This Is What I Do Want

Elise Smithmyer of By & By singing lead

Photo By Mr. Dickie

It's OK to notice what you don't want, because it gives you contrast to say, "This is what I do want." But the fact is, the more you talk about what you don't want, or talk about how bad it is, read about that all the time, and then say how terrible it is - well, you're creating more of that.
(Jack Canfield in The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, p. 144)

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Yesterday I finished searching all of the Notes in my Conger genealogy file for people named Conger who had the data tag "AKA:".  This is part of a project to put Nicknames into the Nickname field in RootsMagic.

I also remembered to download my "free" music from the county library Freegal service.  The weekly allotment of five songs is reset on Monday.  I selected some songs from The Essential Mary Chapin Carpenter album.

A few times lately I've been preparing my blog posts the night before I want them to post. Then I don't feel so pressured in the mornings to type something to post.

Dick Henthorn

8 September 2014

Good Books

Little Free Library at University Park, MD

Photo by Mr. Dickie

Good books are as friends, willing to give to us if we are willing to make a little effort.
(Gordon B. Hinckley, Stand A Little Taller, 16 January)

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I'm working on a project to extract Nicknames from the Notes of my Conger genealogy file.  RootsMagic defines a Nickname field. It's a slow process.

Mr. Dickie

6 September 2014

Getting Ready

A doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
(The One Year Book Of Bible Readings, 18 October

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The hoses to the old washer were frozen on the water cutoff valves over the laundry sink.  Early this morning we had two plumbers here for an hour replacing the old valves. After they cut out the old valves one of them tried to remove one of the hoses.  He couldn't do it and I couldn't do it the other day.  I would have freaked out had I discovered this problem during the delivery of the new washer. I consider myself very lucky that I noticed this problem before deliver of the new washer which is scheduled for tomorrow.  The three of us are looking forward to being able to do the laundry in our own house again after many weeks. Deciding which washer to buy has been a long and tedious process.

I let some duplicate records get into one of my genealogy files.  It's a lot easier to import duplicates than it is to find and eliminate them.  I think the problem manifested because so many of the families in the source file are related.  In the course of working on the problem I've learned more about how to use RootsMagic.

Dick Henthorn

27 August 2014

Coming Or Going

You can tell a lot about which direction your life is heading by looking at the people with whom you've chosen to spend your time and share your ideas. Their values and priorities impact the way you think and act. (John C. Maxwell, Leadership, 11 April)

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I've been working on a genealogy project. I'm using the project to help me learn more about how to use version five of my genealogy program, RootsMagic, which is installed on my laptop computer. I rekeyed most of the information in the 1959 genealogy document, The Amos Tree, of Roy Lee and Norma (Latham) Henthorn into the program. Then I added information from the PAF 2.31 version of my William Henthorn file. I prepared and posted to the Internet a Register report for Robert Henthorn, the father of Amos Henthorn. I'm pleased with the payback from the project.

26 June 2013

Holistic Health

There are a few [medical practitioners] who are beginning to look seriously at the prospects for behavioral medicine and methods of teaching people to think, feel, and behave in healthy ways, from the very beginning of their lives. (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Sky's The Limit, p. 27) 15 January 2013

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Serif

Yesterday I installed the Serif program, WebPlus X5 on my computer.  I purchased the prior version at a discount from Serif.  This is a WYSIWYG HTML editor used to create and maintain web pages.

RootsWeb/FreePages

I received notification from RootsWeb that my request for FreePages web space has been approved.  My goal is to learn how to use this hosted genealogy space to post some of my genealogy data that was available on AOL prior to the fall of 2008.

Goals

My goals for 2013 are ambitious and the learning curve may be steep.

1. Master the use of the following programs:

• RootsMagic 5
• PhotoPlus X4
• PagePlus X5
• WebPlus X5

    2.  Create a website in the RootsWeb FreePages space.

Mr. Dickie

15 January 2013

What Works

When we do what works why are we so surprised that it works? 

(Rev. David Stier in Believing In Myself by Larsen and Hegarty, 9 December)

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Yesterday I ordered, downloaded and installed version five of the Roots Magic genealogy program on the new Toshiba laptop. Before yesterday there was no genealogy program on the new computer. In the days ahead I will be setting up the folders for the new program and moving the genealogy files from version three of Roots Magic on the old desktop computer. I'm looking forward to being able to once again share the work I did in the past. It's also going to be fun to try out some of the features of the program that I wasn't able to use in the past. If health and interest hold up in 2012 I should be able to accomplish some interesting genealogy projects. I'll keep you posted on my genealogy blogs.

Mr. Dickie

9 January 2012

Pastor Keith Marston

I will apply what I learn to my everyday life. (One Day At A Time in Al-Anon, 4 January)

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Yesterday morning I went to Silver Spring, MD to hear Pastor Keith Marston preach for the first time. We have known Keith since he was born. He grew up living in the house next door to us. He is assistant pastor at a storefront church located on Fenton Street in downtown Silver Spring.

I'm working on some edits to my Conger file. I added Copyright notices to the records that could potentially be the first person in reports I plan to produce from my RootsMagic file. I notice that some records still needed work on the notes to correct a word wrap issue. I thought I'd eliminated this problem.

Mr. Dickie
17/Jan/2011 9:08

Bookmarking With Delicious

This is a brand new shining day and I have it in my power to make it a good one just by the way I think about it and what I do with it. (One Day At A time In Al-Anon, 23 November)

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I'm starting to gather the books I want to read next year in my daily reading program. I hope I can find the ones I stored in the basement.

Yesterday I added a few bookmarks to my Delicious bookmark collection. It had been some time since I added four bookmarks on the same day. These pointed to obituaries for members of my Henthorn family. I also included the obituaries in my RootsMagic genealogy file. If you are a member of my maternal or paternal family and have information about recent events that should be added to the genealogy file, I'd like to hear from you.

Delicious

Mr. Dickie
28/Nov/2010 8:52

Detachment

Detachment is one of life's great lessons for those on the path of enlightenment. (Dr. Wayne Dyer, Staying On The Path, p. 175)

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Yesterday I backed up a copy of the RootsMagic Conger file on my hard drive and a copy of the GEDCOM that created the RootsMagic file to a Zip disk. I'm still finding "notes" that need the word wrap edits. One way to spot them is to create a modified register report and then visually examine the report. I'm now into the second month of my GEDCOM edit project. I'm hopeful that I will be able to sustain my interest in the project until it's complete. At this point I could share information if someone makes a request.

Mr. Dickie

Keeping Silent

Even a fool is thought wise if he keep silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue. (Proverbs 17:28, in The Word On Life, Toni Sortor and Pamela McQuade, 11 July)
20/Jul/2010 12:12

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The yellow finch is visiting this morning. The pair only comes to our yard when they can eat the seeds of the coneflowers.

I swapped all six CDs in Melva's car this morning. One of them was a CD of Vincente Fernandez that I purchased a while back. I had to take it out of the shrink wrap.

One of my Library friends on Facebook suggested that I become friends with another co-worker. I noticed he lives in North Carolina.

I'm still busy working on my Conger GEDCOM edit project. I still can't tell how many more hours of work will be necessary. The idea is to made changes which will result in a much better looking product once the data is loaded into RootsMagic.

Mr. Dickie
20/Jul/2010 12:17

This and That

You can't live a long time and not have trouble.
(Daily Guideposts - 1986, 27 June)

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It's going to be very hot today. We are now in the fifth day of water usage restrictions. We will probably lose some of our plants before this is all over.

Yesterday former co-worker, Noel, called from Florida. I enjoyed the conversation.

I bought another CD with photographs. This one is from National Geographic. I also got a nice Reba McIntire CD - Love Revival.

I'm working on a big genealogy edit project. I'm making changes to my Conger GEDCOM file that I want to load into RootsMagic. I expect to be working on the project for several weeks.

Mr. Dickie
6/Jul/2010 8:08

Who Needs It?

The Quakers say, "of your unspoken words, you are the master; of your spoken words, the servant; of your written words, the slave." (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 103)

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I'm working on a project to convert a GEDCOM file of a Mozena genealogy to format suitable for loading into the RootsMagic genealogy program. It's a time consuming process. This time I used the GEDWRAP program first to see if it will work to eliminate the word wrap problem. It worked after a fashion. I'm still not convinced that this is the answer. Basically trying to convert PAF 2.31 files for use with RootsMagic version three isn't much fun.

A friend of ours came by late yesterday afternoon to pick up things Melva and I gathered to donate to them to sell at the flea markets. We are grateful that they were willing to help us eliminate more clutter.

Mr. Dickie
20/Apr/2010 8:03

Recycling

No one wants to admit they gave so much time, energy, or attention to the wrong person or that they did it for the wrong reasons. Often the fear of being wrong will render us dumb or blind to the very thing we must see - the person is no longer right in our lives. (Iyanla Vanzant, Faith in the Valley, p. 333)

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Early this morning, right after I got dressed, I went out to the shed to bring two boxes of First Day Cover magazines out to the recycle bin that I placed at the curb last night. This is going to be a good week for recycling and clutter reduction. It's the second time I filled the new recycle bin. It's huge and when it's full it's very heavy. Each box took up about one cubic foot of space.

It's time to come to grips with getting the tax reports filled out. I'm planning to hire the CPA out on Route 450 to do most of the work.

I'm working on a project to recover the Henthorn/Kyger genealogy data from a GEDCOM file I prepared years ago for another researcher. I came up with some new techniques which seem to improve the quality of the new RootsMagic file. It looks like there will be enough information to create a 200-page modified register report.

Mr. Dickie
30/Mar/2010 9:00

Our Present

Become free to immerse yourself in this moment - the "now" that's called the "present" - because it's simply that - a present to open, relish, nurture, play with, and enjoy and explore. (Dr. Wayne Dyer, 10 Secrets For Success and Inner Peace, p. 75)

I choose friends who bring me strength and joy, whose qualities magnify my life. (Betty J. Eadie, Embraced By The Light, 10 March)

What if the only thing you ever threw away, was your life? (TLC show about hoarding, 28 March 2010

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I think I have come up with a way to use EditPad Lite to help me with the word wrap problem in the notes of genealogy data I stored in Personal Ancestral File. The problem is that each line of note text is stored as a separate line when loaded into RootsMagic. The line tags in the GEDCOM files need modification. Some of the "2 CONT " tags need to be changed to "2 CONC ". The CONT tag is followed by one blank and the 2 CONC tag is followed by two blanks before the start of the text of the note.

Last night I watched one episode of the new TLC show about hoarding. Hoarding is a very strong compulsion that is almost impossible to eliminate. It's upsetting to learn more about it, especially if we have family or friends who suffer from this malady. In one instance they worked with a lady who wasn't able to throw away much of anything while the show crew was at her house. Apparently she rented a storage container and had that delivered to her driveway while the show was filming.

Mr. Dickie
29 Mar 2010

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has sprung,
The grass is riz,
Where last year's,
Careless driver is.
(Burma Shave)

It is sad when the new generation imitates the sins of the old generation. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 34)

The secret is to substitute the positive for the negative. (One Day At A Time in Al-Anon, 25 January)

All it takes is one determined person who refuses to let the good times be forgotten. (Toni Sortor and Pamela McQuade, The Word On Life, 9 January)

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First day of Spring yesterday. We went immediately from winter to summer. I turned on the air conditioner late in the afternoon. It was so warm Melva suggested we wash her car. I changed three of the CDs in her car player. We went to Bob Evans to eat an early supper.

I found a 2004 backup floppy of my music catalog. It was in the DBF format with over 2,100 records. I opened the file with Excel and converted it to a comma delimited file (CSV). The CSV file works with my CSVEd program. Once the file was working with CSVEd I keyed 87 new records for CDs I purchased in the last couple of years. There's still lots more work to do because I either lost many records or never created records for several hundred other CDs I created when I had a working CD recording machine.

I'm working on an Atkinson genealogy project. I'm gathering information about this family from several sources. The goal is to consolidate all of the information in one new RootsMagic file.

Mr. Dickie
21/Mar/2010 9:37

Let's Get Started

To effect the quality of the day, that is the highest of acts. (Henry David Thoreau, Walden, p. 117)

Having a baby changes everything. (Johnson and Johnson)

Are you walking on an emotional tightrope? Give an old friend or family member a call. Ask them to pray for you. (After, Devotions for Women on the Go by Stephen Arterburn and Pam Farrel, 15 January)

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Over the weekend I picked up a couple of additional Facebook friends, bringing my total number of friends to one hundred. It's always fun so see who will show up next.

I'm working on a project to extract 1005 Atkinson family records from my Conger file because I want to add them to a new RootsMagic file I'm building. It's lots of work and somewhat upsetting because it reminds me of the fact that I waited too long to convert from the DOS PAF program to a Windows genealogy program.

The recent rain and the melting snow caused flooding along the Potomac yesterday. There's a picture of the cherry trees standing in water on the front page of this morning's newspaper. I believe a spring is flowing under the street that runs in front of our house. At the bottom of the hill there's a big pothole of water, mud and asphalt taking up the lane on the uphill side of the street. It won't be easy to fix.

Mr. Dickie
15/Mar/2010 8:33

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)

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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

Resentment

Anytime you're filled with resentment, you're turning the controls of your emotional life over to others to manipulate. (Dr. Wayne Dyer, 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace, p. 103)

Your resentments literally send God out of your life while you're being offended. (Dr. Wayne Dyer, 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace, p. 112)

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More snow and high winds are predicted. There's still lots of unmelted snow on top of the bushes. The damage to the brittle azaleas will be severe even if no more snow falls.

For no particular reason I have been working on the genealogy of a family just to see what I can put together. My sources are: 1) a book of biographical and genealogical sketches, 2) two descendant charts from an Internet website, and 3) the 1880 census book that I own. I used the source citation feature of RootsMagic for the first time. The RootsMagic PDF document, with name index, for the family is twenty-five pages. Now I need to decide whether to share the work with others.

Mr. Dickie
25/Feb/2010 9:34

Genealogy News

"Man's many desires are like the small coins he carries about in his pocket. The more he has, the more they weigh him down." (Satya Sai Baba in Real Magic by Dr. Wayne Dyer, p. 14)

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Yesterday I posted to my genealogy "News" blog a fairly long piece I compiled about the family of Dr. Jeremiah Walton of Monroe county, Ohio. It included: a short descendant chart; an Ahnentafel chart, three census extractions for Jeremiah along with cemetery data; three census extractions for Richard K. and a biographical sketch; and a biographical sketch for William Vernon. All of the information is available in a file I am creating with the RootsMagic program. It's relatively easy to extract the information from RootsMagic to create such a report.

Mr. Dickie
13/Feb/2010 8:30

Music to My Ears

Music can be a source of great healing - as well as the opposite. I try to avoid music that takes listeners to a place of darkness. I seek out music energized by the power of light and love. (Betty J. Eadie, Embraced by the Light, 19 January, paraphrased by Mr. Dickie)

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Yesterday the book I ordered arrived via USPS Priority Mail in one of those Flat Rate Mailing Envelopes. That's not a good way to ship a book. The envelope was inside a plastic "body bag" bearing a message about how much the postal service cares about delivering our mail in good condition. Luckily when the mailing envelope was ripped open the book was only slightly damaged. By the way the title of the book is "Getting the Most Out of RootsMagic Version 4" by Bruce Buzbee the programmer of this very nice genealogy program. The first thing I noticed when I took a quick look at the contents of the book is a section about how to install the program on a thumb drive. I'm hoping that I'll be able to gain an understanding of how to create my own "Facts" after I read the book.

Mr. Dickie