Your Life

... do a quick review, and note all of the people who've shown up as characters in this play called your life. It has all been perfect.
(Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Power Of Intention, p. 20)

Retirement Anniversary

Last month, on 3 November 2013, I celebrated the twentieth anniversary of my retirement from The Library of Congress.  They offered early retirement buy-outs and I took them up on the offer. Looking back, it was the right thing for me to do.  I did miss the many friends I left behind.

Mr. Dickie

10 December 2013

High Blood Pressure

A 1990 Cornell University study concluded that jobs combining high responsibility with low autonomy were three times more likely to produce high blood pressure than jobs that either offered some degree of autonomy or lower responsibility levels. (Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., I'd Change My Life If I Had More Time, p. 112-3)

Mr. Dickie's Comment: I personally confirmed this while working at the Library of Congress. It's no fun trying to deliver a project, with a fixed completion date, when you don't have the power to compel people to do the work that only they can accomplish.

May is High Blood Pressure Education Month
28 May 2013

Seriously

"The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously.  The first is imperative and the second is disastrous."  (Margot Fonteyn in In God's Care, 11 December)

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Yesterday David Naylor and I took the subway down to Capitol Hill where we attended all of the Library of Congress Christmas events we could.  We went to the party on the 6th floor, we attended the carol singing in The Great Hall, we went to The Librarian's Retiree Luncheon, and we attended a "meeting" in conference rooms B&C in the ITS area.  We enjoyed visiting with our retired friends, with those still working and talking to the three who will retire at the end of the month.

Mr. Dickie
15 December 2011

Walk On

There is work to be done, new ideas to be learned, and for that the problems of yesterday and the fears of tomorrow must be put out of the way. (One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 21 March)

[Think about what needs to be done, do your work, accomplish your tasks and] if there is time left, fill it with walking. It is excellent exercise that is respectful of the body, mindful of the earth below, and well-tolerated by all ages. (Mike Magee, M.D., The Book Of Choices, p. 200)

Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far. (Thomas Jefferson in The Book Of Choices, by Mike Magee, M.D., p. 202)

******

I woke up at 4:00 a.m. this morning. I spent the time trying to catch up on my reading and writing.

Yesterday I did some minor updates to the computer club website. I also installed a Google search box on the homepage. This is a project that I had in mind for some time. On the genealogy homepage that I'm working on I installed and tested the Bing search box. The Google box displays some Google ads. The Bing search box doesn't have any ads. I have no idea which search engine gives the better results. I think I am ready to install the new homepage on the genealogy website. In my opinion this is the most important step in the process of making it easy to maintain the website. The second step is to understand the folder structure and to create the necessary folders to simplify finding the files.

I created a Picasa photo album for the retirement photos I took at The Library of Congress on Thursday. I shared a link to the photos on Facebook.

Melva attended her quilting class. She reported that she had a good time.

Mr. Dickie
26/Mar/2011 6:44

Retirement Party

... there is nothing charming about adults who refuse to read the writing on the wall. (Larsen and Hegarty, Believing In Myself, 21 March)

It is always wrong to shirk the word that should be spoken. (William Barclay, The Letters To Timothy, Titus and Philemon, p. 119)

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Sarah's Retirement
Link To Photos Taken By Mr. Dickie

Yesterday afternoon I went to the Library of Congress to make a stop at the Credit Union and to attend the retirement party for Sarah Gaymon. Sarah's boss and a friend of Sarah's spoke. Sarah also delivered humorous remarks. I took about a dozen photos that I intend to put in a Picasa album. After the party Raj Parr and I sat and talked until it was time for him to go home. I arrived at New Carrollton five minutes late. I missed the 6:55 p.m. T-18 bus. I called Melva and she came to pick me up.

Mr. Dickie
25/Mar/2011 7:34

A Busy Day

It is all too true of most of us that we are the victims of the same faults of temperament and of character; that we fail for the same reasons; that as year succeeds year, we are no further on. (William Barclay, The Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon, p. 118)

******

I was very busy yesterday.

I attended the 10:00 a.m. ribbon cutting and open house for the new computers at the Bowie Senior Center. I took ten photos of the event. I thought there was a nice crowd. People attending that I know were: Kathy White; John Jones; Dale Grant, Dick Boell, Dan Lee, Vic Kiviat, Karl Bulger. With the new equipment the computer club will be able to offer courses for the Windows XP operating system and for Windows 7. I never thought to ask what happened to Windows Vista.

When I got home I loaded the ten photos on my computer. Then I uploaded them to my Picasa account where I used their Picnic editor for the first time to do some cropping. I captioned all of the photos, arranged their order, wrote a album description and selected one photo for the album cover.

I copied a piece of HTML code from Picasa and embedded it at the top of the club's training page. This displayed the album's cover photo. Visitors can click on the photo to go to Picasa to view the nine-photo slideshow. I was very pleased with the result. I also installed a link to the slideshow on my Facebook wall and in a posting to Mr. Dickie's Blog. Everything worked. This was the first time I have done this. I'm sure I will want to use this approach again.

I spent time in the morning and evening working on fixing a problem I caused myself with the club's Training page. To make a long story, short, I damaged some links to course description pages and had to retype about ten URLs with rather complicated punctuation. Live and learn!

I continued a project with the genealogy society website. I'm studying the folder structure and trying to get a handle on what graphics are already available on the website. I have discovered that the same file names were used for different graphics and that some graphics can be found in several folders. This makes using the graphics difficult. In my opinion the graphics should all reside in one folder. It's not an easy problem to fix, and probably not worth the trouble. However, the graphic files can each be given a unique name and saved in a new graphics folder for future use. I'm going to advocate for this approach.

I stopped at BJ's (like Costco and Sam's Club) to look for a table for Melva. I didn't find what we want. I bought a bag of birdseed and several other items. It wasn't difficult to leave there fifty dollars poorer. I also stopped at Target where I purchased a 2Gb card for my Oasis player. The card is about the size of your pinky finger nail. It fits in an adapter that I already have. The player came with 2Gb of storage on board. I already have a 1Gb card which I just recently installed and learned how to use. I'm going to have some fun getting the music ready to fill up this new card.

I returned a borrowed flat screen monitor to computer club member Dan Lee. I also brought along my broken Dell laptop computer. Right after I got home he called me to tell me he'd already successfully removed the hard drive and installed it into his hard drive adapter. He hooked the adapter up to his laptop and was able to read my hard drive. He mentioned he found the Devotions file that I had been thinking about recently when I looked at the book I printed out after I created the file. I'd like to update some typos in that file and then publish it to MyBox. Dan and Vic are both urging me to "get off the dime" and purchase a new laptop so I can leave all these problems with obsolete and breaking equipment behind. I don't disagree.

This afternoon I going to take the subway to The Library of Congress. I'll stop at the Credit Union and then attend the retirement function for Sarah Gaymon from 2-4 p.m. Melva will take me to the subway and I'll ride the bus up the hill when I come home.

Mr. Dickie
24/Mar/2011 9:51

Winter Weather

Evil leaders could never succeed were it not for weak people who obey their orders. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 209)

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More winter weather arrived this morning. Schools in our country are closed for the day. I was able to make my taxi run to the subway without incident, followed by a stop at the postoffice to mail a letter. There's another band of winter weather behind this one. Let's hope we don't receive a one-two punch that knocks us out for a few days.

I'm continuing to work on my Conger genealogy file edits. Yesterday I added several obituaries and the information I could glean from them. I also continued the "note" field edit project. I'm now looking at Conger records for people whose first names begin with the letter "J". I'm also working on adding records for people in the ancestor tree of a very famous person in the Conger family.

I'm now Facebook friends with Jim Stevens. Jim was the boss of two of my bosses while we worked at The Library of Congress. I worked for him first at The Navy Yard and later on Capitol Hill.

Mr. Dickie
26/Jan/2011 8:07

Philippians 4:11

I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have and with everything that happens. (Philippians 4:11 in Grace For The Moment by Max Lucado, 9 December)

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I didn't post to my blogs for the last two days. On Wednesday I attended four Christmas events at the Library of Congress. Yesterday I went to lunch with former co-worker, Bill Hamilton.

There is a rumor that Yahoo intends to drop support for their social bookmarking site, Delicious. I am a user of this application. I suppose that many other free Internet services will be shutting down in the months ahead. When there is a strong possibility of marked reductions in spending for advertising it is inevitable that any endeavor that relies on advertising for revenue is going to fail.

It snowed yesterday during the day. Melva and I were out driving in the snow going to luncheon engagements. Driving was tricky. We both managed to make our trips without incident. On our way to Bowie we noticed several accidents on the in-bound lanes of U.S. Route 50.

Mr. Dickie
17/Dec/2010 7:37

Bonding

If you think you should be running the whole show, you'll probably end up with nothing to show for it. (Mr. Dickie, after As Bill Sees It, p. 320, 25 Nov 2010)

******

Yesterday afternoon Cyndi and I took the Orange line of the subway to the Eastern Market station. We walked down 8th Street past all of the businesses. We walked past the Marine Corps Barracks before we stopping just before passing under I-395. We could see the Navy Yard at the end of 8th Street. Next we went to the outdoor flea market at Eastern Market. Cyndi knew one of the vendors who was selling t-shirts he had designed. He owns a clothing consignment shop in Bethesda.

Next we walked up Pennsylvania Avenue towards the Library of Congress and the Capitol. We stopped to eat lunch at The Hunan where I have attended many promotion and retirement parties in the past. It was Cyndi's first visit. They served us both a very nice meal. Cyndi brought food home for Melva to eat after work.

We took several photos with my camera at the Neptune Plaza in front of the Thomas Jefferson building of the Library of Congress.

When we were ready to go home we used the Capitol South subway station

I thought we had a great time doing some father / daughter bonding and getting in a nice long walk at the same time.

Mr. Dickie
29/Nov/2010 8:06

Retirement Luncheon

You must become the producer, director, and actor in the unfolding story of your life. (Dr. Wayne Dyer, Staying On The Path, p. 78)

******

I skipped blogging yesterday. Melva dropped me off at the New Carrollton subway station on her way to work. I used my new plastic SmartTrip card to pay for my trips. I went to The Library of Congress to visit with friends and attend the retirement luncheon for Kathy Loh. If I counted the number of tables correctly about forty attended. Al Banks, Katy Culp, Erlinda Del Rosario, myself and the guest of honor all worked for Dennis Chin at the same time and we all were there to help Kathy celebrate her thirty-one years of government service. After tomorrow Al will be the only one still working. He's in charge of Information Techology Services now. On the way home I took the T-18 bus for the mile ride up the hill from the subway station to the stop about a block from the house. Just like old times. Melva called me to see what I was doing when I was about a half block from home. We both thought that was funny. It was great to see and visit with my former coworkers. It's hard to believe that I retired about fourteen years ago in 1993.

Mr. Dickie
3/Jun/2010 10:37

John Michael Murto - Celebration of Life

John Michael Murto
(14 Mar 1946 - 11 May 2010)
Celebration of Life

Yesterday afternoon I drove sixty-eight miles to Boonsboro, Maryland. It was my first time to Middletown, where Roland Nelson lived, and to Boonsboro. I gained an even greater appreciation for just how difficult it must have been for everyone who lived out that far to commute to work on Capitol Hill.

The purpose of the trip was to attend the Celebration of Life for former co-worker, John Michael Murto (14 Mar 1946 - 11 May 2010) who worked on The Bill Digest when I did. The event was held at the American Legion. So many of John and Ellie's friends attended it was necessary to bring out more tables and chairs. I didn't try to count how many were there. I estimate there were over two hundred.

Near the door there was a book for the guests to sign. Along the wall several tables displayed photos and other memorablia such as membership cards. There was a copy of an article that appeared in The Library of Congress newsletter at the time Sarah joined John and Ellie to complete their family.

There was a computer driven photo show on a screen on the opposite wall.

I sat at a table next to the mayor of Boonsboro during the remembrance ceremony.

Mrs. Murto opened the ceremony by welcoming the attendees.

Three members of the American Legion did the military honors. First one of the men play the bugle. I couldn't tell if he really played or if they used a recording. Next they moved to the front of the room where they folded a United States flag that was laying across a table. After the folding ritual they presented the flag to Mrs. Murto.

A gentleman, whose name I didn't catch, said a long prayer that he had written for John. I found it quite moving.

After the prayer the guests were invited to partake of the food displayed beautifully on two tables, one for the meat to make sandwiches and one for the attractive and very tasty deserts. There was even one decorated in red, white, and blue.

Before going to get something to eat I spent a few minutes talking separately with both Ellie and Sarah. It was the first time I'd met them. I told Ellie that I had come as Roland Nelson's surrogate. Ellie said she'd like to remain on the Email lists.

When I got to the end of the food table I saw Bill Hamilton getting a couple of drinks. He was there with his wife, Mary. Bill made several trips to visit John during his illness. After Bill delivered a drink to Mary he came to the table where I was eating We talked about the visits to see John, about our health and a little about when Bill was a member of my Bill Digest programming team. Bill suggested that we meet for lunch sometime at The Red Lobster near my house. I wrote my new Email address on my business card and gave it to Bill so we can work out the details via Email. I'm reasonably certain that Bill and I were the only Library of Congress employees there.

Mr. Dickie
17/May/2010 13:52

John Murto Obituary

John Murto obituary:

"John Michael Murto, age 64, of Boonsboro, Maryland passed away early on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at his home surrounded by his loving family."

John Murto was one of my co-workers at the Library of Congress. For a time we both worked on the Bill Digest project.

Mr. Dickie

Genealogy Project

It's easy to become addicted to the adrenaline of conflict and chaos. (Stephen Arterburn and Pam Farrel, Devotions For Women On The Go, 15 January)

It is disappointing to depend on people, for often their help never comes. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-by-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 42)

People don't look at what happens to others in the same way as what happens to themselves. (His Miracles, Day 51)

******

I'm trying to find my copy of the 1870 census of Monroe county, Ohio. At some point I must have put it in a cardboard box. Now I can't find the box. It's another message about clutter. I did find several boxes in the shed that contain notebooks that I need to review and clean out. I also discovered a box in the basement with some interesting pages of genealogy information that I copied years ago at The Library of Congress.

Yesterday Facebook sent me a message that my genealogy friend, Susan was a member. I sent her a message to find out if it was really her. She responded. Last night we were going through the step of becoming FB friends. I have no idea how Facebook determined we might know each other. That's a little scary.

I worked on a project yesterday to see if I could extract information about the Atkinson family from my Yoho genealogy file. I created a GEDCOM file from my PAF file. Then I spent a couple of hours editing the GEDCOM before I loaded the data into a new RootsMagic file. There were 773 individuals and 275 marriages in the GEDCOM file. I was able to salvage 769 records and 272 marriages. Once the file was loaded into RootsMagic I was able to produce a Modified Register report of 100 pages. It was interesting to see how many different researchers shared their information with me over the years. I've more or less accepted that the best way to convert from PAF to RootsMagic is by extracting the information from the old file in small pieces.

Mr. Dickie
13/Mar/2010 8:39

TSA: Dumb as Ever | The Agitator

TSA: Dumb as Ever | The Agitator

I thought about writing something like this to post to my blog. This piece says it better than I could have said it.

At least the government provides us with some neck muscle exercise as we shake our heads from side to side.

This reminds me of what happened years ago at The Library of Congress. The policy was to let outside researchers work in areas with little or no surveillance by staff members. Books and artwork from books kept disappearing. Finally to stop the theft, management decided to no longer allow members of the staff access to the stacks. As far as I can remember no case of theft was ever brought against a member of the library staff.

Mr. Dickie

Phone Calls

The purpose of your life is not to do as the majority does, but to live according to the inner law which you understand in yourself. Do not act against your conscience or against the truth. Live like this, and you will fulfill the task of your life. (Marcus Aurelius in A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy, 23 October)

Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was. (Richard L. Evans in One More Day by Sefra Kobrin Pitzele, 16 October)

The educated person sins greatly if he continues to behave in a way he knows is wrong. (Anonymous in A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy, 24 September)

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I'm behind one day in my daily reading. It seems as soon as I catch up I'm willing to slack off the next day. I think today is the 298th day of the year. I need to stay on top of my reading program if I am going to finish all of the books on the last day of the year. I've already set aside two stacks of books that I want to read in 2010.

This morning I had a nice long phone conversation with one of my former co-workers from The Library of Congress. I'm trying to remember to take advantage of the fact that we now have unlimited long distance calling. During the week I called, Jo, my long friend in genealogy. We also keep in touch via Email.

I've been reading some of the accounts about the Vietnam tours of duty written by members of the 1099th Transportation Company (Medium Boat). I'm impressed. I don't think I had much of an idea about what was going on in this unit while I was in Vietnam. I take my hat off to all of the men who served in that unit.

Mr. Dickie

Future Trip

Photo: Miraflores Locks - Panama Canal (Artist - Juan Rodriguez)

We each write our own life script, although we're all actors in a collaborative effort. Every single one of us is the central player in our own comedy. (Vanceberg and Silverman, Family Feelings, 29 August)

... my attitude dictates the way I experience the world. (Courage to Change, 30 August)

Yesterday I wrote out a description of my travel plans for a trip I'm taking at the end of the month. My daughter, Cyndi, and I are going to Omaha, NE. She will be there on business and I will be visiting relatives and friends. I'm also going to drive to Wichita, KS to visit my college roommate and his wife. Email makes it very convenient to share information quickly.

I received news of the retirements and illnesses of several people I used to work with at The Library of Congress. It is so sad when retirements are prompted by serious illness. It always gives me pause for reflection.

Mr. Dickie