JoeB wrote:

Carole, one more favor...God I feel so stupid. Would translate Roberto's words? Thanks, Joe

OMG Joe...why would you feel stupid?!! Have you seen some of my posts? We are all here to learn.
It looks like you and your son had lots of fun! I wonder if I ever saw you?

Cathy,

Probably not. We never made the big time. Did mostly church functions and back yard BBQs. The only pay we ever received was food and drinks. Usually never got invited back after they learned how much we (the adults) could drink.

Carole wrote:

JoeB wrote: Carole, Thank you so much. We can't believe that we now have a family for Francesco Romano DeMaso, all because of your efforts. I can't wait to add these new relatives to my family tree. And then... I can begin tracking down their ancestors. Yes, I can hear you screaming... "oh no." Again, thank you, Joe B. Isn't it great Joe? And two still living in the same area... But if you hear any yelling from me over here, it won't be to say "Oh no!", but OH YES!! Translation: YIPPEE..... !

Hi Carole,
Regarding the two DeMaso's still living in the Pieve commune; Porta Francesco and Porta Maria? Is Porta a surname, or nickname? Would their current surnames be DeMaso also? I looked up Porta in google, it says it's a door? Joe

No Porta is their surname...

It is possible that a De Maso daughter married a man named Porta and Porta Maria was one of the children of that marriage and Porta Francesco may be the son of the same marriage.

Don't forget the female offspring carry the paternal surname forward - NOT the maternal one. So the mother of these two could be the direct De Maso line...

Here are their phone listings:
>Porta Family Pieve di Cadore>

Wan't me to give it a go?

If you do - send me a PM about what you want to ask - or get yourself onto Skype and YOU can call and I'll interpret for you on a three way call!

Nuccia and I do three and four way calls all the time and it would answer some of your questions straight away!

Carole wrote:

No Porta is their surname... It is possible that a De Maso daughter married a man named Porta and Porta Maria was one of the children of that marriage and Porta Francesco may be the son of the same marriage. Don't forget the female offspring carry the paternal surname forward - NOT the maternal one. So the mother of these two could be the direct De Maso line... Here are their phone listings: >Porta Family Pieve di Cadore> Wan't me to give it a go? If you do - send me a PM about what you want to ask - or get yourself onto Skype and YOU can call and I'll interpret for you on a three way call! Nuccia and I do three and four way calls all the time and it would answer some of your questions straight away!

You and Nuccia are amazing. That's a big technical leap for me. Let me join Skype and then take it from there. 3 and 4 way calling with interpreters, I would get nervous. Maybe a letter to the Portas first. Once I get my stamps for their response. Thanks for the offer however. BTW, never heard of Skypes before joining Gente. Joe

Oh I love Skype. That's how Simy and I first started talking..and Riccardo too with Carole at one point to interpret for me and Simy.

And then with Jim, and Cathy. I even call my relatives in Italy on their house phone and talk for 10 minutes and only pay about 50 cents! You must try it..and we speak English so you wouldn't need an interpreter with us!

nuccia wrote:

Oh I love Skype. That's how Simy and I first started talking..and Riccardo too with Carole at one point to interpret for me and Simy. And then with Jim, and Cathy. I even call my relatives in Italy on their house phone and talk for 10 minutes and only pay about 50 cents! You must try it..and we speak English so you wouldn't need an interpreter with us!

I downloaded Skype and I'm in the process of learning how to use it. Looks like fun, I'll probably want a headset next. BTW, why doe the word "ERROR" appear on Gente's main page. It's right beneath the date line and doesn't seem to affect navigation in any way. Just wondering. Joe

Sorry Joe - don't know about the 'ERROR' message - have to leave that to 'the Boss'...

But Skype and headsets I DO know about.

A word of advice: DON'T BUY AN EXPENSIVE ONE! Don't let the shop convince you that you will need it. My experience has been that nearly everyone I know who purchased Plantronics and the like ($35 -$70 €47 - €93 ), have had problems, and usually after a really short time.

When I got Skype I went to my local hypermarket and checked out what was on offer... I went for this one (below) - an ADOOK, which might not be available there, but headsets in the same price range certainly will be.. What did mine cost? €5.99c ($8) and it has never gone wrong or let me down in over two years of daily use....

But let's be honest, even if it did, at just $8 it is easily replaced.

Your up early Carole. Thanks for the advice, I'll get an inexpensive set. Who knows?, I'll probably be making my first call in a few months!

Joe,
Walgreens has cheap headsets for $9.99 but those never last. But Best Buy has wonderful Microsoft Chat Headset for $29. Those are better and block a lot of external noise out. I use them to listen to mp3's on my laptop too.

Cathy wrote:

Joe, Walgreens has cheap headsets for $9.99 but those never last. But Best Buy has wonderful Microsoft Chat Headset for $29. Those are better and block a lot of external noise out. I use them to listen to mp3's on my laptop too.

Thanks Cathy, I'll check them out...

Well I bought a really good headset (45 bucks I think) and I had nothing but trouble with it...especially once I changes over to VISTA as so many older headsets aren't compatible with it. I finally went out and bought one for 24 dollars and it was wonderful (once I stopped tripping over it of course). I may need to get another though as I think I have done this one in.

I wouldn't spend too much, I did ($49.) and then proceeded to trip on it, yanking the chord right out of the headset. The expensive set is really overkill if the only thing you are using it for is Skype.

Hi Joe,

I bought mine at WalMart for 14 bucks. It looks similar to caroles only black (mine has nice fluffy padding for my ears). You'll be skyping in no time!

Does the plain old microphone and system speakers work? Just for test purposes...I'm not cheap, just lazy.