I need your help to clear my name.
My apologies folks – a catalogue of woes coming up, but if I am to continue blogging and running a non-aligned blog for you all to chat in, then I need your assistance please.
Truly, I am as close to throwing in the blogging towel as I have been in a long time. I know you will tell me that I am physically low from the chemotherapy, and mentally low from eight months of incarceration, and that is true; you will tell me that I should let it ‘wash over me’ – but I have done that before and paid a high price for it, and I just don’t feel that I can face more of the same shite.
Those of you who are loyal readers will be aware that I am a Quaker, and as such I do feel obliged to offer assistance to anyone in need, if I am able. Those of you of different faiths perhaps feel obliged to perform other rituals, I don’t know, say Mass or something, well doing something directly is my version of that. I don’t have a ‘church’ or an ‘intermediary’ between me and whatever salvation might mean, it is just me and my conscience. I also feel obliged to try to look at both sides of an equation, not just pick one version and stick to it. The combination of those two aspects of my personality have caused me endless heartache since I have been blogging. I can’t honestly say that it is the first time in my life that either aspect has ‘bitten me on the backside’ – but I am fast coming to the conclusion that the two together should be a total bar to blogging, and I should step away from the computer for good.
Mr G certainly thinks so and ‘look after number one’ and ‘fu** ‘em all’ is beginning to sound like a Hari Krishna chant ringing in my ears from his direction.
The problem is threefold. First, a long time ago, I offered hospitality to someone who was travelling to this area which they horribly abused. When I complained they wrote some truly vile and untrue posts about me on the Internet. No need to rehash all stories, I am sure you have all read them, they have been republished and linked to so many times they make your head spin. I thought at the time that the best thing to do was not to react, it was but a small and damaged mind working out its mental health problems.
I underestimated the darker side of the Internet. Every time I wrote something or offered an alternative, and always researched, viewpoint to some acknowledged Internet ‘truth’, rather than argue the toss, or debate even, on my blog, there was always someone who would scurry away to some dark corner of the Internet and wave those posts as the ultimate rebuttal of whatever I said. It actually became something of a joke in the back rooms of Raccoon Towers as the e-mails flooded in […] ‘Did I know what so and so was saying about me’- here we go again, I would say, Ms Raccoon is a paedophile in disguise, government agent, safe house in France, yada, yada, yada.
Than I loaned a substantial sum of money to someone in trouble. They didn’t want to pay it back – so the stories got embellished, republished, this time along with my married name and my home address. Its called payback for doing a good deed. No point complaining, I thought, Streisand effect and all that. Best to just ignore it.
Then last night, or rather the early hours of this morning, I found that I faced a new threat to my good name. Yeah, someone else I had done a good turn for.
Something about the timing of this threat, the fact that its not so patently unbelievable or ridiculous as previous unpleasant postings about me, has made me want to challenge this one, this time. I’m not prepared to have my legacy on the Internet slurred by being labelled a thief as well as a paedophile…I am not, neither, either or, however you want to read it!
Remember Carol Hill? I wrote about her a year ago. Carol Hill is the school dinner lady who committed the heinous crime of telling the parents of Chloe David that she had been bullied at school. Tsk! Read the post, you will see that at the end of it I put up a donate button to raise money for Carol who had been fired from her job, and her compensation cut for talking to the press. Four days later, I was able to write that you had made up the shortfall in her compensation and I was forwarding her a cheque from my English bank account. I did. Notwithstanding that the money had yet to filter through the French banking and money laundering laws, nor that Paypal takes its cut out of collecting it, nor that Paypal has an abysmal exchange rate for converting your kindly donated pounds into Euros, nor that the French banking system then takes its cut for exchanging the Euros back into pounds to credit my English bank account. As a French resident, I’m not allowed to have a Paypal account directly connected to an English bank account. It took bloody months. There was a surplus, it was in single figures. Less than ten pounds. Still, job done, Carol had been repaid the compensation she should have received for losing her job.
A year later, Carol Hill wrote to my Facebook account.
Unfortunately for Carol, last October my computer blew up, and though one of my readers, Ivan, kindly rebuilt it for me, he had done so in such a way that meant he could not use my original software, and I ended up with a different version of Word and a different version of Microsoft Outlook – so had never been able to upload my back ups – which naturally included all my old e-mails, passwords, phone numbers, just about everything you need to exist in modern life! Amongst them was my Facebook password. A minor irritation, I loath Facebook and rarely even checked it.
Fast forward to February, and ‘old wanky’ as I have taken to referring to my rebuilt PC had developed even more problems. I had had to buy a new copy of my accounting software – ‘old wanky’ couldn’t download my back up copy of that either. The EU, in its wisdom had decided that anyone buying anything from the USA must be charged Vat, and the US firm that manufactures ‘Quicken 2010′ had retaliated by refusing to sell it to Europe. At Christmas I managed to contact a friend in the US who bought a copy of the same software for me and sent it to France. Only cost me £60. Exactly the same software I had before. Except that it wouldn’t open my back up copy either. My data was multi-currency, and yeah! they had transferred the multi-currency component to ‘Quicken Premier2010′ – I could have an upgrade for a mere $10…except that it is on-line and I can’t because I have an French ISP. My friend in the US can’t upgrade on-line for me because I have the installation disc. Rats, bugger, shite and other Anglo Saxon incantations.
I gave up on ‘old wanky’ and retreated to an Apple Mac that another reader had kindly loaned me. I spent another £50 buying Apple accounting software and a happy couple of weeks rebuilding a basic two years accounts in time for my French tax return. Joyous days.
The Apple Mac came with a bonus though, it was called Entourage, and Entourage informed me that if I could just give it a comma delimited version of Outlook rather than the .pst version on my back up disc, it would open it for me! Yo! Back to Ivan, who arranged a friend of his to come round with his Outlook enabled laptop, trawled through my entire hard drive, and managed to at least retrieve my ‘Contacts’. It loaded! Yeah! Including all my old passwords. I revisited lots of old haunts. Including Facebook for the first time in months. There I found not only Carol Hill’s original message but a new one. Only a week old.
Indeed I did, and she was quite right. I had entirely forgotten. Still, I had the accounting software now, I could go back, check the figures and send her the balance. I was slightly miffed at her message, shouldn’t have been, but human nature being what it is, I was, so my reply was just a tad sarcastic. I said I thought it was about two quid, but would check into it. It could be £8.42, or £4.63 for all I know. In single figures anyhow. I replied.
Last night I checked into Facebook again, and found this from Carol Hill.
Poorly? Bloody Hell, I’ve been sharing a toothbrush with Dr Death, we’ve been that close. I was quite gobsmacked, and, maybe it is indicative of my current state of mind, it felt like the end of the world. I have lain awake most of the night working out what I need to do to rebut this. Over the past month alone, the blog has had between 100 and 200 hits a DAY on just one post I wrote two years ago linking to some factual and official information that a large body, well about 50 of them actually, do not chose to rebut themselves, but have endlessly reposted along with links to previously mentioned scurrilous posts circulating on the Internet, which has brought in its wake a regular crop of ‘have you seen what ‘x’ is saying about you’ e-mails; I have had regular attacks on the security of the site following a piece I wrote on someone who is heavily involved with Russian hackers; I’ve had a long and bitter correspondence with a dear friend who was upset at my mentioning someone she admires along with his criminal conviction; a falling out with another friend who decided to poke fun at an old post of mine – unfortunately her readers didn’t see the joke and I got a flood of foul comments on my site – and now this.
It has really brought me low, and I need your help to prove to Mrs Hill that ‘the majority of the money donated’ didn’t go to me, and since my site doesn’t allow you to comment on year old posts, I shall send her a link to this post so that she can comment all she wants in public – to the very people who donated that money. I am not a thief.
What I need from you is this. A copy of Microsoft Outlook 2003 – must be 2003 – that I can borrow for a few hours. I cannot afford to pay £100 odd quid for a copy just so that I can access my old e-mails. I have a file in there called Carol Hill. In there is every e-mail that Paypal sent me alerting me to the identity of a donor to that fund – and a copy of every e-mail I sent in return thanking the donor. I can now, thanks to access to my passwords, access my Paypal account – but that only shows amounts in and out, with a reference number, it is only the e-mails from Paypal that link the reference number to a specific donation for Carol Hill, rather than my own transactions.
Then I need to borrow a copy of ‘Quicken Premier 2010′ so that I can access my old full bank account details – again the ‘downloaded from the Internet’ variety only shows bald figures, not the information and exchange rate transaction that is stored on my back up copy of Quicken.’Old Wanky’ will just have to get fired up again.
Then I can e-mail all of you who donated, and ask your permission to show Carol a suitably anonymised accounting trail and prove the bloody woman wrong.
I probably shouldn’t take this to heart so much, but I have. I probably shouldn’t wear my heart on my sleeve so much – there are those ‘out there’ who will delight in this post. Sod ‘em. I just cannot bear the thought I might have someone going around calling me a thief or a person who would make money out of someone else’s misfortune. I have had more than enough said of me already. Had I remembered at the time, I would have sent her a cheque for £10 or £15, rounded up out of embarrassment, because that is the way I am.
Now I am determined that she will get the exact figure to the penny piece – and I hope that my memory was being overgenerous and it was actually £1.63.
Please, if you can help, or you know someone who can, would you? I have the information, I just cannot ‘get at it’.
Right Carol Hill, you have a post that you can comment on – go for it…you tell my readers who dug into their pockets in one and two pound handfuls, that you believe ‘the majority’ of those one pound donations actually went to me, and you only received a smaller fraction of their generosity. You tell ‘em. I’ll see you choke on your words.
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March 3, 2012 at 16:12 -
Sorry I can’t help on the software front; all I can do is offer a virtual supportive hug and my best wishes.
Being so big-hearted means you’ve had more than your fair share of bosom-nurtured vipers; please don’t let them get you down!
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March 3, 2012 at 16:55 -
Ditto – god, truly, no good deed goes unpunished, does it?
Why would someone you attempted to help – and DID help – then decide to… *throws hands up in air*
The more I see of people, the more I like my cats!
You definitely shouldn’t take it to heart, no. But if you are the type to do so, then no amount of advice will stop you from doing so. All I can offer is my kind thoughts. You’ll get through this.
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March 3, 2012 at 19:18 -
As ever, Julia has got it spot on. Or as we say here at The Abbey
Oh, For F****S SAKE!
I haven’t had the exact same, but lately have had vile abuse from someone who owes (owed) me a great deal: as in lucrative career, etc etc. My crime was wanting to put my past and an unhappy marriage behind me.
The world is so full of vile fools…
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March 3, 2012 at 22:22 -
OR YOU CAN TELL CAROL TO GO AND FUCK HERSELF she is a ungrateful piece of garbage and has proven that she is and always was just in it for the money and would be curious as to the validity of her story in the first place.
you have done her a good turn for which she has decided to abuse, slander, and generally harrass you over so i think we all know what type of scum she is
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March 3, 2012 at 16:15 -
Dear Anna. I’m appalled at this ladies actions, and I speak as one who contributed to her fund. What is wrong with people who abuse and distress those that offer assistance? Why are people so mercenary? I am at a total loss for words.
Carroll Hill. You are a disgrace to all that is good in Human spirit! I hope you read this and feel utterly ashamed of your actions.
If I had the possibility of retrieving my contribution to your cause I wolud have no hesitation in doing so!
I hope I am wrong, but, your actions are symptomatic of all that is wrong in this world?Shame on you.
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March 4, 2012 at 18:18 -
Hear Hear Nick.
Carol Hill, you have shown yourself to be what you are.
You were given money by the public you were not entitled to. It was a GIFT that was made because of the perceived slight against you.
Now you have the balls to turn around and say the GIFT arranged by Anna was not big enough?
You are a disgrace of epic proportions.
If I had a blog I would be pursuing you relentlessly right now searching for all the lies, inconsistencies, and evidence of scumbag behaviour in your miserable little life I could find. The sunlight of truth is the only way to deal with people like you. Find clear evidence of exactly what you are, and make sure EVERYONE knows.
Hopefully some investigative blogger somewhere takes an interest in you.
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March 3, 2012 at 16:22 -
This is awful, no good deed goes unpunished in this world. I learned the hard way long ago never to lend money except to a very few people I really trust. You not only lose your money if they can’t or won’t pay it back since they avoid you so you lose your ‘friend’ too. Can’t help with software but I am sure someone will. I must remember to stick to my small local animal charities, at least they appreciate it. Hope you are doing ok, wish me luck for my scan on the 13th. Please don’t give up the blog, you would br terribly missed. I felt really sorry for this woman but no longer.
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March 3, 2012 at 16:25 -
I haven’t forgotten your date on the 13th Carol, I shall be thinking of you, I know how traumatic it is.
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March 3, 2012 at 16:26 -
Anna,
It would appear that someone has been pouring poison into Carol Hill’s ear. It’s that or sheer greed has got the better of the woman.
Either way, the bringing of this matter into a public forum before getting in touch with you directly is extremely distasteful. I hope that you can obtain your software (I’ve only got Office 2000 and Office 2007 – any help to you?) so that you can put ALL the evidence out in the public eye to shame this thoughtless person.
Steve -
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March 3, 2012 at 16:36 -
Anna – I may be able to help on at least one of the software fronts. Drop me an email at katabaticwinds@gmail.com
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March 3, 2012 at 16:37 -
Email sent re Outlook 2003. 99.99% of your readers are wishing you well at this point.
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March 3, 2012 at 16:40 -
Wishing you well Anna. I’m a long time lurker and my first reaction was “Good grief!” when I read this. I think this woman mistook gratitude as a combination of greed & attitude.
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March 3, 2012 at 16:49 -
For what it’s worth – while I may take issue with your posts, I believe you on this. You come across as a person of integrity and decency; someone who lays themselves open in the way you do on your blog would not behave in the way that has been implied. I hope you can sort this out to YOUR satisfaction.
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March 3, 2012 at 16:56 -
Download the history csv file from PayPal. That will show who paid what & how much PayPal took in commission. It won’t help with the French banks but it will show everything else.
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March 3, 2012 at 17:05
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March 3, 2012 at 16:59 -
This is awful. Send her a tenner and tell her to prove her accusations. And then ignore her. It really isn’t worth the effort.
No one who matters will believe her. And those who want to will believe it no matter what you do.
And don’t give up.-
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March 3, 2012 at 17:09
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March 3, 2012 at 17:00 -
Anna – I too can help with at least one of the software requirements.
Are you able to pick up my email address as the site administrator?-
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March 3, 2012 at 17:10
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March 3, 2012 at 17:01 -
Anna, I have the software let me know if I can help.
Tony -
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March 3, 2012 at 17:07 -
Anna
Please don’t give up blogging. You are one of the few islands of sanity left. I don’t always agree with you, but you often make me think and review my own position without being confrontational, a rare ability which is why you have so many loyal followers who are on your side.-
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March 3, 2012 at 17:12
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March 3, 2012 at 17:22 -
Anna, I *adore* your blog, love your perspective, whether I agree or disagree you are reasoned, interesting and entertaining. So I (selfishly) hope you’ll be able to put this one behind you and plod on.
Re Carol Hill, the lady will have had a rough time herself and maybe a/ has been misinformed, or b/ posted in an off-moment not knowing it would all blow up like this and c/ (let’s hope) is now feeling regret that her words have caused this distress and did not intend it as it reads.
Give it a few days, and if at all possible delegate the computer-data-hunting to a techie friend – main thing is don’t let it chew you up. It will pass and your friends and followers will believe in your good faith.
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March 3, 2012 at 17:26 -
Hi Anna,
Don’t know if any of these will help
http://download.cnet.com/Microsoft-Office-Outlook-2010/3000-2367_4-10965633.html
http://www.piriform.com/recuvaMaggs
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31
March 3, 2012 at 17:26 -
Dearest Anna,
I rather doubt than anything you do or say will convince the lovely Carol that she is wrong. Right now she is probably fermenting is a nasty mix of imagined riches and righteous indignation.
However…
That ain’t your problem, that’s hers. It will make her miserable for as long as she chooses.
Act on the controllables. If this is what you need to do to mentally drop kick this nasty allegation into the stands then do it. Then forget about her. And – much as it pains me to say it – if you need to stop this for a while or forever to be content then you need to do that too.
I am not one of those who donated, I was not a regular in the Bar at that time. I cannot help with practical stuff like software. I can only say that clicking on the Raccoon Arms bookmark is one of the most enjoyable parts of my day. Thank you for that. Be well.mef
(burst of selfishness coming up – please don’t stop, Wit, infuriating posts I SO disagree with, that great Raccoon photo, bonkers puns, posts I SO agree with, did I mention wit?, a large splash of passion… this is the only blog that has made me spit my coffee all over my keyboard, a blog that tells me about teapots… och I’m going to make myself an early martini and celebrate you. getting all misty eyed)
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March 3, 2012 at 17:28 -
The good that folk do, seldom does them much good. It is an old adage. Virtue is its own reward is another. But getting a poke in the eye for one’s attempts at being a kind person tends to put a lot more folks off .
Rest easy your heart, Anna. It is good and kind and will be buffeted by the ungrateful. But your Quaker example is Valuable in itself.
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March 3, 2012 at 17:30 -
Hi Anna, Sorry you have been poorly and hope you are on the mend.
You would remember me as Beattie from Anorak.
As Manuel from Fawlty towers would say ” I know naathing” about
Computers so can”t help you there , but what a mean spirited Woman this is, you should have sent her a cheque in currency and she would have had to bear the ROE costs.-
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March 3, 2012 at 17:37
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March 3, 2012 at 17:30 -
Comes as part of Office 2003 suite which you can get off Pirate Bay : http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/3507015/OFFICE2003PRO
You’ll need a bit torrent client to downoad it but you can get that here :
http://www.utorrent.com/downloadsInstall the utorrent program and then go to the pirate bay link I gave you and click on ‘get this torrent’ which will open utorrent and ask you to confirm the download. Accept that and Office 2003.exe will be downloaded. Run that file and office will be magically installed including Outlook.
When you’ve finished with it, I suggest you delete it as you will be running an illegal copy. But then again, if I sent you a copy of my legal one, that would be breaking the law as well!! C’est la vie.
Sorted! Good luck, Anna
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March 3, 2012 at 17:36 -
Yes, I do realise that I would be breaking the law, but shelling out 100 quid for outlook and another 70 quid for Quicken was more than the spirit could bear, just to prove her wrong.
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March 3, 2012 at 21:40 -
How about if you sent her an invoice for expenses incurred in proving what was owed? Here’s yours, rounded up to a fiver, now please pay £170.
Does it have to be that version of Quicken? I think I have an older and legit version kicking around somewhere that came with a used Mac I bought and which I’ve never used, and if it’s still here and useful you’d be welcome to it. Can’t remember what edition it is but I suspect probably Home/Business and from the age of the machine it came with it would have been 2003 or 2004. No promises as it might be in storage and not easy to find, and it might even have gone to a charity shop in one of the periodic clear outs, but I shall look for it if it’s possible that it would help you.
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38
March 3, 2012 at 17:34 -
Sorry Anna, no 2003. Can but hope someone comes up with it for you – or that Katabasis works wonders……
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March 3, 2012 at 17:39
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March 3, 2012 at 17:47 -
Anna, I have been accused of many things in my life, but when some posters on other sites started insinuating that I was annaraccoon, I considered that one of the biggest compliments ever.
I fully understand that you want to clean your insignia completely and convincingly, but do bear in mind that you’re not doing it for us, because we do believe you.
If you have to do it for yourself, do it, but wouldn’t it actually be much more interesting and worth the while to find out how this “lady” got to her public accusation [I’m once more happy that I stayed away from Facebook, Twitter and the likes…] and who, indeed, may have lit her little fire, which let her to such an uncivilised public statement. One of the previous “friends”, who abused your kindness maybe?
As for lending money, perhaps rather to a stranger with a rock-solid contract and two signatures … One of my best friends, my brother and my niece are incommunicado since they’ve not yet repaid my generous loans
From the looks of it, after having read the other posts, it’s not necessary for me to go and open the dusty drawer with old versions … ?Lean back & relax. I wish you the best
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March 3, 2012 at 18:00 -
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March 3, 2012 at 18:10 -
Anna, rather than you sweat over dodgy microsoft outlook discs and do a whole load of checking and transcribing, plus the fretting that goes with it, can you not post a short letter to Ms Hill saying:
“I authorise paypal to supply Ms Hill the number and value of payments which were made via the on my Anna Raccoon blog.”
Sign it, enclose a slip saying: ‘Further to your allegations, you are very welcome to investigate at your own time and expense using the authority I have provided. I trust this will result in an apology from you. Yours sincerely….’And then have done with it. Open a bottle of something with a mate. Think of all the friends you have out here in cyberspace. Leave Mrs Hill to her own devices.
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March 3, 2012 at 18:18 -
Keep it simple …
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March 3, 2012 at 18:26 -
Well, quite! Obviously it’s up to Anna how she handles it, but why should she *have* to make any significant response to an untrue allegation? Why invest the time and stress when life is for living and let live. If she has a convenient techie friend who can easily sort it, fine, but otherwise I hope she relaxes and mentally files this under “ungrateful harridan”.
Seriously Anna, feet up, relax, tomorrow’s another day.
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March 3, 2012 at 18:46 -
Are you sure it’s not a phishing attempt Anna ?
Have you spoken to the lady ? -
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March 3, 2012 at 18:46 -
To whom it may concern.
I am not always in agreement with Anna.
But I would personally trust her without any hesitation.
I, like many others, feel that I know her integrity, and strength of character.Yeah, it’s a bit informal, but I do mean it.
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March 3, 2012 at 18:48 -
Mrs R,
Alas I can’t help with the software. Would a short poem help?
Tho’ the Raccoon has the sharpest of teeth, nobody in cyberspace compares with her niceness.
After championing causes celebres like Nick Hogan and Sheila Martin we know her reputation is priceless.
So I would trust her if she wrote that silver
Rhymed with orange. -
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March 3, 2012 at 19:17 -
Sorry, I’m another who can’t give any practical help – but please stay strong.
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March 3, 2012 at 19:20 -
Oh dear, the H. K tale comes back to bite yer bum. But Anna you are such a supporter of the wonderful police why not run to them? They never lie, cheat, steal, frame, fit up. Trying not to laugh as I type this, only a few days ago you banned the premier blogger who writes “After Watt”. God has judged you, as he will plod. Ezekiel 25.17.
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March 3, 2012 at 19:23 -
“You are total buffoon.” Book of Stating the Bleeding Obvious. Chapter 1, verse 1.
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March 3, 2012 at 19:45 -
Can I just refer you to his Monkness’ first post on this thread.
And why don’t you scurry off to yer pals oh-so-interesting and in-depth blog. This Bar is not for you. -
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March 3, 2012 at 21:17 -
The word tosser springs to mind, but I am reminded by the ‘yoof’ at work is is so ‘yesterday’…
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March 3, 2012 at 22:53 -
@Heffron’s leg: Take a hike, bozo and leave Ms. Raccoon alone. She fired that fool off because he is odious. Anyone who made fun of a guy whose life had been so catestropically ruined deserved booting.
Bizarrely as it may seem… I savaged Ciaran Rehill or whatever bloody name he calls himself for his appalling behaviour, on his ‘After Watt’ blog. On one of his turgid replies he revealed that he had allegedly received a kicking (well deserved, no doubt) from the boys in blue, which had damaged his eyesight… BUT HE HAD ABSOLUTELY NO SYMPATHY OR EMPATHY FOR A MAN WHO LOST HIS EYESIGHT COMPLETELY!!
Rant over… Now to the important bit.
Anna…
None of my software is what you want. I am sorry. I was not a blogger at the time you rode to the assistance of this lady and did not contribute.
I do not know you other than through this blog, but, notwithstanding this fact, I believe you to be an honest, decent person. Your humanity shines through your posts.
You have been through Hell recently. You have written movingly on the subject only recently and I do not mind admitting that three quarters of the way through I had tears in my eyes as I thought I was reading of your imminent demise.
How ANYONE, possessed of these facts, and in this instance, they were in possession of the facts of your illness… because you told them so, could seriously believe that you, OF ALL PEOPLE would cheat them, well, let me say it – it utterly defies belief.
This Carol Hill woman should hang her head in shame, to even think such thoughts, never mind express them. The way she has written the message, in such chatty terms “Hi Anna……Cheers Carol” WTF?? The woman clearly is not playing with a full deck.
Do not stop your blog. I believe that it plays a vital part in your rehabilitation, by being a conduit for venting some of the anger and fear and frustration that you must have been going through these last months. No one who matters believes a word of these lies about you, never fear!
Courage, mon brave…
Frankie
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March 3, 2012 at 19:38 -
Can I just add to this that I am a harsh judge, and quite cynical when it comes to the ways of the world; hence in part my retreat to the monastic life, as a reaction to the generally greedy, selfish and perfidious and selfish ways of the world, of which I tired. However I would have trusted “The Boss” with my last penny before I met her. Having met her, I would trust her with my life.
G -
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March 3, 2012 at 19:44 -
Anna, you did not have to send Caroline anything. Now she’s whining because transfer fees bit into readers contributions? She’s demanding ‘proof’? You tried to help. You did not have to, but you did.
You did not have to make a loan to an ungracious ingrate who would not pay you back, but you did.
Your actions are laudable. Theirs are not. As always, you and Mr G have my heartiest best wishes.
Regards
Bill
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March 3, 2012 at 19:58 -
Horrified to read this, Anna. It’s the last thing you need. Very best wishes from all at Nowhere Towers. I would echo Wullie @40, however. This accusation is so bizarre I would check out that the sender is genuine before committing yourself to revealing any details. And, as others have said, try not to let it bother you. You did the right thing.
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March 3, 2012 at 20:13 -
Thank you Richard, but fear not, I have no intention whatsoever of revealing my banking details to Mrs Hill, but I will find a way of showing my readers that everything is in order . Frankly I couldn’t give a monkey’s toss what she thinks, but I do care what my readers think.
I have realised this evening that the reason I am going to so much trouble over this is that I do want to keep the Raccoon Arms open and NOT feel I have to give up. I am fed up to the back teeth with the back stabbing – however I am very mindful, and I really do mean this, that one of the main things which has got me through the past eight months is the sheer discipline involved in writing something every day – almost like having kids or a dog that needs walking. Not that any of you are dogs, or like kids. Perish the thought. Shit I’ll just stop there, I can see I’m going to dig myself a bigger hole!
You know what I mean.-
65
March 3, 2012 at 20:20 -
Woof!?
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66
March 3, 2012 at 20:49 -
After 55 replies, all (except 1) trying to make you feel good about what you do, why not take a day or two away from the Hill nonsense? You know you have our love and respect.
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68
March 3, 2012 at 23:06 -
Before you stop digging, consult this website that shows you where you will come out of you dig straight down through the earth.
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69
March 4, 2012 at 01:47 -
But have you verified it is who they claim to be?
Might not be a scammer, could be a troll. Her second comment raised some red flags to me.
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70
March 4, 2012 at 04:54 -
“You know what I mean.” I do indeed. All the best.
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71
March 3, 2012 at 20:44 -
People never cease to amaze me in their greed.
Onwards and upwards I say.
Keep up the good work…I don`t always agree with you,but I know you have integrity…and besides we shouldn`t just read stuff that confirms our own bias.
We have software if you get stuck.
please carry on.. -
72
March 3, 2012 at 20:47 -
I have a new and unused copy of M/S Office 2003 Basic Edition that says it includes Outlook. Please get in touch if this is useful.
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73
March 3, 2012 at 20:57 -
Ingratitude doesn’t get any more ignorant than that. Myself, I’d give her two short, gutteral words, Anna.
I hope all the comments above encourage you to carry on blogging.
BTW, Carol wouldn’t have liked to hear the words of Mrs P and her mate when I recounted the tale just now. The previous vast sympathy for her sacking disappeared in a matter of milliseconds.
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74
March 3, 2012 at 21:16 -
Looking at the god awful spelling, I thought for a minute that she was actually a teacher…
I’m with your hubby, ‘look after number one’ and ‘fu** ‘em all’
God bless you me old china (ere, less of the old).
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75
March 3, 2012 at 22:01 -
In your position, I’d simply tell her to fuck off. The expression “point of no return” occurs.
Don’t let bastards grind you down…
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76
March 3, 2012 at 22:05 -
I can easily understand Mr G’s fury, i’m surprised he hasn’t accidently repeatedly sledgehammered the computer just out of ‘bloody principle’. All the best to the pair of you, the bloody cheek of the women!
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77
March 3, 2012 at 22:17 -
Sounds like the woman has been got at by someone with a grudge against you, although that doesn’t excuse her biting the hand that fed her in such an unpleasant manner.
I hope you can shrug it off and continue on the basis that it isn’t a blogging problem. It’s a some people are like that problem – and you will find them whether you blog or not for as long as you try and help people. -
78
March 3, 2012 at 22:23 -
And, heads down, bully and shove.
I regret that I can’t assist with the software, but I, too, have a garage full of computers which simply bought the farm – literally, smoke coming out of the back, etc.
What you do, DG, is worth more than this. I’m sure that the mad bitch who started this is reading this. So bugger off and leave our favourite landlady alone!
Otherwise, you will have a mob to whom you must answer.
Snicker-snack…
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79
March 3, 2012 at 22:57 -
The Bard had this pinned down.
“The evil that men (and women) do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones ”
Julius Caesar Act 3, Scene II (adapted as required).
Anna, don’t give up, don’t change. You are one of the most respected persons in the blogosphere. You have no idea how many people were on tenterhooks awaiting the results of your recent tribulations.
Until this episode cropped up I have been naught but a lurker here. Now I’d like to make my presence felt.
Anything I can do to help, just call. I, like a multitude of others, will be there for you. -
80
March 3, 2012 at 23:05 -
Anna: There is no way in hell that you cheated that woman. The cheek of her, after you went out of your way to help… No one who matters would believe it for a nanosecond anyway. I can say that with assurance. I believe you to be an honest and open person. Only fools would think any other way. Unfortunately, there are many, like the odious Ciaran, who are basically using up oxygen, without contributing anything at all.
Do not give up the blog. I believe that it provides you with a conduit for venting the anger, fear and frustration that you must have experienced over the last few months. That she knew what you had been through, or had some inkling, then posted that crap “Dear Anna… blah blah… Cheers Carol” Cheers? Cheers?? WHAT IS SHE ON??
I deeply regret that I cannot assist you with the software you need, as I don’t possess it, nor did I subcribe to helping Carol out of the hole she was in – I didn’t subscribe back then. I can only give you my good wishes and thoughts and to urge you… ‘Courage, mon brave’.
Frankie
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81
March 3, 2012 at 23:10 -
Anna, I am sorry to hear of all of your woes and wish you a speedy and full recovery, I’ve been busy recently so I don’t spend that much time browsing the web, apparently you have moved even closer to chez moi so if you and votre Marie would like to come over for a good local nosh up, you are most welcome. If you haven’t got my email address leave a note and I will contact you via the blog address. Cannot help with the software as I have a Mac.
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82
March 3, 2012 at 23:21 -
There are so many supportive posts here I felt that anything I might say would add little. But I will say that I read your blog most days, in my quiet time and find much of what you write makes me smile, or think, or both.
This ‘Carol’ situation is both sad and distasteful but I hope you take solace from the many who have offered their practical or emotional support.
Too often, the acts of another can lead us to question the good acts we do ourselves. It is clear your natural inclination is to see the good and act upon it. The reward for such kindness is often small or unnoticed, whilst the pain from those who abuse…is obvious and sometimes vile. But if you are kind to ten and one abuses, and you thereby decide to be kind to none, there are nine who lose and so do you as the giver and the tenth doe not matter.
And Carol? I rather pity any person who can turn good will to ill. How sad she is. How sad you feel you need to spend a moment more upon her.
Take care and I hope you will continue to be there to make me think and smile.
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84
March 4, 2012 at 00:52 -
I’m shocked by Carols words. Please don’t give up Anna. The articles here are thought provoking and the debate lively.
Re: Quicken.
What format files do you have? I assume you only have the base QDF files based on all the problems you have had. The only other software I can find that can allegedly import QDF files is MS Money. If your data is in QIF, QXF format then the problem is much simplified.You might be able to upgrade your quicken version if your friend in the US is, or knows, a IT tech. You could tunnel into your fiends network in the US and your PC would look likes its in the US, not France.
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86
March 4, 2012 at 01:22 -
Could you possibly use “Open Office”? It’s compatible with versions of MS Office?
Or else tell her to get stuffed?
BTW. Are you sure that it is actually her?
PS. My son would never forgive you if you gave up blogging. He learnt a lot from you during his illness. He came to realise that some people were far worse off than him.
I wish you well as always -
87
March 4, 2012 at 02:02 -
“Neither a borrower or a lender be”
I help quite a few people with money in our village. In almost very case it turns out bad for me in some way and I get called a cunt by someone.
These days I just accept I’ll be made out by someone to be a cock – and that it always costs me finacially over and above what I offer.
Because the same pattern happens all the time, I still get pissed off – but I always rise above it.
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88
March 4, 2012 at 03:09 -
Anna
If you need anything from this side of the pond, let me know.
Regards
Moley (Canada) -
89
March 4, 2012 at 03:36 -
Anna,
For what it’s worth, I have been around the blogosphere and have not encountered anyone bad-mouthing you.
I found your site about 3yrs ago and was heartily impressed with your cogent work. Consistent high quality is a hall-mark of this site, always well researched, reasonably assessed argument, beautifully written and immaculately presented. That’s why I keep coming back.
You are a star in a firmament of charlatans, ranters and toss-pots. You are intelligent, well-educated, articulate and possessed of unimpeachable integrity.
Moreover, having read of the unhappiness of your childhood and your struggle with the ‘big C’, without any exaggeration whatsoever, I have been truly inspired by your unquenchable human spirit and honesty.
Only you can assess whether or not you derive sufficient reward and enjoyment from your hobby, and whether or not you wish to continue – I hope you do – but I would have thought that someone who has conquered the challenges you have had in your life would not be put off by this shit-head woman.
I do understand though for caring, charitable, public-spirited people such as you (and I) it is a very big deal to have one’s honesty and integrity questioned. Ultimately, I can only say…………breathe some fresh spring air, take a large glass of red, some fresh bread, tasty cheese and read what your fans, supporters and friends have written over and over until it sinks in how much you are valued and respected.
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90
March 4, 2012 at 03:52 -
I’m still speechless. The woman gets short-changed by the State, you have a whip-round to make up the difference and send her money she isn’t entitled to, and now she thinks she’s entitled to more?
Signing off before the bad words spill forth.
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91
March 4, 2012 at 04:58 -
If you have the outlook .pst file, this nifty free software will allow you to read your old emails:
http://www.nucleustechnologies.com/pst-viewer.html -
92
March 4, 2012 at 06:08 -
We’ve never met and likely never will.
So allow me to say from a position of complete impartiality, I have read about two people abusing you in cyberspace. First was the libertarian guy. I read your account and for balance, his. Let me simply say, the truth was so obvious, so clear, so overwhelming, it was simply impossible to miss and the SAOT jury, being of sound mind, ruled for Miss Raccoon. The jury was out for about two minutes including transit time to and from the jury room.
Second is this woman. Now, I tend to agree with some other contributors, it maybe someone trolling and not the original person, but either way, the truth is again clear, crystal is opaque by comparison etc.
I fully understand why you want to show, chapter and verse, that the difference is about £1.63 or whatever, but don’t bother. Leave either the troll or the real person to bleat pointlessly and live empty, poisonous lives. Let me just say, I’ve been through some tough times in the last couple of years (nothing compared to you I must quickly add) and the Raccoon blog is something of a shining light. It almost always makes me smile, or is food for thought and it’s always well reasoned even when we differ.
I doubt there is a single regular reader who thinks ill of you, instead like me, they probably hold you in the very highest regard. It’s all to rare to meet (or ya know, kinda internet meet) someone like this today, so please, don’t stop blogging. If you really feel you have to, so be it, but let it be for your own reasons, not because of the bile of others.
From SAOT towers, much love and respect.
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95
March 4, 2012 at 07:55 -
Hi,
It doesn’t *have* to be Office 2003 – it has to be either 2003 or a later version. MS Office software is always backwards compatible but obviously can’t be forwards compatible.
So, anyone with a copy of Office 2007 or Office 2010 could open this file for you and save it in a different format :
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/office-2003-resource-kit/office-converter-pack-HA001151358.aspx
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96
March 4, 2012 at 08:19 -
Assuming the complaint is real, although that would need to be checked first that you aren’t just being trolled; you know what certain people are like.
The problem is not the money. The problem is that the complainant has allowed a word you originally used – “comfortably” – to mean something it was never meant to and has now grown in to a fantasy which is going to be nearly impossible to dispel.
Experience suggests that all the data in the world won’t make much difference, even supposing you could get it back. Once a person has it in their mind that there is a pot of fairy money due to them, there is little anyone can do to dislodge that belief. Anything you do will be slotted in to ‘part of the conspiracy’ and used as evidence against you.
All I can say is that I have found no dishonesty in you at any point on any subject or in any setting, and I can think of no reason why you would start now. I regard all statements alleging that you would steal as defamatory.
You have never done that, you would never do that.
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98
March 4, 2012 at 09:01 -
Anna, I am reminded of your April 14, 2011 article
https://www.annaraccoon.com/politics/libertarian-liberties/
and in particular this comment by yourself:
“Some of you were unable to operate the French Paypal service when I was collecting money for Carol Hill, (the dinner school lady) and asked if you could make a donation via the Libertarian Party. Andrew gave his consent for this.I never received any money via this route – so if anybody did send money to the party which rightfully belongs to Carol Hill – would you make yourself known to me please?”
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99
March 4, 2012 at 09:22
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100
March 4, 2012 at 09:19 -
No good deed goes unpunished ey? Sorry I can’t help you on the software front, I hope you take confidence from the amount of people supporting you on here
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101
March 4, 2012 at 09:20 -
For me, this unpleasant “Carol Hill” episode reeks of a certain Andrew Whithers …
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102
March 4, 2012 at 09:32 -
Anna – I am disgusted and saddened at the way that your generosity of spirit has been thrown back at you. I did not contribute to Ms Hill’s fund (and I am very glad now that I didn’t), but I do respect the spirit in which you set up and organised the collection for her. It is most unfortunate that she does not respect that spirit.
As others have said better than I could, it is clear from your writing that you are a person of intelligence, humour, honesty and integrity. I do not believe that the possibility of helping yourself to the funds collected in Ms Hill’s name would even have crossed your mind, much less that you would actually do so.
I fear that you are as much a victim of the complexity of technology as you are a victim of malicious intent by other humans. I’m afraid I’m not in a position to help on the computer front – the damn things utterly bamboozle me I’m afraid – but I see that others are actively addressing the problem, and I wish every success to their efforts.
Keep fighting Anna – not for nothing is the Raccoon Arms consistently voted one of the best blogs.
Illegitimus non carborundum!
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103
March 4, 2012 at 09:39 -
104
March 4, 2012 at 09:49 -
Anna.
Don’t give up, try to move on. Carol Hill appears to be the obnoxious type who is never satisfied.Now the boring bit. We were running quicken 2004 on a computer using Windows XP. Computer failed, had to upgrade to Windows 7. Quicken 2004 does not work with Windows 7, but, if you download the trial version of the latest version of Quicken (I don’t think you have to actually instal it) and then instal your earlier version of Quicken it should work OK. It certainly worked for us.
JohnC
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105
March 4, 2012 at 09:51 -
Anna,
it is possible to have Quicken think that you’re in the US (or very, very probably).
https://my-private-network.co.uk/ (other VPN companies exist, my only connection is as a previous customer.)
For £5 you can sign up for the USA for a month. Whenever you choose to ‘go-stateside’ you log into the my private network site and voila all of your network connections are tunnelled by the VPN and pop out in the US. When you’ve finished, you just log out and you’re home again. There are simple instructions on the site. You can pay via paypal as a one off or subscription For £9 you can have access to any of the countries that they cover.
I used to use it from France to get Amazon.co.uk MP3 downloads (MPN covers a lot of countries). I was a UK resident at all times, but working away in France. I cancelled the subscription on the paypal site, no drama ensued, no spam etc.
Reader software exists free for microsoft office products (so you can open the docs and read (print?) them, you just can’t edit them.
You have my email address if you wish to contact me. I’m not an expert, but I’m happy to lend a hand
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107
March 4, 2012 at 09:59 -
Another possibility is to try to load your backups into Libre Office (free office software, standard install in Ubuntu) or Thunderbird (free email client). These people go to a lot of effort to import data correctly.
http://www.libreoffice.org/download/
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108
March 4, 2012 at 10:35 -
Anna
From a frequent reader but hesitant contributor, thanks for what you’re doing. In this chaotic and greedy world someone’s tried to take advantage. One wonders if someone else put them up to it.You’re an example to us all. If this business persists, passing the hat round might finance a professional to do the nit-picking techie stuff for you. Then you can get back to what you do best, which so many of us evidently value.
Best Wishes
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109
March 4, 2012 at 10:43 -
It’s a great shame when two good people (and Ms Hill obviously is such, despite this) are split apart. Only the bad will profit in such a situation.
Good luck Anna.
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110
March 4, 2012 at 11:07 -
There are wicked, ungrateful and spiteful people in this world. You have had the misfortune to try to help one of them. They are the type who drop poison into the well of human kindness. Take a large glass of your favourite tipple, enjoy the love and warmth of your friends and raise two fingers to the bitch .
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111
March 4, 2012 at 11:28 -
I have come late to this somewhat dismal party. Even so I have ploughed through the 100+ comments above and all I can think of now is the conversation between Holmes and the good Doctor concerning the dog that failed to bark in the night. Where is Ms. Hill? No bark, no growl, not even a whine!
Anyway, all I have to say is that if you ruin my mornings by stopping this blog, Ms. Raccoon, I will make up stories about you on my blog which is read by all of two men and, um, a dog!
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112
March 4, 2012 at 11:49 -
Just a note to wish you well Anna.
Leonard Cohen’s words in ‘Anthem’ come to mind ‘There is a crack in everything, it’s how the light gets in’ You are creating the cracks. I know to whom you refer about some of the unpleasant things that’s being written about you. I also know when the legal constraints come off he’ll try the same with me.
When people live in the murky corners of the worlds they create it’s where their comfort it. Most of us don’t have worlds like that thank goodness. If you search my name and his you’ll see the connection.
Be strong.
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113
March 4, 2012 at 11:58 -
As an occasional dipper in, (is that a lurker?) I feel the sadness that this mischief is causing you Anna.
I can’t help but I would very respectfully suggest that all you can do is ignore this assault. It’s difficult, but the more you engage, the more you feed it.
Good luck and best wishes to you. -
114
March 4, 2012 at 12:31 -
Hang in there Ms Raccoon. Sanest blog I’ve ever read and then some. Odd the lady hit you on FB and not directly on the blog page. BTW, I can recommend OpenOffice software. Good stuff and free. Download the portable version to the thumbstick. Now, where is the original perpetrator of your misery and our outrage in all this? If she flies into Amsterdam I’ll meet her, buy her a cup of coffee on your behalf and say farewell. That should take care of a couple of quid. Just don’t call quits on the blog. Please?
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115
March 4, 2012 at 12:35 -
I just want to add my support for you Anna. xx
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121
March 4, 2012 at 12:39 -
Hi Anna,
Please keep blogging- we need more sanity in the world, not less.I’m a techie, and I think I can help with the techie stuff.
I think I have a copy of Outlook 2003 to hand, but I’ll need someone else to supply the Quicken Premier 2010.
If you get in touch by email, I can start digging into the technical side of the problem.
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122
March 4, 2012 at 12:58 -
Another vote of support from a long term reader. One supposes that if the existing arrangement is not good enough for Mrs Hill then perhaps she should return the money back to you (at her expense) or alternatively donate it to a children’s charity (with evidence).
If this woman is the real person concerned she should be utterly ashamed of herself. You have done nothing wrong except to offer a samaritan gesture to her.
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123
March 4, 2012 at 14:01 -
The Libertarian Party donation route mentioned by Chatelaine is very suspicious. Is Withers up to his old tricks again? Does Carol even know what she’s supposed to have posted/said? I tend to agree with the warnings of an underhand and devious attempt at extortion (& agree with Mr. G about ignoring it all).
But please do not let this crazy stuff drive you away from blogging. You are a beacon of sense in an increasingly murky world of irrationality. Essential reading, always thought-provoking & never dull, with a loyal and intelligent band of followers – there is no other site held in such high regard by everyone I know. You are Sans Pareil Anna, an earthly Saint. -
124
March 4, 2012 at 14:21 -
Dear Anna,
Having read your posting, as well as the posting which commenced all of this churning; along with all the comments so far, I have to state that you are indeed approaching this matter in the wrong manner.
You, as an aggrieved Party, should be e-mailing the person who accused you of theft (for that is what she is doing), and asking her for proof of her accusations.
You should also be asking her if, as she seems to believe, that you are a thief, why she has not reported this ‘fact’ to the police?
You should also be asking her if she fully understands the law of libel as it stands in the UK?
As I am not a legally-trained man, having been in heavy engineering all my life, it would seem correct to me to approach a (comparatively-friendly) firm of solicitor, and ask them to draft and send a formal communication to this person whom you believed were helping, and demanding of them to make good on all allegations made against you, or to otherwise withdraw all allegations of theft or malfeasance, and also to cover your costs in doing so.
It is not for you to show you have done no harm, it is for the other party to show that you have so done harm! -
125
March 4, 2012 at 14:35 -
Hi Anna
I have to say good luck to you, I did not donate to the Carol Hill Fund but did donate to get the pub landlord out of jail(sorry I forget his name), I no time was I concerned that Old Holborn and yourself were not managing the fund correctly I had complete faith in you then and still do now.
I was until you wrote about your trevails a member of LPUK and if it hadn’t been for you I would never have known about the problems that existed and in fact even now there has been no suitable explanations from LPUK about what happened to the money and how to have a proper Libertarian presence in UK politics.
I have enjoyed many of your posts and read you every day unless travelling for work and hope that you continue, please keep us up to date with what is going on so that we can support you in any way we can.
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126
March 4, 2012 at 14:43 -
127
March 4, 2012 at 15:08 -
Okay. Perhaps a Tenner is too much. Give her a Fiver. Five Euros, that is. And then tell her to bog off.
Sheesh, I can’t believe she is doing this even if she is mistaken. This is no way in which to behave. -
128
March 4, 2012 at 15:11 -
Anna, what a dreadful, sorry business. Sadly small minded people outnumber the good. There are many dangers in this ether that is the internet. Many of those dangers operated by shadowy figures. Just a thought but if the contact really was the said woman, she deserves derision. If she was put up by someone else, they too, are little better.
For you to be forced out by any of them would be like losing a glorious Churchillian figure. Stay with us. -
129
March 4, 2012 at 17:17 -
Anna, I feel somewhat selfish at urging you to continue your blogging when you have concerns over your health and wellbeing , but must ask that you do so.
The background whisperings of a Faustian figure from your past into the ears of a gullible puppet should not deter you from the good works that you do on these pages. That withered Nosferatu may be trying to deflect attention from his own financial misconduct in this matter.Please stay.
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130
March 4, 2012 at 17:31 -
I only ‘vaguely’ recalled the case of Carol Hill before you wrote – but do remember wondering at the time ‘is there more to it’? Perhaps there was.
As to questions of ‘who to believe’ – I’ve been visiting, lurking and (occasionally) posting here for a while. What you write (In particular about CoP ) chimes with me – and comment from Avatars I recognise from other blogs – helps me to trust the sincerity of what you say – even though I may disagree.
Please stick with it , Anna
*** Blogsphere NEEDS Raccoontage ***
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131
March 4, 2012 at 17:35 -
I have taken you to task in the comments before (and been downright rude, if I’m honest) but would miss you if you stopped blogging.
If someone had organised a whip-round for my benefit I would be grateful to the organiser and heaping praise on her, not whinging about a couple of quid which might or might not have gone on PayPal fees.
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132
March 4, 2012 at 17:42 -
@ Ken Alexander March 4, 2012 at 17:17
“That withered Nosferatu may be trying to deflect attention from his own financial misconduct in this matter.”
***
The withered crook may think “his withers are unwrung” [Shakespeare, Hamlet], but we can wring his withers and wither him with a look, cast a withering remark and have him wither on the vine, his hopes withered in withershins …-
133
March 4, 2012 at 18:51 -
Not even taking into account that English is not your first language – that was masterfully withering Chatters.
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134
March 4, 2012 at 19:43 -
I couldn’t resist to use the word “wither” after master Alexander started with the “withered Nosferatu” … though I didn’t feel completely safe at using it as manifold as I did as a foreigner
Shakespeare’s Hamlet quote triggered me off, though
Thanks for the compliment.
I hope your troubles will be over soon.
It must be difficult to always be out in the open and having marksmen looking at your every move … Take it as a compliment. I have so far hardly been hit, though I don’t feel real sorry about that
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135
March 4, 2012 at 19:20 -
I come late to this dreadful & distressing story….and all that can be said has been.
It is hard to say ‘be courageous’ to someone who has patently proved that she is but some things do no harm in repetition.
Do what you must in the knowledge that it will be right,,,but do not leave your friends here; they would not leave you.
With great admiration, bless you. -
137
March 4, 2012 at 20:29 -
So, Anna, I trust that you now grasp the esteem in which you are held. Given your gifts, I am sure you can swat this disagreeable matter aside without even breaking step.
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138
March 4, 2012 at 21:33 -
Anna,
I have an installation disc for MS Outlook Standard 2003. It is genuine, uninstalled, licenced for research use and comes with install key.
If you can use it, please mail me a postal address and I’ll send it asap.
This ungrateful lady needs to be shown very publicly just how bad her behaviour has been. Who has put her up to it, do you think? Doe sshe know AW?
Best wishes, and please do not give up blogging,
dak
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139
March 4, 2012 at 21:57 -
Could I make a polite suggestion to everyone who comments please. Please don’t denigrate Carol Hill. Rightly or wrongly she earnestly believes that she is entitled to some money. How she came to the belief is beside the point. That is her view. But it does not mean that total strangers can call her all kinds of names under the sun.
The point of Anna’s story is to ask for help in finding the information to back up her claim that nearly all the money has already been sent to Carol. The support you are showing is an extra for Anna but it needn’t be at the expense of someone else.
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140
March 5, 2012 at 00:02 -
Also worth pointing out that at the moment, all this appears to be based on a single face-book exchange consisting of three short unverified messages from an identity called Carol Hill.
This identity doesn’t email or telephone despite having received money this time last year, and doesn’t come on to the blog or appear to know anything about it.
How likely is it that the real Carol Hill would not have googled ‘Carol Hill’ turning up the Anna Raccoon blog on the second page of the google results? If I wanted to check ‘are you the Anna Raccoon’ I wouldn’t be going via FB – I’d have clicked through to the blog, where all the contact info is displayed.
Or I’d have googled “Carol Hill” “Anna Raccoon” which brings you out top.
This is inconsistent.
Why did she not contact you direct, or perhaps via her solicitor? She was represented at tribunal by a high-powered barrister, Claire Darwin of Matrix Chambers.
It would be wise to ask this identity to provide a contact for their solicitor – or ask Claire Darwin – to independently verify if this is the same Carol Hill and why they believe there are outstanding moneys.
It might be prudent to do this before going to further efforts with software.
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142
March 4, 2012 at 22:08 -
You’re absolutely right, SBML. I think that the lady has been misled into believing that Anna withheld money collected for her. And I [not the only one] have a distinct idea, who might have been the whisper in her ear [and actually did withhold money …]. I hope she realises soon that she’s been misused. IMO
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143
March 4, 2012 at 23:45 -
that is why i don’t do charity, some just keep coming back for more, usually the least deserving, sounds like one ungrateful woman,
keep strong
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144
March 4, 2012 at 23:48 -
I have no doubt about your honesty and integrity.
Please don’t give up your blog. I am so heartened by so many of your posts.
Don’t let the bastards grind you down! So glad I did not contribute to that ungrateful greedy woman. I would have demanded a refund from her! -
145
March 5, 2012 at 03:30 -
Hello Anna,
May I say that I read your blog daily and would be sad if you decided to pack it in.
Having said that, Mrs. Apache had breast cancer a few years ago and I’m fully aware of all that it entails. It aint easy that’s for sure. Part of me is with your husband and the selfish part of me wants you to continue.
I remember the incidents you mention from a year or two back and this does smell fishy. I hope you can sort it out but like others here have said, don’t go making yourself ill over something as trivial as this.
Life’s too short and precious.
Please take care. All the best to your kith and kin.
Apache.
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146
March 5, 2012 at 08:20 -
So sorry to hear of this.
Like others have said here, I have enjoyed, been amused by, educated by and even occasionally experienced some disgruntles from your excellent, independent minded, well-researched and conscientious articles. Also, being a cynical and experienced spotter of lies and deception (especially as issued by the professional expert liars in Westminster), I can’t believe you would cheat a dinner lady out of some money. I would gladly go out and buy a hat and eat it if there was any hint of the slightest evidence that you are dishonest, in fact make that several hats.
If this accusation is being made in a clumsy indirect way via Facebook, rather than in writing, by phone, by email or on your blog, then surely the best initial reponse is a polite personal phone call or letter to Carol Hill asking her to clarify the situation and to get provenance that it is the real Carol Hill behind this.
All the best to you and Mr. G. and may you both arrive at the decision that best suits you. Don’t worry about us, no really don’t. Don’t feel guilty that your departure may leave a gaping hole of honest scrutiny in the blogoverse. Don’t feel any pangs of remorse should your departure from the web cuase standards of integrity to drop and strengthen the voices of statists and deceivers. Please don’t feel any pressure to keep the blog going, no pressure, no, honestly. I meant that.
Kindest regards to you and Mr. G.
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147
March 5, 2012 at 08:47 -
Anna, great to see so much support for you in these comments. Just want to add my voice to those asking you not to stop blogging and wish you the best in resolving this nasty problem
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148
March 5, 2012 at 09:01 -
Shine on, Anna Raccoon! Despite all this hoo-ha, it’s all worthwhile. Follow the inner light as the original Quaker George Fox did.
Blessings from Caedmon and a special purr from the Cat.
Why would someone you attempted to help – and DID help – then decide to… 
Trusst you!
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