When I turned 70 I made a promise to myself that I would complete certain projects by the time I reached 75. Now that I am approaching 75 and find that I have made less progress than I had hoped with those projects, but instead have added even more projects to do, I have to amend that promise. Recognising that Capability Reduces as Time Advances, I have recently stepped-up the pace on certain of the projects and now do indeed expect to have all of them fully completed by the time I reach 80. I promise! This time I really mean it!

One of the projects is to ensure that this Stirnet site will continue after me. To do that I must first improve certain elements of the way it operates- and the first steps towards that have been taken. Some of those steps should become visible over the next few months. Some of the other projects may be of interest to some site visitors so I may report on them from time to time. In the meantime, I intend to keep on expanding and generally improving Stirnet’s Families Database. The pace of that will not be as fast as in previous years but it should be steady, hopefully similar to how it has gone in 2026 so far.

I apologise for being a bit quiet in recent months, uploading only a few new pages into the database. That has partly been because of minor health issues, plus our main holiday of the year, but it has mostly been because I have been trying to 'clear the decks' so that I can focus fully on Stirnet and a few other things. Over the last few years I took on too much work on sundry local matters and that distracted me from Stirnet and those other projects that I am keen to complete before I get much older. Annoyingly, I have found that sorting out those distractions (so that I can hand them over to someone else) has been trickier than I had anticipated. However, I am making progress with them and can now work more on Stirnet. That will not just be for improving the database. It will also be for updating the site as a whole, something I have been aiming to do for several years now.

The above was drafted on Wednesday 1st, April Fool's Day. On the 2nd April: Disaster! My computer crashed, fatally. Although almost everything of importance had been backed up, it is taking me a while to get used to the new equipment, to rediscover lost bookmarks, etc. etc.. I am not enjoying the experience! Nevertheless, progress is being made. I am hoping to restart uploading pages into the database within the next few days - though I do have plans for another short...

Greetings! * From today to 25th December 2025: Have a Great Christmas! * From 26th December to (about) 6th January 2026: Happy New Year! * Thenafter: I wish you all the best throughout 2026 - and beyond!

Welcome. If you are new to this site, please note that the Families Database is the focus of the site and that I use the Latest pages released page to advise people on what is going on with the database. That page is accessed through the Families Database Menu at the top of each page and (unless you are viewing this on a tablet or smart phone) in the Families Database - latest link at the bottom of each page. Do explore the pages linked to from that menu. Also: if you have any queries, check out the FAQs pages linked to from the top of each page whilst, if you have any problems, check out the Support pages.

Season's Greetings! * From today to 25th December 2023: Have a Great Christmas! * From 26th December to (about) 6th January 2024: Happy New Year! * Thenafter: I wish you all the best throughout 2024 - and beyond!

"May you live in interesting times" gives a mixed message. I resonate with both sides of that message. Wikipedia * It is easier & better to live in times of tranquility than in times of trouble. * It would be boring to live in times when little changes.

I hope that 2024 will bring you good health and happiness with the right mix of stability and progress.