$4.00 gas and your research: Part of the research costs I incur when doing client research is gas. At almost $4.00 a gal, one round trip to the Family History Library and back home–a distance of 145 miles on a good day–is $35.00 actual gas cost. This does not include parking. I try to park on the street to save the $8.00 to 10.00 per day. And it does not match the recommended mileage charge of 48.5 per mile cost used by the IRS. I never did charge a mileage cost. Who ever thought it would cost so much?
- So I have shifted my work schedule around: Work day at the Genealogy Library Center will be Monday. The FHL closes at 5:00 pm on Monday. So do all of the Family History Centers. And other research facilities in Utah often do the same. So I stay home on Mondays to do my personal chores and catch up on yard, kitchen, laundry, etc. You know the drill of a day off. Now I will work until 5:00 pm close by.
- There is no work day at the Genealogical Library Center on Fridays. Please make note. If you were planning to come to use what we have already processed, or to help get additional collections ready for the public to search, don’t come on Friday. Come on Monday!
- Research days at the Family History Library will be Tuesday 8:30 am through 8:00 pm; Friday (same hours) and Saturday. For special projects, I may go on Wednesday or Thursday as well. If you are planning a trip to Salt Lake City to research at the FHL, and need to meet with me. Let me know, in advance, so I can schedule time for you.
- Thursday evening I am taking a course on Roots Magic. What an interesting and informative course. Instructions on exactly what I have tried to find for a long time. You see, I did not grow up using the computer and I could never find a basic software course–how to open a file, how to organize files on the computer, how to move text from one file to another, how to copy a file, etc. All these basic things instructors assume you know how. Well, I don’t. I told you I was a computer beginner!
- Wednesday and Thursday most weeks I will finish and ship reports, ship book orders, schedule phone appointments. And mow and water my lawn. If you call to talk to me and I don’t answer, wait a short while and call me back. I don’t hear the phone ring when I am outside. (I have voice mail. I just don’t know how to retrieve the calls yet. In a short time, the calls will all be registered on my computer screen, so I know you have called.)
- You can get me quickest by email at arlene@arleneeakle.com. And FAX 435-553-4585 (24/7). I do not check email when at the library doing research. I do research.
With these changes, I expect to be more efficient and more cost effective. Genealogy Research costs enough already without adding surcharges to the surcharges.
A word about the economy. Even though the cost of fuel has trickled and rumbled and crackled into many parts of our lives, the economy as whole is buzzing right along. Wage increases, prosperous returns on investments with stocks not falling any more (and some much less) than last year or the year before.
And new housing starts–one of the criteria used to judge the economy–in Utah are still firing away. Several new subdivisions going in simultaneously. I cannot find a contractor who is willing to work on my building–too much business in new construction. All of my friends, who build stuff, are so busy it is hard to track them down.
The media appear to be in control of the information we receive. Just drive around your area for an hour (if you can afford the fuel) and look. You will see new stuff rising out of vacant lots, being sandwiched in between houses that already appear too close together. New civic buildings, new gas stations (I suspect to rein a few profits).
A young girl gave a talk on Sunday in my church meeting–her advice: “Don’t watch the news. Watch any program but the news if you want a good day.” At age 12! This advice!
So be of good cheer. The Genealogy Library Center has some wonderful new collections–some delivered by UPS and US Post Office this very week. It is like Christmas every week. Books, reports, family files, research in progress–now and in the past.
Please share your family genealogy and research with others
If you write a genealogy book…
If you make a break through on a tough genealogy line…
If you discover new ancestors on RootsWeb or in a genealogy just loaded online…
Please share.
Will you put the Genealogy Library Center, Inc. on your list of interested people? And mail a copy, so others can share your finds? If you are selling the book, it will not decrease your sales. Patrons who find that their ancestry is being traced or printed in a book, will want their own copy.
New Seminars Booked:
- Family History Expo–Mesa. 14-15 Nov 2008, Mesa Convention Center, 263 N. Center St, Mesa AZ. I will be speaking at 4 sessions. You can register NOW at http://www.myancestorsfound.com. Registrations are already coming in. This will be a big program with lots of vendors to sell you very latest books and computer software. Prizes are awarded in every class and all through the event.
- Family History Expo–St. George. 27-28 Feb 2009, Dixie Event Center. I am giving the Keynote address: Family History for Fun and Profit! It’s time to break your losing streak! There is no reason to have an “end of the line” ancestor where you can find no further details on origins or parents or important events in your ancestor’s life. Not in 2008. Not with all the resources we currently have or will be able to access in the next 12 months! Register at My Ancestors Found (link above). And watch for the list of my other topics.
Southern California Jamboree, 2008:
Free Printed Syllabus for Early-Bird Registrants
The professionally produced syllabus is one of the most popular features of Jamboree. It includes contact information on our speakers and exhibitors, lecture notes and outlines for all of the lecture sessions, speaker bios and advertising with special offers for Jamboree attendees.
The printed copy of the syllabus will be provided free to everyone who registers by May 1. Those who register after that date will receive a CD version of the syllabus.
CD versions will be available for purchase for the pre-Jamboree price of $5 through June 29. After that date, CDs will be available for $10 each. Printed versions of the syllabus will be available for $10 while quantities last. We will limit the number of extra copies to control our costs. If you want to be assured of having a printed copy for reference during the sessions, and so you can take notes, we recommend that you register by May 1.