Crikey? Nobody's posted anything since mid afternoon!!!
Scarily quiet!
Maybe they're all in the Other Place!! 🤣
dozing?
It is sad.. but it seems to be happening ' over there' too..
They had the 'big rush'.. Everyone excited about a new forum.. Friends met up with friends and everyone had something to say.. Then it started to dwindle.. at one time it was Brian who was actually keeping the forum alive.. But, someone in the 'Newbies' had a moan about that .. so Brian was put to one side.. The site has a few threads going for it.. but even those threads are getting a bit 'long in the tooth'... Muddy keeps the site alive..
well, I'm here, so it can't all be good!
I'm here. I usually am.
Unfortunately, this site is very quiet compared to the mother ship.
That has disadvantages and advantages, but I'd like to see more.
For my part, I have decided to restrict my Waffle games to this site and not post them on t'other.
I'm afraid it's going to be a case of use it or lose it. The forum has been slowly falling into disuse. The domain name comes up for renewal early January. If usage continues to be as low as it is now I see no point in renewing it and this forum will close.
your decision, but I will really miss it
I've asked a friend of mine to take a look, she hasn't appeared up to now. She did say she "doesn't really do forums" a lot of people don't. I'll try again with some friends from Whats App.
It would be a real shame if we close.
Quote from: klondike on November 17, 2023, 10:09:48 AMI'm afraid it's going to be a case of use it or lose it. The forum has been slowly falling into disuse. The domain name comes up for renewal early January. If usage continues to be as low as it is now I see no point in renewing it and this forum will close.
That really is sad.. But I agree with you.. You have little choice..
You have been brilliant and I congratulate you on all you have done..
People don't know we are here.. and , as you say, PF has the top spot..
Even that spot struggled until the influx..
At least we will see Christmas out... :yahoo:
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that chat forums are going out of fashion.
All seems to be Tic toc, Twitter, and places like that. I am only on FB to keep in touch with my family in Aus and the US, have a few friends there too, but I only spend about 10 minutes a day on the Site.
Since Dunc semi retired I am not on my own nearly so much either, my computer time has dropped off as himself is not a fan of the Internet.
I think Raven is right.. FB is not as popular as it once was.. My family do not use it anymore.. We go on to WhatsApp..
I don't use Twitter.. I prefer forums where you get to know people .. Or think you do..
I think me and Jonesy will go on a dating site.. and try to 'crack it' there.. :wink: :grin:
Jonesy.. Change of plan.. What with your dodgy hip and my wobbly legs I think we will take up crochet.. Or we can learn how to cook gravy.. :grin: :grin:
Suggestions please..
Quote from: Scrumpy on November 17, 2023, 10:48:50 AMThat really is sad.. But I agree with you.. You have little choice..
You have been brilliant and I congratulate you on all you have done..
People don't know we are here.. and , as you say, PF has the top spot..
Even that spot struggled until the influx..
At least we will see Christmas out... :yahoo:
Perfectly put Scrumpy. I'll miss this little group more than t'other. 😥. I'll have to play my Wordle type games all by myself. 😭
Quote from: klondike on November 17, 2023, 10:09:48 AMI'm afraid it's going to be a case of use it or lose it. The forum has been slowly falling into disuse. The domain name comes up for renewal early January. If usage continues to be as low as it is now I see no point in renewing it and this forum will close.
That is very sad.
We do need more members and I have tried to mention the site to others, even on the mother ship but we all know that that is virtually impossible.
I'm sure that there are people over there who would like to come here if only they knew about it.
Quote from: klondike on November 17, 2023, 10:09:48 AMI'm afraid it's going to be a case of use it or lose it. The forum has been slowly falling into disuse. The domain name comes up for renewal early January. If usage continues to be as low as it is now I see no point in renewing it and this forum will close.
A great and true shame and I too will miss it. Unfortunately it seems to me that many folk back home have now reached a stage of absolute apathy in just about everything, now resulting in disbelief and inertia.
I would never return to the other place, so I suppose I will contain my activities 'Stateside'.
Thank you Klon for your endeavours and effort, appreciated I'm sure by many ...
When you say you would never return to the other place was there bad blood?
Quote from: Ruthio on November 18, 2023, 05:41:11 PMWhen you say you would never return to the other place was there bad blood?
Not for me to answer, of course, but I wonder whether he left the UK because it is now on a distinct downward slope.
If I were younger, I'm sure I would, though I'm not sure about America because I understand that health insurance can be very high, especially for one like myself who have existing health problems.
Sorry for butting in, Cass.
I suspect Cass was referring to the mothership and not old Blighty.
Quote from: Ruthio on November 18, 2023, 05:41:11 PMWhen you say you would never return to the other place was there bad blood?
I don't care for the owner/moderator and left there three years ago following a coquettish post from a man who single handedly made the place insufferable for many to tolerate.
November 18, 2023, 08:21:58 PMQuote from: dextrous63 on November 18, 2023, 07:11:19 PMI suspect Cass was referring to the mothership and not old Blighty.
Yes absolutely. My mother was American and I had dual nationality from an infant. I rationalised that I not only got a far bigger bang for my buck in my 'adopted' country but that the lifestyle was far less stressful. Of course with 'Federal' laws out here one has to know the structural framework. That said my State is not one of the notorious
Blue ones like New York or god forbid California, so common sense and decency still prevail in Michigan.
As nothing lasts forever I considered what I had left of life was better passed from where I am and only regret I didn't move 5 years before.
I have adequate Health Insurance, paid for by the massive savings (60%) I make on Energy and Taxation issues.
I use a private Doctor much as my parents did until The NHS appeared courtesy of the Socialists a few years after I was born.
I mourn for England as I watch and listen to it's sad decline. I will never return. I made the mistake of visiting 'Ilford' in Essex the place of my birth to bid my parent's farewell the week before I migrated. I never want to see, or recall it, as is is now - ever again.
That's a shame Cass, but I don't blame you. At least memories are fixed in time.
Ilford - there's a memory. I was shortlisted for a job there, Susan, my first wife, and I drove around the town over the weekend - this would have been sometime in the 70s. First thing Monday morning I phoned up and withdrew my name!
I spent a day there trying door to door selling of a carpet/upholstery service ( must have been very early 1980's when I was trying to get a job prior to going to uni). One day was quite enough of that thankless task.
My best man came from Billericay.
Personally, I'm a Chiswick lad, born and bred.
Quote from: Cassandra on November 18, 2023, 08:07:20 PMNovember 18, 2023, 08:21:58 PM
Yes absolutely. My mother was American and I had dual nationality from an infant. I rationalised that I not only got a far bigger bang for my buck in my 'adopted' country but that the lifestyle was far less stressful. Of course with 'Federal' laws out here one has to know the structural framework. That said my State is not one of the notorious Blue ones like New York or god forbid California, so common sense and decency still prevail in Michigan.
As nothing lasts forever I considered what I had left of life was better passed from where I am and only regret I didn't move 5 years before.
I have adequate Health Insurance, paid for by the massive savings (60%) I make on Energy and Taxation issues.
I use a private Doctor much as my parents did until The NHS appeared courtesy of the Socialists a few years after I was born.
I mourn for England as I watch and listen to it's sad decline. I will never return. I made the mistake of visiting 'Ilford' in Essex the place of my birth to bid my parent's farewell the week before I migrated. I never want to see, or recall it, as is is now - ever again.
Firstly, I apologise for my mistake.
However, I applaud your decision and can well understand the advantages of financial benefit and also the reduction of stress. (The red v. blue bit initially made me think for a second, but of course yours are 'the wrong way around', aren't they. I, too would avoid NY and California!).
Another matter which I admit I had never realised, regarding health insurance v. tax and energy costs, gave me pause for thought. I had assumed that the former would be seriously disadvantageous to me (were I to emigrate), but it is very reassuring that the lower taxes, etc. make up for this. Certainly, your health service is far better than what we have now which, in fact, is rather worrying these days as you may well have heard yourself.
There's also the attraction of my having relatives over there as well, in New England.
Too late for me now, unfortunately, but if I'd known then what I know now about the UK, I'd have been off!
November 18, 2023, 10:18:50 PMI should add that at least we've made some additions to the number of posts on here, and I sincerely hope that this forum does continue to exist next year. In many ways better than the mother ship, and I wish there was some way of encouraging more posts and more posters.
I wonder whether the forum could be advertised, though obviously not on the mother ship!
This place is becoming like the "Mary Celeste" in the evenings.
Quote from: klondike on November 17, 2023, 10:09:48 AMI'm afraid it's going to be a case of use it or lose it. The forum has been slowly falling into disuse. The domain name comes up for renewal early January. If usage continues to be as low as it is now I see no point in renewing it and this forum will close.
Well in that case I'd better start making up the numbers.
November 20, 2023, 09:08:03 PMQuote from: JBR on November 18, 2023, 10:15:02 PMI wonder whether the forum could be advertised, though obviously not on the mother ship!
That's a good point, there must be people who would like this forum if they knew it existed.
Even though I've been away for a while, I still regard it as a lifeline.
me too - nice to hear from you again, Phil
Quote from: Michael Rolls on November 20, 2023, 09:18:01 PMme too - nice to hear from you again, Phil
I didn't intend to be away for this length of time but things just tend to happen & I've had to snap out of it.
Anyone know where Jacqueline is?
She's been away since the 23rd August.
Would it be possible to change the forum name? We know "Pensioners Forum" is easily found so use something like "Pensioners Forum Chat Club" then it would maybe come up beside PF in a Google search.
Quote from: Raven on November 20, 2023, 09:42:03 PMWould it be possible to change the forum name? We know "Pensioners Forum" is easily found so use something like "Pensioners Forum Chat Club" then it would maybe come up beside PF in a Google search.
Or even Pensioners' Chat Club as it's the word Pensioner that the search engine's grab first.
Klondike changed the name to Let's Chat Club to be fair to Pensioners Forum but I don't see why he should owe it anything.
I second that Phil, good name. :upvote:
Actually the name was chosen in a big ballot from suggestions. I'll dig out the link and add it after.
It's too late to go for a name change as we'd lose the two years of ranking we have got. PF has been around for years which is why it ranks so high. I imagine anybody looking for a forum for pensioners would just search pensioners forum. I know I did. that gives PF followed by a raft of council sites none of which have pensioners in the domain name. I did check and the SEO thinking at the time was domain name is largely irrelevant these days. For example why would google signify a search engine or amazon a shop?
We come top on this
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=friendly+pensioners+forum&hl=en
The trouble is nobody searching is likely to go further on search terms than pensioners forum unless they add their town or county name.
I can't guarantee that everybody will see the same but the one after here and some PF links from that search for me is the old digitalham one we started out on. The digitalham domain was one of the sites I used to run primarily to make cash from google ads. That was about amateur radio. The one I made most money from was kwikbreaks which was a campsite guide and reference. The reason the digitalham site shows up in a pensioner forum search is because I made sure that the places that are used by google do have references to pensioners forum.
This was the poll and I think there was earlier discussion that came up with at least some of those names. IIRC Raven was very keen on mentions of naughtystep which didn't mke it but she got me to carry it over in the heading.
https://letschat.club/index.php?topic=179.0
Oh and as for pensioners chat forum - we do do well on that because chat is also included where google looks.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=pensioners+chat+forum
I think the current name was chosen by the members without thinking of the search engine aspect.
The problem is that, as you say, people won't enter 'Friendly Pensioners Forum' into a search engine which gives us top ranking.
I've just searched Pensioners Forums & we don't seem to appear but PF came top.
Quote from: Diasi on November 20, 2023, 09:40:01 PMI didn't intend to be away for this length of time but things just tend to happen & I've had to snap out of it.
Anyone know where Jacqueline is?
She's been away since the 23rd August.
I've wondered, and asked too, but no sign of her unfortunately. Glad to see you here again Phil.
Quote from: Diasi on November 20, 2023, 09:02:39 PMWell in that case I'd better start making up the numbers.
November 20, 2023, 09:08:03 PMThat's a good point, there must be people who would like this forum if they knew it existed.
Even though I've been away for a while, I still regard it as a lifeline.
Good to see you posting Phil..
Welcome back Phil :upvote:
Yes good to see you back Phil.
Quote from: Diasi on November 21, 2023, 06:01:58 AMI think the current name was chosen by the members without thinking of the search engine aspect.
As I said nothing in the domain name choice would have helped. I've done what I could using an SEO mod but nothing I can do would knock PF from top spot in a search for pensioners forum and council sites will always be considered more important than this one.
I guess we could leave some cards around with letschat.club written on them !!
Nothing fancy.. The only problem is some pensioners are concerned when going on to a web site.. They think it's either the slave trade or a sexy dating site..
Some are probably annoyed that it isn't :grin:
I'm happy with the forum & it's small band of members as it is.
The important thing to me is knowing it's there.
Quote from: klondike on November 21, 2023, 10:11:19 AMSome are probably annoyed that it isn't :grin:
I am 5ft 5.. Blue eyes auburn hair.. with a crooked fringe..
My legs get a bit wobbly sometimes.. and I also forget what I am doing standing on the landing.. My interest are varied.. depending on the day.. I enjoy talking.. but not to idiots.. I don't travel too far because my motor is old and liable to conk out..
I am looking for a guy who can make me laugh.. just by looking at him.. Must be retired .. but still alive.. Height , weight, hair is unimportant..
Must be on a good private pension.. and have at least one property..
If interested please leave a message on the Co.op notice board..
> I also forget what I am doing standing on the landing..
That's very close to Woking. Possibly Worplesdon.
"We started to collect more and more of these words and concepts, and began to realise what an arbitrarily selective work the Oxford English Dictionary is. It simply doesn't recognise huge wodges of human
experience," wrote Adams.
"Like, for instance, standing in the kitchen wondering what you went in there for. Everybody does it, but because there isn't – or wasn't – a word for it, everyone thinks it's something that only they do and that they are therefore more stupid than other people. It is reassuring to realise that everybody is as stupid as you are and that all we are doing when we are standing in the kitchen wondering what we came in here for is 'woking'."
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/oct/15/douglas-adams-meaning-of-liff
Guess the idiots bit rules me out then :grin:
See you learn summat new every day on here !
It must be strange to be woking in Woking.
Quote from: Michael Rolls on November 18, 2023, 09:23:10 PMIlford - there's a memory. I was shortlisted for a job there, Susan, my first wife, and I drove around the town over the weekend - this would have been sometime in the 70s. First thing Monday morning I phoned up and withdrew my name!
It was on the 'turn' about then and the '80's' were the line in the sand moment. I visited an old cricketing friend before I left the UK that day I bade farwell to my parents memorials. His parents home that he'd inherited in 'Clements Road' was now almost unique in the fact that he was the only person 'not of colour' in the entire enclave and definitely the only property not of 'multi occupation'.
"I should have gone, when all you lot did" he said adding "But somehow it was somehow always my dream to own it, now I'm too old to take a move".
Once an area of beautiful cared for front gardened properties, now its a dirty, scruffy vista throughout with oil stained hardstandings, gaping dustbins and the prices are ludicrous!
Well done Mike!
Quote from: Cassandra on November 21, 2023, 03:40:53 PMIt was on the 'turn' about then and the '80's' were the line in the sand moment. I visited an old cricketing friend before I left the UK that day I bade farwell to my parents memorials. His parents home that he'd inherited in 'Clements Road' was now almost unique in the fact that he was the only person 'not of colour' in the entire enclave and definitely the only property not of 'multi occupation'.
"I should have gone, when all you lot did" he said adding "But somehow it was somehow always my dream to own it, now I'm too old to take a move".
Once an area of beautiful cared for front gardened properties, now its a dirty, scruffy vista throughout with oil stained hardstandings, gaping dustbins and the prices are ludicrous!
Well done Mike!
Thank you, sir!
Thanks for all your encouragement that you like this forum.
I renewed the domain. I think I'd miss everbody too much if I closed it down.
Thank you! I feel the same!
Aaaaw that's good news Klondy. We can all chip in ya know !!
:yahoo: :yahoo: :yay: :clap: :clap: :yahoo: :yahoo: :grin: :yay:
Thank you very much !
Thank you very much!
That's the nicest thing that anyone's ever done for me..
I can't find any musical notes to add. :boo:
thank you so much! :upvote: :upvote: :upvote: :upvote: :upvote:
Thank you