Roll call for ex-FE members

[JSKS]

I thought it might be interesting, during the FE forum's slow suicide, to see who had moved across to here.

Hi to old friends and sparring partners.

[Rabbie]

hi

[Chancer]

Havnt moved across as I had always maintained a minimal presence here.

Hi, anyway, I liked one of your last, possibly the last message on F.E., summed it up very well.

[Patf]

I've been here for ages too - since 2001. This was the first forum I joined , before we moved here. It keeps chugging along [blink]

Pat/Tricia.

[tinabee]

I'm here [:)]

 

[Pommier]

I've been here since 2001 (and in France since 2002), but also on TF (later FE) since it started. Sadly it seems to be in terminal decline.

[Redredwine]

I have been here for ever,but post seldom. I have never felt the need to participate in the other forum, especially when Rosie, Sheridan and Peake ruled the roost ably suported by Bentley.I did peek from time to time

[Chancer]

I had been here in France close to 3 years when in desperation and at my wits end with trying to cope with seemingly idiotic beurocracy in a language that I hadnt mastered I wondered whether there might be a forum for people like myself that could help me....................

Looking back its a Wonder how I ever got as far as I did relying on contradictary info squeezed out of an (fill in the gap yourself) population most of whom had only ever travelled to Amiens or Arras once or twice in their lives to sort out administrative matters, who had never left France and who had not even booked a family Holiday or weekend away without letting the Comite d'Enterprise do it for them, not that they ever gave me any info other than an "euuhhhh, shais pas moi" and a shrug of the shoulders.

The first forum I joined I cannot recall the name of but one day it just dissapeared from the ether never to return again which would actually have been a kindness had FE done the same, I wish that i could give it the coup de grace as I dont like to view suffering.

A few years back I started spending more time on FE than here because it was more active, if I posted a request for info it was likely to get more replies and quicker, the exception was questions on the French language where the contributors to this forum remain unsurpassed, it was easy to get the probably wrong impression on FE that the majority did not speak French or consider it important to learn.

I could never work out why it was so much more active than this forum, both were similarly useable, not lacking in features, both underwent makeovers that added little and upset many, both recovered from that by making timely tweaks and communicating relatively well.

There were a lot more disputes on the other forum and I got the impression that the mods had a lot more to do, I was amazed that some were not banned until very recently yet some contributors to this forum who I have never seen post anything agrresive or confrontational did get banned from there. Normans had to be the funniest.

I think in simple terms people will go where lots of other gather like a busy pub or club and this forum and others will benefit from what seems to be the inevitable if not planned demise of the other.

You know things are desperate when even P******n has stopped posting, the guy must be at his wits end [:D]

[JSKS]

It seems that I have been locked out of the FE forum. Any post I try to open has the page not found error message. The Active Topics list is missing anything in Chatterbox and all those topics that do shown give the error message when clicked on.

This may be a unique, unusual error, or a vindictive action against someone who has persisted in keeping the pathetic state of the site at the top of the Active list. Who knows?

[suein56]

[quote user="JSKS"]It seems that I have been locked out of the FE forum. [/quote]

It could just be another blip you know.

I managed to get in there just now and open a thread - though it is even more painfully slow than usual this evening; so have you done all the usual ie cleared your cache, cleared out your cookies etc.

Sue

[idun]

Chancer, you would have managed you know, I am absolutely sure of it. I have seen many posters make great 'progress' over the years, but your progress has been exceptional.

[:)] And you say..... 'they' couldn't do anything without letting the Comité d'Entreprise do it for them, and I am wondering how many posters actually know what that is all about? Some must ofcourse. But it is a complicated subject all on it's own and something fundamental to millions of french people's lives and yet, how often has it been mentioned on here?

FE, how do I look at that board then. I have done a search for FE and cannot find anything. Oops think I need to try FrenchEntree, and not FE!

[JSKS]

Sue56,

I know this has also happened to at least one other this afternoon. I think it might be because we were using the message system to to tell others about this forum.

Seems that rather than fix a rubbish forum they would rather everyone just meekly accepted the new-look downgrade!

[Debra]

I''m here - but then I always have been on here and have been for a long time.  I haven't posted much since the last update on this forum because it's painfully slow for me for some reason.  It's not looking so bad now though :)

[crabtree]

Hi Guys,

Have been a member of both forums for quite a few years now.

Welcome anyone who has crossed over from the 'Dark Side'!

[Chancer]

[quote user="idun"]Chancer, you would have managed you know, I am absolutely sure of it. I have seen many posters make great 'progress' over the years, but your progress has been exceptional.
[/quote]

I'm flattered. I dont think that its exceptional though by comparison with those like yourself who proceeded me, back then without the internet, without Sky TV, without the support of perhaps a ghetto ex-pat community it would just have been called survival, those who couldnt manage it would have returned.

I'll tell you a funny story, during my first 6 months when the enormity of the difficulties became painfully apparent to me, I had not thought of looking for a forum (idiot!) and was really alone and unable to get any info regarding registering my vehicle, taxes, healthcare etc I decided to see if there were any other English in the area (I was blissfully unaware that there where Brit ghetto villages only 20km away).

I asked at the Mairie if there were any other Brits in the area who could help me when they once again shrugged their shoulders at one of my questions, she said there was a British guy in my village, retired with a French wife and they had lived there 15 years, she said she would make contact and ask if I could speak to them, I heard no more and when I asked again at the Mairie the woman seemed very embarrassed so I asumed, correctly as it turned out that the answer was no.

Then some  time after I was in a bar, back then I still mistakenly thought I would meet normal people there just like the UK not drunken wife-beaters and chronic alcoholic social cases, a women vary forcefully tried to chat me up with the few words of English she had "Come here! I love you!" being polite i joined her and her friends and we conversed in French, mine wasnt good then but I understood her well enough, turns out she was the sister in law of the British guy and he had said he didnt want to talk to me, all I was interested in like all the other brits was to profit from the misfortune of the French, to buy my property for centimes and to sell it on at an obscene profit, I hope one day to prove him right.

Fast forward 9 years to a couple of months ago, I was waiting in the gendarmerie to once again try to get the goons to do their job, there was a couple there reporting the theft of their documents, she was doing all the talking for both of them and ocacsionally he would interject in broken French with an English accent, i thought could it be???? Then when they gave their address it was in my village [:D]

So I presented myself to them both, the wife was very friendly and interested in what I was doing, he seemed really ill at ease and with a lot of difficulty tried to explain (to lie) why he was too busy to see me at the time, I told him it was no problem, that I had met his belle souer who was very frank and had explained to me exactly what he had said.

My greatest pleasure was that I held the conversation in French, for me it would have been impolite to his wife to do otherwise but he could only speak in English.

I walked away feeling 10 foot tall [:D]

[andyh4]

Been here for ages.

I was a little underwhelmed by the upgrade here, but compared to the FE one.................... well it was perfection.

[idun]

LOL Chancer, it can be a bit like a blind date being asked to see someone because they speak the same language. I went to see an english lady, because someone I knew well, asked me to go as she had met her and said that she was a bit 'lost' and new to the area, she lived some distance from me. I only saw her once, we simply didn't 'click'. I swerved any such suggestions to see an english speaker after that. At least in those circumstances.

I knew where there were english ghettos and avoided them. I did make some english friends in France, only one couple are really very good friends, but they lived 50 miles from us.  And I made friends usually with french people, but with people of other nationalities too.

In the early days, even with lousy french I had to navigate the system,  I made some mistakes, but learned from them....... eventually. Helped when I  started to ask 'better' questions.

You have done brilliantly well, I'm not sure how I would have coped with the folk of Picardy, but 'you' have!

[YCCMB]

Double snarf. I see they're all going green....

[JSKS]

Bit of an update:

On FE went from being a 'participant' yesterday to a 'spectator'. That means unable to post or to see Chatterbox. Now when I try to login it says I am a spammer! Have emailed the mods to find out if it's a glitsch or a backhanded way of closing me out.

Something very strange is going on over there!

[Redredwine]

I had a quick look just now, there was a post from someone saying they were leaving because of the censorship. A couple of minutes later it had gone.   Looks like no criticism will be tolerated . Glad I never joined.

[JSKS]

[quote user="Redredwine"]I had a quick look just now, there was a post from someone saying they were leaving because of the censorship. A couple of minutes later it had gone.   Looks like no criticism will be tolerated . Glad I never joined.[/quote]

Until a few weeks ago it was a zippy forum with lots of views expressed and only the most extreme were removed. After the dog's breakfast of an upgrade there was a monumental backlash from the membership to the point where the discontent took up most of the forum. Clearly it seems expedient to censor rather than fix the problem. Someone has screwed up and is seeking to hide behind not allowing dissent or criticism to persist, presumably in the hope that it will all go away.

It's like being in Junior School!

[NormanH]

I was banned many moons ago so in one sense I am an ex-member.

My opinions are not those of the majority of British immigrants in France, but if you look at my other posts here where I deal with factual matters I believe I have shown a useful knowledge which was lost 'over there'.

[Patf]

[quote user="NormanH"]I was banned many moons ago so in one sense I am an ex-member.

[/quote]

I didn't know that Norman - You have a past!

As you add you have much knowledge and experience to offer .

 FE had become much more realistic in later years.

Under this new management it seems to be reverting to the old rose coloured specs. [:(]

[woolybanana]

Boy, does he have a past! But he has improved a bit, unless you know where to poke with a stick....

I got kicked off there for requesting, none too politely, that one of the mods ( and there are hundreds of them) should stop treating members like children and using the language of the kindergarten to them.

But that was at the time they were deliberately trying to get rid of some members who, like Normie, were not entirely rose coloured in their views.

And the chief mod clearly seemed to have a personality disorder.

[Pommier]

Presumably FE bought the (then) successful forum (I wonder how much it cost?) from Total France, so at that time they wanted a forum. Apparently they've changed their minds as they're doing all they can to finish it off.