Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Remember
Today is Veterans Day, Remembrance Day, or Armistice Day. Whatever you choose to call it, please remember and pray for all those who have fought to keep us free.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Findings
I have been finding very some fun stuff. I've been scanning as I go so that I can share photos with other family members. So, I thought I'd share this one with you.
The gentleman on the left (in the funny hat) is my Great-Grandfather Clements. I don't know who the soldier is or where or when this picture was taken. A wild guess is that the picture was taken in the 1890's in Iowa, Nebraska, or Wyoming. If anyone can give a better date, I'd appreciate it.
The gentleman on the left (in the funny hat) is my Great-Grandfather Clements. I don't know who the soldier is or where or when this picture was taken. A wild guess is that the picture was taken in the 1890's in Iowa, Nebraska, or Wyoming. If anyone can give a better date, I'd appreciate it.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Word Verification
Until recently, I had word verification turned on, because quite frankly, I didn't know it could be turned off. I got hit with some hate comments, so I turned on comment approval, too.
Recently, a blogging friend complained about having to type in that silly jumble of letters. It irritated her that she had to stop to do that after making a comment. Several people wrote into her blog saying they agreed that they didn't like word verification, either. (Actually, I think it is kind of fun to see what nonsense words come up. So? I'm a dork.)
Okay, I thought I'd give it a try. I turned off word verification, but left approval on. Within hours, I got hit. My email was full of "nasty" comments wanting to be added to my blog posts. I won't write any of the words here. I don't want more hits. Some are for products I'll NEVER want; others are for websites I don't wish to EVER visit.
Sorry, but my time is as valuable as everyone elses' time. When these comments come into my inbox, I have to look at these comments, hit reject, and delete these messages. And, I don't even want ANY of this garbage coming into my email inbox.
I'm sorry if I lose a reader or two and/or people who make comments. I hope these people understand why I have verification turned on. I hope they can make a fun game of make up silly definitions to go with the silly words. I hope they still come to visit and make comments. Nobody likes losing a friend over something that trivial.
So, word verification is going back on. Now.
Recently, a blogging friend complained about having to type in that silly jumble of letters. It irritated her that she had to stop to do that after making a comment. Several people wrote into her blog saying they agreed that they didn't like word verification, either. (Actually, I think it is kind of fun to see what nonsense words come up. So? I'm a dork.)
Okay, I thought I'd give it a try. I turned off word verification, but left approval on. Within hours, I got hit. My email was full of "nasty" comments wanting to be added to my blog posts. I won't write any of the words here. I don't want more hits. Some are for products I'll NEVER want; others are for websites I don't wish to EVER visit.
Sorry, but my time is as valuable as everyone elses' time. When these comments come into my inbox, I have to look at these comments, hit reject, and delete these messages. And, I don't even want ANY of this garbage coming into my email inbox.
I'm sorry if I lose a reader or two and/or people who make comments. I hope these people understand why I have verification turned on. I hope they can make a fun game of make up silly definitions to go with the silly words. I hope they still come to visit and make comments. Nobody likes losing a friend over something that trivial.
So, word verification is going back on. Now.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Genealogy , Looking "Alike", and a Game
Sherry over at Please, Contain Your Excitement wrote a wonderful post about her relationship with one of her brothers. I cried - happy tears. Please go check it out. In her post, Sherry mentioned that some people didn't think she and her brother looked alike and others thought they did. I'll let you decide. :)
This comment about looking alike got me to thinking about one of the crazy "games" I have played since I was just a little girl. I like to look at people and pictures of people and look for family resemblances. It is such a habit that I just automatically do it now. A side benefit or curse is that I remember faces, but not always remember names or where I've seen the person.
Here is an explanation as to why I do this. There were several "falling outs" in my family - on my mom and dad's side. (All these happened before I was born. Thank God some have been mended.) These rifts caused the families to split and not speak to or acknowledge each other. (My family was notorious for this!) Both of my grandmothers told me about (at least some of) these splits (for several reasons), but they were especially worried about the newest one. What if I met and fell in love with a first cousin?* (At least they didn't have to worry about it being a sibling!)
So, starting with the wild imagination and "self-centeredness" of a little girl, I have spent my whole life looking at people and wondering if they are related to me. I'm still doing it, but in a little more grown up way. Now I look and wonder if we are related (slight difference in the thinking process - lol).
But since I started doing genealogy, it isn't all about me or just my family (tho it generally is). I like to look at other people's old photos and look for family resemblances to help them piece the puzzles together. Sometimes I can help, sometimes not. (I'm not psychic. lol) Then, there is the area where I live. The denizens were, until the last 30 years or so, predominately German Catholic. They tended to be very leery of newcomers. (We're newcomers.) Result? Lots of inter-marriages and lots of people who look alike (and unfortunately a high birth rate of people with handicaps).
What I have learned by doing this is that there is more to this than looking at just facial features. There are certain facial expressions, the hair, body build/type , types of walks, and stance. If you are lucky and get to talk to people, there is the sound of the voice itself, certain inflections, the phrases that certain families use. (This all helps, but it isn't proof that people are related.)
I have learned that there is no pattern to what people look like. Siblings can and do look and act completely different. Distant cousins can and often look almost identical. A son might not look anything like his father, but his son will look exactly like his grandfather. Sometimes, children are "spitting images" of one parent or a mixture of both. Some people look the same their whole life. Others change drastically. One child will be so completely different from the rest that it makes everyone wonder who that child "really belongs to". Really, I know/knew this, but I have to consciously remember it.
Now for the * !
When I was a senior in high school, I spent a weekend visiting my best grade school friend, and she introduced me two of her friends who just happened to be boys. (At the time, I didn't know their last names or realize that they were younger than us! ) We went out and around town as teens do. I specifically remember that night because it was really cold out and we put the top down on my friend's mom and dad's car and couldn't get it back up. Oops. For some reason, I had an immediate "aversion" to one of the boys. He was nice enough, but I just didn't really want to be partnered with him. No, I never saw them again after that night, either.
In about 2003 or 2004, I was doing some family research and found where one of my male cousins was going to attend his 30 year high school reunion. There was a graduation picture of him. HOLY CARP. I had partied with my first cousin (whom, of course, I didn't know was my cousin)! Thank goodness he was partnered with my girlfriend. Nothing really terrible happened, but still...
Obviously, I didn't see any family resemblance. So much for my game.
But since I started doing genealogy, it isn't all about me or just my family (tho it generally is). I like to look at other people's old photos and look for family resemblances to help them piece the puzzles together. Sometimes I can help, sometimes not. (I'm not psychic. lol) Then, there is the area where I live. The denizens were, until the last 30 years or so, predominately German Catholic. They tended to be very leery of newcomers. (We're newcomers.) Result? Lots of inter-marriages and lots of people who look alike (and unfortunately a high birth rate of people with handicaps).
What I have learned by doing this is that there is more to this than looking at just facial features. There are certain facial expressions, the hair, body build/type , types of walks, and stance. If you are lucky and get to talk to people, there is the sound of the voice itself, certain inflections, the phrases that certain families use. (This all helps, but it isn't proof that people are related.)
I have learned that there is no pattern to what people look like. Siblings can and do look and act completely different. Distant cousins can and often look almost identical. A son might not look anything like his father, but his son will look exactly like his grandfather. Sometimes, children are "spitting images" of one parent or a mixture of both. Some people look the same their whole life. Others change drastically. One child will be so completely different from the rest that it makes everyone wonder who that child "really belongs to". Really, I know/knew this, but I have to consciously remember it.
Now for the * !
When I was a senior in high school, I spent a weekend visiting my best grade school friend, and she introduced me two of her friends who just happened to be boys. (At the time, I didn't know their last names or realize that they were younger than us! ) We went out and around town as teens do. I specifically remember that night because it was really cold out and we put the top down on my friend's mom and dad's car and couldn't get it back up. Oops. For some reason, I had an immediate "aversion" to one of the boys. He was nice enough, but I just didn't really want to be partnered with him. No, I never saw them again after that night, either.
In about 2003 or 2004, I was doing some family research and found where one of my male cousins was going to attend his 30 year high school reunion. There was a graduation picture of him. HOLY CARP. I had partied with my first cousin (whom, of course, I didn't know was my cousin)! Thank goodness he was partnered with my girlfriend. Nothing really terrible happened, but still...
Obviously, I didn't see any family resemblance. So much for my game.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Cigarette smoke
Did you know that a refrigerator that has been in a smoker's house smells like cigarette smoke even on the inside of the refrigerator? Yes, it does. Open the door, and the smell will knock you over.
Did you know that a mattress that spends just one night in a smokers house will for weeks reek of cigarette smoke? Yes, it will. Even after two weeks of leaving it unmade, having the windows wide open and turning a fan directly on it, it will still reek. Yes, it will still stink even after vacuuming it and spraying it with Fabreeze. And even with the air purifier (with the odor remover feature) going it will still stink for at least 4 weeks.
Did you know that after 5 weeks, wood furniture, even after washed, will smell like cigarette smoke? Yes, it does.
Did you know that cigarette smoke stays in a computer and will eventually damage it? Yes, it does.
Do you know that walls and wallpaper and carpet can hold stale cigarette smoke smell for more than 20 years? Yes, they will.
Now, why I know these things:
The refrigerator and the wood furniture came from my brother and SIL's house. These items were in exchange for what they took of Mom's. The mattress spent one night up there. Thank goodness, my SIL didn't like it. They both smoke in the house. I have worked my butt off to get rid of the smell. While the smell isn't gone, it has lessened. I can still smell it when I come in from outside. One of the best cures turns out to be LOTS of house plants!
The walls, wallpaper, and carpet are in my house. No one has smoked in my house for over twenty years (previous owners smoked - we haven't ever smoked). When we come home on a damp cold day and the house has been closed up, it still reeks of stale cigarette smoke - after 20 plus years. (We haven't changed some things, because the foundation needs to be fixed first.)
My husband works on computers. Sometimes he brings home the ones that he has to run diagnostics on. One day after complaining of the cigarette smell, he had me look at the inside...
Why do I care about the smell? I'm allergic to cigarette smoke. Okay, I'm not allergic as in I'm going to swell up and die, but I get all stopped up, a sore throat, and a headache - immediately - even before I smell or realize there is cigarette smoke present. Sometimes the smell even makes me sick to my stomach. Seems a few family members have forgotten this. And, I have spent the past few weeks feeling like I have a cold, but it is "just" allergies. Yes, I know - gripe and moan.
Did you know that a mattress that spends just one night in a smokers house will for weeks reek of cigarette smoke? Yes, it will. Even after two weeks of leaving it unmade, having the windows wide open and turning a fan directly on it, it will still reek. Yes, it will still stink even after vacuuming it and spraying it with Fabreeze. And even with the air purifier (with the odor remover feature) going it will still stink for at least 4 weeks.
Did you know that after 5 weeks, wood furniture, even after washed, will smell like cigarette smoke? Yes, it does.
Did you know that cigarette smoke stays in a computer and will eventually damage it? Yes, it does.
Do you know that walls and wallpaper and carpet can hold stale cigarette smoke smell for more than 20 years? Yes, they will.
Now, why I know these things:
The refrigerator and the wood furniture came from my brother and SIL's house. These items were in exchange for what they took of Mom's. The mattress spent one night up there. Thank goodness, my SIL didn't like it. They both smoke in the house. I have worked my butt off to get rid of the smell. While the smell isn't gone, it has lessened. I can still smell it when I come in from outside. One of the best cures turns out to be LOTS of house plants!
The walls, wallpaper, and carpet are in my house. No one has smoked in my house for over twenty years (previous owners smoked - we haven't ever smoked). When we come home on a damp cold day and the house has been closed up, it still reeks of stale cigarette smoke - after 20 plus years. (We haven't changed some things, because the foundation needs to be fixed first.)
My husband works on computers. Sometimes he brings home the ones that he has to run diagnostics on. One day after complaining of the cigarette smell, he had me look at the inside...
Why do I care about the smell? I'm allergic to cigarette smoke. Okay, I'm not allergic as in I'm going to swell up and die, but I get all stopped up, a sore throat, and a headache - immediately - even before I smell or realize there is cigarette smoke present. Sometimes the smell even makes me sick to my stomach. Seems a few family members have forgotten this. And, I have spent the past few weeks feeling like I have a cold, but it is "just" allergies. Yes, I know - gripe and moan.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Come on Baby Light My Fire
A thrilling title for a not so thrilling subject. (groan)
Remember junior and senior high science classes? I always dreaded the chapters on heat and electricity. I thought when I got out of high school I'd be through having to study about these two "horrid" subjects. Oh, no. They popped up in college - several times. Now, as a home owner these subjects never go away.
Electricity. What would we do with out it? Sure, we CAN, but who really wants to?
Heat. This is what heats my mom's house:
Remember junior and senior high science classes? I always dreaded the chapters on heat and electricity. I thought when I got out of high school I'd be through having to study about these two "horrid" subjects. Oh, no. They popped up in college - several times. Now, as a home owner these subjects never go away.
Electricity. What would we do with out it? Sure, we CAN, but who really wants to?
Heat. This is what heats my mom's house:
Pellet Stove
(pic source: Quadra Fire)
(I love the English language. It is a stove that burns pellets. It is not made of pellets. lol)
Pellets
They look kind of like miniature Presto Logs
This pellet stove gives off a wonderful warm heat like a wood fire, but it is controlled by a thermostat. The stove turns on and off like a furnace, so there are drafts. It takes electricity to light the stove, control the thermostat, turn the auger, and run the fans.
The stove has to be fed the pellets. One needs a large dry place to store the pellets, and they have to be hauled into the house. The bags are heavy, and it takes about a bag a day to warm the house. The stove has to be cleaned often - similar to a fireplace. In other words, a pellet stove is pretty "high maintenance". The advantage of pellets over wood is that they are fairly clean to store. Also, there are no splinters, chopping, bugs, dirt.
Update: Aunt Amelia had some good questions. Before my step-dad got too sick, he brought in the pellets as needed. Then, Mom did, by the small bucket-full. (My step-dad didn't want anyone to help - dementia.) When my step-dad passed away, my brother would bring in a bag of pellets, but Mom still had to carry them from the back porch through the house to the stove. Then I actually had a brilliant idea. Doesn't happen often. lol My brother dug one of these out of the shed (only ours isn't so bright and shiny):
The wash boiler sits right next to the stove and holds two bags of pellets. Mom didn't have to haul pellets anymore. All she had to do is use a scoop to fill the hopper.
So far my husband has been packing in the bags and filling the boiler. Bless him. If I have to, I can go to the shed and get them by the bucket full. I can lift a bag, but I'd rather not.
The stove has to be fed the pellets. One needs a large dry place to store the pellets, and they have to be hauled into the house. The bags are heavy, and it takes about a bag a day to warm the house. The stove has to be cleaned often - similar to a fireplace. In other words, a pellet stove is pretty "high maintenance". The advantage of pellets over wood is that they are fairly clean to store. Also, there are no splinters, chopping, bugs, dirt.
Update: Aunt Amelia had some good questions. Before my step-dad got too sick, he brought in the pellets as needed. Then, Mom did, by the small bucket-full. (My step-dad didn't want anyone to help - dementia.) When my step-dad passed away, my brother would bring in a bag of pellets, but Mom still had to carry them from the back porch through the house to the stove. Then I actually had a brilliant idea. Doesn't happen often. lol My brother dug one of these out of the shed (only ours isn't so bright and shiny):
The wash boiler sits right next to the stove and holds two bags of pellets. Mom didn't have to haul pellets anymore. All she had to do is use a scoop to fill the hopper.
So far my husband has been packing in the bags and filling the boiler. Bless him. If I have to, I can go to the shed and get them by the bucket full. I can lift a bag, but I'd rather not.
AND this:
Wall heaters
(A heater that is installed in the wall.)
Baseboard heaters
(A heater that is installed instead of a baseboard.)
Only instead of pretty white ones, these are the old ugly tan ones.
My boring point is that all of these take electricity to work. This area is notorious for the power going off. The only thing in the whole house that is on a battery back up is the computer. I don't think the computer will keep the pipes or inhabitants from freezing.
UPDATE 2: In years past when the power went off, my step-dad would bring in the generator. Mom couldn't do that, and I don't think I can, either.
On the bright side - at least there are heaters. Some people aren't so lucky.
UPDATE 2: In years past when the power went off, my step-dad would bring in the generator. Mom couldn't do that, and I don't think I can, either.
On the bright side - at least there are heaters. Some people aren't so lucky.
Now for your listening pleasure:
This is the short sweet version (about a 15 second commercial first, sorry). The embedding is disabled on this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LtPVBqQsf8
Long live version - watch at your own risk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O6x_m4zvFs&feature=fvw
This is the short sweet version (about a 15 second commercial first, sorry). The embedding is disabled on this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LtPVBqQsf8
Long live version - watch at your own risk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O6x_m4zvFs&feature=fvw
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Last Halloween
My daughter and "Jack"
Happy Halloween
Since we live in a rural area, the children (most of them) still trick or treat. It is so nice to live where it is relatively safe. Since most everyone knows each other, it is really stupid for someone to try to hurt a child. (It is anyway, but here the person gets caught.) It occasionally happens so the children and parents still have to be careful. Over the years I've noticed more and more parents out with their children. Even though some of the older kids might not think it so great to have their parents along (I would have hated it!), I think it's wonderful to see the the parents out doing something with and for their children.
I'm still at my mom's. I hope no one comes tonight, because the dogs go nuts when anyone comes to the house.
I don't really have any appropriate treats here. Wonder what the children would think about a bottle of Ensure, a bag of Cranberry Apple Herb Tea , or a can of soup? lol Getting the truck started and driving into town and then maneuvering said truck in the congestion just seems like a lot of work just to buy a bag a candy. (Even really small towns get very congested, too.)
Actually, I do have some bottles of "kid's" (the weird mixed stuff that tastes like punch) juice. The juice would be an expensive treat, but there shouldn't be more than ten kids, if any at all. Also, it is 100 percent juice, has no added sugars, and 100 percent vitamin C. Am I brilliant or what? Probably the what. Oh, well.
The wind is blowing, but it is 57 degrees outside! Balmy. Barometer keeps changing from rainy to nice day to rainy. The sky is bright blue right now. A half hour ago, it looked like it was going to pour rain. Guess we'll take whatever we get. The power keeps going off, so I'll wish everyone a fun day and evening.
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