February 20 2020

Nod and Smile

When you have someone that just keeps talking when you are trying to focus, you have a couple of options on how to handle it without offending that person.

Nod and Smile

One of my favorites is the treatment I often get when speaking to someone who likely knows very little English. Often, when speaking to someone, they will just nod and smile then go on about their business. This is my signal that they either don’t understand what I am saying or are possibly pretending they don’t understand me. I often get the feeling in this case that they really do understand and for whatever reason just don’t want to engage. If the person is an employee who is obviously working, this might be their way of not getting in trouble with their boss for chatting on the clock. I find myself doing the same thing these days when either I don’t understand what they are saying because they are using another language or are speaking with a very heavy accent. Sometimes, I just plain don’t hear them and I really get tired of asking nice people to repeat themselves just because I am getting older and do hear as well as I used to.

No need to be negative, if you can’t hear or don’t have anything nice to say, zip your lips, nod and smile.

Wear headphones

If others are being noisy around you and you really need to focus on the task at hand, try wearing headphones. They need not be fancy or noise-cancelling or anything to help block the distractions. You don’t even have to use the headphones to listen to music or an audio book or anything at all. Sometimes just having your headphones on or in lets those around you know you are not waiting for someone to engage you in conversation. I have different playlists on my phone that I choose depending on the need at the time. If I am reading or writing, I don’t want to hear words when I listen to music, they distract me. I am also more than a little afraid I will burst into song and embarrass myself in front of others by singing along with the music. I keep a playlist of wordless songs to listen to when I write. I keep another playlist of up-beat and energetic songs with words to exercise, clean house, or long-distance drive to as they will keep me awake and engaged with the songs when something without words might well put me to sleep.

I can also admit to those of you who are reading this that I have, on occasion, been guilty of turning my music off and hearing the things those around me are saying while oblivious to the fact that I may be listening in. This I learned from my kids when they were teens. Adults are way too willing to believe kids these days are being rude and tuning them out with their music and earbuds. But sometimes they too are just listening in to hear what we might be saying about them.

So, the moral of this story, is always have music of some sort as an option on your phone or laptop. Always carry some sort of headphones with you or keep them in your desk at work. Also remember to keep these tools charged so they won’t let you down in your time of need.

 

Category: Learning, Planning, The Joys of Aging | Comments Off on Nod and Smile
February 13 2020

Attention to Detail Matters

It has come to my attention recently that details absolutely make a difference. They matter when it comes to things like spelling names correctly. An example that happened to Hubby and I, is our license plates. Our last name is spelled with an EI and mine plates were registered with our last name spelled correctly, so I had to renew them by February 15th. Hubby’s registration was spelled incorrectly with IE reversed and so his plates weren’t due to be renewed until February 28th each year. Not sure how it happened to begin with but it did. It also matters when people take the time to spell your names correctly. It shows a little more respect for you and that the person doing the spelling actually care enough to make sure to get it right. I will admit, even after being married for over 33 years, I still have to spell my last name in my head every time I write or sign my name.

When creating file names it is important because you may one day have to search for that file, or someone else may need to and it would be easier to find if it was spelled the way it should be.

When matching one thing to another, like I found myself doing at work recently, it really makes you understand how important the little details are. I usually try to head mistakes off at the pass by copy and pasting as much as I can, especially where formatting or spelling really matter. A co-worker has the job of scanning and saving files into the proper location. Then I come in and pull up the file by searching for it and must compare the scanned version to the electronic version. Often the scanned version is filled out by hand and does not match what someone typed in to the computer in the official electronic version of the application. Before one says it cannot be found, one must really try to find the file by spelling the name correctly. One should not have to guess how the person saving the file might have spelled it incorrectly or where they may have left an extra space in the file name. I can’t tell you how much longer my job in this system takes when the entry in the spread sheet doesn’t match the online file or the actual name of the scanned file. Perhaps you somehow habitually leave the l out of the word “family” making it “famiy”. Or maybe for some reason your brain spells the word charity by first spelling the word “chair” then adding the “ty” because you know those are the other two letters needed to finish the word. It looks like this, chairty. You might read right over it and never even hesitate, because it has all the right letters just not quite in the right order. I am trying to re-train my brain to spell charity instead of chairty.

Proper caps shows you care. You are most likely not the poet e.e. cummings, so all lower case should be off limits. In the early years of using the internet and email we were told that typing anything in all CAPS is the equivalent to yelling. Using Proper case just plain tells your co-workers that you care about your job and keeping it, or in the case of a temp employee that you care enough to do the job right and hope to actually be hired on permanently.

Saving files where others can find them is another place where details matter. If you are supposed to be saving files such as supporting documents in a particular location on a shared drive with a particular naming convention, it is really a good idea to show the person that asked this little thing of you that you respect their authority and know how to follow instructions by actually doing what they have asked.

If you write emails for work or school, consider the importance of reviewing your correspondence from different points of view. When we speak to people face to face, or even on the phone we have tone of voice and inflection to help us interpret what is being said. Emails and texts can cause problems because what you say might be interpreted differently depending on the experiences you bring with you. If possible, reread the email out loud to yourself so you can hear how it sounds and find any words you left out accidentally. You also might want to read it again to yourself, not necessarily out loud, as though you are the intended recipient, to see how what you said might be interpreted.

All these examples are just to tell you that details DO matter and they can cause others to judge you in an unflattering light. So, be careful and pay attention to the details because, as Mom always said, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing right. She also said if you don’t have time to do it right the first time, you sure don’t have time to do it over. Avoid do overs, and remember that attention to details matters.

Tell us in the comments an example of when details mattered.

Category: Learning | Comments Off on Attention to Detail Matters
October 3 2019

Where is the world was Thomas?

For those of you who are visiting for the first time or two and might have missed it, this is a followup to a post from just after Labor Day. I did some quick research and got excited thinking that perhaps I had found a connection that would tie into my family tree. In case you want to go back and read it before reading this one, the link is both above and below for your convenience.

I left off last time with the premise that the Thomas SOLON who lived out the rest of his life as a shoemaker in Washington, Daviess County, Indiana was the eldest son of John SOLON of Champaign, Illinois.

Since then, I located this couple (Thomas, the shoemaker, and his wife Mary) in the 1910 census:

1910 US Thomas and Mary SOLON Washington, Daviess County, IN

By this time I am seriously beginning to suspect that the shoemaker is not the same person who died in Oklahoma in 1915, because that Thomas SOLON bought land in Lawton, Oklahoma in May 1909. But by now, I really want to see this through and find out what happened to the shoemaker, just because I can and it might help another researcher.

I found the marriage record for Thomas SOLON and Mary Ann REDMOND, but convinced myself it couldn’t be the correct record because it was so far from Daviess County, Indiana where they lived after they were married and where Thomas had lived before. I knew it was the correct one after I found their headstone photo. It turns out that Thomas and Mary were buried in Saint John Cemetery, in Washington, Daviess County, Indiana.

So, there you have it. One Thomas SOLON story neatly tied up. This obviously is not either of the Thomas SOLONs I have been trying to track down, but it was fun learning what I could and now I know this one has been eliminated from the search. Who knows? Maybe one day when I find my great-great grandfather Thomas SOLON’s siblings and parents, this Thomas might turn out to be his nephew or cousin, in which case I will be that much further ahead with my research.

If by any chance you have SOLON or SOLAN ancestors in your family tree or just happen to know where I can find either of the Thomas SOLONs I am searching for, for heaven’s sake, PLEASE contact me!

Labor Day Research

Category: Genealogy, Learning | Comments Off on Where is the world was Thomas?
September 5 2019

Labor Day Research

I’m not sure what you did on Labor Day, but I remembered that it was the last day of the free census weekend on MyHeritage, so I got to work and labored for hours searching the census for both the US and Canada. I wasn’t exactly sure what I should look for because I had been away from my research for a long while. I decided that since I had never seen the Canadian census I should search it for a couple of the surnames I thought I could find on it. I methodically went through each year they offered searching for the two surnames and saving everything I found for a more in-depth look at a later time. I didn’t want to waste the little time I had left on this great day of free-ness.

After I ran out of Canadian census to search, I began by looking for my great-great grandfather, Thomas SOLON, in each census he would have been in the US for (1860-1900). I had seen most of them before, but didn’t have them saved in digital format, so made quick work of finding them again. I then decided to do the same for John SOLON the man we think was Thomas’ older brother. It turns out I had made a note on one of my genealogy websites about not being able to find this family in the 1870 census, but they were right there when I looked, so that was a win. I then decided to try to find John’s eldest son, Thomas, who was with the family in 1860 but then we knew nothing about him until he died in 1915 in Oklahoma.

1860 US John and Ellen SOLON Du Page, Will County, IL

Now it might be important to note that in 1860, the census listed John and Ellen as being born in Ireland, Thomas in England and James and Michael in Illinois. So we can estimate that John, Ellen and Thomas came to the United States sometime between 1850 and 1857. Also we can estimate that John and Ellen were likely married in Ireland or England before 1850. The census also indicated that John and Ellen cannot read or write and that John is a farm laborer with no real estate and a personal estate valued at $200.

When I found the family in the 1870 census, Thomas would have been about 20 and was no longer in the household with his family.

1870 US John and Ellen SOLON Colfax Twp, Champaign County, IL

I was able to search the census for any SOLON born in 1850 give or take five years either way. I found one that seemed like a possible fit. The age was about right and he was in Indiana instead of Illinois.

1870 US Thomas SOLON Washington, Daviess County, IN

On the 1870 census, this Thomas is listed as born in Indiana and he of all those in the house is not marked as having parents of foreign birth. As the head of the household is listed as a hotel keeper, we can guess this was a boarding house or hotel of sorts, so perhaps Thomas was either new to town or had no reason to build a home yet.

So, now I have a viable prospect for John’s son, Thomas, in the state next door to the one his family lived in and not so very far away really. Lets track this Thomas and see what happens to him.

1880 US Thomas SOLON Washington, Daviess County, IN

Looks like he stayed in the town of Washington, Indiana and was a shoemaker from the 1870 census until the 1900 census. In 1880, he lived at 130 South Street in what appears to be a boarding house. It says Thomas was 28 and born in Indiana with both his parents born in Ireland. The 1890 census was destroyed many years ago, so we cannot track anyone using that record, so we must move on to the 1900 census and see what it can tell us.

1900 US Thomas and Mary SOLAN Washington, Daviess County, IN

If you look at the rest of the info on the 1900 census it tells us that he owned his home, had a mortgage and it was a house, not a farm which makes sense for a shoe maker. It tells us that Thomas was born September 1846 in New York and Mary A. was born September 1843 in Maryland and that they have been married 10 years.

Looking back at some info I had sorted by location I found this among the records I had extracted years ago.

I found a couple more census I wish I had gotten copies of while I had access to them:

1850 Census Extraction

Washington Township, Daviess County Indiana 1850 census 
==========================================================================
Name             Age        Occ.           Birth      Twp.
==========================================================================
Solon, John      35         Canl/Digger    Ireland    Wash

 

1870 Census Extraction

CENSUS YR:  1870  TERRITORY:  IN  COUNTY:  Daviess  DIVISION:  Alfordsville  PAGE: 32/246b
==========================================================================================
LAST	FIRST		AGE	BIRTHPLACE	OCCUPATION
==========================================================================================
SOLAN	John		52	Ireland		Farmer
SOLAN	Mary		50	Ireland		Farmer
SOLAN	Thomas		21	New York	
SOLAN	John		18	Indiana		
SOLAN	Catherine	17	Indiana		(school in year)
SOLAN	Bridget		14	Indiana		(school in year)
SOLAN	James		11	Indiana		(school in year)
SOLAN	Mary		 9	Indiana		(school in year)
RILEY	John		16	Indiana		(school in year)

Extracts from the Indiana WPA Indexes for Daviess County

BIRTHS 

Child Name		 Father		Mother		Birthdate	Original Source
=============================================================================================
SOLAN Catherine    F W	 Jno		Emma CHURCH	Feb 14, 1906	Book  H-5   Page 20 
SOLAN ---          F W	 John		Emma CHURCH	Feb 14, 1906	Book CH-2   Page 32 

MARRIAGES 

Name		Spouse		  Date		Original Source
=============================================================================================
SOLAN James  	DUFFEY Catharine  21 Jun 1882	Book 5, Page 310, Fiche 3881
SOLEN William C	MATTINGLY Iola M  30 Jan 1917	Book 15, Page 418, Fiche 3881 (DOB 19 Dec 1894)
SOLEN John	GUIRE Mary M	  15 Nov 1855	Book 1, Page 447, Fiche 3881
SOLON Catherine	SUMMERS Wm Ed	  16 Sep 1884	Book 6, Page 1, Fiche 3881
SOLON Bridget	CAVANAUGH Owen	  14 May 1884	Book 5, Page 551, Fiche 3881

DEATHS

Name		 	   	Age	Deathdate	Location	Original Source
===========================================================================================
SOLON, Mary		F W 	75	Sep 05, 1900	Washington	Book  H-18  Page 81
SOLON, Katherine F	F W 	45	Oct 27, 1901	Washington	Book CH-6   Page 69 
SOLAN, Mary		F W 	75	Aug 08, 1903	Washington	Book CH-6   Page 87
SOLAN, Mary Ann		F W 	76	Apr 24, 1918	Washington	Book CH-7   Page 100
SOLAN, Emma		F W 	39	Feb 02, 1920	Washington	Book CH-8   Page 13

I also found the following newspaper reference:

The Daviess County Democrat
Vol. 17, No. 7. Saturday, January 5, 1884 also this same notice was in Vol. 17, No. 8. Saturday, January 12, 1884

PAGE 2
"LEGAL"
NOTICE TO THE TAX-PAYERS OF DAVIESS COUNTY"
Greenwood	Richard H.	Treasurer of Daviess Co.
"SHERIFF'S SALE"
Solon		John
Source URL: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~koliver/DaviessCountyDemocrat_01051884.txt

Now lets go back to what we know about John and Ellen’s son Thomas.

Oklahoma Land Patent Records
(http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/)

Patentee Name  State  County 	Issue Date Land Office 	Doc. Nr. Accession/Serial Nr.
===================================================================================== 
SOLON, THOMAS  OK     Comanche  5/4/1909   Lawton  	02836  		   59338  (see it)


So we know from the death certificate that we have the correct Thomas. His younger brother Michael was the informant. This doesn’t do much to tell us where Thomas was all those years. I will need to look at some other census records, try to find marriage records, death certificates, obituaries, etc for Thomas and Mary SOLON who lived in Daviess County, Indiana and see what those documents can tell us about this shoemaker and his wife. The death certificate lists Thomas as single, but his brother apparently didn’t know him well enough to know his birth date, so perhaps he\wouldn’t have known if Thomas had married later in life and been a widower when he died.

I found digging into the census records to be an awesome way to spend the day. The fact that I could do the research without any additional cost was purely a bonus and a huge nudge to get me back into researching my family tree. To see more on the SOLON family as well as other lines I have researched, please visit Karen’s Kin. I have many many hours of work preserved there including virtual cemeteries and photos. If you have any info that might help me solve the mystery of Thomas SOLON and his ancestor, PLEASE get in touch with me so we can sort it out. What do you think, is the shoemaker the missing son of John and Ellen? The timeline looks like it fits or could fit, except there may be a different John SOLON who fathered the shoemaker according to the census extraction for 1870 that I haven’t got the real copy of yet. We shall see…stay tuned for further updates.

 

 

Category: Genealogy, Learning, Organizing | 1 Comment on Labor Day Research
August 29 2019

Cool Thing I Learned

I went to the grocery last week. I was only going to grab a few things, so I got the small cart thinking, I would spend less. Makes total sense, right?

Well, one of my super powers is packing things tightly into small spaces and getting the most into any give space. A useful talent most of the time, but not an inexpensive one. So the cart was as full as could be when I got into the checkout line and I was commenting to the cashier that I should switch to the big cart if I had any hope of getting my purchases to the car safely. She said not to worry that she knew all kinds of places to put things and we would fit them in. So I trusted her at her word and as the bags started coming off she instructed me as to where they could be placed without taking up the traditional cart space.

So here is the cart with everything contained on it.

So here is where the wondrous things take place. It starts out innocently enough. I already love the milk shelf as I think of it, just below the handle down near the back wheels, you can see it in the photo below. See the left cup holder, well you can hang a bag from that, just slide the handles over it.You can also hang a bag from the little triangle on the right side of the right cup holder after you slide one over the entire right cup holder just like you did with the left one..

See those little upside down U shapes just below the seat? You guessed it, you can hang another two bags from those!

Now, ypu know the cell phone slot between the cup holders (maybe that is meant for coupons?) If you look at it from the front, just below the handle there is another hook for bag handles.

So if you are counting, that is a minimum of six extra bags you can hang off the cart.

I have also seen those who buy bottled six packs of soda hang those half in and half out of the cart to fit them all along the top railing. We don’t buy soda any more so that doesn’t help me, but in case you do, I thought I’d pass that along as well.

So now you can see I easily made it out to the car with all my groceries without losing even one thing to the pavement along the way.

Sometimes you just have to pace yourself while shopping and rearrange things as you go to fit the most in the cart, and with these fun little hints, you will now be able to safely guide your small shopping cart safely to your cart too. Yep, I just doubled up on my blog writing again. Sorry, but a busy gal has to do what she has to do and this is the fifth Thursday of the month which means it is blogger’s choice tonight. Seriously, if you have read this far, THANKS!

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Pace
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Depth Year, Five Minute Friday, Learning | 1 Comment on Cool Thing I Learned