This n That n Genealogy

It's been a while since I did a 'this n that' post, so here goes:

I love Carmex.  I used to use it all the time when I was in college, because nothing says dry, cracked lips like the Upper Peninsula in winter.  Then I left college and didn't really need the Carmex anymore.  Flash forward twenty years and for some reason my lips have been wrecked lately.  Chapstick ain't doing the job.  Blistex isn't either.  That's when I remembered my old friend.  Snagged some at the Walmart yesterday, and applied it in the car.  My lips are awesome today. 

We were at Walmart yesterday to buy a new space heater for the garage.  The one we bought last winter was going kaput.  The new one is an infrared heater, and while we were doubtful that such a small unit could provide the heat it said it would, last night the garage stayed at a reasonable temperature.  And you know what that means?

Max was not in the office when I woke up this morning.  Yep, he's back in his two-car bedroom, which means I get to have coffee and a cigarette before having to deal with Monsieur Demanding Kitty.  If he lived in the house full time, I would definitely get him on the same schedule as Kira - who gets fed at night so she's not annoying in the morning.  (Both cats are doing well after their respective dental surgeries, btw.)

We were supposed to get snow last night, but I haven't looked outside yet.  I don't really want to know.  Plus, it's still dark.

If you don't follow me on Facebook (and why not?), I had a major breakthrough on my ancestry search last night.  For a long time, I couldn't get farther up one branch of the tree than my 3x Great Grandfather, and then I found something online talking about this dude and his grandchildren - one of whom was my 3xGGf.  So, I had 5xGGf's name, but no clue as to which of his sons produced 3x.  This year's genealogy, I'm trying to focus on hunting down those pesky bits I haven't managed, and last night, on another website, I found an obituary a guy had written for himself a year before he passed.  In it, he yatters about his family and about his accomplishments, and his father (who I knew was one of 5x's sons), and there at the very end of the whole long thing, he mentions his brothers - and there was my 3x's very distinctive name along with his location.  I tell ya, I whooped out so loud I had to have startled Hubs and the cat. 

I also discovered I'm indirectly related to the guys who started the company that has always made the trophy for the Kentucky Derby.  (5x's brother's grandson started the company - but I'm too lazy to figure out what that makes him in relation to me.)  Today, I might try figuring out how 6x could've been killed at the Battle of Brandywine during the Revolutionary War, when I show he died in 1832.

I also found what might be the link to the old family story that we're distantly related to President Zachary Taylor.  But that's another rabbit to chase and I don't know if I'm up to it today.

What's up with you?  Are their any famous people you might be related to?  Any snow where you are?