November 2004 -- Vol 5, No. 11

In this month's COUSINS:

(To return to the top, click on the decorative bars)

WHAT'S NEW

Y’know, I figured that, what with the re-enactment season over, things wouldn’t be so crazy.  I was, to a point, correct.

With all that free time I figured it was Time to get my fiction manuscript printed out and off to a publisher.  In the process, I got so pre-occupied, the month got away with me – and it still isn’t off to the publisher.

I got my 123,700 word opus printed out, along with accompanying cover letter, and the really cool map I made (Fantasy of the Science Fiction/Fantasy variety simply must have a map).  I had the box to mail it all off to Daw in, but, somehow, somewhere, I’d made some errors in numbering the pages and hand correcting is tacky and has been known to turn editors off.  As if that wasn’t enough, the printer had simply not printed 8 pages, right in the middle.  Even though I had been sitting right there during the entire print, I still looked under all the furniture, just to be certain.  But no, no missing 8 pages.

It’s been a good printer, and still is for single page printing, but as I intend to pursue writing in a serious manner, I’m gonna have to get a new printer.  Don’t get me wrong, Lexmark makes a really fine printer –the ink is a little pricey and is only good for about 600 pages– and this Z42 has lasted much longer than its predecessor, a Cannon BJC something-or-other, but it is New Printer Time.  Until then, I may check around and see how often one can refill an ink cartridge before the little computer chip stuff on the cartridge body gives up the ghost (this one has been re-filled 4 or 5 times now, and the letters aren’t as crisp as they once were [but $20 beats $40]). And I’m going to call around to assorted printers to see what the cost of  printing 640 double-spaced pages might be, and if it beats the cost of a ream of good 20 pound bond paper and a new ink cartridge.

THIS MONTH'S FEATURE:  

THIS MONTH'S FEATURE: the children of Marie-Jeanne PEPIN and husband Louis-Joseph ROY

Last month we recapped the children of III-Charles PEPIN and wife Marie-Louise MERCEREAU.

This month we look at the children of Marie-Jeanne PEPIN and husband Louis-Joseph ROY.

 Marie-Jeanne is the daughter and 8th child of  II-Jean PÉPIN and wife Marguerite MOREAU.  She was baptized 13 June 1707, in Charlesbourg, Québec.

On 18 July 1735 she married

Louis-Joseph ROY, son of II--Jean ROY dir AUDY and wife Thérèse JOBIN.  He was baptized 19 Oct 1698.  This is his third marriage.  His first wife, 21 Oct 1726 at Château-Richer, was Marguerite LEFRANÇOIS, daughter of Alexis-Nicolas LEFRANÇOIS and wife Madeleine LEFEBVRE; 3 children.  His second wife, 21 April 1732, was Marie-Elisabeth PICHET, daughter of Jacques PICHET and wife Louise ASSELIN; 1 child.

 According to Tanguay, they had 11 children.

If you can add/subtract/change any of this, send it on via email. 

UNIDENTIFIED PEPINS

One of the things I truly enjoy about Living History is the many different interests among those who play in the past.  One of my friends can trace her family lines back to what has been called a French utopian experiment at Cloverdale, California.  She, in fact, loaned me a book about this community, entitled A Photographic History of Icaria-Speranza; A French utopian experiment at Cloverdale, California, edited by Dale W. Ross.  The National Icarian Heritage Society published the booklet –more a 40-page pamphlet than a full-fledged book– in July 1989.

Why do I mention this?

Well, see, in three different photographs in this booklet there are people with the surname PEPIN.  My friend noticed this right off and asked me if I knew who they were. 

Photograph #1, Pg 19 Icaria-Speranza Colony, 1881: George Pepin (child), Lizette Leroux Pepin (adult), Jeanette Pepin Hall (child), Ellen Pepin (child).

Photograph #2, Pg 20 Icaria-Speranza Colony, 1882: Ellen Pepin (child), Jeanette Pepin Hall (child), Lizette Laroux Pepin (adult), George Pepin (child) .

Photograph #3, Pg 36 “Visit from French newspaper reporters”, circa 1907, shows George Pepin again, this time standing head and shoulders with the men surrounding him.  A handsome devil, he is, like so many of the men in our family.

Now, I’m thinking that Lizette Laroux Pepin is probably a Laroux who married a Pepin, but who was her Pepin husband?  I also think Lizaette is probably the mother of George and Ellen.  And could Jeannette be a sister-in-law to Lizette …? 

A Photographic History of Icaria-Speranza does a wonderful job of explaining what the French utopian experiment was, as well as why they did it, but names in photograph captions are the only mentions of Pepins in this book.

I wish I could offer more information but <shrug> I can’t.

Anyone claim these Pepins as kin?

Inquiring minds want to know.

RAMBLINGS FROM THE EDITOR

I’m sure you’ve all seen the ads for Video Professor.  They’re all over the place.  And they make themselves sound so very good and O! so accommodating.

After seeing one of their commercials, I thought it might be kinda cool to see if there was something new I could learn about Front Page --the program I use for my web design endeavors-- so I went for it.

Then I received a notice advising me that my bank account was overdrawn by $30.34 on the 27th of October.  Upon further investigation, I found that it was because my account was charged $69.95 . . . this is on top of the $6.95 shipping and handling fee that I was charged on October 12th.  Needless to say, I was not prepared for this fee.   I hadn't received any product from them, yet.

There was an 800 number on the bank statement.  I called.  I found out that the $69.95 was for the first CD, not the second.  One offer they made to this disgruntled customer was that if I agreed to keep the 1st and the second, I would be sent a third CD for FREE.  I said no.  The 1st was supposed to be for free, and obviously was not.  So after a bit more discussion, my account was cancelled, I received the special codes for returning merchandise, along with the special instructions for returning the merchandise (mail both CDs back in a bubble wrap envelope), with the added proviso that I could fax a copy of my bank overdraft to a certain person with an explanation as to why I thought Video Professor owned me my overdraft fee.

I do have to offer kudos to that first phone rep for being such a wonderful human being about the whole thing.  It cannot be an easy job.  I’ve done phone work and after we’d covered everything that needed covering, I said, “And I hope the rest of the people you talk to today are satisfied customers.”  Replied the Phone Rep, with a snort, “I don’t think so, but thanks for the thought.”

After speaking with Video Professor's phone rep, I was certain the phone rep had the best intentions, but wasn't so sure about the company, and figured that if I had ANY trouble from them, I was going straight to the Media with it.

Yes, Family, I was that annoyed.

The second video arrived and I called Video Professor to confirm the return address.  The second phone rep was smooth and polished and started to say something quite like, “Oh, but I see here that it says you received the first video.”  I cut that rep short by saying, “I said no such thing” because I hadn’t, and I suspect that the first rep may, even as I type, be employed elsewhere.  I elaborated about how I had not received the first video then, I still had not, and the second video, which had arrived the day before, would be going out in the next day’s mail, ending that long and convoluted sentence with, “I am a MOST dissatisfied customer” in a tone of voice that said, “Go ahead, push me harder---please.” 

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the “catch” –as it was explained to me by the second rep (though not in so few words)-- is that somewhere, in tiny little letters, it says that the first video is free for 10 days, after that it costs $69.95.  However, the first video did not arrive in that first 10 days, thus I had no way of knowing.  Wonder how many other people this has happened to, and how much Video Professor has profited by it?

What makes me wonder even more. . . ?

Three days after my second phone call I received a card in the mail --the same mail I’m presuming the first video was sent by—from Video Professor.  On it, it affirms in plain black letters that I will be refunded my $69.95 and that other than the complimentary copy of Video Professor’s Front Page tutorial they were mailing me, I would never receive another item from Video Professor, nor would I ever be billed for anything by Video Professor ever again.  AND . . . the very next day my complimentary copy Video Professor’s Front Page tutorial arrived . . . the same day my $69.95 refund arrived in my bank account.  It was not that errant first video, oh no.  It contained paperwork saying FREE and COMPLIMENTARY and THANK YOU!  The first video, the one that created all the commotion, is still lost somewhere in SnailMail Land. 

It really makes me wonder.

Mind you, this is just one person’s experience with Video Professor.  Your mileage may vary.  If you’ve had successful dealings with them, I’d love to hear about it.

NEWSLETTER INFORMATION

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     Back issues of COUSINS can be found at:
http://www.fortlangley.ca/pepin/cousins.html

     This URL will take you to the COUSINS Front Desk.  Or, you can click on any of the red lions that appear on the Pepin pages and Site Directory.

      For a hard copy of the newsletter, send an email to lisa@fortlangley.ca, and if for any reason you wish to change the way you receive the newsletter -- or if you no longer wish to receive COUSINS -- drop me an e-mail at lisa@fortlangley.ca and tell me.  If you just wanted to chat, drop me an email.

COUSINS
comes out once a month -- more or less
This month's was finished 22 November 2004, 8:12 PM PDST