The Sophomore Slump -- Is Family History Getting You Down?

I've been doing genealogy for about two years now, pretty seriously, and I guess I'm moving from being a brand-new beginner to a category like "experienced beginner" or "thinks she knows her way around but still has a lot to learn." Along with the elation I've felt when something clicks into place -- I find my great-grandmother's actual birth surname -- I've experienced many other emotions along the way. Do any seem familiar to you other semi-new researchers? 1) Frustration : You know there's got to be a record of your grandfather's mother somewhere. She existed, why can't you find any kind of record? Your great-grandfather lived in one city, but died about 130 miles away -- what was he doing there? Why did he die there, not at home? Unlike a brand new researcher, you know where to look, you have multiple places to look, and you come up with nothing. Just one example of the many, many ways you'll feel frustrated.