2 Aug 2009 Posted in Personal

Productivity aid

Have you even got to the end of the day and wondered where all the time went? I often do; I think of all the things I haven’t done and feel bad that I haven’t achieved anything. Yet I don’t seem to count up all the things that I have achieved.

It’s important to realise what still needs to be done and to plan for it, and if you do this at the end of the day you can take the rest of the night off. It’s also important to congratulate yourself for what you have done. It’s much better to have a satisfied feeling that comes from achievement than a disappointed feeling that comes from concentrating on the negative. Look at what’s in the glass, not what isn’t!

I have recognised this for some time and I try to do this at the end of every day, usually when I’m in bed trying to get to sleep. I think it helps me get to sleep but I usually forget, and I lie awake thinking about what I didn’t do and what I have to do tomorrow.

I’m going to try to formalise the process and bring it forward so that it’s all done and sorted before I go to bed. I’m going to put my list in writing, on this blog, every night, so everyone can see it. Theory suggests that making your achievements, and your goals, public makes you feel more accountable, and more likely to make them happen. Let’s see if that’s true.

From tonight, I’m going to list the 3 best things I achieved today, and the 3 things I expect to achieve tomorrow. I’m going to limit the number at 3 so it doesn’t seem too daunting. When I lie in bed trying to think of 3 things I achieved I nearly always manage it, but if I try for 5 it’s demoralising when I can’t. Demoralising is not the effect I am going for, so I’ll stick to 3, although if I can get to 5 that’s a bonus!

My 3 goals for today are:

1. answer an email about an opportunity
2. finish my ProGen assignment 15
3. finish a client report and get it ready for posting

Not really Sunday-kind of activities, but I took yesterday off and spent it in the garden in the sun, where I achieved:

1. repotting of 2 or 3 overgrown bromeliads
2. cleaning up and reorganising the bromeliad arrangement against the front of the house
3. moved 5 or 6 plants to better positions around the garden and in the house

And last night I did some work:

1. sent in my ProGen assignment 14
2. started on assignment 15
3. (one more……) I can’t think of another one

You see, it’s best to do this on the day, while it’s still fresh in your mind. If you leave it until the next day and you can’t remember all the things you did you get demoralised again.

Oh, I know:

3.  Filed my Riley Research Plan in my Riley Research folder and considered future possibilities

OK, it’s not much, but I feel better having found a 3rd one.

So that’s the plan, and I invite you to join me. I already feel better about myself!

See what a difference it makes to your life!

24 Feb 2009 Posted in Personal

Kreative Blogger Awards

I have been nominated for the Kreative Blogger Award by a lovely blogger in San Diego called Gini. I am honoured, and very surprised, to be receiving recognition from someone so far away!

 

You can see Gini’s nominations here.

I am now supposed to nominate 7 other bloggers for the same award, and I will make the time to do that very soon, I promise!

24 Feb 2009 Posted in Personal

BBC Book List – how many have you read?

Apparently the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.

How many did you read, and which ones?

Instructions:

• Look at the list and put an ‘x’ after those you have read. 
• Add a ‘+’ to the ones you LOVE. 
• Star (*) those you plan on reading. 
• Put ? on the ones you’ve never heard of. 
• Tally your total at the bottom. 

1. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen XXX++
2.  The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien XXX++ 
3. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte X 
4. Harry Potter series – JK Rowling XX+ 
5. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee X 
6. The Bible 
7. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte X 
8. Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell X 
9. His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman ? (why is a book I’ve never heard of in the top 10?)
10. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens 
11. Little Women – Louisa M Alcott X 
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy X 
13. Catch 22 – Joseph Heller X 
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare X 
15. Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier 
16. The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien XXX++ 
17. Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks ?
18. Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger 
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger 
20. Middlemarch – George Eliot 
21. Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell X 
22. The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald X 
23. Bleak House – Charles Dickens X (reading now) 
24. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy X 
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy X 
26. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh X 
27. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky X 
28. Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck 
29. Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll X 
30. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame 
31. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy X 
32. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens 
33. Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis 
34. Emma – Jane Austen XXX++ 
35. Persuasion – Jane Austen XX+ 
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis 
37. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini 
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres X 
39. Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden 
40. Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne X 
41. Animal Farm – George Orwell X 
42. The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown X 
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez X 
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving 
45. The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins 
46. Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery 
47. Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy X 
48. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood X 
49. Lord of the Flies – William Golding X 
50. Atonement – Ian McEwan X 
51. Life of Pi – Yann Martel 
52. Dune – Frank Herbert X 
53. Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons 
54. Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen XX+ 
55. A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth X 
56. The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon 
57. A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens ** 
58. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley X 
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon ?
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez X 
61. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck 
62. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov 
63. The Secret History – Donna Tartt ?
64. The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold ?
65. Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas (I loved the TV series!) 
66. On The Road – Jack Kerouac 
67. Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy 
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding X 
69. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie 
70. Moby Dick – Herman Melville 
71. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens 
72. Dracula – Bram Stoker X 
73. The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett 
74. Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson 
75. Ulysses – James Joyce 
76. The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath X 
77. Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome ?
78. Germinal – Emile Zola 
79. Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray 
80. Possession – AS Byatt (no, but I’ve seen it around the house) 
81. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens 
82. Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell ?
83. The Color Purple – Alice Walker X 
84. The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro X 
85. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flauber 
86. A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry ?
87. Charlotte’s Web – EB White 
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Alborn 
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle X 
90. The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton 
91. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad 
92. The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery ?
93. The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks 
94. Watership Down – Richard Adams X 
95. A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole 
96. A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute X 
97. The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas X 
98. Hamlet – William Shakespeare X 
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl 
100. Les Miserables – Victor Hugo X 

Carole’s total read: 48

Absolute favorite on this list: Lord of the Rings/Emma/Pride and Predjudice (as judged by the number of times of read them)

Most embarrassing absences – All the Charles Dickens. Luckily for me there is no category for the ones I’ve read but can’t now remember. Another category could be movies based on the books.

5 Jan 2009 Posted in Personal

99 Genealogy things

Here’s another one of these list things I found from another Australian blogger here.

The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you have already done or found: bold
Things you would like to do or find: red
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

1. Belong to a genealogical society.
2. Researched records onsite at a court house. (Australian courthouses don’t have records)
3. Transcribed records.
4. Uploaded tombstone pictures to Find-A-Grave.
5. Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents)
6. Joined Facebook.
7. Cleaned up a run-down cemetery.
8. Joined the Genea-Bloggers Group.
9. Attended a genealogy conference. [another one in 2 weeks]
10. Lectured at a genealogy conference.
11. Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society.
12. Been the editor of a genealogy society newsletter.
13. Contributed to a genealogy society publication.
14. Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society.
15. Got lost on the way to a cemetery
16. Talked to dead ancestors.
17. Researched outside the state in which I live.
18. Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the current occupants.
19. Cold called a distant relative.
20. Posted messages on a surname message board.
21. Uploaded a gedcom file to the internet.
22. Googled my name. (and those of ancestors and distant cousins)
23. Performed a random act of genealogical kindness.
24. Researched a non-related family, just for the fun of it.
25. Have been paid to do genealogical research.
26. Earn a living (majority of income) from genealogical research.
27. Wrote a letter (or email) to a previously unknown relative.
28. Contributed to one of the genealogy carnivals.
29. Responded to messages on a message board.
30. Was injured while on a genealogy excursion.
31. Participated in a genealogy meme.
32. Created family history gift items (calendars, cookbooks, etc.).
33. Performed a record lookup.
34. Took a genealogy seminar cruise.
35. Am convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer space.
36. Found a disturbing family secret.
37. Told others about a disturbing family secret.
38. Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking).
39. Think genealogy is a passion not a hobby.
40. Assisted finding next of kin for a deceased person (Unclaimed Persons).
41. Taught someone else how to find their roots.
42. Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard drive failure
43. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology.
44. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher.
45. Disproved a family myth through research.
46. Got a family member to let you copy photos.
47. Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records.
48. Translated a record from a foreign language.
49. Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record.
50. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer.
51. Used microfiche.
52. Visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City
53. Visited more than one LDS Family History Center.
54. Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors.
55. Taught a class in genealogy. [I've taught genealogy software workshops]
56. Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century.
57. Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century.
58. Traced ancestors back to the 16th Century.
59. Can name all of your great-great-grandparents.
60. Found an ancestor’s Social Security application.
61. Know how to determine a soundex code without the help of a computer.
62. Used Steve Morse’s One-Step searches.
63. Own a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
64. Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used for your own research.
65. Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC.
66. Visited the Library of Congress.
67. Have an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower.
68. Have an ancestor who fought in the Civil War.
69. Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone.
70. Became a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.
71. Can read a church record in Latin.
72. Have an ancestor who changed their name.
73. Joined a Rootsweb mailing list.
74. Created a family website.
75. Have more than one “genealogy” blog.
76. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone.
77. Have broken through at least one brick wall.
78. Visited the DAR Library in Washington D.C.
79. Borrowed microfilm from the Family History Library through a local Family History Center.
80. Have done indexing for Family Search Indexing or another genealogy project.
81. Visited the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
82. Had an amazing serendipitous find of the “Psychic Roots” variety.
83. Have an ancestor who was a Patriot in the American Revolutionary War.
84. Have an ancestor who was a Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War.
85. Have both Patriot & Loyalist ancestors.
86. Have used Border Crossing records to locate an ancestor.
87. Use maps in my genealogy research.
88. Have a convict ancestor who was transported from the UK.
89. Found a bigamist amongst the ancestors.
90. Visited the National Archives in Kew.
91. Visited St. Catherine’s House in London to find family records.
92. Found a cousin in Australia (or other foreign country).
93. Consistently cite my sources.
94. Visited a foreign country (i.e. one I don’t live in) in search of ancestors.
95. Can locate any document in my research files within a few minutes.
96. Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more).
97. Made a rubbing of an ancestors gravestone.
98. Organized a family reunion.
99. Published a family history book (on one of my families).
100. Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research.
101. Have done the genealogy happy dance.
102. Sustained an injury doing the genealogy happy dance.
103. Offended a family member with my research.
104. Reunited someone with precious family photos or artefacts.

Well, I didn’t enjoy this one as much, and I can’t see that future generations will get much out of it.

4 Jan 2009 Posted in Personal

99 things about me

This has been borrowed from another genealogy blog by Sheri, who got it from someone else…

I’m going to play, but I’m going to change some of the more USA-centric items.

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: red
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to – leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars. [In Antarctica, no less!]
3. Played in a band. [No, but I was asked to join one as a backup singer until the singer's girlfriend stepped in]
4. Visited Hawaii. [or Fiji or Tahiti]
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland/world.
8. Climbed a mountain. [Koscuiszko, no great achievement]
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. (how about just visit the Statue of Liberty)
18. Grown your own vegetables. [can't beat home-grown tomatoes]
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France. [The Louvre was closed on Wednesdays when we were there]
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice. [No, but I watched one being ridden in]
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. [Is there really anyone who hasn't done this?]
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person. [No, but I've seen Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe/Zambia and Iguassu Falls in Brasil/Argentina]
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. [Some, working on some others]
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person. [I remember the queue outside but I don't remember if we went in. How sad is that!]
41. Sung Karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a cheque.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy. [Actually it was a book - Blinky Bill]
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar. [Horrible stuff]
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job. [I was 14, it was heartbreaking]
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House. [No, but I've been to Parliament House in Canberra, does that count?]
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life. [No, but I rang for the ambulance.]
90. Sat on a jury. [Called many times, never been empanelled]
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person. [No, but I've seen Waterloo, will that do?]
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.

I’m not sure whether the next generations will learn anything about me from reading these answers, but they were fun to write!

31 Dec 2008 Posted in Personal

New Year’s Resolutions for 2009

Here are my New Year’s Resolutions for 2009:

1. Finish researching and finish writing my essay on Colonial Office records for NSW of the 19th Century in the Australian Joint Copying Project for my Diploma of Family Historical Studies

2. Work out the questions I want to answer by researching in Auckland (deadline for this one is in 10 days)

3. Finish tracing all the land my grandfather and his father and uncles owned so that I have start and end dates for each portion

4. Write something in this blog at least once per month

5. Go back to early-2008 levels of sugar consumption

I may add more in the next couple of days…

12 Apr 2008 Posted in Genealogy, Personal

Time flies when you’re having fun

It’s been a long time and a lot has happened. I’ve decided that for my own happiness I’m not going to try building a business by coaching other people. That’s been a big step for me, and a big relief. I don’t feel split, I’m not hedging my bets and can commit fully to the one thing instead of marking time until I get serious about the other one.

And I have committed myself now – I’ve applied to do the Diploma at SAG, I’ve joined a study group, in fact I’m leading one of the groups, and I’m selling off some of my psychology books.

Not all of them though, so there’s still some little idea in there somewhere that I might go back to it some time. And I guess I might too. One day. But I’ve realised that it’s not something that I can just dabble in. Really, you have to be serious about it to do it properly. Dabbling is unethical, really, it’s not fair to the clients and it’s not good for me.

It’s unethical because I’m not learning any more and I’m not specialising in what they need. A specialist needs to be at it all day every day. A full time job. Not a part-time interest.