I would like to offer to trade genealogical tasks with someone who lives close enough to Menands NY to hand deliver a request for NY death certificates. In my own experience, and in reading other posts on the Internet, submitting requests in person drastically cuts down on the wait time to receive your certificates. And I'm impatient! :-)

In exchange, I am willing to do lookups for Southern California. I live in Los Angeles and have immediate access to the Southern California Genealogical Society Library (including state vital records indices that aren't available on ancestry.com, and other books listed at www.scgs.com), the genealogy department's holdings at the Los Angeles County Main Library (extensive newspapers, directories, maps, listed at lapl.org) and a major branch of the LDS Family History Library that has vast microfilm holdings (look up what they have at lafhl.org).

Let's work something out. Thanks!