Author: Shelly

Genealogy, Music

Happy Accidents

Shelly

One of the things that makes genealogical research difficult is transcription errors. I think I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I’ve got a wonderful visual example of what I’m talking about, so I thought I’d share. Also, it’s a minor triumph. I spent four hours last night trying to connect up a couple of stray Basquills. I wasn’t entirely successful, but in the process, I stumbled across the 1871 English census for a family I’d given up on. Huzzah!

So, without further ado, I’d like to introduce y’all to Rennie and Eline Basguel. Or, rather, Denis and Ellen Basquill. For a start, the enumerator bolloxed up Ellen’s first name. And then, for good measure, the transcriber turned Dennis into Rennie and Basquil into Basguel.

1871 England Census

Denis is my great-great-great uncle, by the way (Walter’s elder brother). He and Ellen Carney were married in Forkfield, County Mayo, on 15 April 1862. They emigrated to England by 1871, then to the US (Denis came over in 1883 and Ellen brought the children in 1890). The family finally settled in Fall River, Massachusetts. (Yes, the home of Lizzie Borden. I wonder what they, as newcomers to this country, made of her parents’ murders?)

I’ve filed corrections with Ancestry.com, and they ought to show up in the next few days. In the meantime, I’m delighted with this minor accidental victory.

Crankypantsing

Pee Ess

Shelly

Gas was $3.75/gallon this morning. That was for cheap-o 87. There’s some speculation that it could soon be up to $10/gallon, which would put it in line with European gas prices. Aieee! I mean, I know we’ve had it good in the US, in terms of gas prices, and that folks in the rest of the world are tired of hearing us whinge about it. The thing is, this gas prices here are suddenly making a quantum leap, and we do not have the infrastructure or the wage base to support such a sharp rise in fuel costs.

And it’s not just the price of the gas I put in my car, either. In the past month, prices have gone up on almost everything at the grocery store, because of the increase in transportation costs. And my heating bill nearly doubled last winter, even though my heat is electric and Duke get its electricity mainly from coal, not petroleum.

As for the gas that goes in my car, it sucks that the price is going up, but it’s not the end of the world. I use a little over a gallon of gas a week. Even at $10/gallon, it won’t kill me. The ripple effect, however, will.

Photography

R.I.F.

Shelly

Reading is fundamental, folks. Seriously.

In other news, my tax rebate arrived yesterday, so I did my part to stimulate the economy by buying a toy lens for my camera. Also file folders, light bulbs, and cat food. Exciting, eh? The rest is going to pay bills.

The lens is the Lensbaby I tried to buy a few months ago. I ordered it through a 3rd party and received the wrong mount for my camera, so I sent it back. Instead of replacing it with the correct one, they credited the charge back to my card, and I decided to be a grown up and spend the money on bills instead of re-ordering. I already have the Lensbaby macro kit. At some point, I’ll need to get a wide angle/telephoto kit, too. Those run $89.

Lensbabies have a fixed aperture, which you can manually swap out (I think the one I bought comes with three different aperture sizes). They also sell pre-cut fun aperture shapes (hearts, stars, etc.) as well blanks that you can cut yourself.

Anyway, my Lensbaby is shipping USPS (free!). I hope it gets here soon, because the wait might just killerate me.

My Garden, Photography

Watching the storm start to form

Shelly

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When I left for work this morning, there was a bank of clouds starting to move in from the west. There was still enough clear sky in the east at sunrise for the windows across from me to sparkle, but it was pretty hazy and you can see the clouds starting to pile up in the northwest. As the day progressed, the clouds thickened, and this afternoon, the wind picked up just before the rain started.

It ended up being a non-event, storm-wise, but the rain was welcome. My little seedlings are just starting to stick their heads above ground. I was getting worried, because the soil is heavy and full of clay. I wasn’t sure they’d be able to force their way up.

Crankypantsing, Videos

Gobsmacked

Shelly

Remember that Web 2.0 assignment I mentioned doing for work? The one where we had to create a fakety fake blog? Well, everyone who finished the assignment got to go to a pizza party today. I didn’t go, because spending my break time socializing with coworkers is not exactly my idea of a reward. Not that I dislike my coworkers or anything, but I’d rather not spend my time at staff parties because they–staff parties–make me cranky.

Anyway, I guess they did a brief Power Point demonstration with shots from everyone’s fakety fake blogs. One of the shots contained a still of a YouTube video of someone’s kid. The folks who did the presentation sent a follow-up e-mail later this afternoon, with a link to the actual video, suggesting that we might need “an afternoon laugh.”

I made the mistake of watching it. Since it was ostensibly work related (and humorous!), I figured it ought to be pretty benign, right? Oh my. The video was of a kid crying and whining about having to eat a green bean. And then he vomits. And then the dad says, “Oh shit!”

WTF?!!!

On the other hand, it may be the best illustration I’ve seen of why kids shouldn’t be forced to eat things they’re vehemently opposed to. I mean, really, what the hell was accomplished by trying to make the kid eat a green bean? And is that a hill you want to die on?

My Garden, Photography

More Violets

Shelly

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I like these better than the last violet photo I took. The top one is one of those “set the camera on the ground and cross your fingers” photos. The bottom one has some funky lens distortion, but I kind of like it that way.

There are literally thousands and thousands of little violets out back–way more than there were last spring.

In garden news, the coreopsis and daisies are in the ground. So far, all the transplants from my coworker are perfectly happy. It’s like they didn’t even realize they were moved.

And, another coworker offered me starts from some of her plants, as well. I feel kind of like a junkie with two dealers.