How not to waste my 10,000th post
Jun 2, 2006, 3:10 pm
#1
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: back to my roots in Scotland!
Programs: Tamsin - what else is there to say?
Posts: 47,843
How not to waste my 10,000th post
Apologies this is going to be a gushy, emotional post, but it is kind of traditional. So look away now if PDE embarrass you! (its also going to be quite long I’m afraid 
)
It only seems a short time ago that I used to lurk on the FT boards, reading much, learning much, but too shy and nervous to step in. After all, what could I possibly contribute in the face of so many knowledgeable other posters?Apparently I joined FT officially October 28th 2002, although I lurked for a while before that. I watched my first post with fear and trepidation.. would I be flamed, would I be welcomed? In actual fact, it was pretty much ignored… so much for my pearls of wisdom!
Originally, I was a KLM flyer and poster. KLM was going through a reorganisation at the time, and the FD board was necessary to help understand what all the changes meant to me… the board was fun, but decidedly more business like than the BA board. Nevertheless, what I learned there helped me maximise my status and miles on KLM, and I still retain a fondness for those days, when the departure of chocomel from the lounges caused one of the biggest scandals (in hindsight, the removal of chocomel was the beginning of the end for FD – ah, if only we’d known then what we know now!), but the “pet” mice in the D pier lounge (now closed) caused endless amusement, as did the number of ways “It is not possible” could be used both by the board and by KLM staff. But only after our Dutch friends on the board had explained to the Brits that it was not an insult, it was a direct translation of a perfectly acceptable Dutch phrase. And another little cultural mystery was unravelled by FT!
After a year on the board, I went to my first do… which was a small KLM do organised in AMS, including a tour airside. I was soooooo nervous! And I didn’t dare tell my mother I was flying to AMS for the weekend to meet people I had met on the internet. Still, a good time was had by all, which was just as well since I attended the London Mega-Do the following week! That is now a blur… too many faces, too many new names, too much alcohol. Highlights included ajamieson in a kilt… making him amongst my oldest FT friends, and meeting RestlessinRNO a true gentleman whose ability to fly around the world for my parties still leaves me somewhat bemused, if grateful! And wudy15 forming a Scottish corner with me. And I’ll leave it at that, although I know there are others I should name…
The first ever BA do came and went (although I was not a BA flyer, as time went on, I did realise it was one of the most amusing and witty boards on FT, populated by a great bunch of people, and obligatory reading on a daily basis!), organised by fraisse10 and to my shock and horror, I realised that most people on the board were not the scarey old duffers I thought they were! There was not a suit in sight at that do…
More time passed, I learned more and more… and then one day I remember realising that if I wanted to go to another UK do, there was nothing to stop me organising it myself! I was terrified… the audacity of me organising a do! But I did, and surprisingly people, wanted to come, and the rest, as they say is history! (In actual fact, I think my first one was in EDI (there may have been one before that, if so, I can’t find any trace of it!), and actually, cunningly I got ajamieson to do the organising, while I took a lot of the credit…. OTOH, he did take us on a tour of espionage in revenge).
In my time, I have had some fantastic experiences because of FT… whether it be reaching new lows in Edinburgh, flying to BRU to buy chocolate in duty free, flying to the US in J for £200, flying to YVR in J for £120, laughing till I cried while listening to piano playing elves, that hotel in BRR… that cottage in BRR… that ferry terminal in BRR… that barman in BRR… actually, just BRR in total, laughing till I cried at TFTG, watching naked international rugby players in a hotel car park, more late nights, hangovers and drunken phone conversations than I can possibly remember, the excitement of the hunt in booking and getting glitch fares (PEK here I come!
), learning that I really don’t like all champagne, and more dangerously, learning that champagne is not just for special occasions, laughing till I cried at various MSN conversations… being thoroughly educated in some aspects of life as well… (some of you can take more of a bow for that than others, and you know exactly who you are!), surviving Quebec (although I was in less danger than others!) and the list goes on and on and on.
I have also made some fantastic friends. I’m not going to name anyone as I would be sure to miss someone off, and the last thing I want to do with this post is give offense. But I’m sure you know who you all are… you’ve been there when we laughed, when I’ve cried, when you’ve cried, when we got drunk, when the damn plane would not be cancelled, go U/S or have any form of delay whatsoever, you’ve put up with my abuse, drunken phonecalls, texts when you are in odd time zones or I am in odd time zones, drunken texts, request for help, requests for advice (and most of you have not complained too much!), you’ve brought me much appreciated supplies of icewine back from Canada, you’ve ignored Sheep, you’ve welcomed Sheep, you’ve even bought Sheep gifts
you’ve ignored my stupidity, you’ve carefully explained why I’m being stupid and corrected me, you’ve stopped me posting things I would regret later, I’ve stopped you posting things you would regret later, we’ve played on other boards together, I've scared you silly with stupidly worded texts after accidents, you’ve encouraged me in things I’ve attempted, I’ve encouraged you in things you’ve attempted, I’ve gone to South American countries with you, you’ve called people rude words on the board and got away with it, you’ve stopped me going out of my mind with boredom, we’ve shared dos together, I’ve laughed at your posts, you’ve told me something I didn’t know about life the universe and everything or FF, I’ve learned from you, I hope you’ve learned from me.
And finally, Sheep. How can I finish this post without saying something about him. Sheep was born of a whim… I needed an obvious symbol for a do where we had a lot of virgin attendees, and for various reasons, a toy Sheep was bought. He was only going to be used at Dos for that purpose. He didn’t like that however, and seems to have taken over quite a lot of my FT life, and become a person almost in his own right. I say almost, because I am perfectly aware that he is an inanimate object, a stuffed toy. OTOH, he’s also way more than that to me. He’s given me so much fun, from watching other’s reactions to him when I travel (crew that are more concerned about him than me… receptionists that remember him rather than me at check-in)… to reading about others and their reaction to him, to learning web design because of him, and appreciating others generosity in their humouring of me and my foible by a) pretending he is real, and b) giving of their frequent flying tags to complete his set. Currently he has tags from 6 people, which is just amazing really, and he’s very proud of all of them! And finally, he’s a little piece of home who travels nearly everywhere with me.
So this is a very long-winded way of thanking the FT community for giving me so much fun and frolics over the last 5 years… long may it continue!
PS – I’d better see you all at the November do too
)It only seems a short time ago that I used to lurk on the FT boards, reading much, learning much, but too shy and nervous to step in. After all, what could I possibly contribute in the face of so many knowledgeable other posters?Apparently I joined FT officially October 28th 2002, although I lurked for a while before that. I watched my first post with fear and trepidation.. would I be flamed, would I be welcomed? In actual fact, it was pretty much ignored… so much for my pearls of wisdom!
Originally, I was a KLM flyer and poster. KLM was going through a reorganisation at the time, and the FD board was necessary to help understand what all the changes meant to me… the board was fun, but decidedly more business like than the BA board. Nevertheless, what I learned there helped me maximise my status and miles on KLM, and I still retain a fondness for those days, when the departure of chocomel from the lounges caused one of the biggest scandals (in hindsight, the removal of chocomel was the beginning of the end for FD – ah, if only we’d known then what we know now!), but the “pet” mice in the D pier lounge (now closed) caused endless amusement, as did the number of ways “It is not possible” could be used both by the board and by KLM staff. But only after our Dutch friends on the board had explained to the Brits that it was not an insult, it was a direct translation of a perfectly acceptable Dutch phrase. And another little cultural mystery was unravelled by FT!
After a year on the board, I went to my first do… which was a small KLM do organised in AMS, including a tour airside. I was soooooo nervous! And I didn’t dare tell my mother I was flying to AMS for the weekend to meet people I had met on the internet. Still, a good time was had by all, which was just as well since I attended the London Mega-Do the following week! That is now a blur… too many faces, too many new names, too much alcohol. Highlights included ajamieson in a kilt… making him amongst my oldest FT friends, and meeting RestlessinRNO a true gentleman whose ability to fly around the world for my parties still leaves me somewhat bemused, if grateful! And wudy15 forming a Scottish corner with me. And I’ll leave it at that, although I know there are others I should name…
The first ever BA do came and went (although I was not a BA flyer, as time went on, I did realise it was one of the most amusing and witty boards on FT, populated by a great bunch of people, and obligatory reading on a daily basis!), organised by fraisse10 and to my shock and horror, I realised that most people on the board were not the scarey old duffers I thought they were! There was not a suit in sight at that do…
More time passed, I learned more and more… and then one day I remember realising that if I wanted to go to another UK do, there was nothing to stop me organising it myself! I was terrified… the audacity of me organising a do! But I did, and surprisingly people, wanted to come, and the rest, as they say is history! (In actual fact, I think my first one was in EDI (there may have been one before that, if so, I can’t find any trace of it!), and actually, cunningly I got ajamieson to do the organising, while I took a lot of the credit…. OTOH, he did take us on a tour of espionage in revenge).
In my time, I have had some fantastic experiences because of FT… whether it be reaching new lows in Edinburgh, flying to BRU to buy chocolate in duty free, flying to the US in J for £200, flying to YVR in J for £120, laughing till I cried while listening to piano playing elves, that hotel in BRR… that cottage in BRR… that ferry terminal in BRR… that barman in BRR… actually, just BRR in total, laughing till I cried at TFTG, watching naked international rugby players in a hotel car park, more late nights, hangovers and drunken phone conversations than I can possibly remember, the excitement of the hunt in booking and getting glitch fares (PEK here I come!
), learning that I really don’t like all champagne, and more dangerously, learning that champagne is not just for special occasions, laughing till I cried at various MSN conversations… being thoroughly educated in some aspects of life as well… (some of you can take more of a bow for that than others, and you know exactly who you are!), surviving Quebec (although I was in less danger than others!) and the list goes on and on and on. I have also made some fantastic friends. I’m not going to name anyone as I would be sure to miss someone off, and the last thing I want to do with this post is give offense. But I’m sure you know who you all are… you’ve been there when we laughed, when I’ve cried, when you’ve cried, when we got drunk, when the damn plane would not be cancelled, go U/S or have any form of delay whatsoever, you’ve put up with my abuse, drunken phonecalls, texts when you are in odd time zones or I am in odd time zones, drunken texts, request for help, requests for advice (and most of you have not complained too much!), you’ve brought me much appreciated supplies of icewine back from Canada, you’ve ignored Sheep, you’ve welcomed Sheep, you’ve even bought Sheep gifts
you’ve ignored my stupidity, you’ve carefully explained why I’m being stupid and corrected me, you’ve stopped me posting things I would regret later, I’ve stopped you posting things you would regret later, we’ve played on other boards together, I've scared you silly with stupidly worded texts after accidents, you’ve encouraged me in things I’ve attempted, I’ve encouraged you in things you’ve attempted, I’ve gone to South American countries with you, you’ve called people rude words on the board and got away with it, you’ve stopped me going out of my mind with boredom, we’ve shared dos together, I’ve laughed at your posts, you’ve told me something I didn’t know about life the universe and everything or FF, I’ve learned from you, I hope you’ve learned from me. And finally, Sheep. How can I finish this post without saying something about him. Sheep was born of a whim… I needed an obvious symbol for a do where we had a lot of virgin attendees, and for various reasons, a toy Sheep was bought. He was only going to be used at Dos for that purpose. He didn’t like that however, and seems to have taken over quite a lot of my FT life, and become a person almost in his own right. I say almost, because I am perfectly aware that he is an inanimate object, a stuffed toy. OTOH, he’s also way more than that to me. He’s given me so much fun, from watching other’s reactions to him when I travel (crew that are more concerned about him than me… receptionists that remember him rather than me at check-in)… to reading about others and their reaction to him, to learning web design because of him, and appreciating others generosity in their humouring of me and my foible by a) pretending he is real, and b) giving of their frequent flying tags to complete his set. Currently he has tags from 6 people, which is just amazing really, and he’s very proud of all of them! And finally, he’s a little piece of home who travels nearly everywhere with me.
So this is a very long-winded way of thanking the FT community for giving me so much fun and frolics over the last 5 years… long may it continue!
PS – I’d better see you all at the November do too
Last edited by Jenbel; Jun 5, 2006 at 3:40 am Reason: had to come... fraisse's name wrong :(
Jun 2, 2006, 3:17 pm
#7
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges and Environmentally Friendly Travel
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 22,212
Jenbel, the pleasure has been all ours. Of all the boards to post your 10,000th, its lovely to know this is where you consider home. Here's to your next 10k. ^ ^
Jun 2, 2006, 3:34 pm
#12
Moderator: GLBT travelers, India-based Airlines and India; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Asia
Programs: Yes!
Posts: 15,512
Awwwww, congratulations sweetie. Here's to another 10,000! xxx
And nice to see speedbird2018 come out of hibernation and be the first to congratulate you.
Wonder how that was co-ordinated...
And nice to see speedbird2018 come out of hibernation and be the first to congratulate you.
Wonder how that was co-ordinated...
Jun 2, 2006, 3:46 pm
#13
Join Date: Jan 2006
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, HHonours Diamond, BA AMEX PremPlus
Posts: 5,140
Awesome post, Jenbel. Even as somewhat of an FT newbie, it's clear that the spirit, humour and helpfulness of this board, as emphasised in your post, marks this as an out-of-the-ordinary corner of t'interweb. Congratulations ^
Jun 2, 2006, 3:51 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: LON, ACK, BOS..... (Not necessarily in that order)
Programs: **Mucci Diamond Hairbrush** - compared to that nothing else matters (+BA Bronze)
Posts: 15,132
Well done, and best wishes and all that goes with becoming an evangelist! :-: ^ :-:
By the way, it's okay you don't look 10,000
By the way, it's okay you don't look 10,000
