Several Gains ... and a Pain

Some You Win
My new-found passion for researching my family history continues apace, and like many other amateur genealogists I am finding that the frustrating dead ends and missing connections are well compensated by serendipitous discoveries.
The biggest challenges I face are that not only are most people from my parents' generation long gone (and therefore unable to identify piles of tantalisingly unlabelled photographs), but I am largely unacquainted with even the close relatives of my own generation. I am delighted to say that this is gradually being remedied. Thanks to the scary internet, I have tracked down several of my previously unknown first cousins, and in most cases they have been as excited as myself to make the connection. The fact that a couple of them live in the same city as me is astonishing, seeing our families originated 2000 miles away.
I have not yet discovered anyone particularly famous or infamous perched in my family tree, but I am proud to report that my direct ancestors and current first-degree relatives have the following accomplishments to their credit:

• pioneer farmers who established large sheep properties in arid bushland
• schoolteachers who opened the first schools in their areas
• the introduction of the practice of "dipping" sheep for protection against parasites
• the first mayor of a now-famous town
• an internationally recognised musician and an even more well-known artist
• numerous brave soldiers in the two World Wars
• a nurse who endured malaria and dysentery to treat soldiers in WW I
• a pioneering news journalist and broadcaster
• an extraordinarily generous (but very private) philanthropist

Some You Lose
It's always sad to witness the deliberate destruction of something which means a lot, and the ongoing implosion of the once-great Open Directory Project has been painful to watch. I have my own theories about when and how this started, but even non-editors have been able to see the disastrous effects of the misguided and incredibly inept DMOZ 2.0 "upgrade" last August.
Like thousands of other DMOZ editors I was forced to abandon my role as the whole infrastructure and editorial process disintegrated in front of our horrified gaze. Of course we were continually assured that such "glitches" were only to be expected after a major system upgrade, and that normal functions would soon be restored. We wanted so badly to believe that, but the gurgling sound was growing louder.

After more than a month things were barely any better, editing was still unworkably bug-ridden, data was still being lost, and impatience was growing. The repeated reassurances from ODP management sounded more optimistic than realistic by then, but many of us kept hoping they would eventually make things right. I decided to leave them to it for a few months, rather than experiencing daily exasperations about all the new bugs being discovered. So I was astonished to return to do some editing the other day, almost six months after the "upgrade", only to find that not only are most of the basic editing functions still not working properly, but that even the high level reassurances have not been updated in all that time!

Apparently not just the actual working editors, but even those who manage DMOZ have given up and lost interest.

Having been an enthusiastic and dedicated ODP volunteer for many years, it has been very sad indeed for me to watch the directory come to such an inglorious end, and I am sure many many other editors feel the same. The fact that it happened as the result of deliberate actions and decisions by those in authority makes it even more distressing, but we are (and always were) at the mercy of those whose positions of power are not accompanied by either aptitude or altruism.

'Tis the Season To Be ...

Forgiving towards those who cause us distress, pain, and hardship. Let's assume that they did so through ignorance, inattention, or misunderstanding, rather than from malice, greed or envy.

Generous towards those whose lives would be improved by some small effort on our part. Give unwanted presents and other items to a charity, sell them and donate the money, share your good fortune by regular contributions throughout the year, or become a volunteer for a worthwhile cause.

Understanding of the foibles, fears, hang-ups and other "issues" that affect everyone, and which sometimes result in actions and reactions which are inexplicable or inappropriate.

Gracious towards those whose talents, skills, fortunes or relationships seem better than ours.
Resolute in the face of misfortune, injustice, and other calamities not of our making. Not being responsible for causing a situation doesn't mean we can't be responsible for fixing it.

Honest about our mistakes and errors of judgement. Trying to cover it up or, worse, shifting the blame to someone else is often tempting, but always makes the situation worse in the end, and adds to our own burden of guilt.

Patient with those who seem to be "wasting" our time. Rather than getting irritated and frustrated, let's assume that they are trying their best, or that they have other things on their minds.

Optimistic that the above virtues can be sustained just a little longer than they were last year. Perhaps even into the second week of January?

Realistic about success in this and all other endeavours. All we can do is our best with what we have.

Above all, let us be kind to ourselves and others, regardless of achievements, and certainly despite a lack of them.

Happy New Year everyone.

Forebears and Bugbears

Ancestors
Having grown up knowing almost nothing about my extended family, due to the disinterest of my parents in their relatives, it has been a great surprise for me to suddenly develop a passion for genealogy. Unfortunately I have left my investigation rather late, because most people from even my parents' generation have died, but thanks to the intrusive internet it is possible to unearth the sorts of facts previously found only in family stories or possibly the Family Bible.
Disappointingly, I have not yet discovered anyone particularly newsworthy or infamous among the 750 or so leaves of the family tree I have so far identified, but the exercise has given me several points to ponder:

• The general expectation of a young woman in the 19th century must have been that she would bear 10 or more children, usually at intervals of a year or two. 
• She would expect several of her children to die at birth or in infancy, and that she herself would probably die before she was middle-aged, most likely from infection, often as a result of pregnancy or childbirth.
• Young men would expect to leave home in their mid-teens and then to spend almost all of their time working, often away from home. They usually married young, and began almost immediately to produce as large a family as possible.
• It was very common for one parent to die while some of the children were still very young, and the remaining parent usually married again, often starting another family.
• Any parent who managed to survive into old age always went to live with one of their children, usually an unmarried one.
• Hardly anyone got divorced (although there is no reason to suppose that marriages were generally any happier or unhappier then than they are now).
• Young orphans were far more common than today, leading to more formal or informal adoptions.
• Families sailing from the UK to Australia not infrequently lost or gained a child during the voyage.

None of these are fresh or insightful observations, but the point is that these people were my family. They are not characters in a novel or part of a sociological treatise on "19th Century Life in the Colonies". My own (extremely unusual) middle name pops up at least once in each generation, tying me firmly to these women whose lives were unimaginably different from my own.

So one question is foremost in my mind as I unravel these histories ... "Could I have coped with lives like theirs?" Of course that is impossible to answer and therefore pointless to ask, but nevertheless I feel ashamed to say that I doubt it very much indeed.

Incensors

(as in "things which incense me", not "things for waving incense about")

I am implacable about fairness, and this frequently gets me into trouble. My friends charitably call this behaviour "standing up for what is right" or "speaking out against injustice and deceit".

Just as accurately, my critics label me as a "troublemaker", 

or to use a more vivid expression, a "shit-stirrer".

Keeping out of trouble, avoiding confrontation, minding my own business, not fighting other peoples' battles for them, letting things be, remembering my (inferior) position, sticking to battles I can win ... these are lessons I seem to be unable to learn.

Most people very sensibly prefer a quiet life, and try to avoid situations which will cause them distress. Of course that doesn't mean that they are any less fervent about injustice than people like me - they just have a more self-protective way of dealing with it. And if someone else seems not just willing but actually eager to go into battle on their behalf, why not let them?

I have previously described two of my futile battles this year, but no sooner had those wounds healed than I was hurling myself pointlessly back into the fray. The same two "Goliaths" continued to raise my ire throughout the year by persisting in their shabby treatment of students and volunteers respectively, so after a very short period of meekly acknowledging those in "authority", I resumed my doomed campaign on behalf of those they treated with such disrespect. 

Of course the natural reaction of anyone to a persistently annoying pest is to swat it, which is precisely what happened (again).  

Will I ever learn not to keep trying? 

Probably not.