General Chat

Hi everyone, I couldn't resist putting this on for you. A woman named Emily renewing her driver's license at the Transport office was asked by the clerk to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself. 'What I mean is,' explained the clerk, 'do you have a job, or are you just a .? 'Of course I have a job,' snapped Emily. 'I'm a Mum.' 'We don't list 'Mum' as an occupation...... 'housewife' covers it,' said the clerk emphatically.......................................... I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our local police station. The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like, 'Official Interrogator' or 'Town Registrar.' 'What is your occupation?' she probed. What made me say it, I do not know... The words simply popped out. 'I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.' The clerk paused, pen frozen in midair, and looked up as though she had not heard right. I repeated the title slowly, emphasizing the most significant words. Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire! 'Might I ask,' said the clerk with new interest, 'just what you do in your field?' Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, 'I have a continuing programme of research, (what mother doesn't), in the laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and out). I'm working for my Masters, (the whole bloody family), and already have four credits, (all daughters). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree.?) and I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.' There was an increasing note of respect in the girl's voice as she completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door. When I got home, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 10, 7, and 3. Upstairs, I could hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development programme, testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt I had triumphed over bureaucracy! And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than 'just another Mum.' Motherhood.....What a glorious career! Especially when there's a title on the door. Does this make grandmothers 'Senior Research Associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations' , and great grandmothers 'Executive Senior Research Associates'??? I think so!!! I also think it makes Aunts 'Associate Research Assistants'. Please send this to another Mum, Grandmother, Aunt, and other friends you know. Author unknown..................but very smart ............................................................................. June (Senior Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations)

Hi again, Brenda, I would have loved to have gone, but somehow the day just flew by, I will definitely look out for the next one. Hope everyone else is ok. June (Senior Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations)

Hi Everyone, June I am applying now to be your Research assistant.!!! That was great My sister in law was working in the local hospital in the kitchens ,she was originally'a kitchen hand'.after various name /title changes she finshed up as an Assistant Domestic Catering Assistant.She thought it a complete waste of time and money as they did not change her duties one little bit. My friend has a list of the shows and dates if you would like to know them for next time, Take care brenda

Hello Everyone,don't know what your all up to ,but it must be good,keeping you all away from here. Have been having a bit of success finding my maternal grans great grandmother and am now looking for her great grandfather. Thought I was going daft at one point, had the address ,the street is still there and was there well before the census but will not come up on 1861.!!! Off to take dad to the hospital for his radio therepy. take care Brenda

Hi Brenda and everyone else on this thread I have not been on this thread before, but I woke up this morning to have a look at my usual thread and it no longer exists, so after sitting around for a little while wondering what to do I thought I would have a look at other threads to see if I could find something that looked friendly and stumbled across this thread. Then I spied some familiar names like June and Fred and I’m sure I have seen your name before Brenda? I am not sure what I can add to your thread as I live so far away in a state of Australia called Tasmania. I also lead a very quiet lifestyle, as I don’t go out very often. I do envy you all over there when I read about get togethers and meet ups with others that are doing their family trees, I have not heard of many people doing family history over here, I’m sure people are doing their tree, just you don’t hear about it as much. I have only been doing my tree since about August last year and I have had a fair bit of info given to me from other family members although some of it is very basic with not many dates. I have traced some of my family back to places like Brigstock Northamptonshire, Soham in England, one branch have came from Southern Scotland around the Oxton Area and possibly another branch could have been around Shoreditch or Surrey England, the info on this branch is hard to find and I am only a novice at this and still learning the tricks of the trade, so to speak. It is good to read all your messages as it gives me a bit of an insight into life in England as I have never been there but if I win tattslotto lol, it will be the first place I would like to visit to see where my ancestors grew up. June, I liked the piece you put in about the title of your job and I would love to copy it and read it out to others that are in an organization I am with. It is called a Ladies Glade and it branches off from the R.A.O.B. which is a Buffalo lodge that has its origins in England. Well I will leave it at that for the moment and go and have a look at my tree and see if I can find any info to add. Cheers from Sue from Tassie

Hi Brenda, June and everyone Hope you don't mind an intruder. Bill McDonald suggested I should come in, I have looked in a couple of times but didn't like to bother you, you all obviously know each other very well. I am a bit up in the air at the moment, things haven't been too good lately and I suppose I'm just looking for a safe hassle free haven. As you can see I am living in Grenada, West Indies but I have only been living here for four years. I was born in Surrey and a lot of things I hear you all talking about remind me of times past. I love it here, but as I said things have not been too good lately. I have a wonderful husband (a Grenadian who's ancestors probably came from Scotland!!!) 5 dogs, 1 cat and a goat, who is expecting at the moment!!! Well ladies and gentlemen I look forward to reading all you have to say and hope I can be accepted into your 'family'. Jacquie

Hi Brenda and everone else on this thread, I am Rupert (Rupee) from New Zealand, you know that little place in the south Pacific that is going to show the Lions how to play Rugby very soon, LOL I was on Bills thread but didnt realise it had gone until I looked in this morning. I wasnt a very regular contributor but popped in every now and again to see how every one was faring, which is what I will probably do on this thread. In the meantime, all the best to everyone , will look in on you from time to time Regards Rupee

Hi Brenda & FNW I also am another Kiwi from Down Under seeking refuge and feeling a little lost without Bill's thread so please may I join in. It is always so comforting to have contact with friends from all over the world.Like most I started out researching a family tree and have found it most rewarding learning a lot more about the countries my ancestors lived in sharing the highs and lows and wonderful kindnesses given by many. Regards Judy

Hi everone and welcome to all the 'orphans' Its lovely to see you all here, maybe we can persuade Bill to pop in too. I will be back shortly. June xx

Hello everyone,and a special welcome to everyone from Bills thread,please feel free to pop on any time and leave a message about anything really.We are very friendly and started like most of you doing are family trees.Some of us are on here daily others when they get the chanceMost of us are in UK ,one lady is in Holland but she is on holiday in Spain at the moment. I am in the north of England,Manchester to be exact,and have lived here all my life.(56years) I have been to Oz twice to visit an old school friend who lives in Victoria,and want to go back in the not to distant future,as I had such a wonderful time. I have been to all the Manchester meetings and met loads of wonderful people,June from Preston is the only one on this thread who has been as well. At the minute is is wet and miserable here,but could change later so the weather buffs tell us.!!!! Hope to see you all again Take care ,Brenda

Hello. I am an ''Orphan'' .... may I come in, please? Is it another ''haven'', please? :-) Joy

G'day all ,i'm glad that most of you from aus ,new zealand ,and Grenada have decided to join this thread on the demise of the old one ,caused by a low life who will never again be mentioned by me.I am still in touch with Bill too which is some consolation ,all we need now is Mary ,And J.A.to sign in and we can start the party..I hope we will hear from sylvia and Norm before long too as i am hoping things are improving for them..On a personal note June,i struck out on my research ,and am still in the dark on my gt grandparents,oh well ,such is life. Just had a thought,this thread could become very interesting now ,all our animal stars on the same thread,Madoc,Fat Cat,Ripley,Mr Darcy,not to mention a few others,so come on you orphans,welcome ,and lets be having the lates gossip ,and news.Fred.PtfA&G&G&S.

Good Afternoon Everyone Just thought I would introduce myself to all of you. I use to be on Bills thread so some of you will know me. Im from Perth, Western Australia. Im 37 married to my high school sweatheart and we have 2 boys, Blair who is 9 and Connor who is 7 1/2. I have been researching mine and hubbys family since 1992. Before all this online stuff. Until last year I didnt spend time researching online. We have been broadband since January and thats dangerous. I seem to spend more time online. Other things must suffer. ie. housework. LOL. Anyway, just thought I would say hello. I will be back later in the evening hopefully. Once the rugrats and hubby are in bed. Bye for Now, Love to you All. TRUDY

Hello Brenda and everyone. I hope you don't mind me joining you. I was also on Bill's thread and am so glad to see the names of a few people I know on here. I was born in Essex and came to Australia in 1974. I have a husband, Norman, who is not very well and 2 sons, also 4 grandchildren. I hope to get to know you all very soon. Sylvia in Perth WA

Hi from sunny Grenada. Temperature already 28 degrees (in the house!) and still only 6.42am. My husband Renwick better known here as 'Poppin' has just got back from an early morning swim...I didn't go today. Some of you may know that last Sept. we were hit by hurricane IVAN and yes, he really was terrible!! Only had power back since March (6 months without it!!!) Things are beginning to sort themselves out, roofs going back on everywhere...ours is a sort of mish mash but back on at least ready for this season which starts in June!!!! I might need some support during this time folks, sorry to burden you all and hope you won't mind a few whinges from time to time. I am trying to be light hearted too but not always easy. This site and its wonderful people have been a great help to me, making me laugh, giving me something else to cry about etc. That's it for now folks. Jacquie x

Hi everyone, This is lovely seeing you all here. so interesting reading about you all too. Although I have seen your names on Bill's thread, I have only picked up little bits of information about you all. I live in the NorthWest of England, I was born in Derbyshire but moved with my parents to Blackpool, on the coast, when I was 16 ( along time ago). I have one daughter, who at the moment is living with me with her husband and daughter. We are looking for a bigger house where we can all have our own space but have to sell mine first. I also have a grandson who lives in Denmark. I usually pop on here each day, as Brenda says we have met at the Manchester meetups, she is a lovely friendly person. I do enjoy these meetups and have met quite a few nice people who are members of Genes. I am going to the Liverpool meetup on June 18th, I am really looking forward to that, last years was very good. Liverpool must be proud of the way the Docklands etc has been rejuvenated. Bill I hope you haven't removed your photos. Well I must stop waffling on, see you again soon. June xx

Hi Brenda, June, Elizabeth, Kathleen, Fred and others too numerous to mention. gosh things have changed since Iw as last on here a couple of weeks ago. Sorry Brenda not to have been on lately, had so much to do after coming home from Dorset that i only put a few brief remarks on the boards. Nice to see some 'new' faces on here. welcome to everyone from Bill's thread and hello Bill. for those who don't know me I am retired and live in Gloucestershire and have been a member of Gened for about 3 years now. Still enjoy it but find that some of the threads are more suited to the 'younger' element these days. I am researching my tree and have been for 30 years or so, I love the hobby but spend too much time chatting on here some days I must admit. My other hobbies are photography, gardening, walking, reading, letter writing (the ink sort) and card making. when I was in Dorset recently I managed to get to the Dorset record office and traced my Riggs ancestors back to 1690. Was most impressed that my Gt X 5 Grandfather Thomas Riggs was buried in 1783 at the age of 93. Good for those days? Brenda, i will try to get back on more regularly for a while (until 4th when we go to cornwall for a week) Take care everyone Ann Glos

Hi Brenda & Everyone Thank you for the welcome to your thread and so great to be in the company of old and new friends. I am retired(69yrs)live in Northern Hawkes Bay NZ with a very patient husband ! We have 3 daughters,3 wonderful son-in-laws and 7 precious grandchildren ranging in ages from 6yrs to 25yrs .I first became interested in genealogy when my cousin did my maternal side family tree so decided to do my husbands,he was born in Cumbria and as I have never been outside of NZ you can imagine the fun I have had,feeling my way round Lancashire and Yorkshire !! For the first time in our married life we are down to 1 dog (use to have at least 5)Anna is 10yrs so we will no doubt be thinking of getting another 'baby' soon and of course we have the one and only Ripley the cat,sometimes partner in crime with Mr.D and Sophie - over the net that is. Well, having bored you all I must away,as we are getting into our Winter mode here,I promised to make steak&kidney pudding to-night. Kind regards to All Judy

Hi everyone, welcome to all our newer friends. It's good to see so many new messages on here. It's a bit late now - got sort of side-tracked with phone calls earlier and had a little success in tracing a gt.aunt and finally found her marriage but can't find her on 1901 census. She was one of the awkward ones who changed her name from time to time so tried various combinations but still no luck. Am a bit too tired now to contribute much. All is well with Susan, it was her birthday on Tuesday and she had a good weekend with my younger daughter visiting from Solihull on Sunday and taking her out for lunch. Yesterday my sister took her out also for lunch and spent a couple of hours around Richmond and Twickenham. She is looking much better and more relaxed now. Hopefully will get back tomorrow (or later today!!). Have a good day or night wherever you may be. God bless Love Kathleen

Hello Brenda and all my new FNW. WELL DONE LIVERPOOL. I hope that my 'orphan' days are now over. Hi, Bill, glad to see you popped in and I am really pleased to see you Sylvia, how are you doing. Is Norman keeping up with his medication? Some know that Sophie the cat is a new addition to our family, she has a habit of bringing mice into the house. Last night, or I should say about 3am, she caught a mouse and was tormenting it , as cats do, I got up and took it away from her, and for ease, as I was half asleep, I put it in the waste basket in the bathroom. Next news she was rolling it all over the floor. To cut a long story short, after 3 attempts, including putting the waste basket in the bath, I had a brainwave and closed the bathroom door. I managed to get back to sleep at 4.30. Today, she has decided it's is good fun to terrorise the dog. Maybe we should have called her Saddam. it's another bright and sunny day in Queensland and we are still all praying for rain. For my new FNW, many areas of Australia are in a very bad drought. It would be about 7 years since we have had a good rainy season, which in Queensland is the summer. So could you all blow very hard and send some Great British clouds our way. In return we will send you some Aussie sunshine. Well, bye for now Susan