Today is the first day of April–lovingly called April Fool’s Day.<\/p>\n
The Good<\/strong>–it has been raining all day.\u00a0 Utah farms (and we are farmers) have been dry–down at least 24-inches-into-the-ground dry.\u00a0 So raining all day is better than sun.\u00a0 And since many crops have been drilled into the soil–in hopes of rain to germinate the seeds, we are smiling.<\/p>\n The Bad<\/strong>–not enough hours in the day to get all the work done–stacks and stacks of work.\u00a0 Organizing and summarizing and collating and describing the\u00a0 genealogy research that is finished.\u00a0 Planning the searches for ancestors at the Family History Library.\u00a0 Getting out the records with accompanying user names and passwords for input on the computer–Family Tree, Our Pedigrees (my new online client site), Celebrating Family History and Me Software…and on and on.<\/p>\n The Ugly<\/strong>–there is only me at the present time working on all of these projects.\u00a0 I’ve run out of dedicated space at my home office (actually my home office is an 8-bedroom house on two floors and bookshelves in every room except the bathroom and the dining room).\u00a0 I’m surrounded by reports in various states of completion. If a breeze invaded my space…UGH! I’ve set up tables\u00a0 where the finished research is awaiting analysis and reporting.\u00a0 They are all full.\u00a0 I’ve set-up plastic bins to hold the files of each client so they do not get intermixed–what an ugly deal that would be.\u00a0 And I have a huge wall calendar with notes all over it so that I don’t get caught unawares and forget something important.<\/p>\n Why don’t I have this all stuff in digital form with alarms and triggers that appear on the screen to remind me?\u00a0 Are you kidding me?<\/p>\n I still take computer lessons for 2 hours every Monday.\u00a0 I have added an hour lesson on Wed\/Thurs for Family Tree.\u00a0 And I have a 45 minute class on Sunday to learn apps and programs for all sorts of digital devices.<\/p>\n Are you laughing yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n And to think we had to shut down comments on my blogs because they were hijacked by messages in 7 different languages (some of which I did not recognize) for spam.\u00a0 I got 34,000 emails in two weeks!\u00a0 Think about it!\u00a0 My very small genealogy business, run by one person–only me–being attacked for economic mischief and gain.\u00a0 Without the capable help of a very skilled web-master, I would be absolutely lost.\u00a0 And I have the commiseration of a jack-of-all-trades daughter who steps in when things really get ready to crash.<\/p>\n The Ugliest<\/strong>–One day I thought I would go back to school–computer school.\u00a0 So I went for a full semester.\u00a0 Took computer classes in web-design and online marketing.\u00a0 How to build a functional web-site.\u00a0 They taught me how to find stock pictures and artwork. Every word I used went to a pornographic site. What I wanted was how to use a computer–they don’t teach Computer 101<\/span>.\u00a0 Seems “no one needs such a class.”\u00a0 Obviously I don’t count.<\/p>\n The Best<\/strong>–my work crew has just about finished repairing all the walls at the Genealogy<\/strong> Library Center.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 We sheet-rocked the bathroom.\u00a0 And we are ready to lay the base for the tile.\u00a0 Very soon, we can paint.\u00a0 Our next work session will be Thursday.<\/p>\n The Very Best<\/strong>–Four new collections arrived this past week–and await processing, including 47 boxes of genealogy books with a large focus on New York; a van-load of genealogy periodicals which I drove to Oregon to pick up, 9 boxes of “media mail” that I picked up at the post office on Thursday last and have not had the time to open, and three large plastic bins of professional family files delivered last week.\u00a0 I would call my volunteers–but there is no room yet for them to work!\u00a0 Every surface is covered with building materials and finishing nails and screws of various sizes.\u00a0 All the genealogy is covered with tarps and drop cloths for protection.<\/p>\n The Very Worst<\/strong>–Library and book copyright laws that require destruction and shredding of genealogy books, microfiche, and film–when they are retired from use or withdrawn from the public view.\u00a0 What idiot thought up such protection<\/strong> for the economic rights of man or woman)?\u00a0 I am fed-up with such idiocy!\u00a0 And loss.<\/p>\n Your favorite genealogist, Arlene Eakle\u00a0 http:\/\/arleneeakle.com<\/a><\/p>\n PS\u00a0 When you tune in next time, perhaps you will get some useful genealogy information.\u00a0 I think my rant is over…Happy April Fool’s Day!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today is the first day of April–lovingly called April Fool’s Day. The Good–it has been raining all day.\u00a0 Utah farms (and we are farmers) have been dry–down at least 24-inches-into-the-ground dry.\u00a0 So raining all day is better than sun.\u00a0 And … Continue reading