IE 9 Automatic Updates

As reported around the net today, Microsoft has announced that beginning in 2012, Internet Explorer 9 will be included as an important update in the automatic updates system. This is going to be a problem for me at work. A lot of our staff don't care for IE9 and will seek out computers with IE8 to do their work. The biggest problem for me is that there are an unknown number of web sites that just don't yet work well with IE9. Granted, that's the fault of the site creators, but it's still an issue for our IE9 users. Three sites that I know of in particular (the Kentucky unemployment site, our library's payroll service site and our library's book discussion site) have serious issues when using IE9. In fact, the Kentucky unemployment site simply won't work at all with IE9. This is a huge problem for our patrons, many of whom live in Kentucky but for various reasons use our computers to file their claims.

Fortunately, Microsoft is providing a tool to disable the automatic update to IE9. Unfortunately, that means I have to install it on every computer we have (currently around 100 public and staff computers). This is additional workload I don't need right now.

When Elves Attack, by Tim Dorsey

Serge and Coleman are back with all the gang in Tim Dorsey's new Christmas story When Elves Attack. Our favorite anti-hero decides it's time to celebrate the holidays in a big way and recruits City and Country to help out. With G-Unit along for the ride, you know there's going to be plenty of sparkle. Unfortunately, all these old characters make When Elves Attack a poor choice for newcomers to the Serge mythos. They'll be completely lost. Of course, there's lots of mayhem as Serge deals with bad guys, Grinches and naughty elves using his own special style. Along the way, he helps the Davenports (Jim and Martha) handle some family crises and defends them from thugs with pain in mind. He even guides their daughter Nicole through teenage angst and the pitfalls of young love.

Many people believe Serge is a psychotic serial killer, but in reality he's so much more. He's our collective id, doing battle with 21st century evil and stupidity. Serge is, dare I say it, a new Dark Knight with Coleman as his (literally) dopey Boy Wonder. He's also one of the great philosophers and commentators of our time:

"But why are we wearing elf suits?"
"To spread good cheer."
"What for?"
"Because of the War on Christmas."
"Who started the war?" asked Coleman.
"Ironically, the very people who coined the term and claim others started the war. They're upset that people of different faiths, along with the coexistence crowd who respect those faiths, are saying 'Seasons Greetings' and 'Happy Holidays.' But nobody's stopping anyone from saying 'Merry Christmas.'"
"And they're still mad?"
Serge shrugged. "It's the new holiness: Tolerance can't be tolerated."

Forget what I said earlier. Read the book even if you've never read any of the others. Sure, you'll be confused, but that's a common state in Dorseyland. Despite your confusion, you'll discover a great series with quirky, enjoyable characters and wonderful plots and you'll love the ride.

Seasons greetings, merry Christmas, and happy holidays!

Best Books I Read in 2011

It's that time of year again: time for year's-end "best of" lists. I'm going to start with the books I enjoyed most during the year. As it happens, they're all books from my library's reading groups: Brown Bag and a Book, and Murder by the Book. I like genre fiction better than literary fiction, so most of them come from the mystery group. Here, ordered by the author's last name, is the list:

Sworn to Silence, by Linda Castillo (originally posted to GRothenberger.com, 1 July 2011)

Sworn to Silence is the first book in Linda Castillo's Amish Thriller series. It features Kate Burkholder, Chief of Police of the small Ohio Amish Country town of Painter's Mill. I'll admit I had started this book with pretty low expectations. I had tried unsuccessfully to read another Amish-themed mystery about a year ago. It didn't help that the reviews for this book that I read on Amazon weren't encouraging, either. In fact, some of them were quite brutal. If I hadn't needed to read the book for an upcoming book club meeting, I likely wouldn't have bothered. That would have been a shame, because it would mean I had missed one of the best contemporary mysteries I've read in some time.

Castillo is a very good writer, and she clearly knows her stuff. Whether it's modern-day police procedures or life among the Amish, she has a depth of knowledge that I found refreshingly unexpected. Her portrayal of Amish life is particularly well done, showing the complexity behind the stereotypical simplicity. Castillo manages to be both sympathetic toward and realistic about the Plain people, thus avoiding the idolization I've seen in some other authors. This was one of the characteristics that drew me to the book.

As for the story itself, I simply couldn't put it down. The two main characters, Burkholder and BCI field agent John Tomasetti, have both been badly damaged by events in their lives and so are always on the edge of despair. Nevertheless, they remain likable characters. We want them to succeed at their task, as well as in their lives. And what a task they've got! A series of horrific (and I don't use that word lightly) murders are happening in this small country town that exactly mimic murders from 16 years previously. Is it a copycat or the same killer? If a copycat, then how does the killer know details of the killings that were never made public? If the same killer, then why the 16 year break between murders? The investigation is confusing, and is further complicated by local politics and long-held secrets from Burkholder's past. The author puts a great amount of detail into telling the story of both the investigation and the murders. Sometimes a truly disturbing amount of detail. Much of the book reads less like fiction and more like true crime reporting. After finishing the book you'll want a long, hot shower to try to wash yourself clean. But you'll want to put Linda Castillo on your list of must-read authors, too. I know I have.

Who Were Anna Dora Roberts' Parents? (originally posted to GRothenberger.com, 11 July 2010)

It turns out there's a little disagreement about the mother of my great-grandmother, Anna Dora Roberts Bays. I've always thought she was Sarah Tackett, the daughter of Abner Tackett and Elizabeth Caudill. I've recently found out, though, that one of my cousins believes her mother was Rosa B. Williams. This morning I decided to see what I could find out. Sure enough, in the 1910 US census, I found Hiram Roberts, his daughter Anna D., and his wife Rosa B. I figured I had to be wrong on this one, and started changing my computer records (don't ever do that until you've given things at least a day to settle out). The 1890 and 1880 censuses are incomplete, so I couldn't go back and check them. So I started trying to find out more about Rosa B. Williams. I didn't find much, other than an 1880 marriage between Hiram Roberts and Rosa B. Williams in Morgan county, Kentucky. That was more evidence that I had made a mistake somewhere, although as far as I knew, Hiram was born in Rowan county. So I started checking Rowan county records.

I found a marriage record for Hiram Roberts and Sarah Tackett in Rowan county (22 May 1884) witnessed by his father (Hiram) and her father (Abner). This was my original source for Sarah Tackett. I also found Hiram and Sarah buried next to each other in Caudill cemetery in Rowan county. This is the same cemetery where Anna and her husband (my great-grandfather Joseph Walter Bays) are buried. So that leads me to believe that Anna's mother was Sarah Tackett, who died in 1888 (one year after Anna's birth). However, Hiram died in 1905, so he doesn't show up in the 1910 census. There is a Rose B. Roberts in that census, who is a widow. Her father is living with her, and his name is listed as William "Eaegan." She also lives fairly close to my great-grandparents.

So were there two Hirams? One in Morgan county and one in Rowan county, both born about the same time. Or was there one, who was married to both Rosa and Sarah at the same time? I haven't been to Morgan county yet, so I can't verify that 1880 date for Rosa's marriage to Hiram. I don't know yet, but here's what I suspect happened.

Hiram married Sarah in 1884. They had at least one child, Anna, born in 1887. Sarah died in 1888. In 1890 (not 1880), Hiram remarried, to Rosa (Williams or "Eaegan," I'm not sure which). This explains the widow Rose in the 1910 census (who had no children living at home). It also explains why Anna and Joseph are buried in a Caudill cemetery, since the Caudill's would be Anna's relatives, and Joseph's by marriage. There's still a couple of questions, though, and I think I'm going to have to make a trip to Rowan county (and probably Morgan county) to try and clear them up.

The Unscratchables, by Cornelius Kane (originally posted to GRothenberger.com, 24 July 2009)

This was a surprisingly good book. The author, Australian Cornelius Kane, has an impressive understanding of the noir genre. He has the ability to write a noir story with cats and dogs as the main characters, and write it as well as Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler.

The Unscratchables is the story of a dog (a former POW and veteran of the Siamese war) who has to team up with a Siamese cat in order to capture a feral cat on a murderous rampage in the Kennels of Kathattan island. I don't want to give away the ending, so I won't say more than that. If you enjoy a good story filled with plot twists, you'll like The Unscratchables. If you like your books a little deeper, then you'll really enjoy the ongoing political, social and media commentary Mr. Kane weaves into the book.

I read it in less than twelve hours. It's that good.

Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion in America, by Robert S. McElvaine (posted to GRothenberger.com 24 July 2009)

Not a whole lot of new material in this book, although it is nice to have it all in one place. Since it's a pretty new book, it's also tied more into recent current events, such as the 2008 election. My only complaint is that the author tries too hard for "fun" in his word play. It was somewhat distracting at times. Still, overall it's a very good book.

Cross-Posted Articles

I'm getting ready to shut down my other site (grothenberger.com), so I'll be posting some articles from it here so I don't lose them. I'll make a note of which ones they are. Mostly genealogy and book reviews.

Bentley Kentucky Genealogy

Here's the Bentleys in my grandmother's family:

• Bertha Cymenthia Bentley (1912-1970), my grandmother.
• Moses Bentley (1870-1950), her father.
• Hiram Craig Bentley ( about 1844-about 1899), Moses' father.
• Moses Bentley (1820-1850), Hiram's father.
• Thomas Bentley (1785-1860), Moses' father.
• Daniel Bentley (1752-1839), Thomas' father.