Wed Feb 27 2008

The month of February gets shorter every year. I successfully completed the first half of my movies from my 2006 Mongolia trip. I used Roxio Easy Media Creator software and had a difficult time creating it. I included video, photographs, narration, background music, native music, graphics / subtitles. It was a lot to ask my 2004 PC computer with only 1 GB ram to handle the movie of 1 hr and 15 minute length. After many hang-ups/crashes I kind of learned to "save" every few minutes and endure the wait. I took a great many days to research the history of Mongolia since the time of Gengis Khan, and presented it in a condense 15 minutes at the start of the movie. I did all this work in order to make the presentation at our Honolulu Adventurers' Club at the Waialae Country Club (see photo at right). Sixty-five people attended the evening which included a $20-$25 dinner. So I was happy the movie, in the form of a DVD, was able to run on the DVD player and projector and used the house sound system. Sooo now that that's done I thought about doing the last have i.e. editing down the last 3 hours of raw videotape, etc. and I bought a new video editing software called Sony Vegas Movie Studio. Well, that's a whole 'nother can of worms to learn, but I think it will work. I'm going to give myself a break from video editing for a month or so.

After Feb 7th I had time to work a few days at Honolulu Hale, the City Hall, to televise the City Council Meetings. I've continued to work out diligently at the gym, and have finally seen the scale move in a downward direction! One day at the gym I saw Dog The Bounty Hunter's son and asked him if it were true that the series was going back on A & E. He was very polite and nice, and said that it was true and they were expecting the film crew in a week. So I'll be glad to see it back on TV.

It is whale season in Hawaii and I walked out to the nearby Makapu'u Lighthouse with Lucille, to get some exercise, sun and see the whales that were off shore. It was a beautiful day, and so clear we could see Moloka'i and Lana'i. There were many whales, and their blows and tail fins were quite visible from our lofty viewpoint. At one point a baby whale was seen to be apparently learning how to breech. At the left is a photo I took early in the month just at sunrise, being able to look eastward across the Ka'iwi Channel to the island of Moloka'i and seeing also Lana'i. The closest Oahu is to Moloka'i is 26 miles.

I attended the preview at the Honolulu Academy of Arts of "The Dragon's Gift" arts and dances of the country of Bhutan (see photo of masked dancer on left). It was very enjoyable and beautiful. I haven't been to Bhutan, but it has similarities to Tibet. Unfortunately I slipped a tiny bit on my shoes and strained the muscles or ligaments on the outside of my right foot. That was enough to side-line me from walking or going to the gym for 48 hours as I let it heal. I had to miss a much anticipated shoreline "hike" up on North Shore near Turtle Bay to Kahuku, but I didn't want to chance the rough terrain. The foot is doing well.

I've gotten back to my genealogy and really enjoy searching around on the internet, especially ancestry.com. I've talked to cousins Dorothy and Don, in Iowa, about our Hague family and have been able to collaborate quite a bit.

Speaking of talking, a fantastic resource that has been around a while, but I just finally got gumption enough to try, is telephoning over the internet. I think it's called VOIP. I downloaded a program from the internet called Gizmo Project. It is really terrific to use. I put up $10 credit at the website and can use that credit to telephone around the world. Because I have my Rees cousins in England and Wales I have used it. At 2 cents per minute we can talk an hour for almost less than mailing a letter. I love the GizmoProject. I use a headset that plugs into the USB slot and can talk without needing my hands or worrying about bending over the microphone that came with my computer. I've also called my friend Bonnie in Nanton, Canada.

I watched a video on RootswebTV.com that GenealogyGuys.com created and wrote a little feedback to them saying how much I liked it "Down Under: Florida" about a story they researched from a tombstone in Florida (see photo at right). I asked about what the technicalities were in its production. I was quite surprised, when listening to their podcast, that they mention receiving the comments from "Donna in Hawaii" and talked about 20 minutes about their video creation. I was so absorbed by the whole discussion - and hearing my name every few minutes - that I sped up on the elliptical machine to 70 rpms and expended an all time high number of calories -- and almost effortlessly. It was a good distraction!

A neighbor had a big moving sale and I ended up with four rugs, one big Indich rug and three little rugs. That then prompted a surge of house cleaning, but not before a fun afternoon in Manoa Valley: I was invited to "High Tea" with my Army friend Julia Maguire's sister, Emely, and her daughter, Karin, at the Salvation Army's Wailoi Tea Room in Manoa Valley. We had a delectable selection of scones, breads, sandwiches, and deserts, plus a big selection of fresh teapot brewed teas. Our photo is on the right.

July 9, 2007

July 9th, 2007 - Monday - St. George, Utah
Even though we didn't have a door-lock, I wasn't concerned with the pick-up truck being stolen in the nice lot behind the College Inn here in beautiful St. George. But bright and early on Monday morning I called the GMC dealer, and got a 10 am appointment for repair of the door lock. But first things first - we walked a couple blocks to the "Bear Paw" cafe and had a great breakfast. The historic downtown St George is quite nice and interesting. There was a lot of water flowing down the gutters, and later I learned that people watered their yards with irrigation water that is turned over to the individuals at a specific time and day... just like the farms. The GMC dealer was easily found by 10 am. $195 and two hours later we were happily back in the pick-up with a new door handle/lock and a secure vehicle. After that we drove over to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum and historic house for a tour. I've never seen so many old "crayon" portraits of people assembled in one place. These are the portraits that were made before enlarging of photographs became practical. Evidently the negative image is put on heavy paper or a card stock and enlarged, but the details of the portrait had to be drawn in with a type of "crayon" to look sharp and clear. Anyway, there were a lot of old pioneer items to discover.

Next door is the historic Washington County Court House which is now the Chamber of Commerce offices. But upstairs the old court room is waiting for a jury, the same as in yesteryear. After we had a bite to eat at the Inn, we took a lady and her grandson with us, to the Rosensbruch World Wildlife Museum. It is a really large scale exhibit of 300 species of animals from all over the world that have been "stuffed." Not that seeing these animals alive isn't a better idea, but there is a connection with the World Wildlife Fund and efforts to preserve the various species. Interestingly there were huge mountain sheep or Algari (?) from Mongolia that were amazing. I didn't see any of those when I was in Mongolia - of course I was mostly in the Gobi area, where it's the camels that roam around. We returned to the Elderhostel group for dinner at the Gardner Center at Dixie State College followed by orientation to our week - Everyone introduced themselves - It looks like a great group. Then the paleontologist gave an introduction also, but Braden figured he already knew everything the paleontologist said. At this time the final count was taken to see who wasn't going to go horse riding at Bryce Canyon next Friday. For some reason Braden decided he hated horse riding, but after much persuasion he agreed to it, and then they rushed out to get in 20 minutes of swimming in before the pool closed at 10 pm.
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July 8th, 2007 Sunday - Las Vegas, Nevada to St. George, Utah
I let the kids sleep late after getting to bed just before 2am. After a continental breakfast at Super 8 Motel we loaded up the pick-up truck (which thankfully was still parked where I left it, and was in good condition, minus the missing door lock). The first thing on the agenda was to drive downtown to the Las Vegas City Hall to file a police report about the "tampering and injuring of a vehicle." It was already very hot, and poor Emily was elected to remain in the truck to guard our suitcases in the back, and lock the doors from the inside. We parked in the covered city parking structure, but it was still hot. Braden and I went inside and waited an hour to begin the police interview to file the report. I must say, they were thorough. The interviewer said that he had heard of the death of my brother last October. My brother, Dick Hague, was retired from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department and was a CSI type. He was a Crime Scene Analyst.

Finally we arrived at Chris' house and then took two cars to visit Dick's grave at Palm Cemetery. Little two-year old Michael knew his way to the grave site and ran ahead to find it. The headstone Chris had selected looked very nice. We returned to Chris' house and all the nephews were there: Jim, Joe, Rich, and Ryan.

At last we had to leave and make our way up to Utah. We left Las Vegas at about 4:30 pm and the temperature was 117 degrees!! We drove up a very uninhabited highway I-15 towards Salt Lake City. Out of boredom we stopped at Gardener, NV for some ice cream and learned that I-15 was closed due to brush fires. Luckily we didn't have to go as far as where the fires were. 682 miles after we left Sierra Vista, AZ, we arrived at St. George, Utah. Utah in summer is sizzling, or from the news, it's burning. Brush fires abound. We could see smoke rise to the south. St George is laid out like many Mormon Utah cities, in the grid pattern. So we found 123 South 100 East St. - the College Inn of Dixie State College - where our Elderhostel Intergenerational program is based. We found our college dormitory-type rooms with keys left in an envelope at the reception desk. Each room had a private bathroom. There are 33 in our group and about 44 in a group that is going to the Colorado River. The kids immediately jumped into the swimming pool and we met two other grandmothers/grandkids at the pool who were going on the trips. [see above for July 9th]
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Saturday night - July 7th, 2007 - Sierra Vista, AZ to Las Vegas, NV
The great road adventure from Sierra Vista to Las Vegas started at 9:30 am Saturday with my two grandchildren, Emily (13) and Braden (10). The departure was not a problem, and Scott, luckily, decided that we should have a blue tarp with bungee cords to cover our suitcases in the back of the GMC pick-up truck that I would be driving, so he rushed out and got that. With a fond farewell to Alisa and Scott we got gasoline at $2.97 / gallon and headed to the Interstate to Tucson. It seemed that every mile we traveled north it became hotter and hotter. We left in 83 degrees and it was 111 by the time we got to Tucson, then 116 in Phoenix. Just before Kingman, AZ we made a rest stop and fixed the tarp a little. Too bad we didn't get gas there - at $2.79 / gal as this would be the cheapest we would find gas on the whole trip.

It was quite a treat for the kids and I to see Hoover Dam. I'd seen it before, but it was a first time for the kids and they were properly impressed. We took photos at every observation place, then slowly crossed over the top of the dam and the Colorado River into Nevada. From then it was an easy drive to Las Vegas. Braden saw the "Stratosphere" tower and hotel and restaurant and figured it was the airport control tower. The view from the hills was beautiful.

We found Super 8 motel, checked in and found we had time to see the "Vegas Strip." We stopped by Dick's house and picked up nephew Richie and his wife, Lucy, for a very slow and dramatic drive up and down the famous strip so Emily and Braden could see all the whoop-la. Braden liked the Pirate show as we drove by "Treasure Island" - they both liked to see the roller coaster at "New York, New York." Then we picked up my sister-in-law, Chris, and little great-nephew, Michael, and went to Sam's Town for dinner. By this time the buffet was closed (10 pm) so we had a huge meal at the Mexican restaurant. After dinner we walked around the waterfall area inside Sam's Town, said our goodbyes and went to our respective cars.

Unfortunately the key didn't seem to work in the pick-up door lock, and the door lock cylinder thing eventually fell into the door! Someone had "punched in" the door lock with some tool in an effort to enter the truck. But they failed to enter. (This is the second time my vehicle lock was punched in within the last couple months - first time with my Saturn in Hawaii.) With only one door lock on the vehicle we were unable to get into the truck I called Chris to drive by on their way home, and then called AAA. We were dying of thirst waiting, and finally security told us of a water fountain next to us at the Sam's Town RV Park. That helped the wait. Two hours later the locksmith had arrived, jimmied open the passenger door and we were on our tired way - the one block to Super 8 Motel. I was worried about having to leave the truck unlocked all night, but we couldn't lock it or we'd have to get the locksmith again to open the door. So I parked the truck 20 feet in front of the entrance to the door of the casino that adjoins Super 8 Motel. Braden chose to sleep on the floor, and I was peeking out the window all night to be sure the truck hadn't been stolen. Of course these things happen on the week-end. Quite a start for the first day of our big vacation! [see above for July 8th and 9th]

June 3, 2007

June is here and I am still working on figuring out which cord or cable goes with which electronic gadget. I've finally finished the first cut on the first three hours of the Mongolian adventure, and downloaded the 4th hour of videotape onto the hard drive, and backed it up to my external hard drive. I will have to begin editing that, then download hours 5 and 6 to finish with the video from Mongolia. The Adventurers' Club meeting was held at the Outrigger Canoe Club on Waikiki and the subject was about some of the cities of Europe. The presenters' photography was outstanding and the the food great. I'm editing my Mongolia tapes to do my own presentation in Feb 2008 for the Adventurers' Club.

I've spent some time getting involved with FamilyHistoryLiveOnline.com and have volunteered to give online genealogy classes and genealogy support. I've also connected up online with familyoralhistory.us which has a blog of Family Oral History Using Digital Tools. Susan Kitchens, the host, had a "scanfest" where we could connect using a download of "Gizmo" service. If what I'm saying doesn't make a lot of sense to the reader, well, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me sometimes, either.

Today I was searching on Ancestry.com for Howard Blanding (picture on left) my "3rd cousin once removed" on my Blanding side, of Erie County, NY, and lately living in Florida. He has given me a lot of information about his line in New York, we have a common ancestor in Ebenezer Blanding II, whose father was in the US Revolution. I found his Carey family in all the census back to 1850 and it was quite a challenge with different spellings and different transcribers' interpretations of the name they saw. I didn't find the link back to Ireland for the Carey's, but at least I may have shed a little bit of new light on the Careys. Picture of Howard's grandfather on right - Samuel Love Carey.

Yesterday I drove up to Waipahu, about 45 minutes away, and participated in the Genealogy Workshop at Hawaii's Plantation Village. The village is a wonderful collection of authentic homes and other buildings from the collection of various cultures that lived on the sugar plantations. This day was a chance for different cultures to get help with genealogy: Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Okinawan, Portuguese and our table from the Honolulu County Genealogy Society. It was a fun event and we helped quite a few people. One Japanese-American woman, (and her mother -- both born in Hawaii), didn't know that her mother, was born on the island of Kauai, until we had her fill out a pedigree chart! I think she got the message that she should find out about her 92 yr old mother's life before it is too late.

I've got one month left at home before I fly out to Arizona, Utah, Indiana and Iowa. I bet I won't feel very prepared for the trip by the time comes to leave.

May 14, 2007

My days are filled with discovering more about internet resources for family history and genealogy. Last week I was preparing for Saturday's Honolulu County Genealogy Society meeting where I helped discuss "Ancestry.com." Our President, Tom Bopp, does a wonderful job getting all the technology together, and many of the 30 members who were present had their laptops connected via Clear Channel wireless and could follow the presentation projected on a screen from Tom's laptop and a projector.

I showed an example of ancestrypress which is the part of Ancestry.com where you can print out in "book" form, the genealogical information/trees/stories/photos, etc that you have at your family history site. It's quite innovative right now, but there will be many more places on the web that offer working online and all your work is available on the Web.... Web 2 ... it's called now.

I even tested recording the meeting with my iPod and a special microphone attachment. I just set it on the table, and the Belkin microphone picked up the whole meeting. I downloaded the hour of audio from the iPod to my computer, then edited it with my Roxio "Sound Editor" software. I'm learning how to use this software, which is a little more complex than in the last version. I split the resulting 52 minutes of audio into three parts and e-mailed Part 1 to Harriet, who was unable to attend the meeting. Part 1 lasted 19 minutes and totaled 8.8 MB in the e-mail attachment. Only takes about 2 minutes to upload. AOL is only able to upload 16MB in an attachment.

Many from the Genealogy Society meeting (May 12th) went to the Tree Tops Restaurant again for lunch. This is in the rain forest area in the back of Manoa Valley by the University of Hawaii. After the lunch we had a board meeting there, which was the first for our new board. I wore a beautiful orchid lei that my daughter, Alisa, in Arizona, had delivered to me for Mother's Day, from a local florist. It was beautiful.

My fellow travelers on last year's trip to Mongolia came over to my house May 10th where we watched more of my videotape from that fabulous adventure. We watched a couple hours of our cavorting around with all the camels, goats, and sheep and trudging up sand dunes in the Gobi Desert. We also watched Joung's photos from her recent trip to Bali. We just put her CD into the CD player and watched her photos as a slide show. Phyllis, has just returned from a Windjammer sailing vacation, and Renate just returned from a trip to Samoa. Jim goes to Baton Rouge every three months to care for his elderly mother. It's tough to get us all together in one spot at the same time as we're all over the globe.

Beginning of a Blog

Greetings to all who might read this blog - the product of a world adventurer who has had an underlying (and not so underlying) addiction to genealogy and family history. I'm living in beautiful Hawaii - a continuation of the westward migration my family has made through the generations from Wales, England and Scotland, and then From Plymouth Rock to Diamond Head

With renewed vigor in stepping into the world of the mysterious internet, and while listening to the Genealogy Guys podcast from October 23, 2006, today I am inspired to try out creating this blog. I gave a presentation March 3rd, at our Genealogy Society, titled "Podcasts, Blogs and RootsTelevision" - in which I mentioned how easy it would be to set up a blog - so here it is! My "web log" or blog will probably take the shape of a journal.

17 March 2007 - Saturday - Happy St. Patrick's Day - Honolulu, Hawaii

Last night I got together with friends from the Honolulu County Genealogy Society for a workshop about Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker. There were five of us, but it kept us busy all evening. Harriet and I acted as guides for the others and got them up to speed about the benefits of getting the latest editions and subscriptions. In one evening there were oooohs and ahhhhs to be heard as new discoveries were made.

Plans for the year:

I'm busy with the technicalities of planning my summer and fall activities - which include plane reservations to Arizona to visit my daughter and her family. I'll be taking the grandchildren for an intergenerational Elderhostel week in S.W. Utah, and also a week at a time-share exchange at Pinetop, in Eastern Arizona, for a week in the mountains. Both my daughter's and my birthday will be celebrated before I leave. August 11th, I'll get a flight to Ft Wayne, Indiana to attend the Federation of Genealogical Societies Annual Conference and do some research at the famous Allen County Library - Genealogy Section. I've got reservations at a B & B near the library and convention center so it should be very convenient and productive.

Plans are that my Hague cousins, Dorothy and Don, on returning from their Civil War Battlesites travels, will stop in Ft Wayne and pick me up to go back to Des Moines, Iowa with them. I expect I'll stay there a while and we can do more Hague family research in Polk County. I also want to squeeze in Pearce research in Boone County, Iowa; Wallace and Williams research in Warren County, Iowa, and other assorted branches.

I'll be making some decisions about a month-long trip to China in September. After a wonderful experience last August in Mongolia and a trip on the Trans-Siberia Railway across Russia, I think I've got to return and see more of that part of the world.

But first, the dreaded income tax deadline is fast approaching, so my time today will be filled with that preparation (I hope).