I am a lurker on this list, but I learn a temendous amout by reading all of your posts. I very much enjoy your stories and comments. Your family is so colorful and full of rich history waiting for you to put it in book form..I love your sense of humor..Thank you for years of interesting and fun posts.. MJ LIke wild animals? Watch live cams in South Africa at www.wildearth.tv > > I once heard of a list admin who monitored every post and would reject them for spelling and grammar. Rather than fixing the problem he would return it like a grouchy third grade teacher to the poster for correction. Just hearing about it made my inner child shrink into fetal position. > > There were and probably are three Durham County, England lists. Many were thrown off the first list. I was too. It was run by one of the local genealogy experts. I was thrown off for heresy. I suggested that instead of paying much money for BMD certificates one could research the church records on microfilm at the FHL. I joined the second list, started by refugees from the first. Before long there was a third list, started by refugees from it. I unsubbed from all. > > Might need to start an Alt-Jackson list to promote peace and reconciliaton among Jacksons. You can evict the rude and nasty ones and spend much time policing <grin>! Though probably one needs to have some kind of mental complex to find this a pleasant way to spend time. > > I've learned a number of things adminning this list like no matter what you say or how you say it, someone will misunderstand. Sometimes one does mis-speak, out of temporary insanity, rage, stupidity -- and then you got to forgive yourself and move on. Luckily most people have short attention spans so unless the media gets involved no one recalls your past transgressions (except paranoid list admins and MI5 -- the FBI ignores all). > > I apparently have an actual Uncle Adolph. The German side of my mother's family seem to have a crazy gene as well as a few mean ones. We were disinherited when my great great grandmother married an Irishman (a Protestant Irish merchant) and later my mother had to enter through the servants' entrance. A few years ago some distant cousins manifested on the Internet claiming I had to get my version of the family history approved by Uncle Adolph in Kansas City, or I was in big trouble of some sort. Just what I wanted to hear: I had an Uncle Adolph and he was threatening me. We disinherited them this time around! They better not even try the servants' entrance (not that I have one). The fairies spilled the beans on them -- a manuscript fell off a shelf in a library in front of my mother and sister. It was a history of neighbors. It fell open to the page where the origins of my family was described. Of course this story of how I arrived at the family origin didn't impress Uncle Ad! > olph, who probably thought I was either crazy -- or Irish. > > Linda Merle