That will keep you out of mischief...smile... It's nice to go through the pic's ...bitter sweet.... Big hug Pep....xo

Yes, it takes like forever to scan the pictures. It was tough at times but the old pictures really touched my heart, like dad holding me when I was little, happy times with both a much younger mom and dad. It's the way I like to picture them in heaven. It says that there's no marriage in heaven - I read that to say we won't be falling in love there and getting married. I do believe that mom, dad and me - we'll always be a family!

Mom has been requiring a lot of care since her we think bronchitis bout, the antibiotics knocked her out and her legs are weak. I'm frantically looking for a good caregiver so I can still work my 3.5 days a week. So hard to find as I get about 30+ applicants and they want salaries akin to hospital pay, want to take mom out for social activities, want benefits like live-in, sponsorship to Canada. etc. Whatever happened to an honest work ethic that motivates one to work for a living?!?!?!

Thanks for the words. Yes, it will take a long time. And the grandchildren (of my parents) have basically told me that they really don't want many, if any, of the pictures either physical or electronic images. But I'm doing this for me. And the fact that they don't care much means that I can do it MY WAY. (Que the Frank Sinatra song!)

@LifeIsSoCruel: here in the US there are companies that provide temporary care. It can be temporary as in a day or so now and then, or temporary until the patient no longer needs the care. They offer everything from: nurses who are certified for complicated in-home equipment and are licensed and can dispense controlled substances, through what they call companion care. Companion care is mostly somebody to be there and offer assistance. Mostly they are not licensed, but are good at helping them bathe and getting dressed, can prepare meals, and know when and how to call 911 if an emergency comes up.

The pay expected goes up with the experience and skill set.

This way the people are, at least, pre-screened and their skills can be vouched for. But they will be more expensive than somebody you find on your own.

My MIL used the services of neighbor girls when she was living on her own. They mostly cleaned and helped her with things she could no longer do. MIL is still capable of her own personal hygiene and needs no assistance getting dressed or taking her meds.

So you can retire from full-time photo scanning in just 7 years? What are the retirement benefits like? LOL

I HATE paper photos with a passion. They are messy and hard to deal with. I don't even want to think of scanning them. I am more inclined to just pitch the whole bunch. (We have two 20 gallon totes full, from both families of origin and our own family.) I love looking at photos on the computer but not dragging out the totes and paging through piles of paper photos not so much. What a chore!

I wonder what a professional service would charge to scan them by the job lot?

It depends on what level of service you want, but they told me it could range from about a dollar a picture to about 25 cents per picture. They deliver the files on DVD and you get your originals back. (I guess you could ask them to throw them away for you.)

I find that I spend about a minute per picture on the scanning, so 25 cents per picture is about $15.00 per hour. But I would think that they have a faster scanner than I do, or they work them 2 or 3 scanners at a time. But I have a hard enough time doing 1 scanner at a time, more than once I've lost track and scanned the same picture multiple times!

That is my problem - limited work area + slow data speed = chaos.

I just take it slow, and try to keep my work flow simple and organized. It works out ok. Mostly.

I suspect the only person who will look at all of this is me, and that may only be as I do it.

But I feel somehow obligated to do it.