Going to bed thinking, dreaming and waking genealogy

[v.wells]

Does anyone else suffer from this malady of brain function? I will go to bed thinking about my daily genealogy trials, joys and puzzles and will often wake in the middle of the night with a possible answer or another question to search out! I wake up tired from all this brain action. Sometimes I take a few days break or switch to another line, but I end up doing the exact same thing!|book2|:confused:|soapbox||banghead||oopsred fa:D
Does it have anything to do with OCD (obsessive compulsive) which I don't normally have?!

[Wilkes_ml]

At least I'm not the only one! And I'm even starting to get obsessed by by partner's family history! I was up at 7 this morning, and the first thing I did was open up a family history folder, order a index CD online, then get ready for work!

I've also had revelations come to me in dreams! Unfortunately I forget them when I wake up|banghead|

[Mike_E]

I don't think you are alone,

I've not started doing it yet with the FT research, but I do with work stuff. Number of times I've woken in the middle of the night with a possible solution to a problem. I now have pen and paper next to bed to make notes.

I'm just about to remote into work now to check the progress of a site migration script that should have started running at 23.00, and is due to finish about 04.00. I'll remote in again before 09.00 to check that all is well before the Helpdesk get calls, then my weekend is free for..........

Clean house with Wifey, Check drains, I think we have a blocked drain at the back of the house with all this rain (flooding very near to me)
Fit new stereo in Car (yippee) And work on my Family Tree.

[suedent]

Check drains, I think we have a blocked drain at the back of the house with all this rain (flooding very near to me)

Near Tewkesbury are you? My sister is in Cheltenham & escaped the last floods by the skin of her teeth (the houses across the road weren't so lucky).

She does however have a friend who lives (or rather, owns a house) in Bishop's Cleeve, they've been married a couple of years & can count the months they've spent in their new house on the fingers of one hand :(

[Mike_E]

Near Tewkesbury are you?

Gloucester, River one side, Canal on the other. last year the water stopped at the front door. We were lucky, a friend at work moved back in last Wednesday, and was baling there garage out on Friday with water lapping at the doors again. Poor lady was almost in tears, and I don't blame her, all I wanted to do was give her a big |hug|

I've put the computer on to the desk, just in case, and taken backups again tonight. Don't care about the other electronics. All family files and paperwork are upstairs. I can buy a new PC, but it would take years t get all those files again.

[suedent]

I feel for everyone caught up in the flooding, as you say electronics etc can be replaced, but it's the personal items that get lost that can never be replaced.

[Sue Mackay]

I feel for everyone caught up in the flooding, as you say electronics etc can be replaced, but it's the personal items that get lost that can never be replaced.

I have gone through the photo albums and scanned really priceless ones on to the PC. I now keep a CD of really important files and pictures in the bedroom, next to the fold up fire ladder that we have by the window that would be the only fire exit if the stairs went. Also keeps it separate from the PC - when my brother had a burglary they stole the PC AND all his disks!!

[v.wells]

I have gone through the photo albums and scanned really priceless ones on to the PC. I now keep a CD of really important files and pictures in the bedroom, next to the fold up fire ladder that we have by the window that would be the only fire exit if the stairs went. Also keeps it separate from the PC - when my brother had a burglary they stole the PC AND all his disks!!

That is one GREAT idea Sue and another thought to keep my mind occupied while mulling over my geneaized brain (is that a word?) while in bed trying to sleep!:D

[Barnzzz]

Hello, I too have a malady of brain function. I spend all my time on the internet searching for my husband's ancestors (not even mine !), or at work locked in a battle of words (I'm not saying what my job is, only that its very unpopular).

Having said that, I'm quite happy to carry on doing these things

Sue

[ChristineR]

I usually read for a while when I go to bed, this seems to slow the brain activity once I attempt to sleep. But I will still wake through the night with ancestors names running through my head. I would say I am obsessed :D

ChristineR

[Mary Anne]

Why I retired a year ago...found I was spending more time (and enjoying it more!) with dead ancestors than with living colleagues |shakehead

And they do say:

"Genealogy begins as an interest,
becomes a hobby,
continues as a vocation,
takes over as an obsession, and
in its last stages, is an incurable disease"

Hubby would definitely agree that I am in the final phase...:cool:


Mary Anne

[David Annis]

I only started a week ago. Hell I'm need of sleep. My family are giving me strange looks and they are now listening to my latest findings with little or no expression on their faces. I act as if I have found the next best thing to discovering an Egytian tomb and they think I'm barmy.
One thing I have learnt, when you think you have found an answer, it generates a great pile of new questions.
There's more to this iceberg than meets the eye.
Cheers. Dave

[jeanettemarie]

Why I retired a year ago...found I was spending more time (and enjoying it more!) with dead ancestors than with living colleagues |shakehead

And they do say:

"Genealogy begins as an interest,
becomes a hobby,
continues as a vocation,
takes over as an obsession, and
in its last stages, is an incurable disease"

Hubby would definitely agree that I am in the final phase...:cool:


Mary Anne
My hubby would also agree, I sit with my laptop on my knee every night, whilst wayching t.v. and he says "not again havnt you finished yet" I wouldnt mind, but i've got his family back to 1590's and am still trying to find mine in the 1800's it is definately obsessive, but very enjoyable,:) frustrating|banghead|etc etc
Jeanette

[v.wells]

I only started a week ago. Hell I'm need of sleep. My family are giving me strange looks and they are now listening to my latest findings with little or no expression on their faces. I act as if I have found the next best thing to discovering an Egytian tomb and they think I'm barmy.
One thing I have learnt, when you think you have found an answer, it generates a great pile of new questions.
There's more to this iceberg than meets the eye.
Cheers. Dave

I have been doing this for a few years and all I get is a grunt now and again. No one listens unless I am describing something horrific eg: disease, death, living conditions! I do get "MORE mail from England!" moans too! What do they want - Bills? And I agree with Mary Ann, I am also in the latter stages and not terribly interested in "live" contact!!:D

[suedent]

I've been seriously addicted (or my family would say afflicted!) for a long time. I've long since stopped telling them of my latest breakthrough - their eyes would only glaze over anyway.

I'm lucky in having a sympathetic friend, the sister of another addict. She is genuinely interested. The only thing that is stopping her from starting any research is the knowledge that she too would become addicted.

[Jan1954]

My whole office get updated when I have a breakthrough. I think they're either getting used to it or they're very polite! :D

Mind you, it has set a couple of them off on the trail...

[jeanettemarie]

I have been doing this for a few years and all I get is a grunt now and again. No one listens unless I am describing something horrific eg: disease, death, living conditions! I do get "MORE mail from England!" moans too! What do they want - Bills? And I agree with Mary Ann, I am also in the latter stages and not terribly interested in "live" contact!!:D
this is exactly the response I get and I think the people who are not interested are the ones with a problem, they dont know what they are missing:D

[Hils Hoppo]

A fellow obsessive genealogist friend and I have named our affliction 'Ancestor Worship' - we think of it as a new found religion and we don't feel half as bad about the hours/days/nights we have spent searching online records until our eyesight fails and RSI sets into our fingers!!|snore| I often find the answer to problems come to me in the middle of the night and I have been known to get up and make notes. OCD? Moi?|help|

[*bunty*]

I can sooo relate to a lot of these posts. I have been going for 3 weeks now. In a mere three weeks I have become completely obsessed |shakehead.

Waiting for my first marriage certificate from England in the mail. I spent the last two weeks attaching the wrong ancestors to myself :rolleyes:, now it is time to do it properly, with real records ;).

[Pandad]

I can relate to the vast majority of these posts |banghead|, especially the response, or lack off :rolleyes:, from other individuals. However, I have a get out clause. I have two serious hobbies, family history, and motorcycling. I do the family history during the winter months and motorcycling during the warmer months. In fact the two hobbies do gel quite well because I often ride off to some distant town down South to do some research.

[Wilkes_ml]

I was dreaming about it again last night - records that I ordered from Kew had arrived to down load - but in my dream they also came with a photo album of the people concerned! And also in my dream, no-one else around me was interested in my amazing discovery!!

[v.wells]

Wouldn't that be wonderful to actually have that happen? Do you remember what they looked like in your dream? And shame on those not interested in your amazing discovery!

[Jan1954]

I was dreaming about it again last night... And also in my dream, no-one else around me was interested in my amazing discovery!!

Are you sure that this bit was a dream? :D

[Wilkes_ml]

If only we could wake from our dreams to find the documents in our hands!!!! Unfortunately I couldn't remember what they looked like! It is strange though - I do wander whether someone was trying to get through to me!!!!!

[Diane Grant-Salmon]

I can relate to the vast majority of these posts |banghead|, especially the response, or lack off :rolleyes:, from other individuals. However, I have a get out clause. I have two serious hobbies, family history, and motorcycling. I do the family history during the winter months and motorcycling during the warmer months. In fact the two hobbies do gel quite well because I often ride off to some distant town down South to do some research.

I can relate to your post too ....... just substitute motorcycling for gardening. You have the advantage of the two hobbies gelling though ..... unless I happen to dig up a body! :D

[jeanettemarie]

I can relate to your post too ....... just substitute motorcycling for gardening. You have the advantage of the two hobbies gelling though ..... unless I happen to dig up a body! :D
Trouble with that one is.. unless you happen to be in the ancestral home and had a murderer in the family, it wont be one of your ancestors::D

[jeeb]

I have been obsessed with genealogy for years and my dear late wife, God bless her, was probably worse! I think what really brought it home to me was when my daughter was 5 (she is now in her thirties, married with her own daughter). My wife and I went to the parent's open evening at her school and were looking in the diary the children had to write every monday morning about their weekend activities, my daughter had written, "Daddy took us looking for gravestones again."

Jeremy

[Wilkes_ml]

ahhh, I must admit I have taken my 3 year old and 7 year old grave hunting! It is the only family history stuff I can do with them! But I bet the teachers would worry if they said they'd been gravehunting!!

[jeanettemarie]

I have also got to admit to walking round graveyards, with my husband on a Sunday afternoon, (who by the way is not in the least interested in genealogy |snore|) my children who are both grown up think im mad:D

[Barnzzz]

I'm lucky enough to live near Arnos Vale Cemetery which is HUGE ! When my children were small I'd take them there looking for caterpillars and squirrells and things (you have to be creative when you're broke). Now I go looking for ancestors and the children (now aged 23 and 25) won't come with me any more.

Sue

[Jenjen]

Y'all have just given me a few laughs reading about your obsessions! So much more fun than watching the Super Bowl! Of course I am obsessed too but I'm lucky that my husband shares my obsession so we can share our stories with interest, and we do every day. Is this more expensive than golf or gardening? I'm beginning to think so as we have an ever increasing library. My husband is not satisfied with looking at the parish records but wants every book too. How about George Ormerod's History of Cheshire! Goodness knows how much that cost-it weighs a ton. Who will want these after we go? So far none of our children have shown any interest. We'll just have to send the lot to Salt lake City!
Jen

[David Annis]

Well when the weather gets better my wife will be treated to visiting cemeterys and churches she never thought she would ever set foot in.
At the moment she is oblivious to the joys that lie instore for her.
Cheers
Dave.

[zane]

My poor old hubby does try to look interested but that eye glazing over and the yes dear when it shouldn't be a yes dear is a dead giveaway! Actually my hubby has to go to France on Sunday with work for two weeks and was thinking of popping over to see his parents in England for the weekend in between. I said it would be a lot of hassle trying to fit in both of his parents and his siblings just in one weekend, (his parents are divorced and siblings are married), but when he rang his dad at the weekend just to see if he will be around that weekend (he is just going to surprise them by turning up) his dad mentioned that he had a bag of photos and newspaper cuttings I could have......................... now, suddenly, I am thinking what a good son he is visiting his parents or am I just a wicked wicked wife!!!! :D

[Peter_uk_can]

Ah..... The pleasures of a huge bag of photographs on which no one every wrote a thing, and newspapers cuttings that are just that. No date no publication info. Hours of endless joy for all the family. |book2|

Enjoy your trip to England.

[MythicalMarian]

Why I retired a year ago...found I was spending more time (and enjoying it more!) with dead ancestors than with living colleagues |shakehead

And they do say:

"Genealogy begins as an interest,
becomes a hobby,
continues as a vocation,
takes over as an obsession, and
in its last stages, is an incurable disease"

Hubby would definitely agree that I am in the final phase...:cool:


Mary Anne

Yep - I've been terminal for 22 years - although I do go into remission from time to time when I completely walk away from my Stokeses and Hollands and Hardings and.....

When I'm having a bad relapse, I fall asleep trying to solve problems, and even see all kinds of strange faces before my eyes before I nod off (spooky, eh?). I have even begun to wonder if the ancestors are haunting me, and all these faces are the ones I haven't yet found.... 'Find me...Find me...'

Do you think we're all mad? Don't even bother answering....

[MythicalMarian]

ahhh, I must admit I have taken my 3 year old and 7 year old grave hunting! It is the only family history stuff I can do with them! But I bet the teachers would worry if they said they'd been gravehunting!!

My daughter, who is now 19, reminded me the other day that on her 9th birthday I bought her a beautiful Victorian doll and took her to Manchester Library where she 'sat for hours' while I was 'looking for Siddalls'.

I am a very, very horrible mother.

[zane]

Hubby is due back Sunday morning, with him he is bringing photo's, copies of certs. A framed bravery award of his grandfathers that we didn't know he had, his great grandfathers pocket watch............................... I can't wait to see them oops I mean see him!! |jumphappy

[jeanettemarie]

you lucky thing all those papers and photos to go through.|woohoo| dream come true, poor hubby though you no doubt will hug them more than him:D
Jeanette

[MaryFrances]

It certainly does become an obsession. If I can't sleep I usually end up on the computer doing - guess what - yep! family research. My other half is incredibly patient with it all. Our elder daughter says that "..there is more to life than family history, mum..." but I just love it and it gives me an enormous buzz and I'm sure you all feel the same.

[Barnzzz]

My boss' aunt has recently died and he was talking about who was going to be at the funeral next week. He said '****** didn't really know my aunt, but she's going to the funeral anyway with all her papers, just so she can interrogate everyone about the family tree'
I said 'Oooh yes, I understand completely', at which he just looked at me and said 'you would !' hmmmmm

[benny1982]

I often think about the same thing when I am laying in bed just before I go to sleep. But I dont mind it as it is only about an ancestor who has been dead a long time. But it is still creepy.

My ggggran Mary Ann Roberts died on the 14th Nov 1886 at 25 Evelyn Buildings, Dorrington St, Holborn, London aged 46, much younger wife of 73-year old elderly soap boiler Thos Roberts, my ggggrandfather. She died of 3 major body infections and was buried on the 20th Nov 1886.

I dont know why but I quite often think of what Thomas was doing inbetween 20th and 30th Nov 1886 after just having buried his wife. I wonder if he sat by the fireplace in the tenement and how he coped once his wife was at peace. I often get ghostly images of the wrinkled old man sitting at night in his grotty tenement either on the bed or sitting by the fire with his walking stick, grieving and it can be quite spooky.

Ben