The Fourteenth Poole Child
As children, my sister and I had always been told that there were fourteen children in my father's family, but we only knew the names of thirteen of them. We both remember being told that there was another child who had died, but that was the limit of our knowledge.
The Pooles of Richmond Hill

For me, "the Pooles" will always mean my father's family. Their quirks dominated much of my childhood and things about them still come back to haunt me today. My dad, Charles Thomas Poole, was one of 13 brothers and sisters, all shown in the picture.
Poole Family Walking Tour
I was having difficulty visualizing the many places the Poole family lived from the time my grandfather William arrived from Ireland till they ended up on 115th Street in Richmond Hill. It occurred to me that I'd like to walk around those neighborhoods if I could. I may be able to do that some time, but for now only a virtual walk is possible.
NUnit Engine Version Conflicts in Visual Studio
There have been some issues filed recently about exceptions being thrown when running NUnit tests under the VS test window. In many cases, they result in trying to install two different versions of the NUnit Engine into the same project directory. I'll try to explain how the problem arises and what to do about it.
The Ebb and Flow of Open Source
I'm in the process of moving many of my old posts to a new website - this one - and that involves thinking about some things I have not thought of in years.
Christmas Eve 1997

The Two Minnies

My paternal grandmother, Mary Head Poole died in 1944. I was born in 1942 so I don't actually remember her, but photos show that we did indeed meet. For a long time, I knew nothing very little about her. Thanks to US Census records, I learned about her life after marrying my grandfather in 1896, but I still knew nothing about her parents.
Is XP Unsuitable for a Diverse Team?
A post on Twitter claimed that Agile won't work for a heterogeneous team because it's practices were developed by a "bunch of white dudes." While that isn't something I want to believe, the comments indicated that many folks did believe it. When a large body of opinion contradicts my assumptions, I like to pause for thought.
What's With NUnit 2.6.5?
Some folks have expressed surprise at my release of NUnit 2.6.5. Their surprise is no surprise, given that the NUnit framework is now at version 3.10.1!