Springfield, MA USA
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Dangerous Spam E-Mail!

WARNING! I just got an e-mail allegedly from PayPal. It stated that they had successfully changed my address. The “new” address was somewhere in California. Has nothing to do with me. There was a ZIP file attached which I DID NOT OPEN! I’m sure there a virus or a trojan buried in there somewhere. On…
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Grand Trunk Pacific Railway January 30 and 31, 1913

Missed yesterday….Sorry! Getting behind in a few areas and I need to get caught up. Here are yesterday’s and today’s diary entries from my grandfather, Clem Dickson, as he worked the construction crews building the short lived Grand Trunk Pacific Railway: Thursday, January 30, 1913 Today is the same as yesterday with a little more…
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From WIKIPEDIA: “Entwistle was founded by James Entwistle, an employee of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. Entwistle knew that construction of the railway would be halted on the east banks of the Pembina River for a few years as a bridge was built over the river. A boomtown would most certainly spring up. Seizing the…
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Boston University Genealogical Research Certificate Program

Well, I’m to be congratulated! I’ve just completed the first module in the Boston University Genealogical Research Certificate Program. It’s an on-line course (back to school???) with 5 modules scheduled to run about 14 weeks in all. The schedule is tight: get through every section and submit the work for grading on time. And there’s…
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“Lest We Forget” Entry for January 28, 1913

I’m running out of transcriptions! I started this a long time ago, but never did anything with it. So, I’ve had a Word document on my computer from which I’ve been just doing a copy/paste….pretty simple. But starting February 5th, I have to go to the original diary to continue posting the entries. I just…
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Pembina Hotel Reference—January 27, 1913! It’s still there…

Monday, January 27, 1913: We three all worked on line all day. We had dinner over town at the Pembina Hotel. We had a very good dinner Weather was very soft all day with a little rain fall but not enough to do any harm. Two thoughts here: 1) I Googled “Pembina Hotel” just to…
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After 2 days of technical meltdown….January 25 and 26, 1913

First, the furnace, then the trip to New York, then the water heater leaked all over the floor, so, new water heater, then, it wasn’t the water heater, it was a condensation drain that led outside that should have gone to the laundry drain but went through the sill plate (who knew???) and froze which…
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January 23 and 24, 1923 Grand Trunk Pacific Railway

Thursday, January 23, 1913 Weather about the same about 8° with out snow but cloudy. Steve and I worked up to the pembina bridge this morning and got back about 11.30 for dinner This afternoon we all went up to Entwistle gravel pit to run in a P.L. worked all after got in about 5.30…
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January 22, 1913 Alberta, Canada

Weather very mild with very little snow about 10° below. We all stayed in the car all day on account of the snow. We all got some mail. I only got three one from Agatha Laurena [?] and a real estate one from frig [or possibly Peg?].

100 years ago today….A message from the Canadian wilderness on January 21, 1913

Karen has heard me say this a million times… When I talk about the diary in my genealogy presentations, I describe the hardships that were everyday living for my grandfather and the men he worked with. And yet I get nervous when I can’t find the remote control for the TV!!! Here’s the 21st of…
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