Is it just me?

Or does it seem as though comments, observations, and questions coming from a non-U.S.-centric perspective are often (although not always) simply ignored? I don't get it. Isn't there supposed to be a movement afoot to internationalize DG? Ah well...I guess I'll just stop butting my head up against the brick wall.

I post in quite a few different forums, and haven't noticed any ignoring. Just the opposite in fact, friendliness abounds. Which forums are you having trouble with?

Guess I should have been more clear, but it was just a sense of frustration and a need to vent.

I too post in many different forums and I am almost always treated with great kindness and friendliness....except when I make an observation particular to the subject of making something a little more user friendly for non-U.S. folks. Something like allowing postal codes as well as zip codes in PlantFiles reports.

Never mind. Please just ignore my comments. I probably shouldn't even have posted.

We all need to vent at times. I have asked for the postal code addition as well, maybe it isn't as easy to do as zip codes?

We need to remember, that even though Dave is trying to internationalize DG, the majority of members are American, and majority rules..lol..most of the time, anyways.

It would be great to have the postal codes ..... but no......

So if I want to find somebody I go to the provinces and zip down till I find the person I want. Takes longer but..... thats life I guess. At least we are still ourselves. (thinking about sovereignty and all that). Sometimes I do feel embarrassed to be Cdn. though....... particularly lately.

RE DG trying hard to become more internationally oriented. You have to remember that it is very expensive to use phone lines/the internet in EU countries. Had many buddies on ICANGARDEN.COM but after it grew, with lots of pictures and many graphics, people had to leave as
it took too long to download. We are really oh so lucky here in NA to have affordable internet and phone service.

inanda the other ginny

I know for a fact it isn't as easy to do postal codes as it is to do zip codes and I know it's going to be a very slow process. Being ignored is just one of my pet peeves. LOL I need to learn to ignore being ignored! It's sure better than being bashed :-)

You're right Ginny, and it's something I wasn't even aware of - the high cost of phone lines and internet in the EU. I wonder if it would be worthwhile to mention this fact and what can happen with international members and maybe suggest allowing a preferences setting that would only load pictures on request rather than by default (including those for advertisements)? Although it seems to me that ensuring accessibility is not practiced here either. I think someone with severe vision impairment would find it almost, if not completely, impossible to use the site too.

Oh well...as you say we are very lucky. Overall this is an excellent site full of great people. I'm just so about inclusion and fairness I sometimes go a little overboard - and have been known to get myself in trouble because of it.

Gynnylynn, I don't know what to say, but I don't want to ignore you so I'll just say "Yes, I understand too."

brenda

Gosh, I'm sorry ANYBODY would feel ignored or not truly "valued". I'm so glad that there are people from many countries that participate in DG.

A few years ago, I had volunteered to mail the invitations for my Husband's Parents 50th Anniversary. They live in Saskatchewan. I was amazed that nearly every postal code had 0's, as in the number zero. All zeros are voiced as O's, the letter. It was hilarious. Kooky postal codes that didn't follow the L#L_#L#, not matter what the combination. Apparently there are no zeros in the Saskatchewan postal codes...only "O"s, as per the locals. There is no letternumberletter numberletternumber format there either. Very funny...sorta Corner Gas material.

Anyways, there may be some reason like the format that includes a space, or allowing 0's & O to be interchanged or even using a data base from Canada Post, which may have restrictions or something.

This message was edited Nov 29, 2007 9:59 PM

ginnylynn, I loved your comment about "ignoring being ignored" - is that like a double negative making a positive?

I've had the same experience on DG - it can be rather disconcerting - reminds me of that silly poem:


"Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today
Oh how I wish he'd go away."

LOL Thanks Brenda :-)

psychw2, thank you for your kind words. I don't want to leave you with the impression that this is a huge overwhelming thing, because it's not. Like every large community we have a very wide-ranging mix of people and not everyone "gets" everyone else. I am almost always treated with kindness, coutesy, and friendliness in every forum that I pop into. It's just...sometimes...it's not quite that way, and as I said earlier, I just needed to vent.

What a great, and oh so Canadian, story Joanne :-) I actually (and rather boringly) do know the extent of the technical details of why it is so much more difficult to incorporate Canadian postal codes. I work in the IT field myself. I just wish there was a little less talk and promises and a little more "doing" going on. Either that or just say we're not going to go there. I'd be fine with that too - just make a decision.

You got it exactly Cheryl! I remember that poem - thanks for the chuckle :-)

--Ginny

Yes, emptying promises are sooooooooo frustrating! I'm like you, just TELL me NO! don't lead me on! hehehe... silly me can't always tell when I'm just being "shined".

Here's my favourite "Just be straight with me" look :-)

ginnylynn - love the pic. I know what it is to be ignored. Just let me post in a thread and Bingo! It's likely to dry up. LOL Seriously, I've also mentioned it would be nice to have postal codes allowed, but suspect that compared to the other things Dave has to deal with it's rather low on the priorities.

Ann

Ann, I would never have guessed that you would have felt that way too. I have seen you in other forums, in such friendly threads, such a community sense. (yes, I lurked)
Sometimes all you can do is laugh and keep coming back for more punishment. I have even been ignored in my own threads. The Canadian forum has little sense of community compared to other regional forums. I would think that part of that is because of the large area to cover, but I'm thinking that's not all of it.

Ann, I'm relieved to hear that you aren't the only one who has had that happen - post in a thread, and it immediately turns its toes up, and croaks...could give us a complex, if we weren't such well-balanced laidback Canadians, eh?

I think the postal code idea is a great one, but you gonna have to explain how it works. That may just be the problem. I know I have had to mail items to a couple of plp in Canada and had a very interesting experience at the local post office. I'm thinking maybe I should just deliver these myself. Just a different system, which evidently is still not well understood here. I am currently planning on joining the new winter sowing, plant propagation thingie and y'all need to be included in such a way, so I'll suggest it too.

Maybe everyone thinks that and it's an illusion. But you have to remember that I'm a transformed American. However, I've been in the same house in Ottawa for 37 years which is well more than half my life.

ViolaAnn, well, you know the "ignorant" American stitck then...........just don't think it's done on purpose.

doccat5 - the beauty of our postal code system is that it narrows addresses down to much smaller areas with many fewer characters than the US system. There's a house near me that has it's own unique postal code and across the street from it there are two houses which share a unique postal code between them. Don't know if it's that good in new areas since they all have superboxes rather than delivery to the door, but in areas that are 35 or more years old it works really well.

And echoes - I think you are right about the large area covered in the Canadian forum. We come together at times of National holidays and Grey Cup games, but in terms of gardening, most of us probably have more in common with certain areas of the US than with people in different parts of Canada.

i've often felt like a "tk"....thread killer :-)

larlienda, I know the feeling..........LOL I think that is so cool, ViolaAnn. I really love this site and have met so many nice and interesting people, it's just such a hoot. I gotta stay away from that seed exchange though, My name is Cathy and I'm an addict! ROFL

the seed exchange is dangerous
the plant exchange is dangerous
co-op threads are dangerous
& threads listing places with the best deals are very dangerous :-)

at least as the planting season is slowing down the hockey season is building up :-)

What do you mean the planting season is slowing down, we live in VA, gurl? I got cabbage, broccoli and spinach coming on strong. And just resowed daikon radishes last week. Their lil heads are peeping up nicely! I'm going to have to harden my resolve and go digging thru the rest of my seeds and see what I actually have. I know there not much real exotic stuff except for some hellebores I trade for, but I have rose of sharon leaking out my ears.

i better keep going then vs slowing down!

btw, my mom is from fredericksburg...my grandmother lived on prince edward st & i have an aunt in king george
it sure has grown but it always feels like home :-)

That's wonderful. We're actually in Spotyslvania, with a Fred/bg address. It has sprawled a lot, but we still like it here. We bought the house here in 79 and feel like natives. We've been in VA since 71. We're both from Nebraska orginaly
so love all the trees etc.

Ginny, forgot to say how much I love that kitty pic. What a hoot. Is that the boss?

Ann, I was taking you seriously. It just seems like it wouldn't be happening to you too, but I know things aren't always as they seem.....

LOL!!! I love the way this thread has taken on a life of its own with people from all over the place :-) We're growing our own little community here, however temporarily.

That little black demon child is Ebony, Brenda. He is the largest of the three kittens, but also the most skittish. The one thing he has though is attitude with a capital A. The first time he heard the word "No!" when he was 3 weeks old he laid his ears back and did it anyway - twice!

Ooooooooo sounds like a problem child alright... maybe I can recommend a book for you cuz you're gonna need it with THAT child!!! hehehe

I have one of those, all those she's grey and rules the household, all 4.5lbs of her. I also happen to breed Boston Terriers, who she has well trained. My smallest girl is 22lbs and if Missy (her royal majesty) wants to sample dog food, it's like Moses parting the waters, they just get out of the way till she's done. It is a total hoot. When we have puppies, she goes into the whelping box, washes all the puppies, give mom a good wash and comes out and meows at me with this really evil look "Do you realize we have MORE dogs in here??" very indigant, means she has more dog puppies to cat train she has it so rough..........LOL

larlienda and doccat5 - I know one of you has Canadian roots, but do you really have to rub it in how much longer your growing season is on a day when it's snowing and is going to be about -12 C tomorrow? Actually , I was beginning to wonder if VA was a new Canadian province. LOL

ginnylynn - good luck with that problem child. I have to admire from afar. DH said no more when the last one passed on 3 1/2 years ago. Mind you, he travels so much I've told him another cat would be more company.

Ann

Oh honey, after 5 years in Minnesota, better you than me on the snow! I don't care if I never see it again.

Maybe something with "exorcism" in the title would be appropriate :-)

doccat5, much as it pains me to admit it, the single largest barrier to getting the postal code functionality is the cost of the compiled data to decode it. There are many free sources of such data for zipcodes, and absolutely none for Canadian postal codes. Not only do they come with a fairly high price tag, they also have ongoing subscription costs for periodic maintenance updates to keep them current. As ViolaAnn indicated earlier our system narrows the geography down sometimes to a single residence. This is not something you can program for without having the rules to work from.

Hehehe... sorry us American's came to your Canadian thread. SEEE???? We love you and accept you!!! LOL I pay a lot more attention to the Title of the thread than the forum it's in.

Ohhhh, I'm laughing so hard I'm snorting! "dog puppies to cat train" - what a hoot! Keeping working on the DH Ann, maybe you can wear him down.

Gotta go for a couple hours....I'll check back later. Bye for now everyone!

I'm afraid if my husband was gone a LOT and I was home, you can bet he would come home and find I had a pet!

We could always do your zones too..........I ain't kiddin, this cat is toooooooooo much!

Yawnnnnnnn! 11:00 p.m. and it looks like everyone is gone. Guess I'll go to bed. Sweet dreams everyone :-)

Went for a walk with a friend tonight, she was looking around at the giant inflatable house-and-garage-roof characters, (everything from Santa and his elves to Grinchs and reindeer and things I'm not familiar with) flashing strings of lights, flashing snowflakes, flashing things stuck into lawns, and the other tree-trimming, fence-decorating, housegarlanding displays of some of my neighbours, and said, laughing, "Cheryl, you live in Christmasland!"

I told her this time of year, every time I step outdoors after dusk, I feel like I'm in a Disney movie.