Those of you who read yesterday's blog posting about Findmypast's offer of free military records probably scratched your head over the effective time/date. INDIAN Standard Time? Really? It's been a long busy week, and apparently my brain was too full to think clearly. When I read "IST" on the Findmypast announcement and didn't know how to convert it to USA time, I googled - and quickly accepted the first explanation I saw. Indian Standard Time. I recall thinking, "Hmm, everyone seems to be moving computer support activities to India." But no, the time was quoted in IRISH STANDARD TIME. Duh. The posting has been changed, thanks to a kind fellow-blogger who tipped me off about my error.

There's a moral to this story: Critically evaluate every piece of data before accepting it as true. You've seen family trees in which a child was born to a 65-year-old mother? Or a 5-year-old mother? Or someone born in England in the 1850s and christened a few months later in Ohio? Or a tree with someone who married or had children after their date of death? Or a person with multiple spouses, in multiple far-flung locations? Contain your enthusiasm about your new finding before taking it as gospel. Look for inconsistencies in dates and locations. Does the "fact" make sense? Double-check sources. Don't blindly accept the first explanation you find (like I did).