(This is just a vent.) I'm so grateful that some of my closest cousins have signed up for GEDmatch that I dare not criticize them, but I really wish some of them used their Ancestry usernames instead of brand new names. At least they share their email addresses, though, which is what really matters.

Alas, today I have a sad story. I heard from a match at 23andMe, who identified a common ancestor for us. It's a good-sized match and a fairly recent ancestor, so I feel reasonably confident that the known paper trail connection will end up being the same as the DNA connection.

So, I went to GEDmatch to see if anyone else matched on that segment and could be narrowed down to also matching my grandmother's kit (since the paper trail lead is on her line). Sure enough, there was an Ancestry kit that fit the bill, and it's also a good-sized match.

I searched for the kit name here using Jeff's brilliant search tool. No go. I searched for all kinds of variations. Nope, no luck. I tried a surname search for other matches who might have this ancestor and see if there were any similar usernames. Still nothing.

No problem; I would just email this person and let her know about a very likely lead for the segment...

...only to find out that she didn't list her email.

So, I'm here, wanting to hand this person a possible ancestor on a plate (or at least give her a great lead), but I have no way to contact her. (Even if she doesn't need the lead, it would be great to triangulate. "It's Great to Triangulate!" should be a Schoolhouse Rock! song.)

Grumbledy grumbledy grumble...