GRIP 2013 - Wednesday night

In class today we moved on to citations.  We'll be finishing them tomorrow.  This was after the topic of "reasonably exhaustive research."  I'm sure you can imagine the discussion on that topic.  After all, how do you know when enough is enough?  And, no, it's not some magic number. 

There are four couples attending GRIP this year.  They even were recognized in our daily newsletter.  It would be great to have my husband here, but he has his hobbies (and I definitely support them) because he encourages and supports mine (basically genealogy, quilting and reading.)  And while I'd love to have him here, I don't know that I would have really had a chance to get to know Pam, and Kristen, and Hugh, and all of the other wonderful students here at GRIP. 

Because there was no talk speaker scheduled for tonight, a few groups went to the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh to research.  Others are wandering around this beautiful campus.  The weather is beautiful tonight with blue skies and some clouds.  And not too hot or humid.  It's really nice.  Then some of the other students were talking about working on their class projects.  So lots still going on.

I started thinking about GRIP 2014 already.  I haven't found anything yet that I needed that I didn't bring this year.  But next year, I think I'm going to see if I can fit in a fitted twin sheet.  Those flat sheets just don't stay tucked in all night.  Everything else is working fine in my room.  I originally had a problem with the blinds, but those were efficiently fixed.  So, now to decide which class to take next year and then get on the computer and hope that not everyone else wants the same class I decide to take.

One more full day of classes.  The topic for tomorrow night's talk is Divorce records.  Then a half day on Friday, and time for the shuttle to the airport. 

I'll check in tomorrow night.  Have a great day tomorrow.

GRIP 2013 - Tuesday night

Today was a long day, even though it's not THAT late right now. 

I worked hard to understand the differences between types of sources, types of information and types of evidence.  And just as I thought I understood one part I was confused again.  But it wasn't just me.  So I felt a little better about that. 

Tonight, after dinner, Angela Packer McGhie gave two presentations: a short one on preparing for a research trip in Washington, D.C.  What great suggestions she gave; and a wonderful handout.  Her second one was just as good but this was on researching in newspapers.  Again we received a great handout including a checklist that I'm sure we're all going to find invaluable.  Find Angela's blog at this address:

The last part of the meeting was a group watch of Who Do You Think You Are?  Kelly Clarkson was the subject.  Josh Taylor, one of the GRIP instructors, was on the show as was his voice.  What fun to watch with a 100+ "fans".

Something we don't think about when planning on attending institutes is the opportunity to be with others who love to hear about our family stories.  And we get to talk about them, and listen to them, at breakfast, lunch, dinner, breaks, and after dinner.  What fun.  No wonder many of us have our minds racing and have trouble getting to sleep.

Hope to see you all soon.

GRIP 2013 - Monday night

A day of classes followed by an evening talk.  I'm tired.  But I have a few things I want to talk about before all of those pre-bed activities.

I'm in Tom Jones's class on Determining Kinship Reliably with the Genealogical Proof Standard. I'm sitting between Kristen and Eric.  We are in the last row, because we arrived ONLY 15 minutes early.  Oh. well.  The only problem is that many of the students forget that others are sitting behind them and they don't speak up, so it's hard to hear them.  The class is not lecture; it's a college seminar, where everyone is encouraged to contribute.  So it's important for everyone to speak up.

We're using Tom Jones's new book as a guide (although you didn't have to buy the book to take the class.)  We started today discussing what is the GPS and its components.  Then we worked on writing research questions that were not too broad or too specific and also did not make any assumptions.  A few of us heard Dr. Jones ask a few times "Does it matter?" when we came up with a research question that was, perhaps, not as direct as it could have been.  So I think that may be our class motto.

Later we reviewed two articles and identified the type of sources that were used.  For some reason I never thought about the fact that deed books are derivative sources.  We also began discussing the types of information.  These topics are in the book Mastering Genealogical Proof, which is available through NGS.

This evening I heard Michael Hait, CG, speak on "What is a 'Reasonably Exhaustive Search?'"  It was very good.  Michael has a great sense of humor and his case study was excellent.  I really liked one of his explanations for WHY we need to become good researchers.  It's because we don't want any "former ancestors."  As he explained it, those are the people who we thought were in our tree and then we found out, perhaps after hours of research, that they aren't a part. 

Another idea that I may need to post above my computer at home is this: "Don't tailor research to what's available; tailor research to what you want to know."  Too often I forget to look at library catalogs, archives' websites, and other possible locations for sources.  This is a good reminder for me.

Hope you all had a good day.  It's that time for me.  My goal is to write tomorrow.  We'll see.  It's going to be a busy night, what with a talk and then the new WDYTYR on after that.

GRIP 2013 - The 2014 Classes

Last night I promised that I'd post the 2014 GRIP classes as soon as I had accurate info.  Well, here it is.  And.  OH.  How difficult it's going to be to make a choice.

Intermediate Genealogy:  Tools for Digging Deeper - Paula Stuart-Warren. CG, FMGS, FUGA 

Determining Kinship with the Genealogical Proof Standard - Thomas W Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS.

Becoming an Online Expert:  Mastering Search Engines and Digital Archives - D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS

Finding and Documenting African-American Families - J. Mark Lowe, CG, and Dr. Deborah Abbott

Practical Genetic Genealogy - Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, CGL;  CeCe Moore, and Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., JD

Law School for Genealogists - Judy G Russell, JD, CG, CGL and Richard G "Rick" Sayre, CG, CGL

I didn't write detailed course descriptions.  This info will be in the GRIP website in the near future.  But aren't these wonderful?  So, which one will you be taking?

Oh, yes.  The dates are July 20-25, 2014 and REGISTRATION opens on 12 February 2014.

See you in Pittsburgh a year from now.

GRIP 2013 - Sunday Intros and Dinner

Dinner with friends.  Lots of friends.  Yes, we're at LaRoche College in Pittsburgh for the GRIP Sunday night dinner and orientation.  It was great seeing some friends from last year.  I'm really looking forward to talking with some others since I saw them across the room.  And I believe that Elissa said that  about one-third of this year's attendees were also here last year.  

 

I met Tina Lyons before dinner and we sat together.  She's the amazing lady who has been working hours and hours working on the FGS conference that begins just one month from today.  She has been the primary blogger on the FGS conference blog.  I'm so glad she can take a week off from her busy schedule to come to this. 

Susan and Stephen also ate with us.  They were both here last year and they are from West Virginia.  Sarah also came by.  She's my across-the-hall dorm friend from Texas.  She not only stops for cemeteries, she stops for old bridges (as part of her job.)  Can you believe?

Becky and Shelley filled out our table tonight. I didn't talk as much with them as they were at the other end.  But there will be lots of time, and many more meals.

Here are our "fearless leaders": the two ladies who had the idea of GRIP and who take very good care of us for the week we are here. Debbie Deal is on the left and Elissa Powell is on the right.  Thank you very much, ladies. 

 

LaRoche College was generous with door prizes again.  I  really wanted the mascot for my dorm room.

But the biggest news for the night was the announcement of next year's classes.  Unfortunately I was unable to get all of the correct information; so I'll wait to post until I have it.  But you will be pleased to know that of the six classes, two are similar to this year's and last year.  I believe two instructors who are here this year are working on new courses for 2014 and two courses are completely new with new instructors.  Decisions!  Decisions!!

It really rained during dinner and while Debbie and Elissa were talking.  But Elissa assured us that the weather was going to be nice for us.  And, guess what?  It stopped raining before we left the dining hall to walk back to the dorm.  I hope all of her predictions are "right on" like this one was.

I'm still having a little trouble connecting to the internet; at least through google.  But I found a way to get to blogger anyway, so that's why you can see this post.  I hope I can continue to do it this way, since it works. 

I'm going to look over the notebook with tomorrow's class information and do a little catching up on some other stuff.  But I expect to be here tomorrow night, although I'll be later.  There's going to be a great talk by Michael Hait:  What is a "reasonably exhaustive search?"  See you tomorrow.

GRIP 2013 - Saturday Travel Day

I'm in Pittsburgh.  I flew from Phoenix this morning on a FULL flight.  But we landed about 5 minutes early even though the last 90 minutes we had the seat belt on because of turbulence.  But it wasn't too bad.

I'm at the Econo Lodge in Wexford.  The room is clean; the beds seem comfortable; the staff are friendly and helpful.  With free internet, I'm writing this blog.  There is a nice little table and two chairs next to it so that even two of us could use computers at the same time.  That's great. 

I had dinner at the King's Restaurant next door.  Because of traveling all day (leaving at 9 am and getting in at 4:35 due to time differences), I wasn't really hungry for dinner, but I knew I had to eat.  And so I had 4 glasses of iced tea along with a light dinner.  I'd come back to these two places again. 

I am hoping that I will see someone tomorrow morning or early afternoon and get a ride to LaRoche College.  Otherwise, I'll call a taxi and meet all of you there.

Hope everyone else had a good day traveling today or they have a good day traveling tomorrow.  I'm really looking forward to the week, although I'm not sure how comfortable I'll be with the humidity.

See you all tomorrow.

Shopping Saturday - J C Penney

Shopping isn't what it used to be.  While I don't shop much anymore, I've almost always relied on J C Penney's for some basic items.  In the past few years, as many of us know, the store changed.  And it's changing again, trying to "win back" some of us who didn't fit into their new customer profile. 

With these changes, I started thinking about the J C Penney when I was little.  What do you remember?

I remember loving to go shopping at J C Penney in Arcadia, California, with my mother and/or grandmother.  No, the shopping wasn’t the best part.  The greatest fun was watching the tubes run on the cables in the ceiling. 

The cashier was upstairs in the back corner.  At the service desks, the sales clerk wrote up a receipt, took the money from the customer, and put both in the tube.  Then, up and away!!  To the cashier.  A few minutes later the change came back down, the merchandise was then bagged and we were off. 

I don’t know when this method was phased out.  However, imagine my surprise to find cables and tubes in a store.  While my husband and I were in Canada.  (We lived there from 1999 to 2001) we went to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue for breakfast one summer Saturday morning.  After eating we decided to “window” shop.  I believe the store’s name was G D’Aoust.  We went into this department store and there were the cables again.  And, they were still being used.

We walked up the wide, well-worn wood steps to the half balcony, to view the merchandise as well as the little “office” used by the cashier.  What fun and what great memories!!