The Family Wreath

Welcome to our revamped site. Our personal website was in desperate need of some focus. It was fun to have a personal blog, but keeping up with it was a chore and my last entry was when I moved almost a year and a half ago. After chatting with my cousin Debi, it was very apparent that Genealogy was the crux of my site. I spent more time on the family tree than anything else. And although we had been collaborating for a long time, She was also looking for a better place to work on her stuff, too. Soooo . . . to make a long story short, this site is now all Genealogy all of the time.

The purpose of this website is to document our family’s genealogy. The original kernel of the Family Wreath comes from the work of my Grandma, Doris Mae Nicolle Griffin, and my mom, Janet Griffin Viney.

My Grandma compiled information on the families and my mom organized it. After my grandma passed away in 1990,my mom continued adding information to the family tree until her death in 2005. My mom and I worked independently on this family tree, but we also shared much information with each other.

My wife, Peg, her Grandma, Viola Louise McDonald Craig Henderson Soule, and her cousin, Norma Fancher provide much of the information on the Dolan, Craig, McDonald, and Boyles lines.

My cousin, Debi Davies provides much of the information on the Milton Atkinson Nicolle line.

Anyone who has researched genealogy for a while knows the pitfalls of the hobby. Incomplete or poorly documented information is sometimes all we have to go on. This collective and cooperative repository of family data, as presented herein, is by no means complete and most certainly contains errors. We hope you can offer corrections or wish to contribute additional information, pictures, or documentation. Please email us.‎ Any and all of your comments are encouraged and are always welcome.

The main lines for this Genealogy are:
Viney: Andrew Viney, born 1712, through the lines of Maj. Gen. Alvin Galt Viney.
Dolan: Michael Dolan, born Balinamore, Leitrim, Ireland, through the lines of Michael Henry Dolan, Los Angeles, CA.
Griffin: Cecil Griffin, born 1855, Monroe, NC, through the line of Joseph Crowell Griffin
Craig: Robert Harris Craig,born 1870, through the lines of John Junior Craig.
Related families associated with this genealogy include, but aren’t limited to: Strubel, Nicolle, Lockard, McDonald, Galt, Mahon, Belk, Turner, Monahan, Leech, Boyles, and Lewis.

This Dolan-Viney Family Wreath site is powered by PhpGedView v4.2.2, a free open-source program. This page provides an introduction and overview to our ancestral history. To begin working with the data, we recommend choosing the Pedigree Chart from the Charts menu, then selecting the individual. You can also search for a name or place using the search function at the top right. Also, a browser hint: PGV works best with the most current browser versions as it has extensive use of Java and Ajax. We highly recommend that you use the Firefox, Chrome, or Safari browsers rather than versions of Internet Explorer ‎(IE)‎.

Personal privacy is very important to us. Data on living individuals is limited only to names. All information contained within this site is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws and may not be used for any commercial purposes whatsoever. We thank the many other researchers who have allowed the incorporation of their work within the data presented herein and we acknowledge their individual and collective copyrights and ownership of these efforts.

Regarding Images and Watermarks: The images on this site were made available for for people’s private use. These are copied from original pictures either taken by us, in our family for generations, or republished by approval of their owner. We used to be very generous in posting them on our site for personal use with copyright notices on our images, and notices, when requested, on loaned images. However, our intellectual property was not respected.

We asked that the images not be republished (either in print or on a website) without our permission. This meant a personal website as well as Ancestry.com. However, we found that not only have our images been republished without our permission, but republished with the copyright notices removed. Because of this, all pictures on this website are now watermarked and no Profile Image on the Tree exceeds 200×200 pixels.

We are not trying to be mean. We want to make these images available for people’s personal use, and are sorry that we have had to implement this. Most images are cropped from the originals. If there is an image that you are particularly interested in or have questions about, please, Please, PLEASE contact us. We would love to hear from you and, most likely, if you ask, we will share it. We are most interested in sharing; we just can’t abide thievery and misrepresentation.

From our family to yours, we Thank You for visiting our Family Wreath. We hope you enjoy our History and that you find it useful. We look forward to hearing from you and any contributions that you may have to share with us.

Best Wishes,
Joel Viney, Peg Viney, and Debi Davies

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April 23, 2012adminPermalink Leave a comment

Our Long Frakin’ Nightmare is Over . . .

Last official day with AT&T Mobility: Saturday, November 17, 2007
Acceptance of Offer from Oasis Online: Thursday, December 30, 2010

It is 1139 days from the last day with AT&T to the acceptance of offer from Oasis Online.

Or 3 years, 1 month, 13 days excluding the end date

Alternative time units

1139 days can be converted to one of these units:

98,409,600 seconds
1,640,160 minutes
27,336 hours
162 weeks (rounded down)

It’s been 1139 days since my last work day at AT&T Mobility and accepting the offer at my new permanent employer. It has been a rough three years to put it mildly. And it will still be a long haul before we are fully on our feet again, but being employed again is a very positive first step.

After nearly three years of banging my head against the job market in the Seattle/Tacoma, WA area, Peg and I first discussed the possibility of moving to Fallon, NV last June. On the surface, the move sounds foolhardy. Even we thought so. But it did have a couple of advantages that weren’t immediately apparent.

First, Peg had family there, so we have a support network going in. This is crucial for the emotional support we would need, but also people who are established and know the area to help us get to know the area.

Second, the Nevada Job Market. WTF!?!?! Yeah, you read that right. Yes, Nevada has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. But, when we looked deeper, we found that Northern Nevada was actually short on people with skills. Both of us have college degrees and I was formerly employed by AT&T as an IT Analyst. That and a quarter didn’t buy a Dr. Pepper where we were living. The job market was glutted with all flavours of IT Professionals in the Puget Sound Area. At ACS (A job I would not wish on my worst enemies) I was working next to IT System Admins for an unlivable wage. Prospects improved when started shooting applications down to Nevada. Peg had a interview almost immediately and I started getting phone interviews. Unfortunately, a lot of places were only accepting applications in person. Not convenient when you’re in Washington State.

When Peg had the interview in September, we also prepared to do some on the ground job hunting. Well, as luck would have it, we had an accident on the way down. Luckily noone was hurt, but the piece of firewood that fell out of the trailer in front of us took out two tires and two rims on our car. Being without a vehicle killed much of our job searching. By the time the car was fixed, it was time to come home.

Once home, we continued our job search in Nevada and started packing and preparing the house for sale. Some of the packing went fast, but once Peg got into the store inventory, it slowed down. Especially as the wet winter weather set in and we focused on keeping the house warm with what wood we could find.

A couple of weeks ago, my Mother in Law saw an advertisement on the sign at Oasis Online stating that they were looking for a Technical Person. She didn’t have any more information. I didn’t find the job advertised online in any of the usual spots. I checked their website, but the website was somewhat out of date but there was a phone number and I found the name of someone that worked there that I met while we were down there in September. I tried contacting him, but didn’t get a response. I also tried the phone number that I found, but it just went to a fast busy signal. Hmmm . . . not encouraging. I asked my Mother in Law if she had any more info, but she didn’t.

We went to Fallon for Christmas, Peg’s brother Tim’s Birthday, to job hunt, and to start actually moving there. On our way into town, we passed Oasis Online and checked the sign. The sign was on and had Merry Christmas information scrolling, but no information about the job. Well, it looks like they were still in business. So after a several days with Peg’s family for Christmas and Tim’s Birthday, I went down to Oasis Online on the 28th to turn in a resume and to ask about the position. The receptionist didn’t know if it was filled yet, but she was glad to give me an application and give me a little information about the company. The company started as an ISP. Over time they started supplying the IT maintenance for the Churchill County School Districts and other surrounding School Districts. Now it is their primary focus and they are phasing out their ISP. Hence the website that is a bit out of date. I took the application home, filled it out, tweaked my resume, and wrote a cover letter. I returned the next day and turned it it. While I was leaving, I noticed that the car belonging to the person I met in September was in the parking lot. I went back in and asked if he was there. He wasn’t.

Peg and I left to continue our job hunting, and returned home a couple of hours later. When I got home, I found an e-mail requesting and interview the next day. The e-mail was sent within an hour of dropping off my resume. I called them back and confirmed the interview. The next day I headed out to the interview. I interviewed with the owner/President and his son the VP/Network Admin. The interview went extremely well. We discussed my background (primarily with AT&T) then what the position entails. The interview went relatively quickly with most of the discussion about what the position entailed. After the interview, they said that they would “chew on it.”

The next morning, I received an e-mail offering me the position. Needless to say, I was elated. Fist Pumps, “Woo-Hoo”‘s, and dancing with my daughter ensued! Peg was out with her Mom. When she got home, I told her. “WooHoo.” But we had to discuss how to proceed from here. We had moved down with the intention to job hunt and head back to WA periodically to prep the house, We didn’t expect for me to find a job so quickly.

They wanted me to start on January 3 but, fortunately, I was able to negotiate a January 10 start date. We drove home and spent the next few days maniacally purging, packing, and taking stuff to GoodWill. Peg was under the weather, but we had help from our friends Stephany and Linda as well as my cousin Debi. We got some major areas taken care of, but there is a long way to go. I came back loaded with a bunch of stuff; both personal and stuff to sort through. Peg will stay up in WA for finish packing and prepping the house for sale and plans to move down in March.

I wish I could be there for her, but we are so glad that I am employed again and we realize that being apart will only be for a short while. It’s been a rough three years, but we’re turning the corner looking forward to a better future.

The Great Bullseye Roundup!

We have some great friends.

Woody, Buzz, and Jesse at Grrr'l's Birthda

All Righty! Now for another episode of “Life with Grrr’l.” We were at Toys R Us last Saturday morning buying a birthday gift for one of Cate’s friends when we noticed that they had the one toy Grrr’l really wants from Santa. We didn’t pick it up then, because a) it wasn’t part of the sale, b) we figured we could pick it up on line at that same price, and c) Grrr’l was with us and we didn’t want to try to smuggle it with us to the party and back.

Grrr’l is a Big Toy Story Fan. No, Really. Grrr’l is a BIG Toy Story Fan. For her Birthday, we got her the Large, Movie Accurate Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and Jesse the Yodeling Cowgirl dolls. She loves these dolls. They are her “Go To” toys. She plays with them ALL the time. (we were really worried about this since they ARE spendy.)

Now, for Christmas, she wants Bullseye, Woody’s horse. She REALLY wants Bullseye for Christmas. She asked The Big Guy in the Red Suit and everything. It’s the Capstone of her Christmas list. Now, on Saturday, there were a couple left on the shelf. I go back on Monday to get it and they are out. I talk to one of the Toys-R-Us elves and he checks the stockroom. Zero. He also checks the inventory for all the Toys-R-Us stores in the Puget Sound Region. Zilch. All the stores in the region are out. It’s gonna be fun trying to track this down and not ruin her Christmas.

We start searching for the toy in our area. Neither Target or WalMart have it. We start searching the internet. It turns out that Bullseye is one of the HOT toys of the season. What?!?! a second tier character in the Toy Story franchise? Who Woulda Thunk?! The only thing that we can think of is that, like Grrr’l, a lot of other kids got the Woody, Buzz, and Jesse dolls when Toy Story 3 came out earlier this year and now that it’s Christmas they want to round out their collections with Bullseye.

Woody's Horse Bullseye, the HOT Toy of the Year.

When we first checked Amazon.com, they were listing Bullsye for $108.90. Double its normal retail price of $54.99. When we checked Amazon a few hours later, it jumped to $119.95. We also checked E-Bay. Oh, Yes . . . there were sellers starting the bidding at its normal retail price. But they padded their Shipping cost. Some were subtle at $20.00. Others laid their greed right on the line at $40.00. We tried a few of the E-Bay auctions, but the bidding got insane pretty quick. Everyone wants this dang doll. We weren’t willing to pay much more than normal retail and reasonable shipping. This was going to be tough. We also weren’t going to turn this into a bad Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad film. If Grrr’l had to get an I.O.U. from the Big Guy, so be it. But we were gonna go down fighting.

We called her Godfathers, Dean Backus and Jonathan Thalberg, in Portland to see if they might be able to find Bullseye there. We knew it was a long shot but it was worth a try. Grrr’l has the best Godfathers. We talked to Jonathan and he called the Toys-R-Us’ in the Portland area. He found that there were a few Bullseyes left in the system. One in Tigard and two at Jantzen Beach. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get to the store until the following night. The next morning, we received a Facebook message to call him. He got up at 0-Dark-Thirty this morning just to go to the Toys-R-Us in Tigard before work to check on Bullseye for us. In short, the inventory in the computers was off. When the physical inventory was checked, neither store had any Bullseyes left. Also, when he talked with the store personnel, he found out the store was receiving over 20 requests a day for Bullseye! Although it was a Bust, THANKS, Jonathan, for the special effort. We really appreciate it!!

Lisa Bundrick checked locally for the toy then put out an All-Points-Bulletin to her Friends on Facebook for it. Marcus Boddington checked stores in Portland and the vicinity as well as online. Flo Garetson stalked the Toys-R-Us in Silverdale and helped us find reasonable online auctions to bid on.

Lisa’s All-Points-Bulletin paid off!! Her Sister-in-Law in Arlington, TX found Bullseye at the local Toys-R-Us. She was able to pick up the doll and, after arranging payment, shipped it out for Christmas. The crisis was averted and Grrr’l will not have to go through years of therapy because she didn’t receive the toy she really, REALLY wanted for Christmas.

Thank you Lisa, Jonathan, Flo, Marcus, and all the others who helped scour the country for a Bullseye doll for our four year old. We appreciate it

Update:

Opening Bullseye

Today was the Big Day! Bullseye arrived a few days ago and Grrr’l's Uncle Tim took point on wrapping it up before Grrr’l saw it. Package was hidden and we were all set. Grrr’l hasn’t been feeling well since we arrived. She’s been coughing a lot and she ended up throwing up a couple of times, but she hasn’t had a fever. We think it is due to the dry air and getting overheated at Grandma’s house. Grandma likes it excessively warm while Grrr’l is used to our home being on the cool side. She got a good night’s sleep and is doing better this morning. When she got up this morning, we asked her if she thought Santa came. She said, “Let’s see.” We go out to the Living Room and she sees the big present under the tree. Her face lit up. We asked her if she was sure that package was for her. “Yes!” and she proceeded to read her name on the box. She pulled the package out to the center of the room and pulled off the wrapping paper. “Bullseye!” she exclaimed. After a few minutes, Mommy had it out of the box and she was off playing. She ran to the other room, grabbed Woody, and Bullseye was part of the Roundup Gang!

The Roundup Gang!