1841 instead of 1842 and the "2" years

As you may have figured out by now, with my new "10-year plan" the focus of the blog this year is anything that happened in a year ending in "2" and/or anything else that rises to the top of the pile that warrants publishing now rather than waiting until the right year comes along.

This has helped me "organize" our family files and decide what should be published when.

For those of you who haven't read the comments about Alexander Bell Ballantyne, which you can do by clicking on "View Comments" at the bottom of this page, I've added the following information:

Just discovered in reading through family reunion notes done by Mary Frances "Fran" Cline Pizzella Gavey, grand daughter of C.A. Ballantyne (1875-1957, brother of our grandfather Nathaniel Wallace Ballantyne) that Alexander Bell Ballantyne was born 25 Feb 1841 rather than in 1842.

Mary Frances (born 1928) is one of eight children of C.A. (or "Alex") Ballantyne's daughter, Anna Irene Ballantyne Cline (1904-1981) who married Clarence H. Cline in 1926.  They lived in New Cumberland.  She did two extensive booklets for their family reunions in 1999 and 2000, much of which focuses on the Cline family, but also contains information about the Ballantyne family.

If we condense all previous "2" years into one year, as we're doing on the blog, we have the following rearrangement of the order of the family in January:

• Serena and HH were in First Grade
• MV – Second Grade
• Roberta – Fifth Grade
• Ginny and Jean – Sixth Grade
• Catherine – Seventh Grade
• John – Ninth Grade
• Serena and HH were Juniors in High School
• MV – Senior in High School

Family and local history events that happened during "2"years:

• Gladys Hiestand Uible was born, got married, celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary and her 90th & 100th birthdays
• Jean Wallace Ballantyne Uible was born
• John became an Eagle Scout
• Ginny was born 
• The trip west for the Seattle World's Fair
• NVUMC  struck by lightning
• Lots of other things, big and small which make up our history.  

Suggestions, comments, corrections, or complaints are always welcome!  

Oops! Preview of 2012

Those of you subscribing to the blog by email or RSS feeder, recently got a preview of a 2012 post that I neglected to schedule on the correct date in 2012.  Please excuse the error and you can look forward to reading it again on January 7.

My current plan for the blog in 2012, is to revisit years ending in "2", primarily 2002, but also:

• 1872 family history
• 1892 Grandma was born
• 1912 Grandma and Granddad's wedding 
• 1922 Mom was born
• 1932 Kyong Ho Kim was born
• 1942 Dad started senior year in high school
• 1952 still looking for the "big" news of that year, maybe Roberta turns one.
• 1962 a big year with Grandma and Granddad's 50th Anniversary, and the family trip west
• 1972 MV in 2nd grade
• 1982 MV graduates, Grandma turns 90
• 1992 Ginny born, Grandma turns 100

Stay tuned for more old news!  Feel free to send me anything special you can remember or have in your possession dealing with those years.

News and Sid's Blog

Anybody else seen the news lately?

Sid and I worked a bit on his blog last night. For those of you who have not yet commented/seen his blog - click on "his blog" in the previous sentence.

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Now playing: ABC News - Obama on the Trail: History and Heartache
via FoxyTunes

Disqus

Still trying to get rid of Disqus - Disqus keeps insisting that it is so simple you don't really need instructions.

So far, the only sure solution I see is to just abandon the blog and start fresh. I could always dedicate this blog to why one should NOT install Disqus.

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Now playing: NPR - Ellen Burstyn Chronicles Life's Turbulent Journey
via FoxyTunes

Comments

I had been waiting for Disqus to post how to remove Disqus, but keep comments. I got tired of waiting and just removed Disqus. I probably should have gone through and saved the comments, although I could just dig through Disqus and re-post. I may do that later . . .

full window

Future Dated Blog Posts

According to Blogger it is now possible to write a post and then set a time and date when it is actually going to appear in the blog. For instance, if one is going on an international three week trip, one could write 21 posts and then set it so that a post a day appeared telling everyone what a wonderful time you're having.

Reading Level

500th Post on the Blog!

And there are approximately 800 comments on those 500 posts.

I don't really have anything else to say.

Any chance we're going to try for Persian Garden again some time soon?

Quick note about Blog

Contributors must be invited by blog owner/moderator. That's true of ALL blogs everywhere, as far as I know. Certainly one could have a blog with tens or even hundreds of contributors, I suppose although would be rather unwieldy. Contributors can comment without moderation, but are subject to having their comments deleted by moderator.

Those who are allowed to comment on blogs - varies widely. Used to be that anyone could comment on virtually any blog with very little interference. Due mostly because of spam comments, comment moderation has become extremely common. I would guess there are very few active blogs that allow unfettered commenting. At the lowest threshold, there is a requirement that commenters "interpret" numbers/letters that are somewhat distorted which would weed out computer-generated spam. That is actually my least favorite - I don't think it is very effective and I, personally, sometimes have difficulty figuring out the correct numbers/letters. Second level, is requiring that all commenters be registered and log-in. The register may be specific to the blog or, like Blogger, be part of a much larger "group". To comment in Blogger, you have to have some sort of Google account - easy enough to work around if one really wanted to be anonymous, but generally not worth the trouble for most people.

The next level up of comment moderation is requiring moderator approval. On this blog, there aren't many comments NOT from contributors, so there is very little comment moderation to do. More "public" blogs - particularly ones that are controversial, political, social issues, etc. would get a lot of comments - many good and on-point, but quite a few that don't fit.

Some blogs do not allow any comments at all.

Feedblitz

I've added a widget that allows one to get the blog by way of email. No, you can't post via email. Well, not using Feedblitz. I hope that this will make it easier for those who aren't very techie to "see" the blog more regularly.

I THINK it also allows one to get comments on email feed. If one subscribes by RSS one doesn't see the comments, so that would be a possibly useful feature.

HELLO ROBERTA!

Your password for Google is now saved on both your computers. Anyone who is using your computer can post on your account without knowing your password - possibly even you.

Hello Roberta!

I have no idea why you can't post from your computer.

This is posted from Roberta's laptop.

KC - Day 3

I think I finally got updated to the new version of Blogger. Those of you more technologically advanced than I shouldn't have any problem and Serena, our personal family techno wizard can help the rest of us. Meanwhile, here are a couple more pictures of KC!

Message from Roberta

Roberta called today to check on the cats and the house. The cats are doing fine, more or less over the trauma of having the carpeting cleaned yesterday. The house seems a lot cleaner due to same - the carpets being cleaned, not the traumatized cats.

Sid and Roberta are toward the end of their Mexican Rivera cruise. Their return is expected back in the US on Sunday morning and supper time in Phoenix.

Roberta said that "Sid has not missed a step or a dessert". She said that they have been visiting on land for the last few days and will be just cruising for the next couple of days. Also, it has been hot (90s) . . . I think it did make her feel better to hear that it has been relatively cold (30s in the evening an 50s in the day) here.

Sid's use of his walker has been helpful in more than just the usual physical way. It also gets them priority in seating, lines, etc.

They did attend the Crystal Cathedral (Schuller's church) this past Sunday. For those interested in seeing if you can spot them - they were sitting in about the seventh row, Sid was on the aisle (because of the walker). For those who need to know when the show is broadcast in their particular area, the website is Hour of Power.

Roberta did very first thing inquire about THE BIG NEWS . . . which I couldn't figure out what she was referring to. She was somewhat disappointed that Kenneth Charles Counts III (Wendy Jean Morgan's son) hasn't been born yet. She was happy to hear that the baby will be "out" by Monday. She didn't indicate she wanted to see the blood, guts, gore, slime and placenta in the delivery room.

Roberta said that she and Sid would have blogged and written more often if the "high speed connection" wasn't so slow. And she couldn't find the Uible blog due to a poor sense of direction, not an inability to spell. Or so I presume.

Blog posts and comments showing up . . . or not

Except in pretty unusual cases - like Google having Blogger problems (which would be noted 99.99% of the time), if you blog a post or comment, it will be posted without publishing the post/comment more than once.

If the post/comment fails to appear. Hit F5 which refreshes/reloads the page.(F5 is the fifth function key - function keys run across the top row of your computer keyboard. In many software programs function keys do various things . . . or can be programmed to do various things. F1 almost always takes you to the help menu - no matter what program you are using.) If F5 doesn't work, wait a minute or two, Blogger may be really busy and it may take a bit for your comment/post to appear. My experience is that hitting F5 almost always "makes" the post/comment appear.

Whenever I come to the Uible blog, I always Hit F5 first. That way I get the newest "edition", not just what is saved in my cache.

Formatting the Blog

I just changed the blog a bit so that it would be a bit easier to go back and read. First I changed it so that more posts would show on the front page. Also, I changed it so that the blog archives monthly, instead of weekly.

I think most blogs archive monthly. If a blog is very big, it certainly makes it easier to go back and read and keep track of what you have and haven't read. Each section contains the posts that were posted during the given time period. So, for instance, if you are looking for a post that was written on August 12 - you would click on the week or month that contains that month. The date of the post is the date the entry (post) was originally blogged (or posted) - doesn't matter how many comments were made or how many edits were made or when. If I write a post today and make corrections on it every day for the next month and everyone makes comments on it every day for the next month, the date of the post is still today because that will always be the original post day.

Only a blog moderator can modify the format of how the archives are displayed. However, if anybody has any requests, comments, etc., let Catherine or me know and we can play with the format some more.

If you are a contributor to the blog you can add a comment to any post from any time period. However, the older a post, the less likely anyone will know if you post a comment. Whichever moderator is set to receive a copy of all comments (currently Catherine) will know when someone posts a comment no matter which post the comment is made on. However, no one else will know about the comment unless they go back through the archive . . . which I would guess happens, but rarely.

Perhaps a better way is to think of the archive as a file cabinet. The front page is the current file - open for everyone to read. Most people who read the file regularly will only check the top few pages and they will comment on those pages, but they won't go back very far because they have read the older material and very few people bother commenting on older pages. Each month has a separate file folder - if you are interested in the pages from longer ago, open that file folder by clicking on the link for that month. You can comment on older posts, but it is rather like putting a post-it in an old file folder. The moderator knows you made the comment, but otherwise nobody knows unless they go looking and open that folder and notice your comment.

ALERTED!

I too get the UIBLE ALERTS and to think the world got the Pictures of Dad and his upcoming birthday! Also got the alerts of Mary Virginia's devotionals! I can't wait to see my name as an alert. Won't be like America's Most Wanted.....Did anyone else miss the program last night. Meaning it was not on, I turned it on, but it was some sort of sports game instead! I was able to watch a program on cold case files. Excellent! Though not appreciated by others who share this roof! We have a busy day tomorrow including having an appointment at the bank with the lock people since we seemed to have lost the key to our lockbox. Seems to me it is an easy way for them to make an extra $150. Wonder how much Park National would charge.....but what I wonder the most is what valuables we will find in this box. My third grade picture??? Stay tuned.....Roberta the poster......

Google Alert

Does anyone else get the Google Alert for "UIBLE"? I had signed up for it recently and today got a message through it about Serena's post re: Dad's birthday. That seemed just a LITTLE weird, but.....shows you how "small" the world has become with computers and internet. Also about Frank Uible's posting on another blog and Marc Uible's trip to India (?) I think. Marc is Woody's college age son who attends IU, Richard's grandson....

12834 Ballad

Wanted to let everyone know that we are alive and well and though you have not heard from me I have been reading posts and comments. Yesterday we supported the medical profession with three appointments and long story made bearable Sid was scheduled for a cat scan this morning at 7:30 to find if there was a repeat of the same problem of about a month ago with blood on the top of the brain. Four phone calls later to the same doctor that insisted we have the cat scan done today have produced nothing but "you will be hearing from the doctor" and "the doctor is in surgery" or "only the doctor can read the report" This was in answer to my question if the report was in English and if someone in the office could possibly read it since I understood English!

The good news to report is that we have just come from a bike ride this evening of 4-5 miles, perhaps longer, so we are ready for the Tempe bike ride this Sunday. We have done this bike ride annually since we got our first side-by-side bike and I believe Sid was the oldest one doing it 4 years ago and he continues to hold the record!

Tomorrow I am to work a health fair meaning I pass out information and try to get people to either be interested in receiving Interfaith services or if they look too healthy to try to get them to be a volunteer. Other Interfaith staff have commented in the past that I am the only one that can talk for hours and not have to take a break! I tell them it is because as a child I did not have a chance to talk much!

Are blogs supposed to be short???? Best of weekends to one and all however you spend it! Love, Roberta the poster

Everyone busy?

I've checked the blog several times the last day or two, assuming that my blogline subscription must not be working---not even a new picture for a couple days. The only excitement here is that I'm taking some cmte. members to Statesboro (GA) tomorrow to listen to 3 organs as we consider what to buy in the next several months to replace the 30+ yr. old organ we now have at church. Sid, with his organ background, may recognize the name "Allen Organ" which is what we have now. They have a decent product but much of what you pay for is the name on the organ, kind of like you can buy an Atlanta Braves shirt with your favorite players name on it at a ballgame for $25++ or get the same shirt minus the name at a local discount store for less than $10. Allen, who has become known as one of (if not THE ONE) name in church organs also has the highest pricetag. We don't have anyone demanding a pipe organ who is willing to fork over the $500K necessary, so electronic digital for a fraction thereof is very appealing.