Category: Non-Genealogy

CategoriesNon-Genealogy

Tracking the Water

Posted on 28 February 2017by Brian Zalewski

Heads up. This is going to be a non-genealogy post, but it may an interesting read to some. Fair warning though, it may get technical and geeky at times. People sometimes ask me how I set up the system in my house to track how often my sump pump is running, so instead of trying to remember everything, I wanted to post about it. This is the best place for me to do that.

A little backstory first. The house I live in, which was first purchased by my paternal grandparents in 1955, seems to have been built on a natural spring (actually, probably swampland like the a lot of this area.) Any time it rains, it seems the water from a large radius from here all flows to my basement. I have two sump pumps installed, the primary and a more powerful backup. I’ve only ever seen both run simultaneously twice, in June 2008 and August 2018, when we had a ton of rain, quickly. I did not sleep well for those few days. To help keep my sanity when I was away from home, I set up a system that tracks when the sump pump fires off. This information is then fed to a personal website of mine that shows the information in a few nice charts (how often it runs per day and how long in between runs.) The whole process is somewhat cheap, there is only one step that costs money (besides the sump pump/appliance)

The basic workflow of this process is this: water pours into my basement → sump pump fires off â†’ information is put in a spreadsheet. Then, when my website is viewed, this happens: Brian visits website â†’ spreadsheet info is pulled into website â†’ data is parsed â†’ data is shown in pretty charts.

Here is a more detailed workflow and some basics on each part.

Capturing the Data

  1. First you need at least one sump pump. Though, this would technically work on any appliance that plugs into a normal 120V outlet.
  2. Between my sump pump and the outlet, I have installed a Belkin WeMo Insight Switch Smart Plug. This device allows you to control the appliance plugged into it remotely from a smart phone. It can also interact with a website called IFTTT, which we will get to next. I did do this a few years back, Belkin may have come out with more powerful devices.
  3. The Belkin device is built to interact directly with a neat, powerful website called IFTTT (If This, Then That). It’s basically a site that does at least one thing when another thing happens, but it interacts with a ton of websites and apps you may already use. You can read a nice overview here. So, I built a “recipe” in IFTTT that when my pump fires off, the Belkin device sends the date and the status (On/Off) to a Google Spreadsheet. Took me two seconds on the site.

Viewing the Data

Now my device is constantly saving little bits of data on when it goes on and off (though, “off” isn’t as important to me.) That part is relatively simple and non-technical thanks to some powerful devices and web services. The viewing part is more geeky.

  1. I built the website to view this data by myself, mainly to see if I could. So, the first part required a web host (which I already have) that supports at least PHP, which I wrote it in. Technically, you could just run this on a locally installed web server for free, like Apache or use something like WAMP. I’d like to move some of this information to a MySQL database (for better historical archiving) instead of Google Spreadsheets, but I haven’t had the time.
  2. When I visit the site, the first part of the process goes to the Google Spreadsheet and grabs the current data in JSON format (just an easier format for the code to process.) You need to share your spreadsheet publicly for this to work (or use a more complicated authorization option.) Someone needs the exact URL to see it, so I’m not worried. There seems to be a max size for Google Spreadsheets of 2000 rows, so occasionally a new spreadsheet gets made and I need to re-point my code to the new sheet.
  3. The data is pulled in and parsed using mainly JavaScript to convert date formats and all that fun stuff and determine time between runs.
  4. The newly parsed data is then fed into a free library called chart.js that allows you to create powerful charts in JavaScript. I may try another charting script soon that I found, but chart.js is nice. I create two charts with the data.
    •  One chart that shows me how many times the pump ran per day.
    • The other chart shows me how much time passes between runs. The lower the number, the more often it is running, and vice versa. The light gray lines are the actual minutes in between. The blue line is a moving average of the last ten runs, which helps to determine the trend, better or worse.
  5. The other part of the page is a table showing the data for each time the pump ran. This just allows me to look through them all for anything out of the ordinary. For that, I just use an HTML table, but then I use a free script called DataTables that allows me to add some nifty features to it like sorting and pagination.

That’s about it. For only about $50, I’m able to have some peace of mind. There is a lot you can do with free applications and scripts out there. Next step regarding my sump pump is to get it attached the the city’s storm sewer so I don’t have to pump it down my driveway anymore. That will be more than $50. Next steps for the site are to hopefully get that information into a database so I can better look at the old data (which month does it run most, etc.)

Here are the items I used again in a nifty list:

CategoriesFunHistoryNon-Genealogy

Creating History

Posted on 10 February 2014by Brian Zalewski

Besides genealogy, one of my other enjoyments is video games. For people who don’t really dabble much in video games, which is probably a lot of the genealogy community based on demographics, they probably think it’s just a wastes my time and rots my brain. While, in some cases, it probably does, in other cases it makes me learn about the history of the world by letting me get involved in that history.

Two games from Paradox Interactive have sucked up almost all of my free gaming time (which, with 2 kids, is not a lot.) They are Crusader Kings II and Europa Universalis IV and are described as “grand strategy” games.

Crusader Kings II
Crusader Kings II

The first, Crusader Kings II, which my brain is stuck to at the moment, is described: “[explore] one of the defining periods in world history in an experience crafted by the masters of Grand Strategy. Medieval Europe is brought to life in this epic title rife with rich strategic and tactical depth.” You can choose any one of hundreds of noblemen anywhere from 867 to about 1453. Start with a king and rule your minions, or start with a count and work your way up to emperor, if that’s your thing. There is really no goal to the game, it’s basically a sandbox. Each time your character dies, you begin to play as their heir. Do what you want, the only important thing is to continue your dynasty by having heirs because once you run out of bloodline heirs, your game is over (or it hits 1453.)

Europa Universalis IV is similar to CKII as it’s a grand strategy game, but instead of controlling people, in EUIV, you control a country.

The empire building game Europa Universalis IV gives you control of a nation to guide through the years in order to create a dominant global empire. Rule your nation through the centuries, with unparalleled freedom, depth and historical accuracy. True exploration, trade, warfare and diplomacy will be brought to life in this epic title rife with rich strategic and tactical depth.

Though, in EUIV you can literally pick any country in the world from 11 November 1444 A.D. (the day after the crushing defeat of the Poles and Hungarians by the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Varna, and the death of King W?adys?aw III of Poland), and ending 1 January 1821 A.D. I put less time into this one so far, but it has been out for less time. It’s a different style that CKII. You deal more in colonization or trade or warfare and expanding your country around the world. In CKII, you deal more with people and expanding your kingdom through marriage, intrigue, and clever relationships while at the same time watching your back. It’s like a world-wide soap opera.

Though, these games have a pretty steep learning curve, but once you get into them they are tons of fun. Once you hit the play button, you are creating an alternate history for the world. For example, here is one of my first play-throughs of Crusader Kings II that I talked about on our entertainment/gaming site.

I started as King Boles?aw II of Poland and it went pretty smooth during his reign. He lived to be pretty old, even by today’s standards, dying at 82. That’s when everything fell apart. My new heir was the King’s first born son, Franciszek, though he did not inherit everything because the succession laws in Poland were “Gavelkind.” That law gives the first heir the major titles and then equally spreads the rest to the other heirs (male in this case.) So, Franciszek’s half-brother, Josef, decided to declare war on me for his claim to the Kingdom of Poland. He won, due to having many allies.

It didn’t last long as his brother, Roman, went to war with him for the kingdom also, imprisoning him in the process and taking over. More people started wars. In the end, or as it stands in my game right now, Roman is dead, Josef is a Polish Duke, their sister Elisabeth is now Queen of Poland, and I’m down to being a Count with one county, but still alive and scheming including secretly murdering two other Counts. Though Franciszek is no longer my character, his son the heir is now my character. Sadly, one of his main traits is “imbecile” so he’s a really bad ruler. He has no bloodline heir since he’s only 15, so my goal is to get him a son before he dies or gets assassinated.

And that was back when I wasn’t very good at it. You learn as you play and from your mistakes. I learn a lot of tips from “Let’s Play” YouTube videos. Every time you play, it is completely different. My most recent play through with Poland, King Boles?aw died in his 30s with only a single daughter, but she reigned for a long time as Queen Helena the Ironside. After that, it sort of fell apart after the Holy Roman Empire went to war with me for his vassal, the Kingdom of Bohemia and I had to surrender most of Poland to Bohemia. Currently, I am ruling as the King of Denmark, which somehow came to my dynasty through clever marriages and deaths.

Not only is it enjoyable, but I’ve learned a lot more about the history of the world during these times. You can play from 867 with Crusader Kings II and when it ends in 1453, you can convert your game over to Europa Universalis IV and then play until 1821. That’s almost 1000 years. What kind of world will it be then? I bet your family history would be very different.

CategoriesFunNon-Genealogy

Pact With the Devil

Posted on 4 October 2012by Brian Zalewski

Reading through historical newspapers looking for stories relating to your ancestors is interesting not only on a historical level, sometimes it’s just plain fun. For example, while browsing through papers from 1919 looking for any mention of my great-grandfather’s return from the war, I ran across this gem in The Milwaukee Journal from May 5th, 1919.

Deal with Devil

Transcription:

Lives Century After Pact With Devil

St. Paul — St. Paul’s modern Faust is dead.

Edwin E. Fisher, 104, who gained notoriety four years ago by declaring he made a pact with the devil when a child that he should live a hundred years by consigning himself to hades after death, will be buried Sunday afternoon. April 11, 1915, he prepared for the end, scheduled at midnight. He continued at his cabinet maker trade for two years, and retired because of ill health.

CategoriesFeaturedNon-GenealogyPersonal

New York City

Posted on 8 August 2012by Brian Zalewski

It seems I took one of my unplanned breaks again. Sometimes the perfect storm of not having much time and my interest in other things comes together and I don’t get any genealogy time. It’s been a busy few months, especially the last few weeks. Last week I was finally able to visit New York City, something I’ve wanted to do for many years. My wife was attending a conference there, so the whole family tagged along. My main job was to keep an eye on our 21-month-old daughter while my wife did conference-y things. Due to that, I didn’t get to tour everything I would’ve liked to, but I am still young overall, so I will probably get another chance. It was still great to just see the city. (More photos below)

We were situated in Midtown Manhattan at the Hilton New York, so anything within walking distance was fair game. I took my daughter on walks almost everyday so we got to see Times Square, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center including 30 Rockefeller Center (aka 30 Rock, the NBC headquarters), and Central Park where we spent a lot of time. I would’ve liked to see things like the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Castle Garden, and Ground Zero, but didn’t get the chance. Interesting fact, none of my direct ancestors stepped foot in Ellis Island (apart from maybe visiting, but I doubt it.) All of my family arrived before it opened. The only close one is my great-great-granduncle, Jacob ZALEWSKI. He arrived at Castle Garden in 1891.

To put it into a genealogy perspective, I don’t have very many ties to the city. It’s rumored that my 3rd-great-grandfather, William “Curly Bill” CORRIGAN, was born there after the CORRIGAN family arrived in North America. On my wife’s side, it is said that both her 3rd-great-grandparents (who were married), George LANT and Emma DOUGLAS were both born there in 1842 and 1844, respectively.

After visiting, I am interested in the city’s history. I did some reading while I was there, mostly on Central Park, which was actually very fascinating. It’s a beautiful park which looks so out of place right in the middle of Manhattan, but it is definitely a nice place to relax from the busy, busy city rush.

The trip was nice and was only marred by a “slight” 5-hour delay on our flight home due to storms. Normally, while that would be annoying for myself, it was much more difficult while traveling with a 21-month-old. We made it home safely and all is well. 

CategoriesNon-GenealogyPersonal

Happy Holidays!

Posted on 19 December 2011by Brian Zalewski

I haven’t been posting much lately since I haven’t had a lot of time for research. The holidays are busy with work and..well..holiday stuff. There are a few other things going on that are making it hard to find the time. I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holidays and a wonderful start to 2012.

CategoriesHistoryLinksNon-Genealogy

Permanent Record

Posted on 2 October 2011by Brian Zalewski

A few weeks back, I ran across a link on BoingBoing to an article on Slate.com. I saw that it mentioned old documents and since I’m a sucker for old documents, I gave it a read. If you’re also a fan of old documents, especially more interesting ones, than you’ll love this series of articles on a collection of old report cards and how the author used them to not only tell the history of these people, but to even connect them back to their descendants.

Four hundred little dramas, all sketched out on cardstock. Marie’s report card comes from a large batch of old Manhattan Trade School student records that I stumbled upon more than a decade ago and have been obsessed with ever since. I’ve spent a good chunk of my life poking around antiques shops, yard sales, and abandoned buildings, but these report cards are by far the most evocative, most compelling, and most addictive artifacts I’ve ever come across.

This sounds like something I would do if I ever ran across a batch of old documents. I’ve learned in the last decade of family research that sometimes you can find the most compelling information in your non-standard documents. “Non-standard” being something other than things like census or vital records. Not only do these records give you more information, sometimes they tell you stories. I personally find that stories make your ancestors seem more alive. More than just names and dates.

To anyone interested in history and even family history, I recommend reading his articles. He wrote (as of right now) 5 articles relating to these documents, so make sure you have some time.

 

 

 

 

 

CategoriesFeaturedNon-GenealogySaturday Genealogy Fun

SNGF: Your All-time Favorite Song

Posted on 28 September 2009by Brian Zalewski

Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings posted his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun and I’m going to do it on a Monday. Why? Because I can.

1. What is your all-time favorite song? Yep, number 1. It’s hard to choose sometimes. If you made your favorite all-time Top 40 music selections, what would be #1?

2. Tell us about it. Why is it a favorite? Do you have special memories attached to this song?

My favorite song of all-time is a pretty simple choice. It’s something I have thought about in the past. It seems I’m constantly trying to figure out my favorite musicians and songs. Overall, it’s a tough thing to choose, but my Top 1 or 2 are usually pretty well cemented. My taste in music is probably a lot heavier than most of the genealogy community, but even though my favorite band is pretty heavy, the song is not.

My all-time favorite song is “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica. Metallica has been my favorite band since I started to enjoy music. I remember listening to them on my older brother’s cassette tapes in the 1980s. When I came into my own musically at about 11 or 12, it was some of the first music I bought.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Metallica? So this must be some heavy metal song about worshiping the devil or something, right? Not even close. Due to the fact that Metallica has very few songs mentioning the devil and none of those actually say anything about worshiping him, that’s unlikely. “Nothing Else Matters” is actually a very slow and melodic song. According to Wikipedia, “some say it meant that “no matter how far” away he [singer, James Hetfield] was, he was still “so close” with the heart.”

I originally enjoyed the song because I liked how it sounded and I liked the lyrics. It felt like it had a lot of emotion behind it. When I heard it on the radio in April of 1999, the song gained new meaning. I was sitting in my father’s truck on a chilly, rainy April morning outside of St. Francis-Borgia church in Cedarburg. I was waiting for my grandfather’s funeral procession and the song came on the radio. I felt I was holding my emotions pretty steady for most of the day, but that song seemed to force me to let it all out.

I bet some of you would even enjoy the song. I even have a link that will allow you to listen to it, so you can make your own assessment. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even like it. Listen to it here.

CategoriesCemeteriesMilitaryNon-GenealogyZalewski

Happy Memorial Day

Posted on 25 May 2009by Brian Zalewski

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! I’d like to thank all of my military ancestors and all of your military ancestors, too.

  • Johann W G LAST – Civil War- My 3rd-great-grandfather, server with Company K, 50th Infantry Regiment Wisconsin – 29 Mar 1865 to 14 Jun 1866
  • LeRoy THIELKE – World War II – My grandfather, served in World War II. It’s not a subject that has ever been talked about, but I commend him for fighting for our country.
  • Joseph Frank ZALEWSKI – World War I – My great-grandfather, started in the 86th Division, Company B, 331st Machine Gun Battalion. Later served in the US Army Infantry and fought with the Allied Expeditionary Forces in France during several major battles.
  • Richard Joseph ZALEWSKI – My late grandfather, served in the US Navy during World War II.

Continue for some select photos

Continue reading “Happy Memorial Day”
CategoriesNon-Genealogy

We Own You

Posted on 19 February 2009by Brian Zalewski

I’ve been reading about this change to Facebook’s Terms of Use since I first read it on Mashable. I agree that their change was a bit “extreme” and I hope they fix the wording. But, I’ve seen people freak out due to the another part of their Terms of Use that says Facebook has the right to publish, re-use and distribute your content once you upload it. Truthfully, that isn’t really any different than most websites you probably use on a daily basis. For example, Google’s Blogger (home to Blogspot.com) says this in their terms of use:

“By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through Google services which are intended to be available to the members of the public, you grant Google a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, publish and distribute such Content on Google services for the purpose of displaying and distributing Google services.”

You see the same sort of stuff on Yahoo, too. It’s a basic “cover all bases” clause that allows them to publicly print your information on their services. I agree that it’s not “we’ll keep your data forever and use it however we like” but it’s still your standard terms of use. Google does own a lot of other sites which fall under “Google services.” Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been using computers since I was a wee lad and have been using the Internet since I was 14 or 15 and we had to use Lynx to browse the “World Wide Web.” Plus, we had to dial-up to the Internet on our 2400-baud modems, both ways, in the snow…oh wait, I got off-track there. To me, the standard Terms of Use are pretty..well..standard. I only upload/share information that I expect to be shared around. I also can’t stop someone else from uploading a photo of me, which then completely stops me from removing it.

I’m definitely not backing Facebook and their new (now defunct) Terms of Use, since it was a bit out of the ordinary, but I’m also not going to delete my account there. I do think these sites should take a more open approach to their terms, but I think some people need to look around at all of the sites they use before coming to a final conclusion.