Is Elivira still on the forum? She was such a hot ticket.

I miss her wit and excellent info.

Like many others, Elvira was a victim of the jealousy and nastiness here. There were numerous posts slamming her whenever someone commented on her wonderful sense of humor. When she offered her detailed advice, some people took the opportunity to call her a "know-it-all". It is not hard to imagine that such constant nastiness would drive her away. I have no idea if that was the cause of her disappearance, however, just a guess.
I also miss here posts, and was happy to have met her in California at a Fodorites lunch and also had a wonderful and funny lunch with her when she went to Ft. Lauderdale to visit her "parental unit" as she put it.

We have lost a lot of high quality posters in the last 2 years.
Wes Fowler being one of the notables.
He lost his battle with disease, and he is sorely missed.

But to show how screwed up some folks are, some joker even threw a rock at a posting by Ben Haines.

S/he was either drunk or campaigning for the preposterous act of the year award.

I also often wonder what happened to Elvira, wish she would come back because she was always nice.
It is such a pity that instead of keeping quiet when some people think a post is silly, they choose to be nasty. It would be wonderful if we could all be nice to everyone on here.

I am not familiar with Elvira's witty posts.
In regards to nasty postings it is discouraging when a poster is attacked if his/her post doesn't "make sense" or is not said in a correct way to those who feel they know better.

here is one of elvira's posts for your edification, http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...&tid=84973

I've always been a fan of Elvira's and eagerly looked forward to her postings about ramblings with the "loons."

But I have absolutely NO recollection of anyone being mean to her. Could have missed it, of course, but my memory says she was very much appreciated here.

I also miss Elvira's posts. I guess you can count me among the few who got to meet her--in Paris, no less!--and she was just as fabulous in person. She gave me some cool ideas for the workplace, as well.

Hi MelissaHI,

I guess you and I have the honor of being at Elvira's last Fodorite Get Together. I miss her posts, too, but understand why people stop coming here after awhile...

~Liz

Basically, about a year or so ago it all got really personal and nasty and Elvira was one of those who were on the receiving end of some pretty abusive posts. There were a number of others too who were effectively chased away by the abuse which happened. Some others on the board are still in touch - I think there was a similar post recently about Elvira. The nastiness has gone somewhat since registration though, and it would be nice to see some back.

By the way, Liz, I wear my (your) pin with pride. Mari808 from the Hawaii threads is so jealous!

Elvira? Yes, she is missed.

As an oldtimer (VERY oldtimer), I would like to make a suggestion. Over the years, I have posted under several aliases, as you may suspect.

I wish Fodor's would post an instruction page, a list of suggestions and ideas of how one should conduct oneself, best attitudes to obtain information or give information from/to others, how to use the internal search engine within this web site, and others ideas to make this invaluable resource work for all of us. Yes, some persons will try to wreck this service, but I would be more than willing to chance that.

This service is too good to let a few boorish know-it-alls and spiteful nut cases ruin it. What say?

USNR, I think most of that stuff is already covered on the FAQs page...most people don't read FAQ pages.

I don't think boorish behaviour is the main reason people leave. I think after a few years you get tired of the same questions being asked- questions that are answered in ANY GUIDE BOOK,or, by reading a few posts here BEFORE you post. That, combined with a few times when I've spent some time writing a long response and gotten NO appreciation, are my reasons for answering less. I suspect that is the main reason people leave.

Melissa, I wish I remembered to wear MINE more often.

I have read and posted on this site for the past 7 years under four differnt screen names as has USNR.
Credibility may suffer when considered the new kid on the block, but that's ok.
I've have noticed less posting from regulars that don't plan to travel to Europe again in the near future.
I also really miss Paulo's posts.