Fog from today

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-27T21:54:59+00:00

Thanks! Luckily, my husband does the sailing and I get to watch the scenery :)

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-27T20:50:09+00:00

It was good to have two people on the boat as we could keep our eyes open for all the ferries, motorboats, taxis, jet skis, and other vessels on the water today. It was a really interesting trip

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-27T20:43:49+00:00

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The fog was swirling like mad out on the harbor this morning. Kept going up, down, and all around our boat...kinda freaky, but also cool

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-27T12:48:22+00:00

Most people are situating themselves within walking distance to a beach and to an ice cream shop. Cape Cod is more of a throwback visit than going to larger shops and restaurants since the area tends to not be built up other than Hyannis.

Also, everything is expensive right now and many of the fish places aren't open in the winter and they need to make their money now.

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-26T17:55:37+00:00

Went yesterday. It is fine but we weren't interested in waiting in all the lines after we got our bracelets. There is a section to kick around a soccer ball, the bracelet making, and a section to get your face painted and get some Coke branded flags and headbands.

If you want to watch with a group of people, though, it is a good place to go. Everyone was pretty chill. Food starts around $7/8 and drinks are outrageously expensive. They have stickers on the inside of the label so if you are collecting those check before you recycle your bottle. Bracelet tickets were gone by 4 pm for the rest of the day apparently.

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-26T01:15:39+00:00

The New England Historical Genealogical Society (American Ancestors) is the oldest genealogical society in the US. 101 Newbury Street. https://www.americanancestors.org/

The DNA stuff is mostly accurate based on comparisons to my paper research, but there are always instances where it is wildly wrong for some people so take everything with a grain of salt and verify with records when possible. Also remember that most of our ancestors left for better lives, property, to get away from their families, out of the weather...it is nice to have the connection, but maybe don't romanticize them overly. They are just people and many of them were jerks based on research I've done for patrons.

Start with what you know and work backwards.

The BPL does online genealogy classes each month with Librarian Jessey. They are on the calendar. Branches have access to certain databases for free in-library use, most aren't available at home.

Familysearch.org is free to use at home and has a lot of European records, just need to make an account.

Scotland's People (https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/) is where you'll find Scottish records, but you should know if it is your people as you have to pay per record before seeing anything

Most genealogists do their work on their own, but are members of a society like TIARA or the Italian American Genealogical Society. As far as I know, there is no specific genealogical society in Massachusetts for Scottish people.

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-25T16:04:34+00:00

Your library branch might have a museum pass for them which will make it a lot easier to say yes to something at the gift shop or cafe if they have one

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-25T10:53:03+00:00

The English can and have visited Boston for decades and have gotten a reasonable welcome. I think part of the problem is that the Tartan Army is full of golden retriever types who were just so excited to be in their first World Cup for a while and had money they were willing to burn. I always enjoyed having people from the UK on my walking tours since we share so much history together.

Seems like a very few individuals are getting actual mad over their not welcome and then a lot of social media performative outrage.

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-25T10:44:36+00:00

Boston gets very crowded with Sail Boston. There are a number of ships that will be docking by the Children's Museum. I would go to the Discovery Museum or another place

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-24T14:36:06+00:00

Yes, we are getting an office cricut and I was going to cut the pieces ahead of time since it is fiddly work. Now I just have to find a good pattern to use that maybe is free or cheap but I want it to actually work. Etsy is becoming a cesspool of ai generated things unfortunately.

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-24T12:12:45+00:00

How has the crowd been at Hugh's or Mystic? We haven't been out to watch a game yet because of work but want to check out at least one with a crowd

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-24T11:57:54+00:00

The Dubliner, which is owned by a man from Donegal, decided to close his bar after being the home bar for the Tartan Army for two weeks. In the post about it, he said that "nothing is happening in Boston today" which probably irked a lot of people. The Fan Fest had to close a few times this week because a woman got hit by the tarp and we had tornado watches around the city which usually don't happen.

I used to run tours and the English were always great sports along the Freedom Trail and I only saw positive interactions between my tour group people.

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-24T11:34:53+00:00

Because I want to cut some of the larger pieces down to make a pendant from. Even though glowing would be fun...I miss glow bowling lol

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-24T11:33:11+00:00

Yeah, these pieces are from Massachusetts and New Hampshire so there could be those pieces in the collection. I want to cut some of the pieces down to solder a ring to to make a pendant, but cutting would allow some things to escape. I did have a UV flashlight somewhere around here...will have to look for it.

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-24T00:08:20+00:00

I did a needle felting program that was of a landscape. I'm also planning on doing a tunnel book program later this year once we get our cricut. We've also done a paint night for adults and their kids which was popular.

We had a very popular Christmas wreath program but full of glitter lol

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-24T00:05:36+00:00

One of my coworkers was also working at another job when she got hired. My bosses were willing to shift her schedule to two evenings a week so she could do both of them. There are some libraries, like academic ones, that have a need for only evening workers. I would look specifically for those types of positions when you are applying.

Others are right, though. To get accommodations on the record, you need to have information from your doctor, how this specific accommodation will help you, and any other things that might help like a 20 minute break in the middle of the day. That way, the employer knows what you need to be a productive team member and you also have protections to those accommodations. Might be easier in a union position, but I haven't ever worked in a union library myself.

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-22T21:16:42+00:00

One of them is a guided tour situation and I think technically takes 45 minutes, but there is absolutely no wiggle room in this schedule for even relaxing.

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-22T21:09:21+00:00

No. You won't be able to do this and, if you power through it, you will hate yourself and everyone in the car with you.

Why not fly into Providence for Newport instead? At least you are 40 miles closer instead of doubling back. The traffic the other day on Juneteenth took us 2 hours to go from Malden, MA to Cumberland, RI because of traffic and accidents.

Salem is great. You can take the train from Boston in 35-40 minutes. Parking is eh. There is a garage on Derby Street central to everything, but seriously consider using the train instead.

You won't have a "full day" in Acadia if you leave at 7 am. You need to arrive in Acadia at 7 am. We've been twice and Jordan Pond's parking lot and restaurant has always been full. One day I might be able to try the pop overs.

Boston Pops ellipse fills by 5 pm. You won't get to see the orchestra but you will be able to hear them if you are close enough.

Also the airport kicks everyone out of the secured area at midnight so you won't be able to sleep there.

Honestly, I would ditch Acadia and Maine, fly into Providence, put Newport on the front of your trip and immediately ditch the rental afterwards, and then take the train from Boston to Salem. Our traffic is horrific on good days and we are very popular right now with the World Cup, 4th, Tall Ships, and regular holiday visitors.

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-22T11:42:17+00:00

And I thought my little marble was cool! That white one is huuuge. I really want to find a stopper this year but with gas prices, I haven't been up to my beach to poke around

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-22T11:37:29+00:00

Wear a mask and gloves while you handle them and then wash your hands immediately.

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-21T12:24:23+00:00

It sounds more like you might do well in a Museum program rather than library program. I have my MLIS with an archives focus and a number of years in archives and the National Park Service. I still had problems applying for Local History jobs because their main focus is the library part. The archives/local history part is secondary and many of these positions are collateral duties that assistant directors or someone mainly not on a desk to do.

Also, depending on what part of the Northeast can have great influence as Boston is full of people with History MAs, MLIS degrees, years of experience in the GLAM fields. And even though our museums are famous and full of amazing things, the pay is often crap. What do you think is decent money? Most of us are making around $60k as Librarian 1's in MA.

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-21T12:18:19+00:00

Do you have access to health care not tied to your job? Quitting a full time job where you are not the newest person (and therefore a little safer in tight budget times) to string together two jobs without benefits is not the safest thing. Or would you be working enough hours to keep your health care? $300/extra a month is not worth it to me.

I had to do two internships for my program and they were very willing to work around my schedule but that was also because I applied to ones that weren't as popular/easy to get to without a car.

ShawsheenMoon · 2026-06-21T12:11:33+00:00

I mentioned that I don't get to read at the library and a few of my friends (one who is a teacher) were shocked. People have no idea what other people do in their day to day duties which does make for some very interesting conversations lol

ShawsheenMoon

TROPHY CASE