I have always loved palm trees since first being introduced to them about 1959 in Florida. The palms in Florida were abundant and royal looking -- they were primarily coconut palms. The palms we have here in Northern California can be just as regal appearing and the above trio fits the bill. There are nowhere near the number of palms here as even Southern California. The palms lining many of the boulevards in Southern California are majestic and some of them were planted by Thaddeus Adams, one of Gail's relatives. Thaddeus was like the Johnny Appleseed of the Los Angeles area with his prolific palm planting.
So Why am I Lucky . . .
As we speak, the 900,000 plus files that I USED TO HAVE on this computer are being retrieved and restored . . . yesterday I for some reason could not print. I searched for solutions on the wiki for the browser that I use. It was suggested that the first step in correcting the issue was to be sure and download all Windows Upgrades if not already done. There was one that (optional, though it was) I recklessly downloaded. From that point on nothing I did would bring my computer back up and running. I tried several restore points which in the past had corrected any misdoing that I had done by putting the computer back in time to when "all was fine".
Needless to say -- I was panicked, but I remembered that I had backup -- even though I had never used it before -- I had a feeling that I could start over even if it meant purchasing a new system. The service that backs up for me could send all my files to any computer that I used.
The above left is the message that I received from them reassuring me that I can relax while my files are being restored in the original folders that I had them -- it might take a few days to retrieve them all . . . already I see some of the many pictures that I have being restored . . . I am sooo glad that I invested in an off-site backup program a few years back -- it is sooo worth the $1 or so per week!
Other Big News of the Week
This week also marks the completion of the project to index the 1940 Census. It had been predicted that it would take 6 months or so to index. It is completed two months earlier than originally thought and it is so nice to be able to search in every state for our relatives. The following collage explains a few more facts:
With the Completion of the Index:
Texas was one of the last states to be released AND I had been looking for one of my Grand Uncles in that state but he didn't appear -- until this week-end. Charles William Hiles is my Grandfather's brother making him my Grand Uncle. I only heard stories about him and never got to meet him as he died shortly before my birth -- but he (and his wife Mabel) did appear in the 1940 Census:
On the left side are snippets of the census for Houston, Texas -- the top highlighted line shows "C.W. Hiles" the bottom one (which appeared on the next page) shows Mabel. By looking at the detail of the columns you can see some of the pertinent facts: their address, 3222 Ozark Avenue, $7,000 value to the home, age, marital status, occupation of Charles -- Agent for Interstate Fruit Distributor (Pacific Fruit Express) and his salary for the year -- $4800 . . . things have changed a bit.
On the right side is the notice that I found recently announcing his death on 26 December, 1941. So he died shortly after Pearl Harbor and a year or so after the census was taken.
I was curious about where he lived and if there was any record of the address -- the following is what I pulled up on a variety of sites, Google and Bing included not to mention Zillow and Trulia Real Estate.
If that is in fact the house that he lived in in 1940 -- I have to say that it was pretty nice and the neighborhood was nice and is still nice today. I am not sure if any of my immediate relatives ever visited Charles at that home. I know that Charles took the train and made many trips to visit his brothers and sisters . . . the value of the home seems to be around $200,000 today -- which while much more than the $7,000 in 1940, would be a lot more in other parts of the country, Northern California for example . . .
Dino's Big Event This Week
On Tuesday evening we hustled on over to the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa. We met up with all the other puppies from GDB at the entrance for the Amusement Rides. We weren't planning on riding on any of those -- just looking, thank you very much. But we did take a couple of hours and wind throughout the very crowded grounds:
In the above you can see some of the exhibits that we walked through. The dogs were just like pros and walked like perfect guide dogs throughout. Not one of them barked or did anything that they were not supposed to do. In the exhibit with all the flowers at one point we all sat down and rested a bit while some of us took photos . . . thank goodness for digital photography -- I wound up with well over two hundred pictures.
After the above exhibits we meandered into the livestock area where 4-H groups presented their sheep, cattle, rabbits, chickens and pigs ( we didn't see them) and other small animals. The puppies were not overly interested in the other animals though they were aware of them.
So that was a bit of our week. Last night being Saturday we had our traditional burgers -- and we ate them while enjoying the Olympics -- which we have watched every day. Tonight, Dino and I are "baching" it as Gail is out and about "with the girls" . . . so it just may be a non-dieting dinner for me.
We'll see -- though progress is steady on that -- down 7 since starting a couple of weeks ago.
Have a fun week, see you in a few!
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