Hi; Just poking my nose in for a minute... heh ============== I figure that these people are using Adland like an autoresponder and the "friends" like a prospecting list. It's maddening. ============== Well, of course they are. If I go to France (or Quebec) I can *expect* to hear people talking French. If I hate the sound of French, and hearing it makes me crazy, I should not go there, oui? Same thing. I'm sure we've all noticed that the general flavor of Adland is that it attracts people that are chasing BizOpps and MLM and NWM so they can recruit downlines and 'click it rich' quick. It attracts people that actually think 12 affiliate programs and a free classified constitutes an "online business." Again, no sarcasm intended. They're in a different place on the learning curve than you are. I stay here simply to create a little corner of Adland for people that actually want to learn how to do business online. If you look at the ratio (people in my forum vs total numbers) -- it's about the same ratio of legit businesses to "get me rich quick" people on the rest of the Internet, too. An easy solution to the pesky messages; Create a separate email address (or an email filter, if your mail program allows mail filtering) to use here at Adland. Check it once a day - scan quickly to see names of senders - then 'Control-A and Delete.' Works like a charm. ; ) Linda

You must be a sucker for punishment! I don't really think I have ever been accused of being 'charming' - usually in fact the exact opposite. Maybe just getting a fraction more mellow as I age? Wish I could add 'like fine wine' but even there my tastes tend to the more plebeian, much to the offense of the French boss of the house. However being (now) a writer, we may have Rolls-Royce tastes, but we still have Mini-money, so it is just as well! People seem to enjoy my Seminars and books, so who knows maybe I will get rich one day? Somehow I doubt it. Cheers, Norm

Hi Linda, ============= "It attracts people that actually think 12 affiliate programs and a free classified constitutes an "online business." ============= Heh...heh... no truer words have ever been spoken! ============= "Again, no sarcasm intended. They're in a different place on the learning curve than you are." ============= I think I must have hit my zenith and I'm coming down the other side of the sine wave. Or maybe I'm just plain getting grumpy. Regarding the French - a quirk of my weird personality - EVERY time I hear it I keep seeing (in my mind) Gomez Addams taking his wife, Morticia, by the arm and kissing it - part of my mis-spent youth, I guess - LOL! Gary

Dear Gary, you are not exactly liguistically restricted yourself! I really enjoy your descriptive reactions. Great stuff - I just hope it is getting though to the offenders -although with great gift we all have of self-deception - maybe not? I didn't mention that the source of most of these expressions came from a surprisingly young country sales rep. I knew in Australia. He spoke fluent 'dinkum' and whenever he was in town I would seek him out just to listen to him speak. I just wish I could remember more of them, but he was truly the 'Shakespeare of the Bush' Incidentally my favorite piece of poetry of all times in "Clancy of the Overflow' and my Collected Works 0f Banjo Patterson - Song of the Pen, and Singer of the Bush - still have pride of place in my bookshelves. Cheers, Norm

Hi Norm, We'll have to stop meeting like this - people will start to talk - LOL! ============== "you are not exactly liguistically restricted yourself! I really enjoy your descriptive reactions." ============== Thank you but it is all part of my disease/condition/affliction. I have hypergraphia. I never knew there was such a word or a condition. I always thought I was just... weird. ============== "He spoke fluent 'dinkum'" ============== I got a shock the other day when I was listening to a radio station. A language expert came on and said that the word - "dinkum" - which we use a lot in Oz was actually Chinese. He went on to say that when the Chinese came to Australia seeking their fortunes in the Gold Rush that they would refer to gold as "din." I might have this next bit wrong but I thought he also said that "kum" meant strike. So they would say dinkum for finding gold. This later came to be known as "fair dinkum" for a good sized gold deposit. We now say Fair Dinkum to mean "are you telling the truth?" So, a great Aussie iconic saying is not really Aussie at all. I was gob-smacked. Gary