It’s (past) the middle of the month and it’s time for those of us doing the 30 x 30 challenge to check in and report on how it’s going! I haven’t missed a day, but I have had some days where I was not able to do a full 30 minutes of research. But my average is above 30 minutes a day (so far this month) because I was able to put in a couple of long sessions.
Last night I remembered at bedtime that I hadn’t researched, so I snuck in 15 minutes and processed a newspaper article from my backlog of unprocessed documents. My backlog, which numbered 88 on December 25, now stands at 28. I’m getting there!
One of the reasons I’ve been successful with this challenge is that on January 13 I tested positive for COVID. I’m vaccinated and boosted and I caught Omicron. My symptoms were mild (I felt crappy only one day) but I was required to isolate in the house for five days. It meant I had to cancel client appointments and a trip to Walla Walla so I’ve had lots of time at my computer. It’s been refreshing to be able to focus on my research! (That was definitely a silver lining about my catching COVID.)
How about you? If you’re one of the three dozen or so people who signed up for the challenge, how’s it going? Please let us know in the comments.
LOL, I cautiously recommend diving down rabbit holes, although not as a standard practice. My original intention for this 30×30 was to use something easy to improve my report writing, a simple case study. Originally given a very casual read and filed under “Misc. Finds” I started with an image of an 1844 letter from a 1st cousin/4x removed to her cousin, my 2nd great grandaunt. A careful reading and 19 new documents (to sort people) later… But I am improving a skill plus I learned my 3rd great grandfather, at age 70, made what was probably an arduous trip from his home in Maine back to his home village of Truro on Cape Cod! So worth the extra document processing I did. And luckily I was able to spend extra time the first week because plumbing issues took all my research time since last Friday.
That is so interesting Roberta! And a great example of how rabbit holes can be beneficial. Just the other day, I started composing a blog post head titled, “In defense of rabbit holes.” LOL. Sounds like you’ve had a very productive two weeks, genealogically speaking!
I am doing pretty well with my 30×30. I have built some research logs and finally concentrated on my own family while being on Archion.de
And guess what I found 6 ggggaunts and -uncles 🙂 Still no new adds to my ancestor score but I have one more month to go for some improvements. Wish me luck 🙂
Those are amazing discoveries, Barbara! What fun!
I’ve been working on trying to figure out some DNA matches and the connection to County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It isn’t always 30 minutes a day. Sometimes it’s a lot more and sometimes it’s a lot less. I’ve been corresponding with people. I think this may have something to do with some unknown lines born in “Ireland.”
Oh, and I’m so glad that you’ve had a mild case of COVID! I’m vaccinated and I got the booster. I thought I had a cold until we got word that I was exposed to someone who was exposed to COVID. I lost taste and smell a few days later. All is well now.
Glad you’re okay now, Mary. I’m very grateful that my case was Omicron (presumably) and so mild. And that I kept my sense of taste and smell.
Sounds like you’re doing great, Mary!
Unfortunately I got sick (not COVID), and have missed a week or two, so I won’t meet my targets, but as I am starting to feel better I am hoping to be well enough to restart this weekend.
I’m glad you’re starting to feel better, Missy!