Still no better suggestions coming in from you, my loyal readers, about tackling this family tree project. However, one of you did send a super helpful link about how to run a background check, so thank you for that. But otherwise, creating this family tree has been pretty straightforward. A little dull, maybe, since people search takes care of all the hard work, but still. Yeah. Anyway, that's all for this month, but keep those suggestions coming - even if most of them do suck!

Man, oh, man, we wanted to check out this new bar in town called The Eagle - but there was a HUGE line outside. All those people are idiots. I'm so glad someone called them out on it in this rant to waiting in lines outside bars. Anyway, building the family tree has been difficult, but as you know, I know how to find people now, so I'm definitely spearheading this project. So far, all of the tips that have been emailed to me have been pretty obvious like calling public records in the towns your grandparents are from. Uh. See, you don't need to do that if you already known how to use an online people finder since those sites aggregate that information anyway. Let me know if you have better suggestions.

In my last post I talked about how good my brother's doing and how we wanted to start building a family tree because of all the interest in people searches we have. So we did it! We started a family tree last night. It's actually a really hard thing to do. Our family never really kept records of ANYTHING so we don't even know really where to start. Anybody out there have ideas? I know that people searches are a great place to start but we have that covered now so I need some other ideas. I'll keep thinking.

In other news, I got a speeding ticket today. I HATE cops that pull me over, they're all so condescending. I don't think it's just me. On Rant Farm there's a rant dedicated to the cop who pulled me over when I was 16. I could have written that!

I feel so dumb lately. It's the weirdest thing. It's like my family and I were all hyper-alert and alive during the sometimes-crisis, but now that things seem to all be going actually well for a change, I just feel like I'm in a haze. It's like I've just woken up from a dream or something. I can't really describe it, but maybe some of you out there know what I'm talking about.

Anyway... I'm sitting here, drinking a little bit of green tea and surfing for vitamins online. That brand looks pretty good to me. My brother's doctor actually recommended it... so I'll probably just get that one even though it's kind of expensive. That kind of thing used to bother me, but when it's your HEALTH... well... I'll take EVERY ounce of prevention I can get these days.

Hrm... what else? Um... did I mention my brother is doing totally well? I still can't believe it myself. It's awesome. We're still playing a lot of gameboy, and using people search private eye to find a person he went to school with. It's pretty fun. We're also thinking about building a family tree now that he's really beginning to get his strength back. I was reading about finding people and building a family tree, and it sounds like fun. I'll let you know if I decide to go ahead with that project. I'm sure it'll be a doozy.

He's done. He's back home. You have no idea how much of a relief that is for me and his whole family. He's been on this strange spirituality kick, like he constantly has to tell us how much we all mean to him. Sometimes I straight up tell him that it's creepy, that it reminds us of his illness, that he's fine, and he shouldn't get so preoccupied with it. However, one of the good things is that I can share all my people search tips. He's been really interested in how to do a person search so that he can track down old friends and other people from his past to tell him how much they mean to him. I try to get him to tone it down a little and sometimes he does, but at least we're bonding over peoplesearch, so that's good. Hear that, internet? Make like my brother and find someone today!

So my part of the operation was actually pretty simple and relatively risk free, but my half-brother's part was a lot more. He had to undergo chemo and basically kill off all his old marrow first, and then there was still a chance his body would reject my marrow. Fortunately, he didn't, but his recovery hasn't been that easy. He's still in the hospital, and probably will be a few more days. But the doctors all say his prognosis is good and they think he may even have a full, cancer-free recovery. I'm really hoping so. This entire experience has really brought the whole family closer together. I'm looking forward to having him in my life years ahead. Meanwhile, the only real people search I've been doing lately is looking up all the doctors we've had to deal with (call me paranoid if you want, but it's good practice). Still, I have some good sites for you, so here goes:
People Searches
People Search and
Find your real parents which is actually another one of those giant lists--and really funny.
Off to visit my brother again. We play a lot of game-boy together. It's actually kind of great.

So, I finally got a hold of my half-brother again, and this time I asked him straight out what was going on and why he ditched me and then avoided my calls. Turns out he's been going through some major stuff--he just found out that he has cancer and needs a bone marrow transplant. His mom kept pushing him to ask me about it, and he didn't want to. He said "you just found me, and the first time we meet I'm supposed to ask you for something like that?" So he was avoiding me to avoid talking about it. So we finally met and I was sort of amazed how like me he is. I went in last week for the test and it turns out I'm a match--so, I'm going to do it. My wife is a little scared, but like I told her, this is for the uncle of our kids (who instantly adored him). So, I'm going in next week. Wish us both luck! In the meantime, I have some more people search stuff for you:
Number One: find person blog
Number Two: search people blog
And finally, something my wife thought I should share:
2008 tax software review.
She wants me to try to get this stuff out of the way now so that we don't have to deal with it later when I'm in recovery. I never thought people search would lead to something like this, but I have to say, it really makes me feel good to know that I could help save a life. Anyway, till next time!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. You're probably really curious about my half-brother. So am I! He totally flaked on our arrangement for lunch. He was polite about it, calling me a couple hours beforehand to tell me that he'd had a "personal emergency" so he wouldn't be able to make it. But what's weird is that he's been really cagey about it since then. Like I'll call him to see when he's free and he won't call me back for a couple of days, then he'll say he's busy but be vague about why and won't tell me when he'll be free. All very mysterious--and frustrating. Anyway, here's another great blog with links to find people and also a great resource to help you with finding the child you put up for adoption.

So it's no secret by now that I love GiantLists.com (as I have linked to it, I think, twice), but as of last night I was really wishing I had spent a little more time on it recently. You see, I got a ticket... a stupid ticket too. I was supposedly "following too closely," but I swear to you I was at least three car lengths away from the person in front of me. Anyway, what does this have to do with GiantLists.com? It has everything to do with them - predominantly this list: GiantLists.com - Get Out of A Ticket. So funny, it was just the thing I needed to cheer me up today. Speaking of good cheer, I am going to be hanging out with my biological half-brother in about a week! I'm really excited about it. If he's a cool guy, my wife says I can invite him to Thanksgiving. We'll see about that though. Plus, if he's a cool guy, he probably already has plans. For those of you still wondering where your biological family is, don't waste another day not doing a people search. Visit (more) sites about it if you're scared. There is a large Internet community out there who will support you. For example, that last site I just linked you plus this site called people finder both come highly recommended. Don't wait! Remember, just because you find them doesn't mean you have to actually contact them either. The choice is yours, but you should at least see if you have the OPTION to contact them. :)

So, last week I found out that I have a half brother! His name is Kevin and he's ten years older than me. We share the same dad. I've been trying to piece together my biological family and this was my most recent discovery. It's been pretty amazing getting to know everyone slowly like this. It also makes it really exciting. When I was finding Kevin, I found some good sites I wanted to share because they really helped me find him!

Search People
Background Check
Consumer Advocate ---article on avoiding sexual predators


Check back soon!