The Anchorage, Part 3

[Lorraine]

Hey, Dreamer! Since I posted, the sun has come out and the wind’s dropped...that’s Northland for you! In five mins it’ll probs be back to gloom

My computer needs a bigger processor fan...things get VERY HOT under the bonnet when I’m rendering. There’s a nice one at PB Tech for $69, just a matter of eating noodles for a fortnight and it will be mine!

 

[Dreamer]

Hehe sounds like me and video card, my current one is so out of date its not funny got to see about updating it so I can use the gpu render options rather than tying my poor 'puter up for hours while the cpu works overtime to try and make it through a render

 

[Mythocentric]

Good Mornooning! A bit better today here. Some drizzle early evening otherwise clear. Yesterday was however bloody amazing. It seems that the rain we got caused someone up there to take pity on us and cleared away the haze which usually hangs about the Lake District. The result was rather than the usual view of the closer hills and fells we could see the big guys behind them including Coniston Old Man and the peaks around Windermere! Fan-bloody-tastic! I spent an hour on the prom with Lucy and spotting scope pointing out various mountains which she found fascinating (include me in that!). The downside is that Mom has been persuaded to take a drive in that direction over the weekend so that she can see them up close and personal. Whoot!

 

[Dreamer]

Sounds cool Myth, say why is Windermere ringing bells?

 

[Mythocentric]

Its England's largest lake formed during the last ice age. It's close to Ullswater where Wordsworth was inspired to 'wander lonely as a cloud!' (by which you might guess they sell some fantastic local beers too!). The village of Windermere (and the railway station) is one-and-a half-miles from the lake which is why we are driving up. Ambleside, where we are staying overnight, is at the northerly end and is one of my most favourite places on Earth. The views of the surrounding mountains, some of the highest in England is awe-inspiring and there is even a legend that if you climb high enough you came even see Morecambe on a clear day! They are also one of the few places left in the country where you might be lucky to see a Hen Harrier which are becoming dangerously rare!

 

[Dreamer]

Sounds amazing!

 

[Terre]

That sounds like a great trip, Mytho. I hope you guys have a lot of fun.

 

[Terre]

As far as criminal being caught due to DNA testing so far none of that has come directly from sites like Ancestry or 23 And Me. What has happened is someone who got tested then uploaded their results to a public search database try and find out who they might be related to/ track down distant cousins etc and because they ARE a public sites law enforcement has full access to them and companies run searches on them for that purpose.
Now data leaks due to hackers etc. is something that can happen. My husband and I wouldn't have bothered with this if his mom hadn't paid for the tests and gotten upset at us not doing them. She actually sent them out for Valentines day and that's about the time we got ours in the mail.

 

[Hornet3d]

As far as criminal being caught due to DNA testing so far none of that has come directly from sites like Ancestry or 23 And Me. What has happened is someone who got tested then uploaded their results to a public search database try and find out who they might be related to/ track down distant cousins etc and because they ARE a public sites law enforcement has full access to them and companies run searches on them for that purpose.
Now data leaks due to hackers etc. is something that can happen. My husband and I wouldn't have bothered with this if his mom hadn't paid for the tests and gotten upset at us not doing them. She actually sent them out for Valentines day and that's about the time we got ours in the mail.

I can see you were out in a bit of a position with this so I can well understand why you went ahead. I think my concern is that there is no way you can verify the results and I wonder just how many cowboy outfits there are. One of our trading standards did a test on something similar and that was the DNA testing of dogs which can give the breed mix information on any given dog. They sent a dozen samples to a number of companies and checked the results. In many cases they had a different results for the tests even from the same company and very few matches between companies. I know these are different labs but knowing the morals of some companies around today I suspect that there are similar practices going on in the human DNA testing labs. It is also different if you know some of the background of your family and so have some idea on the validity of the results.

Of course the other problem is the can of worms that it opens up in some rare cases where people have found they are not related to those they thought were family. There are times in life when ignorance is bliss particularly when you cannot unlearn something.......well not until your reach my age anyway.

 

[Mythocentric]

Sounds amazing!

That sounds like a great trip, Mytho. I hope you guys have a lot of fun.

Thank you! I'm really looking forward to it. A short break but it should be fun. Lucy came up with the idea of having a picnic on top of the mountains. I don't think she's quite grasped the scale yet but I'm really looking forward to seeing her reaction when she gets up close and personal! Same for mom Emma I think. She has been before but she was just heading for two-years-old at the time. My self, I'm just looking forwards to a few hours idling away some time on a boat trip along the lake. Bliss!

 

[Terre]

I can see you were out in a bit of a position with this so I can well understand why you went ahead. I think my concern is that there is no way you can verify the results and I wonder just how many cowboy outfits there are. One of our trading standards did a test on something similar and that was the DNA testing of dogs which can give the breed mix information on any given dog. They sent a dozen samples to a number of companies and checked the results. In many cases they had a different results for the tests even from the same company and very few matches between companies. I know these are different labs but knowing the morals of some companies around today I suspect that there are similar practices going on in the human DNA testing labs. It is also different if you know some of the background of your family and so have some idea on the validity of the results.

Of course the other problem is the can of worms that it opens up in some rare cases where people have found they are not related to those they thought were family. There are times in life when ignorance is bliss particularly when you cannot unlearn something.......well not until your reach my age anyway.

Yup. Since the results actually fit what I already knew from the work my dad and grandmother had done this result is probably reasonably accurate. However this is a science that is in it's infancy and we have a long way to go before it gets anywhere near perfect and then there are complications.... I'm not surprised by the dog results you mention. In house procedures and how careful the tech are etc will all have an effect of the results even if the lab is trying to do a good job.

 

[Terre]

Thank you! I'm really looking forward to it. A short break but it should be fun. Lucy came up with the idea of having a picnic on top of the mountains. I don't think she's quite grasped the scale yet but I'm really looking forward to seeing her reaction when she gets up close and personal! Same for mom Emma I think. She has been before but she was just heading for two-years-old at the time. My self, I'm just looking forwards to a few hours idling away some time on a boat trip along the lake. Bliss!

Perhaps it will give her an idea of what the scale is when she sees photos of bigger mountains like the ones 100 miles to the west of me. She's used to what I consider very low hills..... I hope it doesn't frighten her. Some people from flat areas actually are afraid of mountains. Something I find quite sad.

 

[Mythocentric]

Well, she'll definitely know by this time tomorrow Terre. She was born and raised in Toronto (up to the age of four) so is pretty much a city girl. Fortunately, she is something of an explorer so I hope she'll take it all in her stride as usual. So too is mom who would more likely head for the car rather than walk any distance, so perhaps another surprise coming there. At the moment she's more interested in her new walking boots which we bought this morning (and has refused to take off since!).

 

[Satira Capriccio]

I knew DNA test results varies from company to company, and even between tests with the same company. This LiveScience article does a decent job of explaining why there are discrepancies.

While it's interesting to see where your ancestors may have come from, I don't think of those results as all that important in the grand scheme of things. Where DNA testing succeeds is in enabling you or other people to connect with unknown or missing family.

 

[Terre]

I knew DNA test results varies from company to company, and even between tests with the same company. This LiveScience article does a decent job of explaining why there are discrepancies.

While it's interesting to see where your ancestors may have come from, I don't think of those results as all that important in the grand scheme of things. Where DNA testing succeeds is in enabling you or other people to connect with unknown or missing family.

That connection is why so many people upload to other databases so they have access to a wider variety than if they just stick to the company that did their test.

 

[Mythocentric]

Lucy and her mom have just completed their first 'mountain' walk, Ambleside to Rydal Mount and back. She's currently resting before dinner (i.e. snoring) and judging by the steam rising from her feet I could possibly be in trouble later. Well! I only 'suggested' they should go. I didn't insist. Honest!

 

[Miss B]

Riiiiiight!

 

[Terre]

Good luck on that, Mytho.

 

[Lorraine]

‘Amble’, yeah right, Mytho!

Gale force winds and the dinghy trying to fly...just another day in Northland I’m going to drown out the noise with the gennie and play on my computer!

 

[Mythocentric]

I'm safe! She loved it though she says her legs are a bit 'wabbley'. Rydal Mount (I should have mentioned) was the family home of William Wordsworth (built around 1574) and is still owned by his descendants. Actually, I'm a bit disappointed I didn't go myself now judging from their descriptions. They were particularly impressed by Dora's Field, a small, partially wooded area by St. Mary's Church which on the death of his daughter Dora, Wordsworth planted with thousands of daffodils as a memorial to her. Sunday, we're out on and around the lake. Well you can't visit Windermere without getting your feet wet, can you?
Typical Lake District weather here. Rain (sometimes quite heavy) in the morning which quickly burns off as mist as the sun rises until, by midday, sunhats are a good idea, especially for kids.