"Welcome to the Weekend Chat!" All Members Invited!! August 16th-18th, 2019 [closed]

+21 votes
3.6k views

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New Members Saying Hello (our favorite!)

Puzzles and Tips 

"Today Is" 

Movies & Music

Where in the World?  Share your photos!

Members Checking in via "All About the Weekend Chat"

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Click here if Interested in Hosting the Weekend Chat and earning a Guest Host Sticker? 

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, since everyone is equal and valued we will delete any best answers given which will deduct those points because, it has been pointed out, to give everyone a 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: Great to hear from everyone. See you next weekend!
in The Tree House by Pip Sheppard G2G Astronaut (2.7m points)
closed by Pip Sheppard
Yeah, but Ernie's voice was something I always liked, even as a child.

laugh Agreed, Lynette, his VOICE was delicious, his S.A. (IMO) was not (IMO) --  Personal quirk on my part, obviously 

If I say what is running thru my mind I'd get kicked off the board. But I'll tell ya in a pm.

But yes, I do understand certain fantasies.

no Nope, Lynette, don't, it's too much to deal with ..

I don't know how you feel about animals, but if you can't shoot a woodchuck because you are in a restricted area, you can purchase "bombs" from an agricultural store like the old Agway stores.   Close up as many exit holes as you can find
and drop one down the last hole and cover it.  My husband kept them down in our hay fields with his 22.  They create
real havoc when farm machinery gets tipped over, broken axles, etc. because of those big holes hidden in the grass.
Your building may be rescued yet.  The bombs have a gas that suffocates, there is no explosion as suggested by the name.
Pio, sounds like you need a skid loader to move all that dirt. Then maybe some light grading. Maybe get a trench roller to compact some of that dirt. Rest your shoulder a bit man. Sounds like you should take a week off from the yard. If course that's big talk coming from a guy that has teenagers in his back yard cleaning up branches and mowing.
Good Lord Beulah....chemical warfare against woodchucks.
Have you read about deaths caused by machinery tipping over because of their holes?  Although not as common now with roll bars being required on modern tractors being sold.
if only you could've seen the silly look on my face when I made my comment. They are a plaque against agriculture.I once had to help install ROPS on an older John Deere
I well know.  Even four wheelers and snowmobilers are beginning to understand how dangerous they can be to
their life and limbs.

33 Answers

+22 votes
Hi Pip, hope all is well. I too witnessed that burning bug nests out of trees, and wondered the same thing.

Hope all other Wikitree's are enjoying the day, and looking forward to the weekend.

Just came in the house for my morning coffee break from trimming hedge.

Continuing to work on finding profiles that need updating and sourcing. There are many available to do, and it is job security.

If life is coming at you fast, and the stress has you down, remember this, "Every day is a holiday, and every meal is a feast."

Hope everyone has a safe and healthy weekend with your family and friends.
by Rodney Long G2G6 Pilot (869k points)

WikiTree, like genealogy, is job security, Rodney. We’re never done creating and improving profiles. 

I love the quote. Good for me remember (as I tend to forget). Thanks for this. A new motto for me.

Love the quote Rodney!

I always thought a lot of those barns, houses, inns, schools, churches and other buildings did burn down. Maybe insects are a big part of the reason there are so few surviving historical structures.

What started my walk down the Miller family lane was the adoption of an alleged 11th great-grandfather.  As I drifted off to sleep last night I did the math in my head and realized that I have about 8,200 11x great grandparents and, for the first time, I realized that I will never, in my lifetime, complete my tree.  I quickly also realized that I better get at least one of my kids hooked on this hobby!
It's not a hobby - it's a calling!!!
Oh Robynne How so Very True.  And they only come along every so often in a family.  My family was a bit odd. My mother and her sister worked on their lines, my sister and I worked on our fathers.  I'm the survivor of the 3.
@Robynne: oh how I love that!
Thank-you Pip
Thank-you Laurie
I do not have any children SJ, but I have a niece that is catching the bug.
+24 votes

Morning Pip! And thanks for hoisting yet another Weekend Chat!

Building off of Chris' latest post, Will you help spread the word about WikiTree?, and in an effort to try and help boost user-engagement, possibly bring in some new members (and views) to the site, Eowyn and I have started working on a mini-project for the Ambassadors Media Team which you may have seen pop-up in G2G the last few of days. Essentially, it is a resurrection of the This Day in History blog posts, but bringing in a modern spin - Happening Today - where we tie WikiTree into current event stories.

Each day, we will try to highlight a current event or topic (e.g. a holiday) and related profiles via the blog, and then promote the blog post both in G2G and on social media. Each post will also have some sort of theme attached to it (such as creating, adopting, or sourcing profiles that fit the topic). The first post gathered a nice little discussion in G2G, and the second post ended up with at least one new profile being created. These have also been shared out on social media a few times now as well and hopefully they will pick up traction.

If you missed the first set of posts, here are the links to the blog:

Even though the effort is new, it does have the possibility to grow into something much larger. I hope you can all join in, or if you have any ideas for expansion or further promotion, please let us know as we would love to hear them!

You can also follow WikiTree on Twitter and Facebook, as well as be on the lookout for the happening_today tag here in G2G.

by Steven Harris G2G6 Pilot (743k points)
Excellent job on those, Steve! Unique and fascinating posts. A great idea!
Commented on Chris's thread and made some suggestions. I hope someone sends me a message about them because I have some ideas.
I linked the Lefthanders post in my twitter-feed.
Great idea!  I also just signed up for the Ambassador's project this week - it certainly seems like a good "bang for the buck" way to popularize WT on the net.
Steven, just a thought about these "Happening today" threads in connection with my dearest child "internationalization of Wikitree": Just as example the thread about Korea and its liberalization. You (WikiTree) mention(s) it because US soldiers were involved in that conflict. But yesterday was also the 75th anniversary of the start of the liberalization of Southern France from Nazi Germany. There were no (or not many) US soldiers involved, but mostly French and soldiers of the then-time French colonies in Africa. But within two weeks Southern France was free of Nazi Germany and it was another nail in the coffin of Hitler's regime.

So why not do a "Happening today (in Europe/international/outside of USA... whatever you name it) thread"? I'd be ok to scroll through different Wikipedia main pages and find interesting stuff to post about.
+24 votes

Today is.....

             

NATIONAL ROLLER COASTER DAY

Each year National Roller Coaster Day on August 16th people flock to amusement parks for a thrill and a few excited screams, too! Take a ride on a roller coaster near you. 

The day commemorates the first verticle loop roller coaster which was patented by Edwin Prescott on this day in 1898. A roller coaster consists of one or multiple cars on a track. While they are similar to railroad systems in design, the inclines and vertical loops incorporated in the structures aren’t for transportation. These elements boost the thrills rollercoaster enthusiast seek!

The oldest roller coasters are believed to have originated from the so-called “Russian Mountains.”  Built-in the 17th century, these specially constructed hills of ice located near Saint Petersburg, Russia rose between 70 and 80 feet in height. Passengers faced 50-degree drops. Wooden supports supplied reinforcement.  

Roller coaster designs existed since at least 1872 when J.G. Taylor received one of the earliest patents. He called his creation an inclined railway. Another patent granted for an inclined-plane railway was granted to Richard Knudsen in 1878.

For years, history has believed the first roller coaster in America opened at Coney Island on June 16, 1884. However, tracing J.G. Taylor’s patent and newspaper articles tells us a different story. According to the Providence Evening Press dated June 1872, Taylor’s elevated railway at Rocky Point, Rhode Island extended 400 feet and gave nine passengers a ride. It all started with a shove and allowing gravity to do the rest.  

While Prescott’s patent detailed ways to improve upon structures such as J.G. Taylor’s and that built at Coney Island, it was Prescott’s designs that led to the roller coasters we know today. His design gave riders a reason to scream and keep coming back for the rush of excitement. 

HOW TO OBSERVE #RollerCoasterDay

Celebrate by visiting an amusement park near you. While enjoying a roller coaster ride or two, also check out some roller coaster history. Check out the science behind the structures and the gravity-defying curves. Seek out some of the most thrilling roller coasters in the country and world!  If you cannot get to a roller coaster, make plans for your next roller coaster adventure! Use #RollerCoasterDay to post on social media.

NATIONAL ROLLER COASTER DAY HISTORY

Since 1986, National Roller Coaster Day has been celebrated. American Coaster Enthusiasts promotes the day across the country and through amusement parks with events.  Visit nationalrollercoasterday.com for a list of participating amusement parks and commemorative t-shirts. 

by Dorothy Barry G2G Astronaut (2.7m points)
Celebrating can also be acknowledging your "roller coaster ride" trying to connect one of your ancestors, or a famous person you worked on, to the "WikiTree" One profile per person/ one tree concept!!  Share your experience with us today!!

Dorothy, my first roller coaster ride was when I was about eight or nine years old at the old Pavilion in Myrtle Beach. It terrified me! Out of breath and leaning on my dad afterwards, but I was hooked. Still, that first fall is still the scariest.

I thought Pip don't get scared. =)
I dont ride roller coasters.  I just rode a 6.4 and 7.1. My grandson asked me what a quake was like. I told him it was like riding the biggest, fastest coaster with all the ups, downs,  twists, turns, and curliques and compress the entire ride into 30 seconds.    OOOps, it was a 6.4 not 6.9 corrected my typo.
Cedar Point, up here in Northern Ohio, bills themselves as the "Roller Coaster Capital". Next year they are celebrating 150 years in existence so they announced a special pricing plan. For $99 you get a special pass allowing unlimited visits, for one person, for the remainder of this year and all of next years season.

No I am not taking advantage of that price, I am too old for that.
I've been on each of the roller coasters at La Ronde, on the site of the Expo 67 amusement park.  

For me, the scariest one wasn't the fastest or the highest, it was the "original" wooden structure, creaking and groaning at each joint.  All the way around I thought hard about my grandfather's axe: my uncle has changed the head on that old axe twice and the handle about five times, and still refers to it as his father's axe.

A couple of potential profiles to create if anyone wants to explore the history of Roller Coasters:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Oller

French entrepreneur who co-founded the Moulin Rouge and constructed the Russian Mountains of Belleville roller coaster in 1887.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Thompson-19720

LaMarcus Adna Thompson - who developed a track for a coaster-like ride at Coney Island and eventually expanded into more roller coaster style rides over the next several years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Miller

August John Mueller - an American Roller Coaster designer in the early 1900's who designed the first underfriction coaster in 1919.

Chris, I’m scared all of the time! laugh

So that's your secret. =)
I have to say my first experience with a roller coaster was at Kings Island in Ohio, and I got to ride several all in one day. The first was called the "Scooby Doo" and it was a small up-down right turn only roller coaster that was over in about a minute or so. Good one to get used to them on. But then my friend says that he's bored with that one, and let's ride a "real" coaster. The Beast.

The Beast is a HUGE coaster, way up to the top of a giant hill, then down with twists, turns, a second drop, a tunnel, a couple of covered bridge areas, and it lasts for a long time. I was absolutely TERRIFIED. But after Dave encouraged me to ride it again... and again... and again... eventually I got used to it. All except that big drop at the beginning. I guess I was a pro after awhile. A roller coaster legend in my own mind... lol.
I have a deal with my grandchildren.  They ride roller coaster types, ferris wheels, etc. for me and I go to quilt shows for them.  Works great.
I have an aversion to heights - especially on unstable things such as roller coasters!!
@Beulah: Hahahahaha!!!!
+18 votes
I was going to trim some plants overgrowing the back door area but I saw humming birds on them! Instant reprieve.

I saw a possible link to a profile for my aunt's husband's father. I did an extensive tree for him. Sadly I am pretty sure he is not the husband's father. My thinking is that this fellow had a tree going back to the 1600's in Rhode Island with the spouse lines, etc. If he were there should have been many DNA cousins. My cousins in this line have only gotten links to our shared ancestors.

This country has many more testers than Britain where the husband probably came from. This is probably the reason for the scarcity of matches for my cousins.
by Sue Hall G2G6 Pilot (168k points)
Sue, I read Edison’s post on G2G yesterday, and he mentioned that DNA testing for ethnicity has just about saturated the market here in the US. For some folks whose ancestors came recently to the US, tests like these can be useful for finding cousins across the Pond. I’m finding it difficult enough to find DNA cousins here!

Keep us posted on what you find out!
Sue, we have a reflective film on our front door and yesterday I saw a humming bird checking out his reflection. We can see out but they can not see in.
Very respectful Sue, of the hummingbirds, and of your aunt's husband's father!  Your time was worthwhile in my view. Whether or not there was a DNA relationship, it seems to me there was a personal one.
Dale, I might have to have the wife try that. We get so few hummingbirds that if one came by and hung out for a bit like that she'd be tickled pink.
Hummingbirds are attracted to my autumn sage plant. A few are brave souls, especially one green male, who don't mind sharing my balcony with me. Other ones will peep at, and flutter for a second near, me as they don't like my presence. My plant is visited several times each day. I often see one chase another one away from this plant and return a few moments later.
+17 votes

Thanks for hosting again Pip!     I too suffer from NBAPC,  but I sure do my best to pile on sources.

 Weather here in Catoosa County, Georgia is hot and sunny.   Early mornings are great though.    Will talk about  “Pop Up Storms” later,  but we’ve gotten about two inches of rain since Monday.

On the Genealogy Front:   Got some old  “TinType” photos in the mail Tuesday…… mailed to me by a generous stranger who picked them up at an antique store in Utah….. they had names on them!!!  They are of  people from my McReynolds family line.  Will give more details when I’ve scanned them and can post them .    So why haven’t  I carried through with this already????????    Lightning Struck.  (Literally)

 The Georgia County  “pop up storms”  got a bit to close to home Tuesday.   While the lightning strike didn’t actually hit our house,  I nearly fell out of my chair.  Our internet provider's equipment was a smoldering heap and  all three of our computers were damaged.  One was totally killed;   mother board and power supply fried.   Fortunately,  my husband has been tinkering with computer hardware for 30 years…….  We had to buy one new PC and a router and he was able to cannibalize parts to fix the other two computers.    We’re back in action!   No data lost either.   

As for lost data;  until we assessed what the damage was,  I was a bit afraid I had lost my recent WikiTree work.   Apparently,   Google drive doesn’t function as I expected.   I’ll have to research their  “sync” function more thoroughly and try to understand why changing computers was a problem for retrieving files on the Google Drive cloud. 

Bottom line,  I feel fortunate and it’s great we’re retired and could spend a couple of days putting things in order.

Have a Great Weekend Everyone!!!    Next week I’ll post some 1890s photos.

     

by Peggy McReynolds G2G6 Pilot (471k points)
Sorry to hear about the storm damage. Those sudden summer storms can be devastating (lightning, too much rain, etc.). Google drive usually keeps things current but we decided a few years ago to backup things multiple ways. Our primary offsite backup is now with Backblaze.

I can’t wait to see those photos, Peggy. What a find, and what a kind person to send them to you!

I get the same storms you get, being just east of you. Our pop-ups usually occur late, and I’ve had to miss a couple of Greeter shifts because of the lightning. So sorry to hear about the computer losses. What a stressful mess! Good for you you’ve got an expert in the house.

I'm glad the electronics were the only casualties!  I'm looking forward to seeing those photos, but can wait till you're ready.

I too have some new bits and pieces that haven't gone into the tree, but my excuse isn't nearly as good.  Maybe Pip has a good acronym for procrastinators?
PNW: Profile Next Week

TTTFTF: To Tired To Finish This Family
haha, if PNW is renewable, weekly, then it sounds about right.

And TTTFTF sounds like a refined version of TTFN (ta-ta for now), esp if the family is not closely related, and SJ Baty has reminded me that I have unfinished business in my own tree.
My initial biographies tend to be pretty straightforward:

Son/Daughter of (give some names, if I've got 'em)

Husband/Wife of (give some names, if I've got 'em)

And then maybe in about 5-7 years, I might go back and actually put in a REAL biography...
Doug,  I'll definitely look at Backblaze.   Thanks for the tip.
Scott,  

Since the beginning,  I've written biographies for a few select people; those I had "stories" about or personal knowledge of,  not just interpretation of records and facts.  Now  I'm expanding the profiles that I write bios for but I still create a lot of profiles that are mainly sources..... so much to do.... so little time.  I'm still trying to expand my family lines and want to document the information I find during  "the search".....   Besides,  I'm not the most skilled author around.

Maybe in 5-7 years I'll backtrack and write bios too.....
+19 votes

Well, the weather stayed nice the past week and has cooled a bit so we got the fields mowed and the garden has started producing. The weeds are still winning but not by as big a margin. Next big yard task is to figure out how to get rid of the cattails. The water is nearly gone for the summer and I need to get rid of them so we can eliminate the standing water (mosquito/West Nile breeding ground). Then will need to trench and then run the sump water out to the street for draining.

My big project this week is getting everything pulled together for our Clan Society annual meeting that we are hosting this year. Finally got to the point where the check list spreadsheet isn't growing faster than I can check things off as being done. Three weeks to go.

Genealogically, not much new info found but still working on pulling some of my French Canadian side together. I decided that a One Name Study is needed to sort out my Mom's family.  I am also taking the NEHGS course on French Canadian research and have found it quite useful already. Just need to find the time to do more research.

Hope all are well and had a productive, or at least pleasant, week.

by Doug McCallum G2G6 Pilot (532k points)
I've read articles on using cattails for food.  Cook the roots
as a vegetable.  Use the pollen on the plumes as flour, although how anyone would have the time, patience, and numbers of them to accumulate enough to use in a recipe is beyond my comprehension!
Great you’re hosting the society meeting, Doug. Which games will they be held at? I’ll be attending Charleston Games in November. Missed Grandfather (annual meeting) and Loch Norman this year.
I think you're digging cattails Doug!  Good news, they're edible, if that's indeed what they are. I've had the roots boiled and mashed like potatoes, delicious and satisfying.

I'm in awe of the logistics of your extended family gathering.  In my family we tend to use the yoohoo method, with unpredictable results.
Beulah, If I had collected pollen while blooming, there may have been enough to do something with. Laurie, I need to get the ground to finish drying. Then we will rent a bobcat to fill in the low area and improve the drainage path. We can do the trenching and then the pipe to get to the street. The water comes from our sump pump which empties to an inconvenient area.

Pip, the games are in Estes Park, CO. This is a huge event (60,000-75,000 people over the 3 days). We hosted in 2008 but want this time to be even better so we get enough interest to have the meetings someplace other than Grandfather Mountain at least some of the time.
Glad you have equipment coming in, I had visions of Pip's shoulder. Sounds like a job worth doing!
+19 votes

I've been away for a couple of weeks and hadn't even logged into WikiTree this month, but now I'm trying to make up for it. Physically, I've suffered from pinkeye, jet lag, and, for some reason, sneezing fits since getting home.

Genealogically, I've been pruning the lists on the Connectors Chat page and the Let others know what location(s) you are working on page, clearing out the entries for branches which have been connected for two weeks or more, to make room to add more unconnected branches to work on.

It will take quite some time before enough of the "Can you help connect...?" threads get cleared for me to launch another one, but I am already plotting, and what I'd like to do is put up a list of unconnected Governors of Alaska. I haven't checked through the whole list yet, but it seems to be complete from the time Alaska was redesignated as a "District" in 1884 on. The people who are (mostly) missing from WikiTree are the people who were Commanders of the Department of Alaska from 1867 to 1884. Of the 20 people who served in that role, only 4 have WikiTree profiles.

So if you like creating profiles from Wikipedia articles (and especially if you're good at finding real sources for those people), there are 16 Commanders who have yet to be commemorated here.

If you like connecting people, then helping to finish off previous "Can you help connect...?"threads can get us started on Commanders and Governors of Alaska that much sooner.

by Greg Slade G2G6 Pilot (678k points)
And, woo-hoo! I made it onto the first page of replies this week!
Hahaha! Yep, you’re on early, Greg.

Pink eye? Had it when I was six, and it was the only absence I had from school that year. I feel for you.

You’ve done great work on topically arranging your connection (and profile creation) posts. Looks like you’ve got a good one there in Alaska.
I tend to equate unexpected sneezing fits with allergies. Apparently we grow into, and out of, allergies at different times of our lives. In my case, I'm location-sensitive.  In humid climates, I'm taking antihistamines daily, starting as soon as I get off the airplane. In drier climates, I don't need much atall.  Either way, I don't think you can be allergic to pruning the WikiTree.

I've really enjoyed your Connectors posts and updates.  You write well, and I learn from your clear explanations.
Greg, I just took William Smith Flynn, the Rhode Island governor and try to get him some grandparents. The paternal ones are already found, but not yet created
+15 votes

Hails and horns, Wikipeeps!

This week on WikiTree I finished working on the "ninja turtles" by sprucing up the page for Donatello.  So now all four have profiles we can be proud of. Two major things happened. First: I became leader of the Italian notables and regions of Campania and Calabria groups. Then I got the pre-1500 badge!

I was told that I need to use the powers for good. Can't I use it for awesome? Or at least whipping up profiles? This is good because a fair few Italian notables are pre-1500. We're talking Renaissance artists and more. I'll be needing to put them in categories. 

I'll also be working with some awesome people. I got some pre-1500 Italian sources thanks to Laura. So now I can probably put them in a category. Not sure what. Other than "Renaissance".

The irony of this is that I actually failed the Renaissance and Reformation course in college. Long story.

I also did a blog about funny stories. You can see the funny way I found relatives in Italy here: https://allroadhaverhill.blogspot.com/2019/08/52-ancestors-week-33-comedy.html

Not bad, huh? 

I also completed several form letters I am going to send to the commune office. I figure I'd send one once a month.

On the non genealogy front, my cat had an adventure yesterday. She is a Maine coon and is fluffy. She got herself shut into the middle bedroom by accident and it took me a couple hours to find her. She was NOT happy because it was warm in there. But, she's okay. Now she knows not to get in there.

This weekend is also the annual pig roast my parents go to. They have it at the marina where the boat is. I used to go. But, my friends moved on and have kids of their own so they don't really go any more. It's okay. Though, they could drop me off at the Newburyport library for a few hours....Just sayin'!

Have a great weekend!

by Chris Ferraiolo G2G6 Pilot (764k points)

That was an absolutely fabulous story on your blog, Chris. Probably the best yet! I’ll probably have no such luck as all of my ancestors were here before the Revolution. And all of the British Isles or Germany. I’m almost jealous of your discoveries. Just. So. Very. Cool!

Congrats on getting your pre-1500 badge! You needed it, what with all the work you’ve been doing lately. Really proud of you, Chris. Really!

Best part is I didn't make anyone cry. Well...except that lady's dad. But, those were happy tears, right? RIGHT?! Yeah. Totally happy tears.

This is also another lesson in listening to a great-aunt. Eliminate the middleman and go through her contact list. We actually exchanged street addresses this week and I will be sending her a Christmas card. It...umm.....may have to be sent after Thanksgiving so I can time it right.

Glad you liked the blog! I don't mean to make ya jealous. =) I do wonder if I have cousins on the Campania side of things still living in Italy. That I'd love to know. Mainly because of that huge castle in the middle of Gesualdo.

Thanks for the compliment, man. Means a lot. This means I get to work with you on pre-1500 stuff!
When I read this one way, I'm thinking you got the pre-1500 badge for TMNT, without breaking any WT rules about fictional characters.  Nicely done.
Reformation aka Martin Luther's thing? Mind you don't know much about it. I don't know much about it too. And I am quite closely related to Luther. (Ok I only found that out a few years ago, but the big Luther-biography is still piled beside my bed, telling me: "I want you to read me.") Once I have read that, I will know more about the reformation, that's for sure.

And congrats on the pre 1500-badge. I actually don't aspire to get that.

Have you tried to have a look in the online phone books of Italy to see if there are still people with your surnames in your area? That might give you a clue. Last year mum chatted with someone of my grandpa's town who had the surname of grandpa's mum. It turned out he was my cousin or so.

@ Laurie LOL! I was thinking that, too. I did put in subtle references to them on Raphael and Donatello's profiles. I could do the same to the other two. I don't know. I thought that was pretty clever myself. I wonder what else I could get away with. Someone find me Genghis Khan! "Totally Ravaged Osmond's Sporting Goods in 1989."

Nah, I won't do that. =) Where's Billy the Kidd? "Played by Emilio Estevez."

@Jelena: The Reformation was the Protestant church reorganization that happened during the Renaissance. What happened was that the church was like "You know...We need to stop being paranoid. Oh and constantly sending people to die in the Middle East is probably not a good idea. And education might be a good thing. Not to mention staying away from plague rats...."

Basically people wanted the church to get some smarts in the people. Not just the wealthy elite. 

I also initially didn't intend to get the pre-1500 badge. But, it happened. All I wanted to do was clean up some profiles.

I should probably check out Italian phone books or plug in names in this: https://www.italianames.com/italian-last-names-maps

That's basically a directory of people with the last name you are looking for that are currently living in Italy. Might be surprised. Great tip! Thanks!

Poor kitty - I'm surprised you didn't hear yowling going on and come to investigate, or is she just relatively quiet? I've never had a Maine coon before, but I've heard they're sort of an extra large size breed. Bigger than a lot of small dog breeds kind of cat.

My kitty is elderly, plain-old DSH (domestic short hair), tiger-striped, and claw-less. Sadly, the couple that had her first decided it was the waterbed or the cat's claws, so the claws went. Then they decided that the cat had to go too. We found her at a no-kill shelter and she'd been in a cage over a year. So she came home with us and is our last survivor of an up to 5 cat household.
They are the largest breed of domestic cat out there second only to the ragdoll in terms of size. She doesn't meow much. She just chirps and didn't make any noise at all. That's typical of her. But, not so much for other kitties. Cara is about seven years old. Very fluffy.

Very cool story about your cat, Scott. =) Cara tends to snuggle on her terms. She's a bit of a diva. When she wants food, she will tell you.
Cool site! I tried out a couple of names there. Neat!
Is this the same cat that was licking her butt while you were helping to host the video chat for the Scan-a-thon?
Yuuuuuuuup......
+18 votes

I saw my first mink this week! It cleaned my pond of fish, and my garden of little rabbits. I feel sad for the bunnies, but I’m sure I’ll be griping about the pesky nibblers again this spring. As for fish, I buy the $.99 variety because of the regular visits of heron and raccoon, and will wait a couple of weeks before I restock.  I didn’t get a clean photo of the mink, but I can share a snap of the heron with the evidence in its throat. 

On the genealogy front it must be 30 days since the Connect-a-thon, because I’ve been merging those duplicates, and this week I “met” a new cousin while merging. Our shared ancestor was born some time in the first half of the 1700s, but I found it interesting that this cousin is a descendant of a child who stayed in Europe. It’s not often I can make a clean connection to someone across the pond.

by Laurie Giffin G2G6 Pilot (104k points)
Laurie, we see many herons here but never catch them in action. We do, however, keep an eye out for the rabbits. They seem to like the leaves of our Asiatic lilies. “Git outta there, you!”

Cool find with the cousin!
I don't think I've ever seen a wild mink. Just that ghost one from Ghostbusters II. Very cool!

Cool finds!
Maybe the heron was coming around to visit his stoney friend and decided the snacks were there for him/her.
Lots of rabbits here but they eat stuff that is wild, one reason to cut down on the gardening I guess. I have this thing for native species and agonize over any exotic I have planted or let grow.
+17 votes
Good Morning Pip and All,

I am so happy to be able to check in on the chat this morning. We are in a marina in Comox, B.C. so I have internet. Plan to leave later today when the wind in the Georgia Strait settles down, if it does! Comox is a great little town about halfway between Nanaimo and Campbell River. We had dinner last night at the Blackfin Pub - really a large restaurant and very nice. On night's reprieve from cooking!!!

Genealogically speaking, I spent a good two hours yesterday afternoon cleaning up a couple of messes on FamilySearch. One was on my Fears lines where people keep trying to connect a Whitney as the wife of James Fears back in the mid-1700's in Virginia. His wife was named Kesiah - proven in a couple of documents but her LNAB is unknown. The Whitneys were born in Massachusetts and then lived in Connecticut, proven with records, all their lives. No opportunity there for a daughter to hop on down to Virginia to marry. The second one was similar except this supposed wife was born in Louisiana and died in Mississippi in early 1800's. She had been attached to my Clarke ancestor who was born in North Carolina, served in the Revolutionary War in SC and then lived rest of his life in Franklin County, Georgia. No opportunity there either!! Oh well, they are fixed for now with copious explanations.

I have jumped in to the new Ambassadors subproject for Links and have added WikiTree profile links to some of the FAG memorials that I manage and have asked that more be added to memorials that I do not manage. I will continue that as I have internet.

Pip, loved the story about your uncle! Bringing those family stories forward is really special.

Have a good weekend everyone. It will probably be a couple of weeks before I will be on chat again.
by Virginia Fields G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
Boy, you’re up early! So glad you were able to check in! Sounds like you’re having a blast sailing.

Some of my ancestors went in the opposite direction, from South Carolina to North. One branch, Butlers, moved in the 1840s or 50s, but some of the sons went back to SC to serve in the 20th SC, CSA. I think borders didn’t mean so much.

Be safe! We’ll be looking for you in a couple of weeks!
Welcome to BC! hope you have a nice stay.
See Peggy's comment above!  Ditto for me. Safe travels.
Thank you,Peggy. We love B.C. It is such a beautiful Province. Weather has been a bit warmer than we usually experience but as we go more northward I expect it will be cooler. Even if not, it is a lot cooler up here than in Texas this time of year!
Thank you, Laurie! As I said to Peggy, we love cruising up here - BC is lovely and the people are so friendly.
I spent a few months as interim pastor at a church in Comox. I agree that it's a wonderful place.
There's so much to explore on the BC coast. Enjoy your adventure!
+17 votes
Hi all, this is my first weekend chat on WikiTree.

Last week, I got back from Canada, where I was visiting with my mother.  It was great to have three weeks with lots of one on one time, encouraging her to reminisce (useful for my family history), while my other sisters helped get her house on the market and move her things into a retirement home.  Mum is amazing for 92!  We speak daily via FaceTime, though being physically in the same place was a delight.

This week, I have been catching up and recovering from jet lag.  It definitely takes longer, as I get older.

On WikiTree, I found records already set up for a few of the people on my list to input (Always a bonus!), so it was just adding what I could.  I also encountered a standardised layout on some of these profiles and now wonder if I should have been following this all along.  Having been told that I got my Club 1000 badge last week, a review of them all would be terribly onerous.  Reassurance would be much appreciated.

Tonight I start being mentored as a Greeter.  I can be friendly and helpful, though clearly I am still learning myself. After a year of retirement, it will be good to do something to help others.

No worms or pests here, but I have been trying to weed the block paving.  Any eco-friendly suggestions for clearing weeds would be welcome.

It has been raining all day here in Warwickshire.  Hope the sun shines for some of the weekend for all of you.
by Wendy Taylor G2G6 Pilot (134k points)
Hi there, Wendy, and welcome the Chat!  I’m excited to hear you’re getting trained as a member of The Greatest Gang (what we Greeters call ourselves). I think you’ll love it.

My mom is also 92. She lives only a few miles from my home. I’m continually pumping her for stories as these fill out profiles nicely - not just names and dates. Good for you getting her to reminisce.

The sun is shining here. It’s gonna be a hot one, so I get a break from outside chores until the evening.
Sounds like I'm several time zones away from you, in British Columbia, but it sounds like we share a similar weeding challenge. For my part, I've used various preparations of salt and vinegar, and sometimes dishsoap, they all work temporarily, but not as effective as digging and mulching mulching, mulching. For paving stones, I tried the pressure washer, which was great for a few weeks, till new seeds arrived and sprouted, so I've spent some time this summer lifting some of the stones, adding layers of landscape cloth, and sealing the cracks between the stones with polymeric sand.

I welcome others' suggestions too!
Must be great to live so close, Pip.
Polymeric sand is very expensive over here. I don’t want to seal, since you want the water to get through the cracks.  The weeds are the price to be paid for being away so long.  I have been trying boiling water and vinegar.  Verdict hasn’t come in yet
Wendy, have you seen those propane weed burners? Don’t know if they would damage the pavers, but they work well on concrete sidewalks.

Polymeric sand is expensive here, too, but it saves on the later weeding.
One thing I forgot to mention, I was researching a branch of my tree and learned a distant cousin, his partner, child and his partner’s three children were all murdered in British Columbia.  It took a bit of agonising about the sensitivity of adding Wikipedia links about the case to their profiles.  In the end, I decided to leave it off for now, as some of the immediate family might find it upsetting.  

I also made at least 20 suggestions to Find-a-Grave to link family graves.
+15 votes
Nothing major to report this week. I have been plugging away on some profiles that have been on WikiTree longer than I have adding sources and just general clean up, nothing major but I have made over 100 contributions this month so far. The oldest grandson was given his grandmother's car, not Diane but his other grandmother, as part of her estate so he is happy about that. It is only a 2007 Toyota Yaris but to a 16 year old that is heaven. It is getting noisy around the neighborhood because they are tearing down 16 old homes that are no longer livable to put in some new ones. My knee is doing better, not perfect but better.
by Dale Byers G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
Hi, Dale. Good to see you around this week. I know you’ve been dealing with stuff lately. Yaris: I had to look that one up.

I shoveled 5 1/2 tons of dirt yesterday and knew my shoulder would be screaming this morning. Too hot today for the 4 ton pile. I just don’t have the equipment.

Urban renewal?
I can imagine a 16-year old will make good use of a 2007 Yaris.  My first car was a rusted-out VW Beatle, and we put it to good use for sure.
Pip, Sorry for the delay but It is sort of Urban renewal. We live out in the township in a semi private community and the managers of the community have obtained ownership of the homes in question, they were abandoned by the owners. The management is tearing them down starting with one right behind me and plan on placing new homes on the lots. I like this because I have one of the newer homes in the area and this will be a definite improvement to the area. To Laurie, My first car was a 1960 Rambler American with a push button transmission that was 8 years old when I bought it. The car my grandson got was driven by a little old lady, his grandmother and the body is in very good shape. She had not driven it since about Christmas of 2018.

As for my knee it is fine until I stop for the day but after a good nights sleep I am back to feeling fine for most of the day again.
They just dropped of a big dumpster at the home site behind m along with a backhoe/dozer. I can't wait till tomorrow when the actual work starts. I have been told to expect them to be working every weekday until the end of the year.
+17 votes

Today, August 16, is National Tell a Joke Day.  

Since I helped transcribe some Phyllis Diller [Driver-1560] jokes for the Smithsonian, I will share one of her jokes here:

My father was an electrician -- when I was born he got his first shock.

Phyllis Diller, June 1984

https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/help-us-transcribe-phyllis-dillers-jokes

by Michelle Enke G2G6 Pilot (422k points)

Hahahaha!!! Just like her. Loved ol’ Phyllis.

********

A duck walks into a bar and asks, "Got any grapes?"

The bartender, confused, tells the duck no. The duck thanks him and leaves.

The next day, the duck returns and asks, "Got any grapes?"

Again, the bartender tells him, "No -- the bar does not serve  grapes, has never served grapes and, furthermore, will never serve grapes." The duck thanks him and leaves.

The next day, the duck returns, but before he can say anything, the bartender yells, "Listen, duck! This is a bar! We do not serve grapes! If you ask for grapes again, I will nail your stupid duck beak to the bar!" The duck thanks him and leaves.

To the bartender's surprise the following day the duck returned. The duck is silent for a moment, and then asks, "Got any nails?" 

Confused, the bartender says "no". "Good!" says the duck. "Got any grapes?

Ha!  Good one, Pip!
haha, didn't she say "Aim high, and you won't shoot your foot off?" I use that in talks about goal setting. Steven Covey and Phyillis Diller.
Someone did this on Linked In, but I loved it so I'll toss these out. I'll start with the fact that I appreciate Steve Martin's sense of humor, so his quotes make me smile.

A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

A celebrity is any well-known TV or movie star who looks like he spends more than two hours working on his hair.

Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.

You know what your problem is, it's that you haven't seen enough movies - all of life's riddles are answered in the movies.

I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy.

Boy, those French: they have a different word for everything!

What is comedy? Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke.

First the doctor told me the good news: I was going to have a disease named after me.

I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper.

I like a woman with a head on her shoulders. I hate necks.
Ha!  Thank you Scott!
+18 votes

Greetings, WikiChatters!

Just a quick drive-by hello.  Congrats to all the Wonderful WikiTreers and people with milestones this week:

David Hughey 500k! 

Linda Peterson 100k!

Jelena 200k! 

Gurney Thompson 100k! 

Robin Shaules 300k! 

Thanks to all of you for your hard work, generosity, and wisdom on G2G! 

This week back to dinosaurs, of the living variety:

Cocodrilo by Wellington Oliveira

And for die-hard origami fans, here's a video of Mariano Zavala folding an alligator from a piece of paper the size of a bedsheet, in less than a minute and a half!

https://youtu.be/qQh_QKtN9EU

Cheers,

Herb

by Living Tardy G2G6 Pilot (765k points)
That was an amazing video, Herbert. A master! (But we enjoy yours so much more!)

Pretty hot where you are! Surviving?
Thanks, Pip!  Surviving and thriving!  We're still having warm days, but nighttime temps are dipping into the mid-50s (13C).
Thanks SJ!

Sorry George!  Congratulations and kudos!
You know birds also count as living dinosaurs. =) Really cool gator. Now we need a paper Steve Irwin!

Thanks, Chris!  Maybe a paper sting ray, too.  wink

DUDE! That's....dark.
Thanks Herb for the mention here of the milestones of the week
+16 votes

Hello WikiKin (I've been seeing WikiKin and I sort of like it, so I'm going with that this week!).

Hope everyone has had a satisfactory weekend.

Still sunny in southeast Spain but our weather finally broke and the temps dropped from 34 (94f) to about 30 (86f) and the humidity dropped, now we're with the windows and the sea breeze instead of the air conditioning.

On the genealogy front, I answered a Newt's questiona bout whether or not it was OK to create profiles that you weren't planning on managing, you know, "create and then orphan."  I answered his question and then just a few days later I ran into a locked door (a short term block rather than a brick wall that lasts for decades): I learned that an ancestor was a War of 1812 veteran and I started looking for records.  In a serendipitious twist, a lateral relative WikiTree profile (distant in-law) was the clue I needed to verify some war records I had found.  You can read the whole story here - scroll down to "11th great grandfather."

In the all and all, I have a lot of good sources for profiles i created for the CAT and I'm just busy beautifying profiles that were created then.

I also found some open source New York Revolutionary War archives on Archive.org and shared them to the NY resources page and the same for Pennsylvania.

by SJ Baty G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
What? No "Wikipeeps"? You can use it. I stole it from Steve Scmidt fair and square.

Sounds like you had a great week! But, seriously. You can use "Wikipeeps". I don't mind!
Haha, I can see a use for Wikipeeps (general members), Wikichatters (who turn up here), WikiKin (all my distant relations), and I can think of a few others

WikiJesters, Wikiwatchers  ...  Anyone else?
86 and the windows open. That’d still be too hot for us!
+16 votes
Happy weekend, everyone!  Seems like this was a "where did my week go?" kind of week.  Not really sure where it went.  Two weeks left until the semester starts and I have a lot to do!

Today I spent the morning decluttering bits of my office and lab while a student ran some samples.  Now I'm home waiting for two deliveries... a small cattle tank to be a new home for my box turtle, and a couple of pieces of artwork my dad left me.  (Sadly, we learned this week that the computer he left to my brother got wiped and junked... probably decades of digital photos gone, and who knows what else.)  So now I'm in decluttering mode; we'll see how long it lasts.

On the genealogy front, I decided to fully trace the descendants of John and Emma Flanagan.  I'm a 3C/4C level match to two of their descendants, who are 3C to each other and descended from two of John and Emma's 4 kids.  I found a family descended from their only son John Jr.  Contacted them this week and they have some stories to share, though nothing as far back as John and Emma.  I asked one of them about DNA testing and he said "sure, send a kit."  Getting that organized now... he should be either 1/2 2C or 3C/4C to my uncle.  If 1/2 2C, that solves this brick wall- John Jr. is my great grandfather's father.  If more distant, I'll have to track down John & Emma's siblings' families.  Progress!
by Lisa Hazard G2G6 Pilot (264k points)
I had a "where did my week go" moment too. I thought yesterday was Friday. It had a Friday vibe to it. Was so weird.

Unfortunate about the compy, Lis. This is why it's a good idea to back up files and upgrade computers every once in a while. And scan. Sorry about the comp. I hope nothing important was on there!

Congrats on the matches! I haven't had any new ones in a while. I should go knock on my first cousins' doors and say "Please spit in this tube for science." LOL. Nah. I won't do that....

Yet.

The backup drives got junked, too, so far as we know.  sad

Get your cousins to test!  The more the merrier!

One out of Eight first cousins has tested. I'd love to get my brother tested. That'd be fun. =) We'll see what happens.

Sorry about the drives. =(
Two week’s? You just got out!

Truck running?
I know, Pip!  Where did my summer go?  (Oh right... mostly researching my direct paternal line...)  Truck is running great (knock wood).
Saturday update:  we adopted a bunny today during a "Clear the Shelters" event.  She's getting settled in and we're debating names.

Bunnie? A good Southern name. laugh

+15 votes
Greetings from Everett, Washington!

I'm excited and busy so I will return later.  But first--last night I was emailed by a new Wikitreer who thought because of DNA thrulines that she was related to my Robes in West Virginia. Turns out she is!  I sent her the information and now, as usual, a merge is imminent, her first (Oh, aren't merges exciting!) so I am off to help her with that.  Bye for now!

Excited that a new cousin found me!
by Margaret Summitt G2G6 Pilot (319k points)
Sounds like a nice welcome for a new Wikitreer, to find a helpful cousin right away.

I hit a cold shoulder on Day 1 and nearly quit. Thank you Margaret for contributing to a collaborative environment!
Margaret, you are always busy. I don’t know how you find the time. When you get a break, let us know what’s up. You have such interesting news to share each week.
Wonderful news Margaret, congratulations!
Yes, an active Wikitree weekend.  I just checked to see how the merges went on the four pairs of folks that new cousin and I were working on.  She did a good job!  Someone stepped in and did the fourth one so I am waiting to hear if she can find them all to her liking.  We are co-managers now on three of them.  She added photos, incorporated the sources that I found, so I feel we are really collaborating and she is learning quickly.

Here in Everett, I can tell that fall is coming.  The nights are getting cooler.  The mountain ash trees are starting to shed their orange berries (onto the Toyota that is parked under one of them).  They (the trees) survived the caterpillars as they do every year.  Soon the robins will descend on us and devour the berries and head south.  I have already spotted Canada geese heading in that direction.

We celebrated the Feast of the Assumption Thursday evening at the SSPX chapel in Edmonds.  This weekend is the Taste of Edmonds festival which takes over the street around the church, making it a challenge to find a parking spot and to hike from there to the church.  When my husband heard that Alaska Airlines is now flying to Spokane out of Paine Field he was hoping that the priests he shuttles to and from Seattle could come there.  No such luck, for now, since there's only one flight per day and that's early in the morning.  But more flights may come.  Some of our neighbors don't appreciate the jet noise, especially starting at 6 am, but we for one are used to it and we welcome the convenience of having commercial flights there now.

This week I wrote an article called "Why IS It Called the Speedway? Mukilteo Speedway Through the Years" for the Mukilteo Monthly magazine.  It will appear in the October issue.  Mukilteo Speedway is the main route south out of town towards Lynnwood, etc.  I will answer the question by saying it's a phenomenon one often sees near military bases, as Paine Field formerly was.  Servicemen who had sneaked off base overnight would be heard in the early morning hours racing back in order to make it in time for inspection.

A challenge I face in the coming weeks is driver training with my 24-year-old son.  Finding a quiet, spacious area to practice near here is also a challenge.  A big empty parking lot on a Sunday afternoon would be ideal; like the one at the Boeing factory.  Just need to hear from husband if he has permission to do that. I learned from the bad experience my daughter had that practice is key, and you can't quit when you get frustrated.

Everyone have a fun week, and I will read the rest of all the posts.
+14 votes
So it's been a busy week as usual, and I feel like I've got less done this week than I normally do, even that may not necessarily be the case. My boss is sending me more work, which is good, because I just like to work hard. Sometimes it's extremely satisfying to see a mountain of work ahead, dig in, and at the end of the week, take a look back and realize you did make a difference. Always a good thing for me. Plus I look at things as how much did I help others achieve their goals, so it's satisfying as well to see others succeed, even if I only helped just a little.

Went to the dinner theater the other night and saw an AMAZING show called Buddy - the Buddy Holly Story. WOW! The story of his musical career, as short lived as it was, and his attitude towards doing HIS music HIS way. Very inspiring. And while his music is one more era back from me (but not by much), I still greatly appreciated the music, the talents on the stage, and even sung along with several of the tunes and greatly enjoyed myself. And I've learned to pace myself when eating at an all-you-can eat buffet like that, so at least by intermission I don't feel like needing to go to the "pressing room" to get all my juice squeezed out (bonus points for those who get the reference, provided I remembered it correctly).

The weekend ahead looks promising. Saturday might have a little rain ahead, but that's never stopped me. I don't have anything specific on the agenda, so that means catching up on all the other things I haven't completed at home.

On the genealogical front, I finally after weeks of seeking found a global connection for science fiction author A.E. van Vogt. I'd been hunting off and on for awhile, so this was a nice feeling to set him aside and move on to another. I've been convinced to take up a connection for the late Toni Morrison, so I'm building out profiles at this stage, hoping that one of her lines will open her up a bit and lead to a connection... somewhere. We'll see.
by Scott Fulkerson G2G Astronaut (1.5m points)
What?!? There’s such a thing as pacing oneself at a buffet? Say it ain’t so, Scott!
More than pacing yourself it's about being strategic!

Scott, are you somehow related to Andrew Maurer? Cause when you are, then we are closer related than I'd thought. Susannah Schweitzer belongs to my family in the neighbor-of-my-ancestor's-town.

Oh? I had to really hunt for this one... I have some Rhoads/Rhoades in my family, but this isn't one of my lines. Followed this one around a bit until I finally found the Notable that this connects to - Randy Rhoads, the guitarist of Ozzy Osborne band fame.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Rhoads-513

So sorry - no close connection there unfortunately.

Now you get me nearly rofling on my sofa.... you wanna say I am connected to the Ozzy Osbourne guitarist? Hmmmm, the music fan in my dad would probably like it
Not sure how closely related you are to the Maurer line, but Randy Rhoads Grandfather William Arthur Rhoads married Leslie Fern Maurer, who was the daughter of Andrew Maurer (which was when I was hunting for a connection for him awhile back). So if you've got a Maurer connection, then you've definitely got a Randy Rhoads connection.
The father of Susanna Schweitzer (step-greatgrandmum of Randy Rhoads, wife of Andrew Maurer) was born in the neighbor-to-my-ancestor's town. The youngest sister of my 4x greatgrandmum moved there.
+15 votes
Hello all. I'll second or third the comment, where did the week go....

Weather wise, it's August. Hot. Humid. Chance of afternoon thunderstorms.

Genealogy-wise just a distraction of Chester and Lester, a couple of 3C1R. I know it's not possible to fix all of the problems on the Internet, but.... Chester and Lester were born 19 Sep 1893. There were quite a few Chester Miller and Lester Miller born in 1893, and lots of Ancestry tree conflation. I've sent several messages with links to their profiles, and a suggested correction for Lester's FindAGrave. So it's back to looking at some profiles created during the ConnectAThon then starting to orphan a few from my watchlist.
by Kay Knight G2G6 Pilot (597k points)
No sooner than you get back home that you are jumping right into trying to solve a WikiTreeing!

I need to do some orphaning, too!
@Pip - already worked! Got a couple of thank yous from the Ancestry tree managers, one asking about the sources. so maybe more folks interested in WikiTree....
+15 votes
Hi hi from the evening side of the world,

on the personal front we had a quite normal week, mum's shoulder is improving slowly, very slowly, but at least she can - on normal days - now get out the pain only with ice. Better than having to use pain killers every day.

Yesterday a bit of my personal history crashed and I felt nostalgic. When I got to school my parents bought me a good solid wooden desktop, with three drawers on one side and a lockable door on the other side. Yesterday I heard something crash in the other room and went there. The plank that held the drawers broke on one point and the drawers had room to fall down. In German we call it: "The tooth of time worked."

On the genealogy front I worked a bit on my tree on MyHeritage, but also here. One day I actually started with one (1) match with Wikitree, and when I confirmed that match I had more than 200 contributions added to my tally. From people born in the 1700s who don't have their dead dot to people who had state abbreviations in their location fields.

Other than that I did minimal work on the Scholls, I have to find the place  in the family for the cousin who went to Philadelphia. That man will actually be one of the first ones to get out of the village and the first real chance to connect the cluster to the Big Tree.

Have a nice weekend everybody
by Jelena Eckstädt G2G Astronaut (1.5m points)

Jelena, I feel for your mother’s shoulder pain. Mine’s on and off again, but still.

Can he desk be repaired? My wife has one that needs work, and I’ll have to do it before she strips it and stains it.

Actually it doesn't seem to be repairable. It seems to have simply said: "Ok, more than 30 years I did my work, now it's enough." We have to think now though where to put all the stuff that was in the drawers.
A new desk?
Yeah eventually this will very likely be the solution. But you don't find anymore such good solid desks anymore. The IKEA ones are all constructed for 5 years the most.... :(
Second hand is the way to go for wood furniture.
I agree.... second hand but make certain it's solid wood,  veneer's are very deceptive. While you usually have to refinish, it's something you'll love forever.  (Hey, if  you can't refinish it now,  you will when you retire!)    What they're selling today as furniture is compressed sawdust dust....

And if they called it  "bonded leather"  watch out too!
And that's why I won't buy a nice book with "bonded leather."

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