Hobbies?

[CelticBanshee3]

Ive been thinking of doing some research into my ancestral tree.  Which is your fav site to get started?   My daughter took a blood sample from ancestry.com and it didnt seem right, as it didnt line up with family lore on either side!

That's because those places most likely don't have as much to do with genealogy as they do with collecting and cataloguing people's DNA.  Just read the disclaimers, they specifically exclude selling your DNA data from their privacy statements.  They throw in words like "for official purposes", "and/or related business ventures", "partners and related business entities" into their exclusions...which all translates into -->BIG BROTHER (at least IMHO).

Now, we could get all worked up about this (and some do), but the unfortunate reality is if you've ever been to the hospital or your doctor's office to have blood drawn, if you've carefully read the HIPPA and Privacy statements, they make the same exclusions.  So, in some respects it may be a moot point, but still it's just the principle with me; I'll be damned to "pay" for someone to spy on me, and you just know they're getting funding from the fed to share data!

Just a crazy 'CT' thought.  :-)

Yes, that has crossed our mind, too. I got my brother to submit a sample several years ago before Ancestry shared their data. He told me that the Air Force already had his DNA anyway. We have a lot of CT thoughts. 

[DesertBorn]

Ive been thinking of doing some research into my ancestral tree.  Which is your fav site to get started?   My daughter took a blood sample from ancestry.com and it didnt seem right, as it didnt line up with family lore on either side!

Your daughter would only be able to trace her direct maternal line. Males have both mitochondrial DNA and a Y chromosome, so they can trace both their maternal and paternal ancestry. So it really depends on which line you are researching. I use Ancestry.com mostly because of access to the census, compiled family history, newspapers, and old military records. Getting started is easy, just start with yourself and work you way out, Mother & Father, Maternal Grandparents and Paternal Grandparents, where and when they were born, married, buried. My ancestors moved around a lot. I have quite a few gaps left to fill. My goal is to find when we first crossed the pond and from where.

There may be too many horse-thieves and bastards in my fam, so I expect some dead ends!

[Tarzan the apeman.]

Here is another carve I did today. Going to finish this one with clear to prevent bleeding, then paint with some more clear. Should look good. Also may make it oval in shape. Not really sure yet.

[guohua]

Here is another carve I did today. Going to finish this one with clear to prevent bleeding, then paint with some more clear. Should look good. Also may make it oval in shape. Not really sure yet.

Very Nice.

[Tarzan the apeman.]

Here is another carve I did today. Going to finish this one with clear to prevent bleeding, then paint with some more clear. Should look good. Also may make it oval in shape. Not really sure yet.

Very Nice.

Thank you.

[CelticBanshee3]

Ive been thinking of doing some research into my ancestral tree.  Which is your fav site to get started?   My daughter took a blood sample from ancestry.com and it didnt seem right, as it didnt line up with family lore on either side!

Your daughter would only be able to trace her direct maternal line. Males have both mitochondrial DNA and a Y chromosome, so they can trace both their maternal and paternal ancestry. So it really depends on which line you are researching. I use Ancestry.com mostly because of access to the census, compiled family history, newspapers, and old military records. Getting started is easy, just start with yourself and work you way out, Mother & Father, Maternal Grandparents and Paternal Grandparents, where and when they were born, married, buried. My ancestors moved around a lot. I have quite a few gaps left to fill. My goal is to find when we first crossed the pond and from where.

There may be too many horse-thieves and bastards in my fam, so I expect some dead ends!

Oh, yeah, you will come across some interesting characters. Example, my GG Grandfather is the only person I've come across in the census whose occupation is listed as "Loafer", in 1850. By 1860 he has disappeared, his wife has died, and his mother is raising his 5 children. He is one of my loose ends I am trying to find. Just a couple of years ago we had a cousin show up that no one knew about. He found us through DNA.

[wtbengineer]

Did you ever get to putting a stereo together?

Hey!  Good to see ya!

You mean building the tube amplifier and electronics?  Yeah, got that done.  Works great, just as I had hoped.

You build a tube amp?  Very cool!  I've built several and that's been quite rewarding.  They sound great too.  Glad to see you here, this place just seems like a weird ATS where things work differently and people are nice.