Family Coat of Arms

“If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.” - Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese Monk, Activist and Writer. b.1926)

When I first started using Ancestry.com I imported everybody that was “hinted” as related; every spouse, every child, etc. Belatedly I discovered that this had created a mess. Consider my mother; she has a brother; he has a wife. My uncle’s wife has a twin sister who is married and he has parents. By this point I am so far off the main branch of my tree and in no way related to the persons I’m importing.

As part of my pruning effort, I thought I would assign an image for every person that I am directly descended from. This picture replaces the generic man/woman face in the tree and makes it easy to spot my main branch. For distant relatives I’m using the family coat of arms as the image.
This has been fun but exhausting. For some names multiple Coats of Arms are available. Which is correct? For others I can find no Coat at all and must find a substitute image. In this post I’ll share some of the things I’ve learned about Heraldry – the profession of managing Coats of Arms or Blazons.

Family arms are much like university logos. It makes it easy to spot who is playing on a field of combat. Once a coat of arms was adopted by a noble family, the design was placed on shields, embroidered on tapestries, carved in stone about the castle, placed on swords and even burnt into the top of breads for special occasions.

As everybody who was anybody created a Coat of Arms, heraldry became essential to keep track of the images and who was who during the Crusades. Rules were established in medieval times and a language of symbols and colors created. For instance:

Yellow = generosity
White or Silver = peace and sincerity
Blue = loyalty and truth
Red = strength and military might
Green = hope, joy and loyalty in love
Purple = royalty
A lion = courage
A tiger = one who is fierce in battle
Escallop shell = long naval journeys or naval command
A crescent = one who has been honored by the sovereign

Unfortunately this new language got carried away with specialized terms in English and French. It now requires a bit of learning to understand official Heraldry speak:

"A lion's head erased azure langued gules"

translates as

“A lion's head cut off at the neck with a flourish in blue, with a red tongue.”

Or this

“Azure a bend Guiles, fimbriated and embattled Argent, three quills or surrmounting three ink bottles Sable; separating six over seven mullets of the third.”

See How do you blazon a Coat of Arms for the description.

The earliest coats of arms were fairly simple -- bars or wavy lines, a lion rampant or an eagle displayed. The designs became more complex as the years passed, and the practice of quartering developed (i.e. adding in the arms of other families acquired through marriages).

A full Coat of Arms has several parts:
· A motto on a ribbon scroll at top
· The “crest” – an animal or item placed above the shield.
· Shield elements – this can represent two, four or even more families via quartering.
· Supporters – typically two animals holding the shield

Bottom Line

It is a mistake to call a Coat of Arms (CoA) the family crest. The crest is just one part of the complete “blazon of arms”. It also a mistake to assume that there is an official coat of arms for your surname. Often a CoA was assigned to a specific noble in recognition of a new title or lands or in exchange for favors done to the crown. The noble could pass the blazon to the heir of his title and authority. It was never meant to cover all future descendants.

Today CoAs are just a fun way to link ourselves to possible noble ancestors and hope that a little bit of that nobility rubs off on us.

Genealogy

“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family” - Anthony Brandt

Every few years I’m bitten by the genealogy bug and obsessively work on family records for a month or two. When I’ve exhausted the available online records, I set my family tree aside and wait for technology advancements and new records to appear. It is wonderful that people keep scanning state and church records so more and more data are accessible as time goes by. I’m also looking forward to the release of the 1940 census records on April 2 of 2012.

My ancestor hunt was resumed last week when my mother wanted some information on the family of a great-great grandparent. We have some really old family photos that my grandmother collected of her grandparents. Now my mother is scanning these photos and making new albums to pass on to her relatives.

Over the years I’ve used many online forums and genealogy programs. A great free program is Personal Ancestral File (PAF) that was last updated in 2002 but is still available. For $30 you can buy one of the top rated programs like Legacy Family Tree, Family Tree Maker, Roots Magic, and Ancestral Quest.

For ease of use, my favorite program is the online Ancestry.com. It works in a web browser and the data is stored via the Internet. I can access my tree from anywhere in the world and share it with the public or a few private friends. The online research material is amazing but not cheap: $20/month for US or $30/month for World data. Modest discounts are available if you buy 3 months or 1year of access. I typically pay for a few months then cancel. Fortunately I can still read and update my online Tree “for free” after I stop paying. I just cannot access the online historical records.

One very good thing about genealogy programs is that you can share historical data between them. Any decent family tree software will support GEDCOM, GEnealogical Data COMmunication, which was created by the Mormon Church as a genealogy standard. But keep in mind that GEDCOM is “Text Only”; designed for preserving who begat whom, who married whom, years of birth, death, etc. It does not transfer audio files, video, photographs and other new media that enhance the modern family trees.

Bottom Line

Online genealogy is blessing and a curse. There is a lot of BAD genealogy online with parents younger than children, individuals giving birth to themselves, the location Maine, France listed as Maine, USA, and so on. I imported a lot of junk ancestry years ago and am now pruning it back. I would hope by now for one definite source for British royal ancestry but I’m not aware of it. Some people get excited about tracing their line back to Adam and Eve. Frankly this is just as reliable as my British lines linked to the Normans linked to the Vikings which link back to the Norse God Frey.

According to Wikipedia, a bogus genealogy from Charlemagne to Adam & Eve was created for Carl Springer in the mid 19th century and continues to be used online today. But the errors also go further back to European royalty who wanted to show divine descent. Read about the Charte d'Alaon genealogy that is now discredited.

I'm thinking I may have to buy a Family Tree program to edit and correct my Ancestry.com data. I have over 7000 entries in my trees but it badly needs cleaning. Ancestry.com lacks data cleansing tools like duplicate finding/merging, orphan tracking, relationship calculator, etc.

Barter

“All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter.”- Edmund Burke (British Statesman and Philosopher, 1729-1797)

Today I recommend the article, Barter for the Services You Need, on the Wall Street Journal online. It’s a tricky article to summarize; most every paragraph contains useful information.

In these cash strapped times, barter can help you obtain desirable items and services without spending money. An example given is exchanging painting or carpentry work for a week’s stay in your vacation home. I have a friend who exchanges computer repair with a Dentist for free dentistry for his family.

The article lists some online resources to find/post barter opportunities. But also warns you to get references before trusting the barter partner. My wife used to rent out rooms before we married. A well-mannered young man in her church offered to mow the law, paint the house and do other house repair in exchange for a free room over the summer while he interned. She agreed but he failed to live up to his half of the bargain and did very little real work.

References are always a good idea. We hired a painting company, the low bidder, without checking them out. They used college students to do the work with very little training. We fired them after the first day when our bricks and windows were paint splattered and the walls they had painted were peeling.

The article concludes by pointing out that the IRS taxes barter. You need to report the value of goods or services received on form 1099-B.

Bottom Line

Barter can be fun if you have a sense of adventure and are willing to stand up for yourself and not be taken advantage of. Don’t forget to pay the taxes!

And this just caught my eye - some services may not be bartered legally...
Yep, Trying To Trade Sex For World Series Tickets Is Illegal

The danger of saying too much

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." -Aldous Huxley

The ending of the article discussed yesterday, 5 things never to tell your insurer, is so good that I wanted to give it a day of its own.

Here are things NOT to do after a car accident.

* Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company. It will be used against you later on. Insurance companies must ask you for your permission in order to record an interview. Talk to your own insurer first.

* Do not make friendly conversation with adjusters. Stick to business and only tell them the "who," "what," "when" and "where." Don't tell them the how – that is just your opinion.

* Do not give out any information about your family. Do not give out the names of your doctors.

* Do not sign a medical release. Federal law protects your medical records. The insurance companies may use your release to dig through your medical history looking for a cause like dizziness.

Bottom Line

As children we are taught to be nice. To be helpful and friendly. But it can be a mistake to treat an insurance agent or any official as "a friend". I was very impressed with my wife's estate lawyer when introduced. We had a long friendly chat. Imagine my shock at learning later that our "chat" was being charged at lawyer hourly rates!

If a profressional (like a medical insurer) is super-friendly and starts asking personal questions, stop and ask yourself, "why?" Is this person actually trying to help up or are they hoping you'll let something slip that can be used against you?

When buying a house most people assume that the real estate agent is on their side. Often they are not. Some get a commission on the price of the house sold so it's in their interest for you to spend as much as you can. Others take a flat fee for their services and will put your interests first. Find out in advance whom the agent is working for - you or the home seller.

I learned this the hard way about Human Resources. I thought they existed to help employees. But they work for the company first. I once reported a concern only to have the HR person laugh at me and then blab about the absurdity of my concern to higher management.

Watch what you say to Insurers

`When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'
`The question is,' said Alice, `whether you can make words mean so many different things.'
`The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master -- that's all.'
- Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll

MSN MoneyCentral has a great article called 5 things never to tell your insurer. They start the article pointing out that it is a criminal offense, fraud, to lie to your insurer. But the truth can go horribly wrong when the wrong words are used.

For example when your hot water heater breaks you might say your basement is flooded with water. But the word, “flood”, is a red flag for insurers – most policies do not cover flood damage. Fortunately insurers have a very specific definition for “flood” - water overflowing from a nearby lake, stream, river or other body of water. So with a pipe leak you have “water damage”, not “flood”.

Never say "experimental", "investigational" or "clinical trial" when you need a medical treatment that isn't a common practice. Just because it isn't common practice doesn't mean these insurance rejection terms apply to it. Mark O. Hiepler, a California attorney, advises clients to always say, 'It's medically necessary,' when referring to treatment. Also avoid the term “whiplash”. This is another red flag because of the many fake whiplash claims. Wait for a medical diagnoses and use only the terms in the doctor’s report.

Never guess or give an opinion in an accident. Just report the facts, don’t elaborate or estimate details like how fast the other car was moving. Did you measure the distance with tape? Did you look at your speedometer just before impact so you know exactly your speed? Your guess, if wrong, could harm your credibility and your claim. An insurer will ask and ask again for exact details like distance and speed that you cannot know with certainty. They are hoping you’ll give them an excuse to reject the claim. Suppose you say a car 40 feet ahead slammed on its brakes without warning and you hit it. The insurer might claim you had sufficient safe stopped distance so the fault is yours. Or they might decide you were tailgating and again the fault is yours.

Bottom Line

In most car accident aftermaths, all the facts are not immediately known. Don’t assume it’s your fault. Words like “I’m sorry” can be used against you as an assumption of fault. If you're not sure about how something happened, let the authorities and insurance companies figure it out. Ask your insurer about how you should respond to the other party’s insurer if they should call.

Stick to business and don’t get into “friendly” conversations with your insurer or a third party insurer. Your every word is recorded and will be used against you.

Expensive Colleges

“A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students.” - John Ciardi

I thought college was expensive nearly 30 years ago when I attended. I also learned then that there is an “education inflation rate” that is always higher than national inflation rate. Back in the 80’s the rate of educational inflation was 10%. So it should come as no surprise that rates today are outrageous. With tuition hikes outpacing the growth of household incomes year after year. student borrowing has doubled in the past decade.

Here are the most expensive colleges by total cost for the 2009-2010 school year from CampusGrotto.com

Total Cost = Tuition + Room and Board
1. Sarah Lawrence College, $54,410
2. New York University, $51,991
3. The George Washington University, $51,730
4. Bates College, $51,300
5. Skidmore College, $51,196
6. Johns Hopkins University, $51,190
7. Georgetown University, $51,122
8. Connecticut College, $51,115
9. Harvey Mudd College, $51,037
10. Vassar College, $50,875

The lowest total cost in the top 100 most expensive schools was $46,860 for just a single year of study.

Bottom Line

See The Rising Cost of Education for more information and what to do.

See also my post on Student Loans

Cars out of control

“Life's golden age is when the kids are too old to need baby-sitters and too young to borrow the family car”

You may have read recently that Toyota will recall nearly 4 million vehicles because the accelerator pedal can become stuck on the floor mat while driving. This killed a family of four and their tragedy was captured on a 9-1-1 call before they impacted a wall at 120 mph. The affected cars are:

2005 - 2010 Toyota Avalon
2007 - 2010 Toyota Camry
2004 - 2009 Toyota Prius
2005 - 2010 Toyota Tacoma
2007 - 2010 Toyota Tundra
2007 - 2010 Lexus ES350
2006 - 2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350

If you own one of these cars, immediately remove the driver-side floor mat and contact your dealer.

Because of this recall, Consumer Reports decided to look at the problem of stuck accelerators. What can you do?

They tested two cars, Mercedes-Benz E350 and Volkswagen Jetta Wagon, with German “smart-throttle” technology. These cars disable the gas flow when the brake is depressed. “Smart-throttle” cars have no problem stopping even with the gas pedal on the floor.

The next two cars they tested were not so lucky, Toyota Venza and Chevrolet HHR. Like most cars, the brake pedal does not stop the gas so the engine is fighting as you try to brake. With struggle and strength they managed to slow the cars from 60mph to 10mph at which point the brake pads were worn down and would not slow the car any further.

Bottom Line

The conclusion of the Consumer Reports for a stuck accelerator is to shift your car into neutral. The engine will rev like crazy but the power won’t go to the wheels and you can brake safely. Shifting to neutral is quite easy. A few weeks ago my wife accidentally hit the gearshift pushing it to neutral while I was driving and it took me a moment to figure out why the car would not accelerate.

Consumer Reports does NOT recommend turning off the car while driving with a stuck accelerator. Yes this will stop the runaway engine but it will also stop your power steering and power brakes. I found this out the hard way years ago when I tried to move my parked car a few feet. It was pointing downhill so I figured, just shift to neutral and coast – no need to turn the car on. The coasting part worked well but stopping – no so great. Without power the power brakes required a LOT of physical strength. I was pushing hard but couldn’t stop before bumping into the car in front of me.

More germs

“Keyboards are a lunch counter for germs. We turn them over in a lot of studies and we are amazed at what comes out of a keyboard.”-Charles Gerba

Have you every heard the expression “filthy lucre” used to describe money. It’s truer than you think. Scientists in Geneva found that a strain of H1N1—i.e. swine flu—can live on paper money for up to 3 days. This is why I’m dismayed when I see a cook at a deli or food cart handling the money and working with food with the same hands.

The idea of dirty money is not new. I recall a story years ago about bills in California testing positive for drugs. In the 1982 novel, The White Plague, by Frank Herbert, contaminated money is used to spread a virus created by a crazed biochemist.

But there’s more to be wary of than dollar bills. ConsumerReports.org lists 7 things dirtier than money.

1. Doctors’ neck ties (Does he ever wash his ties? I don’t.)
2. The office candy bowl (or bowls of bar snacks)
3. Library books and keyboards (do you lick your fingers when turning the pages?)
4. Bathroom door handles (did the person before you wash his/her hands?)
5. Public Telephone receivers
6. Grandchildren (Kids in the 4-to-12-age range are a notorious reservoir for germs)
7. Shared seats like the movies, theater, opera, train or bus

Bottom Line

When mom told you to wash your hands before eating, she was right. Our hands are often less clean then we know. Check out my blog Germ Theory & Dr. Lister for a history of germs and hand washing.

The return of Swine Flu

“Love is a medicine for the sickness of the world; a prescription often given, too rarely taken.” - anon

At our recent Scout Pack Meeting, one family emailed to say they could not attend – the family has Swine Flu – (now called H1N1 as our top Cub told me authoritatively.) So on this Day of the Dead (Mexico) or All Saints Day, let's consider the morbidity and mortality of Swine Flu.

Here are 8 Swine Flu Myths that could endanger your life from NewScientist.com

• The symptoms are like regular flu. You've got it if you've got a fever
  False – Up to half the people who get swine flu never got a fever. For many doctors the official line remains: if you don't have fever, you don't have flu. This is dangerously shortsighted - if you don't know you have swine flu you might miss the signs of the severe and deadly form of H1N1: shortness of breath, chest pain or blue lips.
  
• This is just mild flu. The death rates are even lower than for normal flu
  False - Swine flu is killing young people rather than the very elderly, and although winter is just starting, more young people have already died of flu than normally die over the entire winter.
  
• You're safe as long as you're healthy. Only sick, weak people get really ill
  False – see #2. The flu is killing the young and the healthy.
  
• I'll be OK if I just eat organic food, take vitamins, wear a mask, wash my hands a lot and drink plenty of fluids
  False – the article recommends vaccination
  
• The danger of over because we have a vaccine. In fact, we have several
  False – It will be months before everyone in first world countries can get the vaccine. Some poor countries may never see the vaccine in time.
  
• The vaccine isn't safe. Why take the risk to prevent mild flu?
  False – this flu packs a punch and is likely to be wide spread. The flu danger is greater than those of the vaccine.
  
• This virus won't get deadlier – it hasn’t changed much in a year
  False – random mutation is in fact “random”. There is no telling how or when a virus will change.
  
• Once this pandemic is over we'll be safe for another few decades
  False – We got lucky this time that Swine flu is not a super-bug. But an increasingly crowded world with more people with greater mobility makes it far too easy for something new to be created and spread.

Bottom Line
Swine Flu is nastier than your average flu in many ways: it kills the young, it kills the healthy, it is more resistant to heat and lasts into spring and summer. It’s nothing to sneeze at.

Taking Notes to save Money

“Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping.” - Bo Derek (American Actress, b.1956)

TheSimpleDollar.com has several ideas for saving money by having a notebook on hand. The article author has in mind a paper pad and pen but hey, this is the 21st century.
Many of the ideas will work on your blackberry or PDA or cell phone for taking notes.

1. Write down sale prices and prices at warehouse clubs. Sometimes you see a sale but are not convinced that it’s the best price around. Write down the price and place and compare it afterwards to other stores.

2. This idea also works great for comparing stores. Make your own list of essential items and add the prices at store. Who sells the cheapest bread? The least expensive milk? Whose price is always highest?

3. Keep an ongoing grocery list. When things run out, update your list. When purchased, check them off.
This also applies to making an errand list.

4. When a friend drops a gift hint or you spot the perfect gift – write it down! What item for whom. Then you can start looking around for the best price (see #1).

5. See something you want but don’t need? Write it down and wait 30 days. If you still want it, then buy it at the lowest price you’ve found while waiting.

6. Write down phone numbers or email of new people you meet.

7. After an accident, write down the person’s name, license plate number, drivers license number, insurance company, make of car, etc.

8. Write down recipes ideas and where you saw the recipe.

9. Keep a list of preferred brands recommended by Consumer Reports and other reviewers.

10. Write your big goals at the top of every page – e.g. loose weight, save money, and so on. This will keep them in mind.

Bottom Line

In some of the cases above, consider using your digital camera or cell phone camera to capture a price or memory. But beware! You’ll likely to make store managers nervous as you walk the aisles and take pictures.

I've read that many stores overcharge on basic foods to make up for the advertised sale prices on other items. They hate it when you price compare non-sale items and especially hate it when their non-sale prices are publicized. When a newspaper began publishing a weekly chart showing the price of milk, eggs, etc at local stores, the grocers fought back. They evicted anyone with a clipboard/etc who was writing down prices. The paper responded by giving the volunteers money to buy each item on the comparison list from each store and used the receipts to track prices.