This was sent to me from Donna But it sure brings up a lot of
good fun questions so try to answer it with fun in mind.
I am pretty far gone but still have some personal life. How about you?
TEST YOURSELF
Answer these twenty-five questions with a "yes" or a "no" and then
rate
yourself with the results at the end of the column.
1. Do you feel that you know many of your ancestors better than members of
your immediate, living family members?
2. Do most or all of your vacation trips involve genealogical research,
even at the risk of traveling hundreds of miles out of the way?
3. Have you ever dragged your spouse and/or children through a cemetery?
4. On such vacation trips, have you "dumped" your spouse and/or children at
a mall, given them money, and told them to amuse themselves for four or five
hours while you conduct research?
5. Are you on a first name basis with more than five genealogical reference
librarians?
6. Are you more proficient with searching library and archive catalogs and
the Internet for genealogical information than most of your local
librarians?
7. Have you ever bribed (or thanked) a genealogy librarian or archivist
with chocolate chip cookies, cheesecake, bon-bons, or Godiva chocolates?
8. Have you ever sat at a microfilm reader so long that your eyes were
spinning in their sockets like the fruits on a Las Vegas slot machine?
9. Have you ever bypassed eating lunch or dinner just because you were
making such headway, either in a library/archive or on the Internet?
10. Does the trunk of your car contain hiking boots, galoshes, coveralls,
smocks, old shirts and trousers, insect repellent, a trowel, and other tools
just in case you have to make an emergency stop at a cemetery?
11. Do you subscribe to more than five genealogical mailing lists or
regularly post to and check more than five online genealogy message boards?
12. Have you spent $100 or more in the last year on genealogy books,
software, and/or archival supplies?
13. Have you spent $100 or more in the last year on photocopies and/or for
copies of vital records?
14. Have you called in sick to work or school because you were up until the
wee hours researching your genealogy in the
Ancestry.com databases and on
other websites?
15. When you make a great discovery, do you turn around and celebrate it by
telling your dog(s) or cat(s) napping in your home office all about it?
16. Are you the person in the family that everyone comes to in order to
find out more about the family history?
17. Are you the "accidental archivist" to whom everyone gives or bequeaths
the family papers, Bibles, and other heirlooms?
18. Are you a member of more than three genealogical societies?
19. Have you attended more than three seminars or conferences in the last
year?
20. Are you able to immediately recall the names, the locations, and the
vital dates of two or more generations of a family line and to brag to
another researcher exactly how far back, to the year, you have traced your
most distant line?
21. Is at least one room in your home unusable because your genealogical
research paperwork covers every surface?
22. Do you attend family reunions to pick your relatives' brains and to
find a younger relative who might become addicted and to whom you could
bequeath your research?
23. Does your car, truck, van, or SUV have a bumper sticker, license plate
holder, or window decal relating to genealogy?
24. Do you call relatives primarily for the reason of learning more about
the family history rather than to find out how they are doing?
25. Have you personally researched in the basement or attic of a courthouse
or church for family records?
RATING YOUR ADDICTION
Pretty tough questions, eh? Well, go back and count your "yes" answers and
match the number of them with the list below.
1-5 - You're still a beginner and have a lot to learn, but there's hope.
Join a genealogical society ASAP.
6-10 - You qualify to list genealogy as a hobby. You can work up to the
next level by spending more time at the library or at an LDS Family History
Center.
11-15 - You're a dedicated researcher but you haven't thrown your heart into
it. You have to give up those frivolous social events and PTA meetings and
concentrate more fully on genealogy.
16-20 - You are definitely hooked, but you may still have some modicum of
personal and social life.
21-25 - You are definitely addicted and there is little hope for you. You
could attend GA (Genealogists Anonymous) meetings, and it probably still
wouldn't help. Give in to it, relax, and have a wonderful time!
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Jim R. Swimming with the Mermaids