Wednesday, May 6, 2015
last report on the mission
I am sad that I have to quit writing online. The thing is, I do not know who is reading this blog and how my input is being interpreted. If you wish to receive more information on what I am doing on this mission, I will be writing each week, but keeping the notes here at home. I can send them to you via email just so that you do not miss out no the adventures. Please let me know if you wish to be on the email list.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
thankful for Tech support
I guess the computer age is wondrous to be sure but when it does not work, I am left to wonder!
I spent 2 hours yesterday with two very smart tech savvy people trying to get my computer to co-operate and not make me wonder if we got taken by the store by paying such a large amount to purchase in the first place............
Found that somehow my email had been turned off and google insists that I put in a password. Well I searched my mind (jumbled though it might appear to be) to try to recover the errant password to no avail. Just have to be happy with the little pop up screen that demands that I enter a password. Today does not look good and tomorrow not much better in that regard.
My mentor seems to have gone away. I need further training for this mission but I cannot get him to contact me so I decided to take matters into my own hands, and the upshot is that I have received an extra assignment do to a number of indexing batches and next week I will be trained by a new person in the art of arbitration. There is a big push on right now to get the arbitration done and for a week that is the concentration. I will be too late for this particular session, but I am sure there will be many more concentrated efforts to clear up the backlog of arbitration waiting. An explanation of the arbitration process is in order. Each record that is in Family Search has to be entered during the process called indexing. Each record is independently indexed by two people and then the results are compared. Differences in the indexed records are then arbitrated. The person doing the arbitration is the last word and then the record is released to the public on Family Search. I have been doing quite a few of these indexing batches and each batch has its own set of instructions on how to get it done. The writing leaves a lot to be desired so it is anybody's guess what was really written in some cases.
It gets rather hard to sit at the computer for hours on end doing indexing, so I get up and go for a walk, go water my flowers, inspect the burgeoning crop of peaches and nectarines (that did not get frozen this year ), fill the bird feeder and chat with my neighbor.
I am part of the Millefiore Quilt Along project run by a lady in British Columbia, Canada. A new rosette is presented each month and I have now finished 5 rosettes. I have arranged for the paper pieces for the quilt along to be sent to me rather than cut them myself and then stitch them. The paper pieces came around 27th April and so I looked closely at the picture and decided that I could do this one without waiting for the instructions to appear in my inbox. After all, it is a puzzle and a geometric one at that, so I got to work and finished the center pieced hexagon and discovered that it was larger than it should have been and that the next round of 6 pieced hexagons would not fit. I sent an email to the designer pointing out that there was an error. I also put a note on the Facebook page dealing with this Quilt along project. The designer questioned my complaint. Another person on the Facebook page sent a long (upbraiding) story about having to read the instructions first and not go ahead and do it wrong etc.etc.etc. In a day or so, there appeared an apology from the designer - she had in fact, sent the wrong instructions to the people who put the paper piece kits together and I had uncovered her error. I felt vindicated to say the least. The people who put the kits together have rectified the error and many of the participants in this project were saved a lot of headaches. So how did I rectify my center hexagon? Well, I sliced off the offending pieces and now it fits and looks good. Old Aussie ingenuity takes over!
I spent 2 hours yesterday with two very smart tech savvy people trying to get my computer to co-operate and not make me wonder if we got taken by the store by paying such a large amount to purchase in the first place............
Found that somehow my email had been turned off and google insists that I put in a password. Well I searched my mind (jumbled though it might appear to be) to try to recover the errant password to no avail. Just have to be happy with the little pop up screen that demands that I enter a password. Today does not look good and tomorrow not much better in that regard.
My mentor seems to have gone away. I need further training for this mission but I cannot get him to contact me so I decided to take matters into my own hands, and the upshot is that I have received an extra assignment do to a number of indexing batches and next week I will be trained by a new person in the art of arbitration. There is a big push on right now to get the arbitration done and for a week that is the concentration. I will be too late for this particular session, but I am sure there will be many more concentrated efforts to clear up the backlog of arbitration waiting. An explanation of the arbitration process is in order. Each record that is in Family Search has to be entered during the process called indexing. Each record is independently indexed by two people and then the results are compared. Differences in the indexed records are then arbitrated. The person doing the arbitration is the last word and then the record is released to the public on Family Search. I have been doing quite a few of these indexing batches and each batch has its own set of instructions on how to get it done. The writing leaves a lot to be desired so it is anybody's guess what was really written in some cases.
It gets rather hard to sit at the computer for hours on end doing indexing, so I get up and go for a walk, go water my flowers, inspect the burgeoning crop of peaches and nectarines (that did not get frozen this year ), fill the bird feeder and chat with my neighbor.
I am part of the Millefiore Quilt Along project run by a lady in British Columbia, Canada. A new rosette is presented each month and I have now finished 5 rosettes. I have arranged for the paper pieces for the quilt along to be sent to me rather than cut them myself and then stitch them. The paper pieces came around 27th April and so I looked closely at the picture and decided that I could do this one without waiting for the instructions to appear in my inbox. After all, it is a puzzle and a geometric one at that, so I got to work and finished the center pieced hexagon and discovered that it was larger than it should have been and that the next round of 6 pieced hexagons would not fit. I sent an email to the designer pointing out that there was an error. I also put a note on the Facebook page dealing with this Quilt along project. The designer questioned my complaint. Another person on the Facebook page sent a long (upbraiding) story about having to read the instructions first and not go ahead and do it wrong etc.etc.etc. In a day or so, there appeared an apology from the designer - she had in fact, sent the wrong instructions to the people who put the paper piece kits together and I had uncovered her error. I felt vindicated to say the least. The people who put the kits together have rectified the error and many of the participants in this project were saved a lot of headaches. So how did I rectify my center hexagon? Well, I sliced off the offending pieces and now it fits and looks good. Old Aussie ingenuity takes over!
Monday, April 27, 2015
not quite Dolly Parton but it will do
There are a number of play houses here in Prescott where we can go to view live performances. I love the movie "Steel Magnolias" with Dolly Parton as Truvie, the beautician. There was a performance of this stage play here in Prescott and the lady who played Dolly Parton's part of Truvie was wonderful.....although I think that her waistline was perhaps 4 times that of Dolly Parton. I was wondering just how they would portray many things in the movie, but they did it with one set - that of the beauty parlor....and our minds made up the rest of the story. The actress who took the part played by Sally Fields, even looked a lot like Sally Fields and her speech about the loss of her daughter to diabetes had me in tears. I could really feel the depth of grief she had for the loss.
Friday 10th April was a really crazy day. Bill wanted to attend the temple in North Phoenix before going the dentist for his checkup but he did not get ready in time so we had to settle for other ordinances. We literally blew into the temple and blew out and he remarked that "If I had gotten up earlier it would not have been such a rush job. You really cannot rush the temple experience. He went to the dentist and after it we looked for a Mayo clinic that I could attend. The last blood test I had showed that there needed to be an adjustment to my meds and I wanted a second opinion. We found the North Scottsdale Mayo clinic but they were only General Practitioners and not an avenue to follow to get to see the specialists at Mayo. We found a 'fast food' joint to eat lunch and then high tailed it back to Prescott to try to be there before David arrived. We make reservations for him but the people who care for him never obey the reservation time - they just take him any old time they want - sometimes up to 2 hours before the appointed time. They drop him off and he occupies his time filling up on junk food and large soda's and comes home minus money to pay for his needs. So we hurried home and got here 30 minutes before he arrived - which was an hour earlier than we planned. Good thing we are aware of the practices of his providers.
The high school drama department put on the play "Grease" - them movie introduced Olivia Newton John to American audiences. I have not seen the movie and the play was well done but not family viewing fare because of the language and innuendo's. We took David to see it, but the 50's theme was not understood by him at all.
My mission training is going along but I do not think I will be ready to participate in the big push for arbitration. There are millions of records that need arbitration before they can be released and not enough people to do the task, so I guess they will have to do it without me.
This past weekend there was a wonderful artist activity in the bank parking lot. They call it Chalk It Up and invited artists, along with local people draw pictures on the parking lot for all to come and enjoy. This year was the first year I could go and see the activities and it was marvelous.
At quilt guild this month they honored those of us who had been presidents by asking us to bring our President's quilt and show it off. there are not so many of us left in Prescott, but it was wonderful to see what was on display. The pictures are on the MountainTop Quilters website under "Past Presidents Quilts".
Friday 10th April was a really crazy day. Bill wanted to attend the temple in North Phoenix before going the dentist for his checkup but he did not get ready in time so we had to settle for other ordinances. We literally blew into the temple and blew out and he remarked that "If I had gotten up earlier it would not have been such a rush job. You really cannot rush the temple experience. He went to the dentist and after it we looked for a Mayo clinic that I could attend. The last blood test I had showed that there needed to be an adjustment to my meds and I wanted a second opinion. We found the North Scottsdale Mayo clinic but they were only General Practitioners and not an avenue to follow to get to see the specialists at Mayo. We found a 'fast food' joint to eat lunch and then high tailed it back to Prescott to try to be there before David arrived. We make reservations for him but the people who care for him never obey the reservation time - they just take him any old time they want - sometimes up to 2 hours before the appointed time. They drop him off and he occupies his time filling up on junk food and large soda's and comes home minus money to pay for his needs. So we hurried home and got here 30 minutes before he arrived - which was an hour earlier than we planned. Good thing we are aware of the practices of his providers.
The high school drama department put on the play "Grease" - them movie introduced Olivia Newton John to American audiences. I have not seen the movie and the play was well done but not family viewing fare because of the language and innuendo's. We took David to see it, but the 50's theme was not understood by him at all.
My mission training is going along but I do not think I will be ready to participate in the big push for arbitration. There are millions of records that need arbitration before they can be released and not enough people to do the task, so I guess they will have to do it without me.
This past weekend there was a wonderful artist activity in the bank parking lot. They call it Chalk It Up and invited artists, along with local people draw pictures on the parking lot for all to come and enjoy. This year was the first year I could go and see the activities and it was marvelous.
At quilt guild this month they honored those of us who had been presidents by asking us to bring our President's quilt and show it off. there are not so many of us left in Prescott, but it was wonderful to see what was on display. The pictures are on the MountainTop Quilters website under "Past Presidents Quilts".
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Brahms Lullaby welcome
If there is one thing that stands out with this mission I am doing, it is the records of births and deaths that I deal with on a daily basis. The down side is that I do not know or even can guess what has happened to these individuals between the event of their birth and the eventual death. I suspect that some of the people had a real challenge with each step of the way and others just sailed through with little or no problem. It seems to be so unequal, but on the other hand, the challenges we face bring us to the point of growth and expansion of our vision of life.
Last week I was asked to do compassionate service for a member of our ward. She is the caretaker of an 8week old baby whose birth circumstances were less than optimum or desirable. She has been staying at the hospital helping care for him ever since he contracted RSV - a virus that affects the lungs of small children and even can affect adults with compromised lungs. I went over to the hospital to be holding the little one upright so that he has a better chance of good breathing while the caretaker/mother went to an appointment. I walked into the hospital and was greeted by a helper volunteer who took me to the pediatric ward and as we walked to the elevator the sound of Brahms Lullaby came over the loud speaker. The helper turned to me and smiled and said, oh, another baby has been born. I was in a state of awe at the thought of a new life entering mortality. I don't know what it is to give birth, but rather know what it is to go out and adopt, so I am quite emotional to know that another little one has joined us in mortality. Each week there are pictures in the paper of the newborns, not all of them make it into the paper, but about 15 to 20 newborns are pictured in the local paper each week. Mostly boys with just a few girls seem to be born here. I was at the hospital about 2 hours and in that span of time Brahms Lullaby played 6 times. It was a busy day in the maternity ward. The juxtaposition of world wars, political upheaval, climate problems, various and sundry strifes against the newly born occupied my mind while at the hospital. I held the little boy in my arms and watched him struggle for breath and I wondered what was ahead of him. He has had 8 weeks of struggle already. He has been living in my friend's home now since he was one day old and he is greatly loved by the other children living in the home, but what happens to him if he is returned to his nuclear family is anybody's guess.
I have been doing indexing of records. I have to achieve over 2,000 of these indexes and then they tell me I will be an arbitrator of records. An arbitrator in this sense is one who decides whether the written record is written to reflect this fact or another fact and then the record is released online. I guess it needs explaining. Each record that is up for indexing is separately indexed by two people. Their best guess (especially for the hand written records) is then fed through a program in a computer where they are compared and if there is a disagreement, then the record is turned over to a person to arbitrate. For example -one record I indexed I looked at very closely and the date was 19th of March. However, the second indexer thought it looked like 13th March and both records were sent to arbitration and it was decided that 13th March was correct. I even checked the 1860 calendar to see what day of the week both days may have been and found that both appeared as a week day and not a weekend. And so it goes with arbitration.
Many of the records I have indexed this week have been birth records from Tasmania, Australia. Why anyone would want to live in Tasmania is beyond me, but then I suspect that there are people who wonder why anyone would want to live in Toowoomba, Queensland, for that matter. I now live in a high desert area and there are people from Phoenix who escape up here to the mountains during the summer to beat the heat of Phoenix.
The type written records leave no question as to what is fact but the hand written records take a lot of close scrutiny. One record of marriages from New York took me 6 hours to index the 40 marriages there. The handwriting left a lot to be desired.
At the Family History Center we deal with the census records a lot for patrons looking for clues to their family history and the writing and spelling defies deciphering. I am told that the original transcription of the US census' was done in a non-english speaking country and the guesses were pretty much off as to what was actually there that the Family History Library in Salt Lake City had them all re-done by English speakers and the present records are a lot easier to cope with and are type written.
I have been assigned a mentor who is given the responsibility to train me in the intricacies of this mission. I meet with him almost daily online through Skype and he teaches me what to do and what to avoid. Some days I think it is more akin to walking on eggshells.
Last week I was asked to do compassionate service for a member of our ward. She is the caretaker of an 8week old baby whose birth circumstances were less than optimum or desirable. She has been staying at the hospital helping care for him ever since he contracted RSV - a virus that affects the lungs of small children and even can affect adults with compromised lungs. I went over to the hospital to be holding the little one upright so that he has a better chance of good breathing while the caretaker/mother went to an appointment. I walked into the hospital and was greeted by a helper volunteer who took me to the pediatric ward and as we walked to the elevator the sound of Brahms Lullaby came over the loud speaker. The helper turned to me and smiled and said, oh, another baby has been born. I was in a state of awe at the thought of a new life entering mortality. I don't know what it is to give birth, but rather know what it is to go out and adopt, so I am quite emotional to know that another little one has joined us in mortality. Each week there are pictures in the paper of the newborns, not all of them make it into the paper, but about 15 to 20 newborns are pictured in the local paper each week. Mostly boys with just a few girls seem to be born here. I was at the hospital about 2 hours and in that span of time Brahms Lullaby played 6 times. It was a busy day in the maternity ward. The juxtaposition of world wars, political upheaval, climate problems, various and sundry strifes against the newly born occupied my mind while at the hospital. I held the little boy in my arms and watched him struggle for breath and I wondered what was ahead of him. He has had 8 weeks of struggle already. He has been living in my friend's home now since he was one day old and he is greatly loved by the other children living in the home, but what happens to him if he is returned to his nuclear family is anybody's guess.
I have been doing indexing of records. I have to achieve over 2,000 of these indexes and then they tell me I will be an arbitrator of records. An arbitrator in this sense is one who decides whether the written record is written to reflect this fact or another fact and then the record is released online. I guess it needs explaining. Each record that is up for indexing is separately indexed by two people. Their best guess (especially for the hand written records) is then fed through a program in a computer where they are compared and if there is a disagreement, then the record is turned over to a person to arbitrate. For example -one record I indexed I looked at very closely and the date was 19th of March. However, the second indexer thought it looked like 13th March and both records were sent to arbitration and it was decided that 13th March was correct. I even checked the 1860 calendar to see what day of the week both days may have been and found that both appeared as a week day and not a weekend. And so it goes with arbitration.
Many of the records I have indexed this week have been birth records from Tasmania, Australia. Why anyone would want to live in Tasmania is beyond me, but then I suspect that there are people who wonder why anyone would want to live in Toowoomba, Queensland, for that matter. I now live in a high desert area and there are people from Phoenix who escape up here to the mountains during the summer to beat the heat of Phoenix.
The type written records leave no question as to what is fact but the hand written records take a lot of close scrutiny. One record of marriages from New York took me 6 hours to index the 40 marriages there. The handwriting left a lot to be desired.
At the Family History Center we deal with the census records a lot for patrons looking for clues to their family history and the writing and spelling defies deciphering. I am told that the original transcription of the US census' was done in a non-english speaking country and the guesses were pretty much off as to what was actually there that the Family History Library in Salt Lake City had them all re-done by English speakers and the present records are a lot easier to cope with and are type written.
I have been assigned a mentor who is given the responsibility to train me in the intricacies of this mission. I meet with him almost daily online through Skype and he teaches me what to do and what to avoid. Some days I think it is more akin to walking on eggshells.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Family History situations.
It never ceases to amaze me the number of problems people encounter trying to do their family searches. A lady contacted me from Australia - I have no idea how she got my name, but she made contact and it turns out that her Great Grandmother is my first cousin twice removed. So, I chatted with her over the internet trying to help her. She has a grand daughter who died from some terrible disease and this lady is trying to figure out which of the ancestors to blame. She and I are from the same lineage till 1909 and then new lines enter in at that point. So I gathered up the cause of death in the ancestors and living family members and sent them off to her. They include, but are not limited to heart disease, diabetes, thyroid, kidney disease and the odd one or two who died because of spider bites, eating unripe fruit, and having a tree felling accident (over which there was a humongous court case till it was determined that it was an accident).
I just logged onto the help pane in the Skype chat and looked to see what I could learn. Well, I read about this problem that a member in Peru was having.
The person calling is a Family History missionary in a remote country (Peru) where the members don't have computers or cell phones. He and his wife are trying to register multiple members who have absolutely no access to technology in any form. Sister M. and I were advised by her contact to suggest this missionary contact his mission president and have him contact the Family History Department and create a workaround. For example, some countries don't allow members to have email accounts. So this one was a point of the curve. Something new everyday. Hope this makes sense from my brief synopsis.
I some times need to be reminded that I really really am lucky living where I do and have the resources that I have to do family history.
Today in the family history center there were no patrons, so I made hay while the sun shone. I used two of the FHC computers in tandem with my lap top and was trying to sort out the Lockyer family records. I have had the worst time trying to get information on this part of my family. After searching for about 3 hours I came to the conclusion that there are way too many of them - I am drowning in Lockyer research.
A patron came in who is working on a genealogy module through the pathways program with BYU Idaho. She found that she had entered the same person twice and so she thought she could just delete him - instead she deleted the entire database. I used the whiteboard to show her how to do a merge of information instead of a deletion. You can delete people in Rootsmagic, but it has to be an individual to be deleted rather than do a straight out delete(which removes everything). I do not know if she understands what it is I was trying to teach her - as a last resort, as I was leaving the center for the day, I encouraged her to read the Roots Magic book or use the online help section of the program.
I just logged onto the help pane in the Skype chat and looked to see what I could learn. Well, I read about this problem that a member in Peru was having.
The person calling is a Family History missionary in a remote country (Peru) where the members don't have computers or cell phones. He and his wife are trying to register multiple members who have absolutely no access to technology in any form. Sister M. and I were advised by her contact to suggest this missionary contact his mission president and have him contact the Family History Department and create a workaround. For example, some countries don't allow members to have email accounts. So this one was a point of the curve. Something new everyday. Hope this makes sense from my brief synopsis.
I some times need to be reminded that I really really am lucky living where I do and have the resources that I have to do family history.
Today in the family history center there were no patrons, so I made hay while the sun shone. I used two of the FHC computers in tandem with my lap top and was trying to sort out the Lockyer family records. I have had the worst time trying to get information on this part of my family. After searching for about 3 hours I came to the conclusion that there are way too many of them - I am drowning in Lockyer research.
A patron came in who is working on a genealogy module through the pathways program with BYU Idaho. She found that she had entered the same person twice and so she thought she could just delete him - instead she deleted the entire database. I used the whiteboard to show her how to do a merge of information instead of a deletion. You can delete people in Rootsmagic, but it has to be an individual to be deleted rather than do a straight out delete(which removes everything). I do not know if she understands what it is I was trying to teach her - as a last resort, as I was leaving the center for the day, I encouraged her to read the Roots Magic book or use the online help section of the program.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
The Elephant in the Room
Use of a metaphor to help describe events opens up the thought processes to wander at will around the fields of thoughts, memories and happenings.
We have a number of Elephants in our room. The one with the most pressing needs is the Family History Mission needs. We finished our first training and then last week we entered and left a second phase and this week there is a new phase that is demanding. There is a Skype connection where we can go to ask questions about the indexing or phone calls or emails requesting help with genealogical problems. Another part of this Skype chat is the meet and greet and I have to learn to limit myself access to this particular part of the Skype chat. It could go on all day with fun and laughter but it is distracting. I think that the people on the chat just sit at their computers all day and while doing indexing, they check the chat each time it notifies a post. They have assigned us into groups with a leader and each group has its own meeting to discuss problems that may have come up - e.g. some people do not read the instructions to each indexing batch and so when they do their data entry and submit it, the batch gets rejected for mistakes and asks for re-work. Their questions are about the how and why of the rejection. My individual group meets on Thursdays at 2pm but I am at the Family History Center for my shift on Thursday afternoons so I cannot attend. The leader said that he would be doing a Saturday chat for those of us who cannot attend the scheduled chat. Then on the second Tuesday of the month they have scheduled a devotional and attendance is mandatory. The fourth Tuesday is a meeting in which we are given instruction on what is the newest requirement etc. Yesterday I attended my first meeting and we were told that the data segments (25milion+ BDM for the Philippines as well as 20million marriages of the Philippines) have been pulled from access on Family Search. There seems to have been a problem with licensing and so this reduction in the availability of information from the Phillippines will be a big blow to those of our number who seek information of ancestors in the Philippines. I have been assigned a mentor and this person is my personal coach to help me cope with the mound of information that I must learn and retain in order to be an efficient missionary on Family Search. I have not met him yet, but I am sure he will make his presence felt soon. The most amazing thing to me is that all of this mission and its interaction takes place on the internet. I sit here in Prescott at my computer terminal and I am in touch with people from Hawaii to Maine, from Idaho and Washington to Louisiana and the Carolinas. This is the most amazing experience for me.
There is a quilting Elephant in the room as well. Much like the Skype chat above, there is a Facebook chat connected with the New Hexagon quilt block of the month, I have to keep away from is also or I could spend all day reading the posts about the newest block. I have only two motifs to do, and they will be done today and connected to the March challenge, and I have already started cutting fabric for the April block.
The health Elephant keeps popping up and for Jacob it means declining health. He and the doctors are doing the best they can to stave off the most dire effects but he does need a new liver - bottom line.
The Education Elephant requires that Sara take another standardized test for admission to Doan College so that she can pursue her teaching certificate. They do not recognize the Graduate Record Exam that she had to take for admission to the Masters degree in Library Science. That is sad, because she has to juggle work, children, ailing husband and study with Easter coming this weekend and Jacob's family will all be at the house for the event. She needs to get her teaching certificate to be eligible to take over the head position in the library at Lincoln South East High when the present head of services retires.
The Garden Elephant requires that I go and get the potting soil - REALLY SOON - and start my tomatoes. I just hope that we do not get a freeze and lose the chance this year - again- of not having peaches or nectarines because it froze out the plants. Last year the trees were loaded with beginning fruit and it was glorious weather and one afternoon the clouds gathered, the temperature dropped considerably and stayed below freezing all night and with snow into the bargain and all the tiny fruit just fell off - got killed by the freeze. I notice that the shops already have tomato plants out for sale along with tender herbs like Basil.
The Relationship Elephant has been in the room since day one. We went to a Marriage Enrichment event in Utah. Bill told me it would be a fun time - he had been told it would be a fun time, but the realist in me said - oh no it will not be fun - working on enriching a relationship is HARD WORK: and hard work it was. They had 35 couples participating and the only relaxing time we had was to be in the hot tub and through the window, watch the Basketball game on the TV in the Gym next door. The Utes of University of Utah lost - aarrggghhh! Arizona (Tucson) also is out of the running. We came home exhausted.
Long Term Friendship elephant entered the room and one good thing happened though - I got to see Dee Jay Bawden. He and I were in a missionary group that went to Japan in March 1970. It was great to see him.
Travelling incident elephant directed the next phase. In the scramble to get on our way home, Bill left it to the last minute to pack his stuff up - one carry on each is all we had, and we raced out of the hotel to catch the shuttle to the Salt Lake City airport. On the way up I-15 the cabbie noted that there was construction on the highway ahead of us and a considerable back up, so he cut across the vally and we caught Bangerter highway till we could re-connect with I-15 further up and close to the airport. It was a ride around the mulberry bush to be sure but we saw parts of the Salt Lake Valley we have never seen before. We got to the airport in just enough time to load and leave for Phoenix. We did not have to stop to get baggage and we went out to the curb just in time to catch the shuttle to the parking spot.
When we got to the parking lot, Bill discovered that he did not have the keys to the car. Panic set in!
In the scramble to get packed, did he leave the keys in the Room? Did he leave them at the airport in SLC when he went through security or had he even left them at Phoenix on the way up to SLC when he went through security? We were ok because I had my keys handy and at least we had one fob that would help our computer-filled car to work. No keyhole in this car - just a wireless fob that has to be present. So we started to drive to Prescott and on the way, called the front desk at the motel to ask them if keys had been turned in or if housekeeping had found them in the room? The clerk called back and said, no keys! More panic! I asked Bill to search through his bag and he said he would not have put the keys in the bag so he declined to search. We were in a state of gloom because it is VERY expensive to replace a lost or damaged fob. So we picked up our mail, and went into the house. He began to unpack his stuff and then he found his keys......in the bag I had asked him to search. Ah well, all is good in this department now.
St. Patricks Day Elephant had a grand time. We know that there are only two restaurants with definitely Irish fare and neither of us had called to make a reservation - so off we went, high hopes of Irish Stew and soda bread for dinner on our minds. We even found a parking spot at the Irish Pub and we thought that was a good omen. At the entrance we were met by a jolly Irish Elf who asked if we were going to imbibe? No! so we did not get our hand stamped - good, because that dye lasts for days. The music was loud and raucous but we had taken something to read because we expected a wait before serving - yep, it was a 2 hour at least wait! We went to Cracker Barrel out in Prescott Valley but no Irish Stew - just corned beef, cabbage and potato was on the menu. I ate salad and Bill had a hamburger. Not too much in line with his Irish ancestry, eh? On the way up to the Irish Pub, we took the Yavape extension road and in the field by the road there were about 20 antelope feeding in the early evening. Quite a treat to be sure.
The entertainment Elephant invaded our lives with a trip to Yavapai College performing arts theatre for a local performance of Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory. It was wonderful and I really enjoyed how the director overcame some of the needed special effects that are present in the movie.
The last elephant to take up our time was the attendance at the baptism of Jacob - a little boy I had in my Sunday school class. His Grandfather gave a talk at the ceremony and one week later, this man collapsed and was rushed to hospital. They did emergency surgery on him for a triple bypass. I am glad that it did not happen before the baptism ceremony.
So, there are many elephants in my room - the care and feeding of them takes a lot of time.
We have a number of Elephants in our room. The one with the most pressing needs is the Family History Mission needs. We finished our first training and then last week we entered and left a second phase and this week there is a new phase that is demanding. There is a Skype connection where we can go to ask questions about the indexing or phone calls or emails requesting help with genealogical problems. Another part of this Skype chat is the meet and greet and I have to learn to limit myself access to this particular part of the Skype chat. It could go on all day with fun and laughter but it is distracting. I think that the people on the chat just sit at their computers all day and while doing indexing, they check the chat each time it notifies a post. They have assigned us into groups with a leader and each group has its own meeting to discuss problems that may have come up - e.g. some people do not read the instructions to each indexing batch and so when they do their data entry and submit it, the batch gets rejected for mistakes and asks for re-work. Their questions are about the how and why of the rejection. My individual group meets on Thursdays at 2pm but I am at the Family History Center for my shift on Thursday afternoons so I cannot attend. The leader said that he would be doing a Saturday chat for those of us who cannot attend the scheduled chat. Then on the second Tuesday of the month they have scheduled a devotional and attendance is mandatory. The fourth Tuesday is a meeting in which we are given instruction on what is the newest requirement etc. Yesterday I attended my first meeting and we were told that the data segments (25milion+ BDM for the Philippines as well as 20million marriages of the Philippines) have been pulled from access on Family Search. There seems to have been a problem with licensing and so this reduction in the availability of information from the Phillippines will be a big blow to those of our number who seek information of ancestors in the Philippines. I have been assigned a mentor and this person is my personal coach to help me cope with the mound of information that I must learn and retain in order to be an efficient missionary on Family Search. I have not met him yet, but I am sure he will make his presence felt soon. The most amazing thing to me is that all of this mission and its interaction takes place on the internet. I sit here in Prescott at my computer terminal and I am in touch with people from Hawaii to Maine, from Idaho and Washington to Louisiana and the Carolinas. This is the most amazing experience for me.
There is a quilting Elephant in the room as well. Much like the Skype chat above, there is a Facebook chat connected with the New Hexagon quilt block of the month, I have to keep away from is also or I could spend all day reading the posts about the newest block. I have only two motifs to do, and they will be done today and connected to the March challenge, and I have already started cutting fabric for the April block.
The health Elephant keeps popping up and for Jacob it means declining health. He and the doctors are doing the best they can to stave off the most dire effects but he does need a new liver - bottom line.
The Education Elephant requires that Sara take another standardized test for admission to Doan College so that she can pursue her teaching certificate. They do not recognize the Graduate Record Exam that she had to take for admission to the Masters degree in Library Science. That is sad, because she has to juggle work, children, ailing husband and study with Easter coming this weekend and Jacob's family will all be at the house for the event. She needs to get her teaching certificate to be eligible to take over the head position in the library at Lincoln South East High when the present head of services retires.
The Garden Elephant requires that I go and get the potting soil - REALLY SOON - and start my tomatoes. I just hope that we do not get a freeze and lose the chance this year - again- of not having peaches or nectarines because it froze out the plants. Last year the trees were loaded with beginning fruit and it was glorious weather and one afternoon the clouds gathered, the temperature dropped considerably and stayed below freezing all night and with snow into the bargain and all the tiny fruit just fell off - got killed by the freeze. I notice that the shops already have tomato plants out for sale along with tender herbs like Basil.
The Relationship Elephant has been in the room since day one. We went to a Marriage Enrichment event in Utah. Bill told me it would be a fun time - he had been told it would be a fun time, but the realist in me said - oh no it will not be fun - working on enriching a relationship is HARD WORK: and hard work it was. They had 35 couples participating and the only relaxing time we had was to be in the hot tub and through the window, watch the Basketball game on the TV in the Gym next door. The Utes of University of Utah lost - aarrggghhh! Arizona (Tucson) also is out of the running. We came home exhausted.
Long Term Friendship elephant entered the room and one good thing happened though - I got to see Dee Jay Bawden. He and I were in a missionary group that went to Japan in March 1970. It was great to see him.
Travelling incident elephant directed the next phase. In the scramble to get on our way home, Bill left it to the last minute to pack his stuff up - one carry on each is all we had, and we raced out of the hotel to catch the shuttle to the Salt Lake City airport. On the way up I-15 the cabbie noted that there was construction on the highway ahead of us and a considerable back up, so he cut across the vally and we caught Bangerter highway till we could re-connect with I-15 further up and close to the airport. It was a ride around the mulberry bush to be sure but we saw parts of the Salt Lake Valley we have never seen before. We got to the airport in just enough time to load and leave for Phoenix. We did not have to stop to get baggage and we went out to the curb just in time to catch the shuttle to the parking spot.
When we got to the parking lot, Bill discovered that he did not have the keys to the car. Panic set in!
In the scramble to get packed, did he leave the keys in the Room? Did he leave them at the airport in SLC when he went through security or had he even left them at Phoenix on the way up to SLC when he went through security? We were ok because I had my keys handy and at least we had one fob that would help our computer-filled car to work. No keyhole in this car - just a wireless fob that has to be present. So we started to drive to Prescott and on the way, called the front desk at the motel to ask them if keys had been turned in or if housekeeping had found them in the room? The clerk called back and said, no keys! More panic! I asked Bill to search through his bag and he said he would not have put the keys in the bag so he declined to search. We were in a state of gloom because it is VERY expensive to replace a lost or damaged fob. So we picked up our mail, and went into the house. He began to unpack his stuff and then he found his keys......in the bag I had asked him to search. Ah well, all is good in this department now.
St. Patricks Day Elephant had a grand time. We know that there are only two restaurants with definitely Irish fare and neither of us had called to make a reservation - so off we went, high hopes of Irish Stew and soda bread for dinner on our minds. We even found a parking spot at the Irish Pub and we thought that was a good omen. At the entrance we were met by a jolly Irish Elf who asked if we were going to imbibe? No! so we did not get our hand stamped - good, because that dye lasts for days. The music was loud and raucous but we had taken something to read because we expected a wait before serving - yep, it was a 2 hour at least wait! We went to Cracker Barrel out in Prescott Valley but no Irish Stew - just corned beef, cabbage and potato was on the menu. I ate salad and Bill had a hamburger. Not too much in line with his Irish ancestry, eh? On the way up to the Irish Pub, we took the Yavape extension road and in the field by the road there were about 20 antelope feeding in the early evening. Quite a treat to be sure.
The entertainment Elephant invaded our lives with a trip to Yavapai College performing arts theatre for a local performance of Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory. It was wonderful and I really enjoyed how the director overcame some of the needed special effects that are present in the movie.
The last elephant to take up our time was the attendance at the baptism of Jacob - a little boy I had in my Sunday school class. His Grandfather gave a talk at the ceremony and one week later, this man collapsed and was rushed to hospital. They did emergency surgery on him for a triple bypass. I am glad that it did not happen before the baptism ceremony.
So, there are many elephants in my room - the care and feeding of them takes a lot of time.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Calm before the Storm
We have been kept busy this past week with extra trainings in the ins and outs of this mission experience. In preparation for next week, we were given about 30 knowledge articles to read so that when we are "turned loose" by our trainer to answer real calls, we will be 'primed' with the correct answers and encouraged to impart the correct answers to help patrons with the solutions to the problems they face in Family History.
I saw a bumper sticker recently that said "You can't scare me - I have children".
and so it goes. I not only have children, I have grandchildren - scared yet?
What is really scary is to go to the YMCA here in Prescott. It has a very established clientele and over the years, I have come to know some of them and others to recognize by sight.
This YMCA has a coffee urn always brewing coffee and there is a group of people who gather a round the central table and discuss the latest happenings in Politics, antique cars, recent operations, among other earth shattering topics. When it comes to fitness, I wonder if they get into the gym at all or if they just sit and drink coffee and chat. I did notice one man from the group standing over in the Stretch Area (used by buff dudes flexing muscles in the mirror.........) and this man was holding a 3 pound weight in his right hand, and with his arm up in a right angle he was bending his fore arm up and down in a waving motion. Later on I saw him walking on the treadmill at a leisurely pace while holding a heated conversation with the man on the next treadmill. Imagine my surprise when I saw him in my Zumba Class - latest jazzy looking Zumba clothes to boot. He must have changed from gym wear to Zumba wear.
There is a sign up at the YMCA that says "Fit is the new SKINNY" - I guess if you can holdout for one hour in the Zumba class you get to be considered FIT and arrived at the new SKINNY.
We decided to go to the Beatles Show in town. There is a band called "Paper Back Writer" and they put on this show of Beatles music. As I looked around the theatre I saw that 98% of the people there were my age - yep, I've found my niche. So along with the rest of them, Bill and I and our friend Margo sang along with the band and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The first part of the concert the band members wore the classic Beatle Black suits and white shirts and ties. For the second part of the concert, they dressed up in the Sgt. Peppers outfits. A great time was had by all.
I saw a bumper sticker recently that said "You can't scare me - I have children".
and so it goes. I not only have children, I have grandchildren - scared yet?
What is really scary is to go to the YMCA here in Prescott. It has a very established clientele and over the years, I have come to know some of them and others to recognize by sight.
This YMCA has a coffee urn always brewing coffee and there is a group of people who gather a round the central table and discuss the latest happenings in Politics, antique cars, recent operations, among other earth shattering topics. When it comes to fitness, I wonder if they get into the gym at all or if they just sit and drink coffee and chat. I did notice one man from the group standing over in the Stretch Area (used by buff dudes flexing muscles in the mirror.........) and this man was holding a 3 pound weight in his right hand, and with his arm up in a right angle he was bending his fore arm up and down in a waving motion. Later on I saw him walking on the treadmill at a leisurely pace while holding a heated conversation with the man on the next treadmill. Imagine my surprise when I saw him in my Zumba Class - latest jazzy looking Zumba clothes to boot. He must have changed from gym wear to Zumba wear.
There is a sign up at the YMCA that says "Fit is the new SKINNY" - I guess if you can holdout for one hour in the Zumba class you get to be considered FIT and arrived at the new SKINNY.
We decided to go to the Beatles Show in town. There is a band called "Paper Back Writer" and they put on this show of Beatles music. As I looked around the theatre I saw that 98% of the people there were my age - yep, I've found my niche. So along with the rest of them, Bill and I and our friend Margo sang along with the band and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The first part of the concert the band members wore the classic Beatle Black suits and white shirts and ties. For the second part of the concert, they dressed up in the Sgt. Peppers outfits. A great time was had by all.
Here we are at the mission reunion. The other couple with us had served at the Joseph Smith Memorial in Sharon, Vermont. We served in Augusta, Maine. It was good to see that another senior couple showed up and kept us company.
August got new shoes. I really would like to have a picture of the rest of the boy, but I guess he sat still long enough to get the pictures of his shoes.
It was not a very bright sunny day, but I walked the Pea Vine Trail to catch this picture of the totally still water in the very full Watson Lake.
It will soon be garden time again. These are my grow boxes, ready to receive new potting soil and then have the veggies planted in them I cannot wait to have my own home grown tomatoes again. Below are the first flowers of the Nectarine tree blooming. I am hopeful that we will not get a freeze when the fruit is forming. Need to get at least one nectarine from this 15 year old tree that has not had one nectarine form on in yet.
Saturday, March 7, 2015
The new module
We have been "blessed" with a new module. Somehow I think we were supposed to receive training before we attacked the online module, but alas, we had to muddle through on our own. Oh well, next week will be better. Just got a positive feedback from our leader - seems like I did well in the post test. doing well is always good.
We have not been going to shows at the movies - they are either violent, sexually explicit, crude language etc.etc. and I do not need that stuff to enter my head.
We chose to go to live theatre recently and attended a performance of "The Grapes of Wrath". when I was in college in Hawaii it was a movie that they showed us in our American Heritage (U.S. History) class. I did not understand it then, and now since seeing it on the stage, still do not understand what was going on. So a friend took me aside and told me what some of the highlights of the play said about the Dust Bowl Days in American History. It would seem that some rather unscrupulous people sent around flyers to all the areas hard hit by the drought, promising lots of work and high wages. It turns out that they printed thousands of those flyers and the people who made the trek in high hopes of striking it rich, found that there was work, but for a miserably low wage. Many died of starvation and I am sure some died of a broken heart and spirit. It reminds me of the Heuschele brothers who went or sent to Germany, glowing reports of plentiful land for cultivation, freedom and other perks to the impoverished Germans and they flocked to Australia. My own ancestor went as an assisted passage and his piece of land was filled with Mulga and his job was to clean it, and improve it within a year. Clearing Mulga is back breaking work. Another story from a distant relative talks about the back breaking work she had to do because she was an indentured servant and was treated as less than human by the "missus". All because she was a German and did not speak the language of Australia.
The theatre where this play was held is an interesting place. It is a converted church. The whole first floor, as you walk in off the street, has been taken out and terraces go down to what used to be the basement and that is where the stage is located. The balcony is the old choir loft. For the play we saw, all they had was a painted back drop of a road going off to the horizon, with four risers, two on each side of the stage that alternately served as buildings, houses, platforms for speeches, protection from the elements and we used our imagination to conjure up what the scene demanded. One part of the play depicted the family leaving Oklahoma in a jalopy - it was made of boxes arranged to represent a cab and tray in the back but the front was represented by a bedstead with two lanterns hung on each side to represent headlights. A lot of the play depended on this jalopy to add credence to the play. Very well done, but I still am not much wiser about the conditions that spawned the dust bowl days and its backlash and impact on the populace of the early USA history.
We went to another show, this time at the Auditorium on the campus of Yavapai college. This most recent one was of Celtic Dance and Celtic music - performed by Riverdance type performers and an absolutely wonderful Irish Tenor. He talked a lot about St. Patricks Day and what it means to the people of his area of Ireland, Wexford. He said that Wexford had contributed greatly to the USA by sending the Kennedy family over here. (that opens a whole can of worms for me). He told of going to his grandmother's home and seeing a picture of three wonderful people, Jack Kennedy, his brother Bobby Kennedy and the Pope....all in one picture.....then he joked - yes the holy trinity that he and his family worshipped as he was growing up. Oh and By the Way, this fellow now lives in Chicago!
This morning we left around 7.15 am to go to Mesa. Our mission president from the New Hampshire Manchester Mission and his wife were holding a missionary reunion. Since many of us cannot go to Utah for the annual mission reunion gathering, President Wilkey and his wife came to Arizona, because there are quite a few missionaries who served in the New Hampshire mission who call Arizona home. About 20 of them came. There was one other Senior Missionary couple who came so we were not alone. This couple had served in the Joseph Smith Memorial grounds in Sharon, Vermont. When we were in Maine, we drove over to Sharon, Vermont, for a senior missionary couples weekend.
At this mission reunion, the host family had pizza dough balls in plastic bags, and we had to roll out our own pizza dough, add the toppings and they put them in a Brick Oven to bake them. What a novelty that turned out to be. The house and grounds were pristine and fabulous. Obviously they are well off but I know that I do not ever want to have a house that big - it would take an absolute army of maids to keep it picked up and cleaned. I have more to do with my time than clean house.
We have not been going to shows at the movies - they are either violent, sexually explicit, crude language etc.etc. and I do not need that stuff to enter my head.
We chose to go to live theatre recently and attended a performance of "The Grapes of Wrath". when I was in college in Hawaii it was a movie that they showed us in our American Heritage (U.S. History) class. I did not understand it then, and now since seeing it on the stage, still do not understand what was going on. So a friend took me aside and told me what some of the highlights of the play said about the Dust Bowl Days in American History. It would seem that some rather unscrupulous people sent around flyers to all the areas hard hit by the drought, promising lots of work and high wages. It turns out that they printed thousands of those flyers and the people who made the trek in high hopes of striking it rich, found that there was work, but for a miserably low wage. Many died of starvation and I am sure some died of a broken heart and spirit. It reminds me of the Heuschele brothers who went or sent to Germany, glowing reports of plentiful land for cultivation, freedom and other perks to the impoverished Germans and they flocked to Australia. My own ancestor went as an assisted passage and his piece of land was filled with Mulga and his job was to clean it, and improve it within a year. Clearing Mulga is back breaking work. Another story from a distant relative talks about the back breaking work she had to do because she was an indentured servant and was treated as less than human by the "missus". All because she was a German and did not speak the language of Australia.
The theatre where this play was held is an interesting place. It is a converted church. The whole first floor, as you walk in off the street, has been taken out and terraces go down to what used to be the basement and that is where the stage is located. The balcony is the old choir loft. For the play we saw, all they had was a painted back drop of a road going off to the horizon, with four risers, two on each side of the stage that alternately served as buildings, houses, platforms for speeches, protection from the elements and we used our imagination to conjure up what the scene demanded. One part of the play depicted the family leaving Oklahoma in a jalopy - it was made of boxes arranged to represent a cab and tray in the back but the front was represented by a bedstead with two lanterns hung on each side to represent headlights. A lot of the play depended on this jalopy to add credence to the play. Very well done, but I still am not much wiser about the conditions that spawned the dust bowl days and its backlash and impact on the populace of the early USA history.
We went to another show, this time at the Auditorium on the campus of Yavapai college. This most recent one was of Celtic Dance and Celtic music - performed by Riverdance type performers and an absolutely wonderful Irish Tenor. He talked a lot about St. Patricks Day and what it means to the people of his area of Ireland, Wexford. He said that Wexford had contributed greatly to the USA by sending the Kennedy family over here. (that opens a whole can of worms for me). He told of going to his grandmother's home and seeing a picture of three wonderful people, Jack Kennedy, his brother Bobby Kennedy and the Pope....all in one picture.....then he joked - yes the holy trinity that he and his family worshipped as he was growing up. Oh and By the Way, this fellow now lives in Chicago!
This morning we left around 7.15 am to go to Mesa. Our mission president from the New Hampshire Manchester Mission and his wife were holding a missionary reunion. Since many of us cannot go to Utah for the annual mission reunion gathering, President Wilkey and his wife came to Arizona, because there are quite a few missionaries who served in the New Hampshire mission who call Arizona home. About 20 of them came. There was one other Senior Missionary couple who came so we were not alone. This couple had served in the Joseph Smith Memorial grounds in Sharon, Vermont. When we were in Maine, we drove over to Sharon, Vermont, for a senior missionary couples weekend.
At this mission reunion, the host family had pizza dough balls in plastic bags, and we had to roll out our own pizza dough, add the toppings and they put them in a Brick Oven to bake them. What a novelty that turned out to be. The house and grounds were pristine and fabulous. Obviously they are well off but I know that I do not ever want to have a house that big - it would take an absolute army of maids to keep it picked up and cleaned. I have more to do with my time than clean house.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Training continues
We are now working on something called "Sales Force". Sounds scary! Involved! More than that, it sounds like something you would not encounter in a Genealogy arena. Well, it is not as over powering as it may seem. Sales Force is a program used by many companies to keep track of the calls that come into their facility. We have to keep track of the name, phone number, email and posted problem we have been asked to help solve. In return we give the patron a number of the case and if they have to call in again, we can pull up the case and further help if needed. Pretty magical if you ask me and so careful to give friendly, accurate and timely help to the patrons.
I am learning a lot with this training - just have to keep it in order in my head - but I guess it will become more concrete when we get to use the information in "real time practice."
I must say that I am totally amazed at the use this computer has been put to..........Yay team!
On a personal note I have to report what has happened to my circle of friends. Had to say goodbye to my friend Portia. She went into the doctor to have a rather simple, run of the mill clean out of her sinus system, but during the procedure she had a massive stroke and passed away. It was a real blow to see her name in the paper. I first met her at a Tai Chi class at the YMCA and went to lunch with her and another friend and had a great time. I miss her. Another friend named Claudine passed away suddenly and I was really upset to see that obit in the paper. I was her visiting teacher for a number of years before we left for Maine. She loved nature and had a drinking bowl out in her back yard for the antelope that walked through her property. I saw them one day when I was there visiting. I did not know that she was a bow hunter and in her family she is credited with bagging the biggest Javelina on one of their hunting trips. She was a nursing staff person at the Pioneer Home. The next one was Bro. Ray Gardner. He was known in the area as the best fiddle player in cowboy concerts. I went to the church prior to his funeral and saw that they had his fiddle on display along with his cowboy hat. He was noted as being a true cowboy.
On a happier note, Ethan is doing well in his Gymnastics. Recently he went to a big meet in Minneapolis. It has been the biggest meet so far. He came home 3rd over all and brought home a lot of medals. He has many medals now - each event he places in he is awarded a medal. Go Ethan!
Lyla and Oliver will be starting Soccer on March 31 and Lyla is still taking horse riding lessons. I guess you can say that Sara and Jacob keep the kids involved - repeating history I suppose - Bill and I kept the kids David and Sara on the move as well. hectic lives all round.
For Christmas David was given a Superman Pajama with cape and he loved it. However, it fitted him around the girth but the legs and arms were too long. So, he insisted that we go to JoAnn's to buy some matching red fabric to put as cuffs on sleeves and legs when we shortened them. So, he decided he would cut the red band off the leg and attacked it with my scissors. when it came time to trim the arms and legs, we found that he had cut the arm and not the leg. Guess he will not be given a job at Armani helping make suits etc. At least he did not run with the scissors!!!!!
The third motif of the millefiore paper pieces block of the month has arrived and I have done the center block. Decided to do South West theme for this one. Yes, it is not a Millefiore like pattern, but it is my quilt and if I say each block has its own theme then it is ok - it is my quilt.
I am learning a lot with this training - just have to keep it in order in my head - but I guess it will become more concrete when we get to use the information in "real time practice."
I must say that I am totally amazed at the use this computer has been put to..........Yay team!
On a personal note I have to report what has happened to my circle of friends. Had to say goodbye to my friend Portia. She went into the doctor to have a rather simple, run of the mill clean out of her sinus system, but during the procedure she had a massive stroke and passed away. It was a real blow to see her name in the paper. I first met her at a Tai Chi class at the YMCA and went to lunch with her and another friend and had a great time. I miss her. Another friend named Claudine passed away suddenly and I was really upset to see that obit in the paper. I was her visiting teacher for a number of years before we left for Maine. She loved nature and had a drinking bowl out in her back yard for the antelope that walked through her property. I saw them one day when I was there visiting. I did not know that she was a bow hunter and in her family she is credited with bagging the biggest Javelina on one of their hunting trips. She was a nursing staff person at the Pioneer Home. The next one was Bro. Ray Gardner. He was known in the area as the best fiddle player in cowboy concerts. I went to the church prior to his funeral and saw that they had his fiddle on display along with his cowboy hat. He was noted as being a true cowboy.
On a happier note, Ethan is doing well in his Gymnastics. Recently he went to a big meet in Minneapolis. It has been the biggest meet so far. He came home 3rd over all and brought home a lot of medals. He has many medals now - each event he places in he is awarded a medal. Go Ethan!
Lyla and Oliver will be starting Soccer on March 31 and Lyla is still taking horse riding lessons. I guess you can say that Sara and Jacob keep the kids involved - repeating history I suppose - Bill and I kept the kids David and Sara on the move as well. hectic lives all round.
For Christmas David was given a Superman Pajama with cape and he loved it. However, it fitted him around the girth but the legs and arms were too long. So, he insisted that we go to JoAnn's to buy some matching red fabric to put as cuffs on sleeves and legs when we shortened them. So, he decided he would cut the red band off the leg and attacked it with my scissors. when it came time to trim the arms and legs, we found that he had cut the arm and not the leg. Guess he will not be given a job at Armani helping make suits etc. At least he did not run with the scissors!!!!!
The third motif of the millefiore paper pieces block of the month has arrived and I have done the center block. Decided to do South West theme for this one. Yes, it is not a Millefiore like pattern, but it is my quilt and if I say each block has its own theme then it is ok - it is my quilt.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Broken Computer?
I am still not sure about this computer stuff. For years we had DOS then Windows and now Apple - yep different systems to learn.
We were told that our next module would be posted Tuesday night and that we could work on it from then and be ready to attend internet conference on Thursday. Well, after 9.30pm I gave up checking to see if the module had been posted and went to bed.
Wednesday morning early I checked again but it was not there. I usually go to Beading group on Wednesday 1-4pm and was hoping to get the module done before I went. Just after 11am I checked and it was up but I wanted to eat lunch before going out so I went and made lunch and thought I could start on the module then go to Beading Group. Around 12 noon, I went to the computer but could not make it work. TRAGEDY!!! I thought I might have broken it or something. I kept trying to get onto the internet but it was not something I could do. So I called Apple Care,which is a service we purchased just in case something went wrong and we needed expert attention. After a few minutes of diagnostic exchanges, the man on the Apple phone line asked if we had internet. I assured him that our bill was paid up and yes we did have internet. He asked me to check the modem - I did and horror of horrors - the internet was down. In Panic I called the repair service only to be told that the net was indeed down but would be repaired shortly.
I decided to take my two latest paper pieced quilt blocks to the group at beading just to show them, and I decided that I would not stay long but that I would go back home and work on the module. I went home at 1.30pm only to find that the internet was still inoperable.
I did not realize how much I depend on the computer and the internet.
So, not to waste the time, I sat with my scriptures and started work on the readings that had been set for us. Oddly enough this module was on Patience. A quote from President Thomas S. Monson caught my eye -"Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required." Ah yes, food for thought. I read the scriptural references that dealt with patience and it was a very uplifting and calming experience. At the end of my readings I went outside and pulled the dead and very dry tomato vines out of their boxes and upturned the boxes to dump out the used and I might add root filled potting soil from the tomato growing venture. There is no way we can hope to re-use the potting soil - but I do know some people who do just that. It was lovely being outside in the sunshine with a slight breeze blowing. I watered the fruit trees as well, They were very dry, even though we have had some rain lately.
Our neighborhood is filled with blossoming trees. They are all very early but we have had such warm weather that they seem to think that it is time to bloom. Luckily my fruit trees have not started to bloom but the buds are all swollen and pink tips are beginning to show. I hope that if they bloom that we will not have a freeze again - because I really want fruit from the trees this year.
Still no internet! UGH!!!
So when Bill came home he said - lets go out for dinner. Yay! no cooking tonight!. Well, as we drove off we began to wonder if we had enough cash on hand to pay for the meal if the credit cards were not able to be read at the restaurant. We also wondered if the stores in the area all were having a hard time - Walmart was not having a problem because they use a satellite connection to download and upload card purchases. We had a nice dinner and by the time we got back home the internet was up and running and I was able to do the module ready for the Thursday meeting. It took till way past 10pm. to complete the work. Whew!
Just as we were going to bed, Bill told me that a big grocery company had bought out many grocery chains across the nation. Locally they bought Albertsons and Safeway - Bill works for Safeway. One store chain from Maine that we patronized a few times while out there named Shaws, was also one of the chains that is now a part of the Albertson/Safeway deal. It will be a interesting thing to watch if they try to take on Walmart. Walmart sells something of everything but a huge grocery conglomerate might just give them a run for their money in the grocery department. Walmart has a reasonable grocery section, but it is minuscule compared to the huge grocery stores - but their prices are better than the huge grocery stores. You cannot win them all.
This morning we read in the paper that some vandals had broken into the facility that housed the optical cable and cut the cable, thus causing the whole northern half of the state of Arizona to be shut down - read that brought to its collective knees. It shut down banks, stores and 911. It makes me wonder what would happen to America if someone hacked the power grid - we would be totally lost and in the dark. No internet, no phones, no planes could fly, no trains could run - in fact the whole country would grind to a HALT....and we thought that 9/11 was horrendous.
We were told that our next module would be posted Tuesday night and that we could work on it from then and be ready to attend internet conference on Thursday. Well, after 9.30pm I gave up checking to see if the module had been posted and went to bed.
Wednesday morning early I checked again but it was not there. I usually go to Beading group on Wednesday 1-4pm and was hoping to get the module done before I went. Just after 11am I checked and it was up but I wanted to eat lunch before going out so I went and made lunch and thought I could start on the module then go to Beading Group. Around 12 noon, I went to the computer but could not make it work. TRAGEDY!!! I thought I might have broken it or something. I kept trying to get onto the internet but it was not something I could do. So I called Apple Care,which is a service we purchased just in case something went wrong and we needed expert attention. After a few minutes of diagnostic exchanges, the man on the Apple phone line asked if we had internet. I assured him that our bill was paid up and yes we did have internet. He asked me to check the modem - I did and horror of horrors - the internet was down. In Panic I called the repair service only to be told that the net was indeed down but would be repaired shortly.
I decided to take my two latest paper pieced quilt blocks to the group at beading just to show them, and I decided that I would not stay long but that I would go back home and work on the module. I went home at 1.30pm only to find that the internet was still inoperable.
I did not realize how much I depend on the computer and the internet.
So, not to waste the time, I sat with my scriptures and started work on the readings that had been set for us. Oddly enough this module was on Patience. A quote from President Thomas S. Monson caught my eye -"Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required." Ah yes, food for thought. I read the scriptural references that dealt with patience and it was a very uplifting and calming experience. At the end of my readings I went outside and pulled the dead and very dry tomato vines out of their boxes and upturned the boxes to dump out the used and I might add root filled potting soil from the tomato growing venture. There is no way we can hope to re-use the potting soil - but I do know some people who do just that. It was lovely being outside in the sunshine with a slight breeze blowing. I watered the fruit trees as well, They were very dry, even though we have had some rain lately.
Our neighborhood is filled with blossoming trees. They are all very early but we have had such warm weather that they seem to think that it is time to bloom. Luckily my fruit trees have not started to bloom but the buds are all swollen and pink tips are beginning to show. I hope that if they bloom that we will not have a freeze again - because I really want fruit from the trees this year.
Still no internet! UGH!!!
So when Bill came home he said - lets go out for dinner. Yay! no cooking tonight!. Well, as we drove off we began to wonder if we had enough cash on hand to pay for the meal if the credit cards were not able to be read at the restaurant. We also wondered if the stores in the area all were having a hard time - Walmart was not having a problem because they use a satellite connection to download and upload card purchases. We had a nice dinner and by the time we got back home the internet was up and running and I was able to do the module ready for the Thursday meeting. It took till way past 10pm. to complete the work. Whew!
Just as we were going to bed, Bill told me that a big grocery company had bought out many grocery chains across the nation. Locally they bought Albertsons and Safeway - Bill works for Safeway. One store chain from Maine that we patronized a few times while out there named Shaws, was also one of the chains that is now a part of the Albertson/Safeway deal. It will be a interesting thing to watch if they try to take on Walmart. Walmart sells something of everything but a huge grocery conglomerate might just give them a run for their money in the grocery department. Walmart has a reasonable grocery section, but it is minuscule compared to the huge grocery stores - but their prices are better than the huge grocery stores. You cannot win them all.
This morning we read in the paper that some vandals had broken into the facility that housed the optical cable and cut the cable, thus causing the whole northern half of the state of Arizona to be shut down - read that brought to its collective knees. It shut down banks, stores and 911. It makes me wonder what would happen to America if someone hacked the power grid - we would be totally lost and in the dark. No internet, no phones, no planes could fly, no trains could run - in fact the whole country would grind to a HALT....and we thought that 9/11 was horrendous.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
end of the first week
Busier than a one legged man in a can kicking contest.......well that is the best description I can think of.
We were asked to submit 10 batches of indexing. That does not sound like much but the records are from the 1800's and the writing is difficult to read. One record in particular had beautiful to look at writing but the most difficult to read at the same time. The person had a backwards slant to the letters and seemed to be writing with a pen that had a flat edge to the nib so that all the letters were thick on their left side and extremely thin lines the right side. The only way I could read this record was to ask the program to enlarge it to 125% and then ask for a reverse image - i.e. to have the letters appear white against a black background. I spent all my time on Saturday doing this indexing. I learned a lot about the process of indexing and when I get to work with the public, I will have to be vigilant to help them with all the required fields of data. Accuracy is of most importance.
The most recent activity was a learning activity that took 9 hours to complete. It consisted of thought questions that followed a prescribed reading activity. Since the thought questions were subjective answers it took time and I was exhausted when it was over. Training is succinct and sometimes exactness eludes me. Oh well! I sleep well after these sessions - exhaustion will do that!
On the family scene, Ethan has been going to gymnastic events and a very large one in Minneapolis netted him 5th place overall. We are very proud of his efforts as this was an exceptionally large event. The biggest he has ever attended. The following weekend he went to another meet and came in 3rd over all and added 9 medals to his collection. Pretty soon he will need a tractor trailer to carry his medals around. This coming weekend he will be going to a meet in DesMoines, Iowa.
I am in a block of the month paper piecing activity and the first two medallions are done. The papers for the next block have arrived and I am hoping that it will be a calming activity to keep me intact during the intense training sessions.
this is block one and is done in oriental fabrics. below is block two. both of them are a visual picnic.
We were asked to submit 10 batches of indexing. That does not sound like much but the records are from the 1800's and the writing is difficult to read. One record in particular had beautiful to look at writing but the most difficult to read at the same time. The person had a backwards slant to the letters and seemed to be writing with a pen that had a flat edge to the nib so that all the letters were thick on their left side and extremely thin lines the right side. The only way I could read this record was to ask the program to enlarge it to 125% and then ask for a reverse image - i.e. to have the letters appear white against a black background. I spent all my time on Saturday doing this indexing. I learned a lot about the process of indexing and when I get to work with the public, I will have to be vigilant to help them with all the required fields of data. Accuracy is of most importance.
The most recent activity was a learning activity that took 9 hours to complete. It consisted of thought questions that followed a prescribed reading activity. Since the thought questions were subjective answers it took time and I was exhausted when it was over. Training is succinct and sometimes exactness eludes me. Oh well! I sleep well after these sessions - exhaustion will do that!
On the family scene, Ethan has been going to gymnastic events and a very large one in Minneapolis netted him 5th place overall. We are very proud of his efforts as this was an exceptionally large event. The biggest he has ever attended. The following weekend he went to another meet and came in 3rd over all and added 9 medals to his collection. Pretty soon he will need a tractor trailer to carry his medals around. This coming weekend he will be going to a meet in DesMoines, Iowa.
I am in a block of the month paper piecing activity and the first two medallions are done. The papers for the next block have arrived and I am hoping that it will be a calming activity to keep me intact during the intense training sessions.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Real - as in Velveteen Rabbit.
Familysearch has issued me with a name tag and I am required to wear it when I am sitting at the computer taking calls or if I am at church or if I am at the Family History Center. Its primary purpose is to 1. remind me that I am part and parcel of the Family Search endeavors and 2. To remind others that I am engaged in a Church Service Mission. I got to wear it today when I went to the Family History center for the staff training session. I am now real - like the Velveteen Rabbit.
The only thing I did for training today was to go back over the indexing project to correct some items I left out - mostly because I was not aware how to get it done.
The project was for marriages in New York City in 1835. As I read the names and typed them into the system I began to think about the brides and grooms and wondered how they met and after they married, what kind of life did they lead. The magnificent thing about this indexing project is that the names of the parents of both the bride and groom are on the paper. So often we just get the couple and the date of the marriage and no parents. That makes things rather hard when we really need to have both sets of parents.
Last night I was indexing an obituary list. We have been asked to add all the names in the obituary in the order that they are listed. One man had about 30 grandchildren, all of them named, including the wives or husbands as recorded. The obituary even listed the two nurses who took care of him. The obituary stated that after the funeral, all were invited to Al's home for refreshments. "Al" did not have a last name for us to index, but looking back through the indexed obituary, we found that the deceased had a brother named Allan and so we put the abbreviation of his name along with his full name in the index.
Tonight, my leader called me and gave me a new set of identities for me to be able to use to search for information when people call in. I know little about this as yet, but I suspect that it allows me access to areas not open to the public, and perhaps this is the area where I will be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat for the patron. Yay! I love pulling rabbits out of the hat for people. My most recent experience was tracking my son in law's genealogy and starting with only a few names, I handed him 469 names of people who are his ancestors.
On another occasion I was handed a German Language Bible from an estate (it was scheduled to be burned). In it were 6 names and a few dates. I managed to extract the entire family record, print it up, and I managed to find a living descendant. Turns out she lived 60 miles north of Sara and I got to meet her.
I held a part time job in town in an antique store and as I was closing up shop, a picture of a pretty little girl caught my eye. I called the owner and asked if I could take the box of papers and try to find a living individual to return them. She said yes, and I found many people connected to the little girl, who is now in her 90's. I also found a researcher from 65 miles away who is connected to this family and in the box she showed me her grand mother holding her mother as a baby. It was a very valuable family picture to be sure.
So I look forward to trying to find "rabbits" and pull them out of the proverbial hat.
My team leader called me tonight and she is fascinated that I still speak Japanese fluently. Her daughter is studying Japanese and So we talked together for a few minutes. Her daughter does not speak the language but rather reads and writes it. I can only speak the language - the writing system is more than I can begin to handle.
I wish to relate a spiritual experience - a miracle if you will.
In January 2013 I had surgery on my left eye for a hole in the macular. The sight was non existent in this eye prior to the surgery and because of the surgery, the sight is somewhat restored. In order to do this mission I need to have good eyesight and as few difficulties as possible. I have prayed for a blessing that my eyes would work well so that I could do this service for my fellowmen. I noticed today when I was doing the indexing that my sight was excellent. I am grateful that God has heard my prayers and the prayers of my friends for my success at this missionary endeavor.
The only thing I did for training today was to go back over the indexing project to correct some items I left out - mostly because I was not aware how to get it done.
The project was for marriages in New York City in 1835. As I read the names and typed them into the system I began to think about the brides and grooms and wondered how they met and after they married, what kind of life did they lead. The magnificent thing about this indexing project is that the names of the parents of both the bride and groom are on the paper. So often we just get the couple and the date of the marriage and no parents. That makes things rather hard when we really need to have both sets of parents.
Last night I was indexing an obituary list. We have been asked to add all the names in the obituary in the order that they are listed. One man had about 30 grandchildren, all of them named, including the wives or husbands as recorded. The obituary even listed the two nurses who took care of him. The obituary stated that after the funeral, all were invited to Al's home for refreshments. "Al" did not have a last name for us to index, but looking back through the indexed obituary, we found that the deceased had a brother named Allan and so we put the abbreviation of his name along with his full name in the index.
Tonight, my leader called me and gave me a new set of identities for me to be able to use to search for information when people call in. I know little about this as yet, but I suspect that it allows me access to areas not open to the public, and perhaps this is the area where I will be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat for the patron. Yay! I love pulling rabbits out of the hat for people. My most recent experience was tracking my son in law's genealogy and starting with only a few names, I handed him 469 names of people who are his ancestors.
On another occasion I was handed a German Language Bible from an estate (it was scheduled to be burned). In it were 6 names and a few dates. I managed to extract the entire family record, print it up, and I managed to find a living descendant. Turns out she lived 60 miles north of Sara and I got to meet her.
I held a part time job in town in an antique store and as I was closing up shop, a picture of a pretty little girl caught my eye. I called the owner and asked if I could take the box of papers and try to find a living individual to return them. She said yes, and I found many people connected to the little girl, who is now in her 90's. I also found a researcher from 65 miles away who is connected to this family and in the box she showed me her grand mother holding her mother as a baby. It was a very valuable family picture to be sure.
So I look forward to trying to find "rabbits" and pull them out of the proverbial hat.
My team leader called me tonight and she is fascinated that I still speak Japanese fluently. Her daughter is studying Japanese and So we talked together for a few minutes. Her daughter does not speak the language but rather reads and writes it. I can only speak the language - the writing system is more than I can begin to handle.
I wish to relate a spiritual experience - a miracle if you will.
In January 2013 I had surgery on my left eye for a hole in the macular. The sight was non existent in this eye prior to the surgery and because of the surgery, the sight is somewhat restored. In order to do this mission I need to have good eyesight and as few difficulties as possible. I have prayed for a blessing that my eyes would work well so that I could do this service for my fellowmen. I noticed today when I was doing the indexing that my sight was excellent. I am grateful that God has heard my prayers and the prayers of my friends for my success at this missionary endeavor.
Monday, February 16, 2015
The first day of training.
My phone rang last night and the area code was the same as ours but the caption underneath said, "Sedona". Well in times past this has usually meant that some sort of timeshare company wants us to go there and listen to their pitch and then sign us up for a time share in Sedona - about an hour away from Prescott. Well, If I am to go to a time share, then it had better be in some exotic place other than Sedona.
Last night when this call came in from Sedona it was a friend who is serving a mission in the Quetzeltenango temple in the mountains of Guatemala who called me and congratulated me on my new endeavours. I was very happy to hear from her. She and her husband will be returning to Arizona about August this year. She was using a Magic Phone Jack connection that allows her to make local calls; Imagine that, a call from a friend serving in the Guatemala highlands? It is almost on the same plane as my friend Graham who sent me an urgent email from Australia asking about the fires in Prescott while I was living in Lincoln Nebraska awaiting the birth of our fourth grandchild. I also got a call from a friend who lives in the Great Smokies in Virginia asking about the men who lost their lives in the fire at Yarnell. It is interesting to note that the president of the other quilt guild here in Prescott , mounted a campaign to make quilts for the people who lost everything in the fire. She worked diligently to see that the effort was completed, and within weeks of its completion, she died. It was as though she had a special calling from the Lord to see to it that this humanitarian effort was seen to fruition and then he called her home. The unfortunate thing about it is that her family declined to have a memorial service for her after her passing so those of us who worked with her were left to grieve alone as best we could.
The scripture I refer to in the blog is from Malachai, "Behold, will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we take this scripture to point out that the way the heart of the children is turned to their fathers is manifested in the great interest in Genealogy in the world today. And I hasten to point out that our Church did not start the Genealogical trend. It did, however, start gathering records and storing them and making these records available to the people of the world for free so that they can track their ancestors.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to be asked to serve the people who call in with questions about their research problems and hope that I can “pull a rabbit out of the hat” and tell them where next to look or even find the elusive ancestor for them. More and more records are coming on line every day and through computer technology people can find their ancestors and record them. Genealogy is a very satisfying pursuit.
I have received a training calendar and apparently next week it begins in earnest with the commitment to be engaged with learning activities for 5 to 7 hours per day. Yep, it seems like the training will be a full time job.
I just got off the phone with my Training supervisor and already my head is spinning and we did not do any formal training………AARRGGHHHHH!
She did, however, help me to find things on my computer that I did not know were there and how to use them. I am sure that further contact with her will give me more insight into this computer connection etc. She is a lady whose daughter is studying Japanese, and loves all things Japanese, and her call name is Okaasan which is Japanese for mother. She has told her daughter that I speak Japanese and her daughter is delighted. However, I doubt if I will ever get to talk to her daughter - that is not the purpose of the connection with this lady. She is my training assistant for the next four weeks.
She sent me the outline for the classes for the next four weeks and I will have a lot of work to do offline as a result. This is more education for me and I hope to use it to the advantage of the patrons who call in with genealogical problems.
Not only will I be working with helping in the genealogical problem area, but will also be helping with the indexing venture. My assignment already is to do 5 obituary indexes and 5 other indexing items. The Family History Dept is very interested in doing the obituary indexes because this year is the year of the Obituary - so they say.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Starting again
In 1970 I went to Japan to serve a proselyting mission. It seems more than a lifetime ago now, but I am still fluent in the language and when I speak to a Japanese person they are always taken aback that a caucasian can speak their language. Mostly they are under the impression that no one can master their language at all because they think it is so difficult. Well, the reading is impossible for me, but speaking is ok. After all, babies soon learn to speak the language they hear around them and they do not master the written language till much later - I did not even attempt to master the Japanese writing system.
In 2011 my husband and I went to Maine to serve a Family History Mission, digitizing court and other historical records and we served there one year. We did a lot of work in the time we were there and we made a lot of friends as well.
In September 2014 I felt prompted to apply for another mission - this time as a church service missionary, helping people with their genealogical research questions.
Ah yes! I am in over my head this time, but they promised to train me and the training starts tomorrow, February 16, 2015.
My goal is to document the mission, much like I documented the mission in Japan and in Maine. Each written page documents what is happening and is in actual fact a historical record of this time in my life.
Today I was set apart by my Bishop to serve as a Church Service Missionary for Family Search. I will now wear a name
tag that 1. tells the world who I am and 2. tells the world what I am doing. Japan, Maine and now Family Search. Each name tag has special meaning to me.
In 2011 my husband and I went to Maine to serve a Family History Mission, digitizing court and other historical records and we served there one year. We did a lot of work in the time we were there and we made a lot of friends as well.
In September 2014 I felt prompted to apply for another mission - this time as a church service missionary, helping people with their genealogical research questions.
Ah yes! I am in over my head this time, but they promised to train me and the training starts tomorrow, February 16, 2015.
My goal is to document the mission, much like I documented the mission in Japan and in Maine. Each written page documents what is happening and is in actual fact a historical record of this time in my life.
Today I was set apart by my Bishop to serve as a Church Service Missionary for Family Search. I will now wear a name
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