weather here in the Sonoran Desert is beautiful this time of year. The temperatures range from 40 to 72 and lots of sunshine. Always lots of sunshine. We get excited when we have a cloudy day!  Quite the opposite of everyone else...

Wishing you all a very wonderful weekend. Happy hunting!
by Susan Ellen Smith G2G6 Mach 7 (75.1k points)
Hiya, Susan! My brother who lies near Tucson has been sending me photos of him hiking in Arizona. I am so jealous, what with all the cold weather (and snow this week). It really is beautiful out there.

I am so glad you got to see your grandchildren. This has been a difficult year, and FaceTime and phone calls just don't replace a physical visit.
Absolutely! The kids are growing up so fast that when you miss a month or two they are almost unrecognizable! lol
+17 votes
Greetings and Salutations, Fellow WikiTreers!

It's been a very busy holiday time, and it's winding down finally, but one last holiday approaching - my anniversary. 32 years ago my wife graciously said "I do" and our lives have never been the same since then. We made it through the Army, the Gulf War, two children, several apartments, two homes, multiple jobs, probably about a dozen pets, and now our first grandchild. It's been a wild ride, and it's only just begun. Looking forward to the second half of our life as empty nesters and grandparents and hopefully one day - retirees.

We did pack up our Christmas decorations reasonably early, so beyond that, we can now get back to the home renovations of some sanding/painting of wall, some baseboard work, and some bathroom tile work. Tomorrow will be extra busy, as my brother-in-law moves apartments, so I'll be up bright and early to grab a moving van and get him shuffled off to the new place. Not looking forward to carrying furniture down the steps from his old place, but his new one is a first floor one, so hopefully I don't trip, fall, or otherwise manage to do something stupid or my wife might kill me if I'm laid up for our anniversary. We'll see how it goes.

From a genealogical perspective, I've been busy with Tanya Roberts' family, Friz Freleng's family, E.C. Segar's family, and still managed to squeeze in a few Fulkerson profiles in. We're up to Fulkerson-2809, so my aim to complete Fulkerson-3000 by my birthday (April 16) seems feasible, but will need some work. I came across a line that looks like everyone decided to marry their first cousin for a few generations, so there's a lot of twisty windy relationships there that I suppose are just a bit of the way it was. I try not to judge (too much), but by today's standards, that's a bit awkward knowing what we know now about genetics and the increased risk of birth defects and such. Not much can be done about the past, I suppose, but hopefully we learn and do better going forward

Anyway - stay safe everyone and remember, it can always get worse (whatever "it" is).
by Scott Fulkerson G2G Astronaut (1.5m points)
Scott, my kids complain about us being retired, and all we can tell them is they will just have to wait. You'll get there, too!

Talk about intermarriage! I have a cousin up here whose family never left the mountains. I am related to her five different ways to the same ancestor. (I'm descended only once from him.) I just guess that there was no one else to marry.

You DO be careful with the moving job!
Hi Scott,

Wishing you both a very Happy Anniversary! Oh, and we are almost twins! My birthday is in the sign of Aries, too!
+17 votes
Kia Ora from Top of the South, New Zealand. It’s a warm summer’s day here after nighttime showers. The holiday makers are all at the beach for a last fling as many businesses reopen on Monday after a couple of weeks’ break. As someone who is perpetually on holiday, I tend to hibernate and avoid the traffic.

2020 left my area devastated. On Boxing Day, there was a huge hail storm followed by heavy rain which caused $80mill worth of damage to orchards and buildings. The apple trees were blasted bruising young fruit and hops vines were stripped. This may have a knock-on effect to apple supplies worldwide and the craft beer industry unfortunately. A number of buildings were badly damaged because of the weight of the ice and water on the roofs. We won’t have a post office in town until the beginning of March, for example.

2021 has started off on a better note. My son proposed to his girlfriend of 7 years last weekend using his granny’s ring. (She would have been thrilled.) This young couple have been together since their senior prom, survived a major earthquake and its rebuild and got through a pandemic being in lockdown together in a house they were fixing up for some weeks (which would have destroyed many couples). On a genealogical note, both families have checked there is not a Nelson/Marlborough link given ancestors with the same surname. (It is a very common occurrence.) Our Gloucestershire lot don’t seem to be related to their Lincolnshire family.

Wishing all my family on WikiTree a better 2021 too. Stay safe out there wherever you are. We look forward to seeing you all here on holiday by next Christmas.
by Fiona McMichael G2G6 Pilot (208k points)

How great o hear from you, Fiona! We, too, had a child who was with her boyfriend for seven years before they got married. However, they didn't have to survive the difficulties of your couple. They have a common ancestry, but it is pretty far back. Our son-in-law has Hudson ancestry, his claim to fame, so to speak.

I cannot remember the last time I was at the beach. sad

If there had been an ancestral link, it would most likely to have been at the gg grandparent level around the 1870s. While the fiancé’s family stayed local, my direct family moved to the North Island about 1880. And how could you have not been to the beach in living memory? I’ve lived within walking distance of the sea in three different towns since 1989. You’ll have to come to Kaiteriteri about 10km away - shorts might be safer than a kilt though......and it’s better after Easter when you can get a park.
If I need a beach fix, I'm going to remember your offer, Fiona. I'll have to steel myself for the extremely long flight, though!
+15 votes

On this day:

1913: Richard Nixon is born

1941: Joan Baez is born

1960: The Aswan Dam is opened

by Jelena Eckstädt G2G Astronaut (1.4m points)
It’s the Aswan Dam today. I’m old enough to have lived through Richard Nixon, my closest presidential cousin, and I know there’ll be hundreds of links.
+15 votes
Good morning,

the bread is in the bakery, so now I have finally time to write about my week. The Corona-situation in Germany is actually frightening. We are in a shutdown already for weeks, but the infection numbers don't go down. What's worse, we have now for days more than 1000 deaths daily. Our ICUs aren't yet collapsing but working under high pressure.

The Covid-situation in my family is ok with the cousin who got infected by his daughter. He is improving more and more and today travels to his second home in Montenegro. But another one of my cousins (and her husband) got infected too. The husband also had his problems, but his problems aren't as bad as my cousin's. She says everything she tastes is bitter, even normal water. And adding to that she not also got a light pneunomia. She wanted to go yesterday to the hospital in the next bigger town (which is 30km, ~20m) away. Yesterday we didn't get her on Skype again. We'll have to try it again today.

Personally, I had a week of walking. First mum's computer didn't type any blanks anymore. Every...sentence...she...typed...had...to...look...like...this. First we thought it is the keyboard and changed that, but it wasn't. So I had to bring the processor to the computer shop in the town. Two days later they had found the failure and I could take it home. Then I went to one discounter to get something we need which was on a big discount. And then yesterday the normal grocery shopping. This week accumulated to over 20km (~13m) of walking. I take the weekend off of walking, lol.

Genealogy- and WikiTree-wise, I was highly occupied with the profile of [[Marić-75|Mileva  (Marić) Einstein (1875-1948)]]. Albert Einstein is a profile of the week and we got the news that he will be that only on Monday evening. So Tuesday was about writing the biography for her. I think I did it quite well. Beside that there was not much work.

Stay safe
by Jelena Eckstädt G2G Astronaut (1.4m points)
Good morning Jelena, am sorry to hear about more relatives being positive. My aunt in law also got tested positive and doesn't have taste sense as well. Luckily my grandma in law didn't get infected while having a car trip to church at Christmas together with a friend that turned out positive later.

Jelena, you folks have had it rough in Germany (as elsewhere). However, all that walking can only be healthy for you! cheeky In my rural area, the shoulders of the roads are too narrow for me to walk safely, especially the way people drive around here!

+18 votes

Today is......

NATIONAL APRICOT DAY

Related to the peach, the apricot’s velvety flesh is quite similar. However, the texture of the golden-orange fruit is firmer, and the flavor more tart than its cousin’s. Since we easily preserve the apricot, we enjoy this versatile fruit all year long – fresh, canned, and dried.

Apricots are found the world over but originated in northeastern China near the Russian border in ancient times. Later, the fruit was introduced to Europe and Armenia. The apricot found its way to North America when English colonists settled in Virginia. Apricots traveled further west when Spanish explorers and missionaries brought them on expeditions. This migration caused apricots to be grown commercially today.

The apricot tree can grow to 45 feet if left unpruned. It produces white, pink, or red blossoms and is a winter-hardy tree. However, early frosts can damage the fruit.

Fresh apricots pack in the nutrients. A 1 cup serving of apricot halves contains 60% of the daily allowance of Vitamin A, and 26% of the daily allowance for Vitamin C. Other vitamins in this low-calorie snack include Vitamin B-6, Magnesium, Iron and Calcium and is also an excellent source of fiber.

HOW TO OBSERVE National Apricot Day:

The best way to celebrate is just by eating an apricot, or bake up your favorite recipes using Apricots like: 

Apricot and Goat Cheese Bites

Apricot Tart with Pistachios

by Dorothy Barry G2G Astronaut (2.7m points)
I’m really surprised to see a day for apricots in January. They wouldn’t be in season anywhere in the US, would they? They are in season here in New Zealand at present as it’s mid-summer. I’ll be buying some next week as I’ve just about finished our home-grown plumcots. When we planted the tree, we hoped they would be closer to apricots in flavour and texture, but they are closer to red skinned plums.
I haven’t found apricots in our stores here lately, but I do enjoy them. Tired of the “usual suspects,” I like trying other fruits when I can get them, including apricots.
+17 votes

At Genealogy Discord server (this is a different one than the one for WikiTree!) there will be a Brickwall Buster event today (Saturday) at 2pm EST until 7pm EST. The last two hours of the time slot will be used working on random WikiTree profiles.

Maybe somebody wants to join? If yes,please read the channel #announcements there for details.

Have a great and healthy day

by Florian Straub G2G6 Pilot (192k points)
That looks interesting, will have to check it out.  Thanks for the information.
You're welcome. I must admit I didn't join that much, since I was busy with my tree. Did you join? How was it?
I did, it was good, picked up a few new shortcuts for a couple of sites I use.
+14 votes
On Friday evening we were watching a show about railroads, KiwiRail, and I started thinking about how I became interested in railroads and model railroading. This too is because of my maternal grandfather. The earliest memories I have of Christmas when my grandfather would have 4 Lionel train sets snaking around his living room and dinning room, yes it was a big layout. The steam engine set was bought for me for my first Christmas and the other 3 sets were bought for his 3 daughters. When my grandparents moved into a smaller home they split the set up with my parents getting my set as well as the one for my mother. My train set from that era has been passed down to my son but I still have several train sets in many different sizes and my grandchildren have been exposed to that hobby but I see no signs of them getting into model railroading. Over the years I have taken several excursions on the full size railroads with the furthest north I rode being the Ontario Northland Railway's Polar Bear Express https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_Bear_Express to Moosonee Canada. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moosonee I also have several railroad themed pictures hanging around my house.
by Dale Byers G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
Dale, my stepdad was a train enthusiast. He has a massive train set in his basement. He said the best part of the hobby was building the environment and adding all the train specific stuff. After he finished all that, he kinda abandoned it. His grandsons are not interested. I don’t know who will get all of his train stuff. It’ll take some work just to dismantle and rebox it all.
+16 votes
Hi everyone, I wish you a good 2021!

In southern Sweden we have had a grey December, and just recently got some snow. There are snowmen all over the place now, made by children off school, although most snow has melted away.

This holiday I had a goal to scan about 250 large size black and white negatives of my granddad. He took the photos between about 1925 and 1935.

I had found that the city archives where granddad grew up were really interested in having the negatives, so just yesterday, after finishing the scanning, I packed and posted all the negatives. About half of them were glass plate negatives, so they are fragile. In the collection there were both family photos and views from his home town. It is a pity both granddad and his two children have died, so there is noone to ask about other people in the photos.

There were even four color positive glass plates from 1930. That is quite early for an amateur photograph. My granddad loved new technology and photography.
by Maria Lundholm G2G6 Pilot (224k points)
You are so fortunate to have those photos. How nice that you donated them to the city archives.

and...someone else who called their great grandparent GrandDad.
Maria, you have some real treasures there. What is truly great is that they will be preserved, both by you and also by the city archives.
+17 votes
Aloha and Happy Saturday from Lincoln,Nebraska

Work: As usual a lot of driving. Around 50hrs lost again to working. I did drive through a couple small towns that I haven't been through before. On Thursday, my service truck decided that it did not like one of its brake lines anymore. So I lost all brake pressure and almost all ability to stop. I limped it 20 miles to a truck stop. Then waited over an hour to get picked up. It happened at the best time. 5:00pm. When everyone is about to leave for the day. Luckily, a guy from the shop was willing to drive an hour to pick me up. Then an hour back to the shop. I have a loner company truck until nine is fixed. One of our drivers had to pick up my truck and load it on a trailer and bring it back to the shop. Surprisingly, I have to wait till Monday to pick up my brake line. Friday I worked in the shop. I only worked until 1:30. 6.5hrs is all I can handle indoors. It wasn't bad.

Weather: Rain most of the week. I did get to see the sun a couple times. It was mostly in the 30s all week.

Family: The kids all had to go back to their online school. So they aren't the happiest. My 18yr old daughter used me to scare a 20yr old co-worker of hers. He likes her, she does not like him. The joys of being the scary dad.

Genealogy: Slowly started working on some of my great grand parents generation of siblings and their descendents.

Movies and tv shows haven't really been all that interesting lately.

Music: Just been playing guitar a lot. I had to buy new instrument cables last weekend. Mine finally died after 10yrs. Also bought some new strings for my guitar. I almost bought a new guitar, but I talked myself out of it.
by Paul Kreutz G2G6 Pilot (129k points)
Gotta hand it to you, Paul. You do keep your days filled. (Helped by the kids, of course)

Incongruous: the repairman needing repairs. Hope the guys where you were headed weren’t too disappointed you couldn’t make it.
+16 votes

Well, well! Florian Straub came through for me. My computer is up and running. Thank you, Florian!!

Also, I just ordered a 5tb external per Dale’s suggestion. Thank you, Dale!!

by Pip Sheppard G2G Astronaut (2.7m points)
No problem Pip, Now remember to start a schedule to back up your work and stick with it.
What was wrong in SIMPLE terms? So glad it is fixed.  How much does he charge per hour?  We probably could all keep him employed until he dies.
Oh, Beulah! Maybe we should hire him out to all of us WikiTreers who have computer problems. Now, that would be a full-time job!
Bravo!

You're welcome, Pip. Like I said I only googled for your symptoms and sent you the first few links I've found wink

@Beulah: It looks like windows choked on something. I showed Pip how to enter some windows recovery mode and to repair it.

+14 votes

 laugh Have I just noticed that Pip has this Chat Introduction of his nailed to two sections -- the homefront and the genealogy.  Is this evolution I see or has he always done it this way? 

And I notice, now, it is Home Front, and NOT HOMEFRONT, which I tend to use .. okay, I will copy HIM. He's a good role model. 

Yes, yes, it is Obvious or has been -- perhaps it has been -- but I am well known for not noticing the Obvious  UNTIL it bites me. 

Was recalling herein this Chat how Eric used Circular Reasoning to put a spin on an idea .. 

Noticed that for the most part all the milestones in those profiles I've been creating for all those lives -- all tend to end up as tombstones in the end 

And had to ask myself where did such a gloomy idea take hold in my mind. It is nothing new, though, I have thought this idea for decades of "doing genealogy" ... frankly, I think I plagiarized it from someone else ... someone like Mark Twain? Plato? Kant? Swedenborg? 

Nevertheless, it is now 3,467 profiles and 1,594 contributions so far for January. SOME of those profiles suck up a huge number of "saves" when I am tired and and so those typos blossom like dandelions in the spring 

This past Tuesday I opened up Suggestions and had 26 of them sitting there, and about HALF were those inline ref bloopers ... sometimes it looks like an abattoir ...there I am  staring at the mess on a profile, a mess I MADE of it and trying to discover where that little devil is missing (from) that < or > or even sometimes the whole thing (with or without the /)

BUT a WT Woman gotta do what a WT Woman gotta do. Just hoick up my big girl britches and have at it.  There's a whole page devoted to quotes similar Onward And Upward Quotations (14 in collection) | QuoteTab Dan Quayle wasn't the only one to say something like it 

Well, back to converting files to inline ref. Sigh. 

by Susan Smith G2G6 Pilot (652k points)

I'm always impressed when people learn new things and work hard to get it right! Well done Susan!! laugh

Over 1500 contributions so far?!?! Even with all MY typos, I have less than a third of that. You are a phenomenon!

And, yes, you are correct--Pip did NAIL his greeting post this week. He is impressive and interesting and makes everyone feel welcome.

Well Susan, contributions I guess I have a few. I don't keep track of them because I just do the best work I can and hope for the best but I do recall that every month Admin seems to put a contribution badge on my profile, I never bother to look anymore. as Chris put on the page about Surname contributions, "Not all members will be interested in contribution counts. If they don't interest you, please try to ignore them." I do try to ignore them.

I have also found that I can no longer provide the quality I strive for when maintaining the 2950 profiles on my watchlist at this time so I still try to reduce that list whenever possible.

Dale, what do you actually do for maintenance on your profiles? Do you periodically search for more info? 

I'm still wrestling with understanding "managing your list" and "effectively managing your list" ... 

Now with my list, I do make that periodic sweep over the list conducting revisions; and check the Family Activity for "intrusions"

I might might actually examine any particular profile perhaps once ever 10 to 12 months on the Sweep. Sooner if someone does an "intrusion". 

It HAS TAKEN 8 to 10 months I discovered on the last two sweeps and how long this current one will take I don't know, since I am not only converting to inline but profile spouses & any children I ignored the other two times ... might take the full 12 months 

90% of my list was born after 1800 and in this country (United States) so there's what amounts to an abundance of proofs depending on which state and how active volunteers are to scan and / or transcribe and then put it online 

My "research" is basically collect, compile, edit and present and it's based on the labors of others who dealt with the originating documents 

Thank you Maria, blush it is certainly hard work to correct my own mistakes especially when it is one little tiny devil of a < or a > 

I have to crank up the magnification on the screen (and remember to crank it down again) and almost read every single character in the mess ... um, well, read it 3x, 4x usually, before the "Ah HA!" moment occurs 

Susan, right now I don't have much of a plan for maintenance of my profiles, right now 1256 on my watchlist.

I have orphaned a few that I inherited as part of the 200 profiles I adopted in October, they are distant cousins of my husband born in the early 1900s and not at all integral to his family history.

I am working slowly through the profile completeness suggestions which makes me properly source them as it points out which ones are lacking sufficient details.

One of the things I have learned in the past 15 months is to do it right and as completely as possible the first time, it does take more time but it does mean I don't need to go back and recheck them. For the most part I have lots of sources but in the beginning I didn't add them all, not a good idea.

There are so many more people that I need to add at least 2000, I will orphan many of them that are distant cousins and keep the direct ancestors.

laugh MRoss that ... sounds daunting to me ... if I KNEW I had another 2,000 profiles to add, I think I'd weep. laugh Even a "maybe 2,000" is a lot of "maybe".  

I can relate to the do-right-the-first-time and how I WISH I had known what that was, what it meant, at WikiTree .. I have (slowly) discovered what it means. 

It's all this slow discovery of the Right Way that added to the footrace I'm in -- which is NOT happening BECAUSE "Haste makes waste" and Karma bites me (now) 

I guess from various things said that "enough" varies from individual to individual; there seem to be a magical mystical number that people aim for -- whether they hit that number and can stick to it is a whole different thing.  How do we know when it is enough? Each person figures it out for themselves. 

A glacier will frequently move forward one foot while retreating three feet... Which reminds me a lot of myself! ~ Charles M. Schultz 

Charles M. Schulz - Wikipedia

Anyway I no longer cringe at the idea of "5,000" since I don't actually EXPECT to reach that many. I have been surprised before, so I'm not locked into any number  

Ever seen and of the Holmes building programs, Susan? Like you, he says, “Do it right the first time....” (He fixes homes where builders took shortcuts, some really dastardly and dangerous shortcuts.

PIp, not an avid fan of youtube, unless it is music 

I was thinking of all the talk today and yesterday of snow, and "How do you know it is winter?" Oh, we have snow. "How do you know it is summer?" Oh, we don't have snow. 

NEWS FLASH -- it snowed up in the Sierra's every now and then in May, June, July, August and even Sept -- not EVERY year and not EVERY day of it but often enough that some in the more remote sections had chains in their vehicle year round .. you just never knew 

No snow now, but it’s 20°F outside right now. I took a nap earlier that I shouldn’t have. Now wide awake and WikiTreeing.

laugh That was not a nap, that was a practice run for hibernation because it is 20 degrees outside Human Hibernation Is a Real Possibility - The Atlantic

Susan, I'm going to be here forever.  I have 4 trees on Ancestry, my family tree has 2134 people, my husband's has 1781, a tree I did for a good friend has 279.

If that wasn't already more than enough my son in law's family tree has been traced back to the founding families of Québec in the 1600s, there actually is a record for his who knows how many times grt grandfather in 1661 then age 12 on the Île d 'Orléans in the Saint Lawrence river. I have to check if the family is already on WT I suspect it probably is and part of a Québec project.

surprise laugh MRoss, what would a coat of arms look like for someone who has done that much genealogy? 

Let's see, on the quadrant: a scroll with a ribbon (scholardhip); a feather quill (author); a tree of, say for instance, walnuts?; and in the 4th ... hmm ... got to have something to represent posterity, or family ties, or genealogy ... hmm ... 

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