Vital Records
For today’s stupid human trick, I search vital records from various municipalities, in search of proof that my relatives are in fact, dead. I don’t know when they were born, what names they were using when they died (I know wtf), the date of death.
[stupid human trick]
I know places, who was born first, and all of their aliases. I think. Not like criminals or anything, but nicknames that got put in or maiden name middle name stuff.
I also know that most vital records in the United States were either placed on Cobol wannabe databases from the 1970s forward, or were recorded on paper until very recently. Boolean search is laughable. So, I’m pretty much ass out when it comes to online search.
[spaghetti code]
After over an hour of frustrating search, I discovered that the best way to locate my mothers records is by using my full maiden name, or her marriage certificate from my father whose records I don’t need, but appeared instantly along with every other dead Chamarro in the Bay Area and a long list of relatives everywhere. Me, and my second glass of pinot grigio have now found her in six databases, none of which are entirely correct. Wrong birthday, wrong name, obvious typos, incorrect place of birth, blah, blah, blah. Thank goodness for tagging her records to mine. Somebody was thinking.
I now get the joy of paying an exhorbitant amount of money to the state of California and going to a notary public to prove that I am actually me while my grandmothers estate remains tied up to get proof that my mother is dead, according to them.
Right. Because I already know she’s dead. Not a secret.
Interestingly enough, the state of Georgia has a much more entertaining process. After asking for your identifying information they pull your intelius report and a quiz box pops up and asks you all kinds of confusing things about yourself, like where you lived in some year and what name you used at that address and stuff that I could really screw up.
So when we get the kids stuff, I use DH’s information. God love him. He has no aliases; and if we get confused we can call MIL.
Now, what will be quicker, finishing my grandmothers filing and looking for more death certificates in that mountain, or going back to the non-boolean search. Shockingly, the mountain of paper appears to be more productive. At least there is other stuff I need in there too.
Oh, proving people were born: no problem. But proving they are dead is another thing altogether.
I had no idea.