The Chateau Diaries #208 Dan who is not the man akka "Manless Dan"

[Nopr]

I like the kind of risk Dan and Annalise took to move to France and renovate a bargain property. Worse case scenario you have your 70k sunk in a hard to sell rural French property, it'd be a set back but not insurmountable. His new endeavour beggars belief ... does he not look to La Lande and see that the funds of three privileged families have failed to renovate a habitable building in 17 years? There's a lot of money coming in now and just structural and heating needs could gobble it all up. Did he really think he'd have the charisma of the early CD to drum up similar investment either via viewers or some production company? He couldn't even be warm to Annalise on camera to sell the happy plucky little family narrative that is a proven formula. Stupid. Now he's going OTT with clickbait titles, the desperation is off putting.

I really feel for Annalise in all this. I haven't forgotten the misposted Instagram about the Christmas gift he had sent to the chateau. We know now they were separated then. I want her to have kicked him to the curb but I really think he has got his head turned and couldn't maintain his commitment. Turns out he's a selfish scrawny try hard, better off without him sooner rather than later.

 

[Le Comte de Monte Cristo]

If her car in in such a mess I would expect her home is too. Just lazy, no excuse IMO.

when she agreed long time ago to go along with Dan to France with almost no money...then having two kids...she would know what she got herself into...i dont think Annalise is so tidy...when you live the way they do you have to let go..otherwise you go mad.. but if its fine for them...i cant judge..when you have kids...its a bit of another matter...it has to be safe at least..for the rest i think Annalise is a good parent...she is making the best of it..i always have to admire woman for that...i see it a lott...the woman always try to make the best of it...always very strong in bad situations...when the men just ran away...she probably regrets coming to France with that twat...but hey..whats done is done..

 

[Midnightcowboy]

Thought for the day....

Remind you of anyone?.

 

[Clara Burnett]

As long as Dan and Annalise still have small kids, I don't feel comfortable talking about what caused the situation they are in now. It is rather clear though for all to see that Stephanie Jarvis' love bombing fell into fertile ground with him and has him walking this path now. LieLande-aid indeed. Easy to fix by being open and transparent when wanting to share your life online to earn a few bucks, but that is just not how he was taught.

 

[LadyRed]

Was this on the last gift grab as I need to watch it if it was.

No, the latest slog. That is a sculpture, apparently. I spat my coffee.

 

[LittleMore Cottage]

stephany looks so young and ... sane.

I watched an older episode where Phi Phi was a new volunteer and he definitely had a very Dutch/English accent which he no longer has now , he has been practicing his English to sound more posh I am sure

 

[JackSpratt]

I don't get it either. It's mind boggling that people don't do any homework before uprooting themselves and often their children and sometimes the grandparents to move somewhere where they have never lived, don't know anyone, don't speak the language, sell their home back in the country they came from, don't know anything about restoration or construction, and sink every penny they have into something the French themselves don't want because they know better! Mon dieu! As a born and bred American, I do understand where some of this comes from. We grow up being idealists and optimists. It's ingrained in us to think positively about our future and that we can achieve anything with a bit of luck and some hard work. You need some brains and critical thinking skills too, which is often lacking.

So so many do because they can get a bigger property, which is fine but it all takes upkeep. We could have gone bigger but why, what we have is enough and we struggle to keep on top of that sometimes because of work. We planned our move way before we sold up in the uk. We knew it was going to be a hard slog because we were not coming here to retire, we needed to find work. Feel proud of ourselves as we've never asked for any help, learnt the language (that's been probably the hardest and most frustrating at times but we've done it) and got ourselves established with a business.

 

[LittleMore Cottage]

I agree 100%. When I was working and had a cleaning person (a friend, actually), I spent a good hour the night before she was coming over, putting stuff away and tidying up. My husband thought I was nuts, but I wanted her to really clean and not have a bunch of stuff in the way. Believe it or not, I also didn't have her clean the toilets. I felt like that was the "resident's" responsibility, and made sure my husband and kids cleaned any "messes" they made). I miss those days. I'm retired now and cannot justify the expense of hiring a cleaning person, (for a much smaller place, I might add), all because I'm feeling lazy these days. Although to be fair to my dear little self, I have had a significant back injury for the last 18 months, and haven't been able to do much.

Not that anyone here knows me, but I believe there are many kind-hearted people here (we haters are actually not a bad bunch...). I am sharing that my mother just passed away this afternoon. I had just spent the last 20 hours, sitting with her, whispering to her, holding her hand, sponging her raging fever, suctioning her... and came home to take a nap and shower and she passed while I was gone. She was not alone, but as her closest family member, I was her everything so it feels pretty bad. The hospice nurse told me that it happens because people don't want their loved ones to be there. I know that's how it was with my dad--he waited until the one evening my mom went home (after six months of never leaving his side!) and he died that night. So, I'm here on tattle, trying to escape sadness and yet I'm writing about it. This week will be tough, but after three months of craziness, worry, and sadness, I will be ready to get back to some aspect of normalcy. She was 92. May Bonnie rest In peace and be with all her loved ones who went before her. Thanks for letting me do a little personal derail.

May she rest in peace and as a hospice nurse myself , I agree sometimes people wait until loved ones leave to cross over. Take heart she is just gone in body, her spirit will always be with you. It was so beautiful that you were there comforting her at the end

 

[Iolair]

I worked in restaurants and country clubs and have seen people blow their noses in cloth napkins... UGH in public give me a paper napkin any day

I use Irish linen every day, but paper napkins for guests. As a die hard snob who believes table manners are a must, I used to pride myself on presenting lovely meals in convivial settings for friends until... one evening, the plus one of a friend used her linen napkin to wipe off her bright red stay fast lipstick at table, blew her nose, then used the edge of the table cloth to finish the job. She was a nice enough person, but had the table manners of an imbecile. I appreciate etiquette in others but this woman makes Jewelyn look like a finishing school graduate. It took 4 washes, and 2 trips to the dry cleaners to get the napkin and table cloth clean, so now I don't bother.

 

[ComtesseRose]

Going on that, he'd even struggle with sex by numbers! Perhaps the Hokey Coky would be better. ("In,out, in, out, you shake it all about.....")

And to think Stephanie Jarvis did that with Selmar... - I almost can't hold my dinner in...

 

[Jules100]

A few other title thread suggestions:

-Where’s Philip? I don’t really care, I’m happy he’s gone.

-Amanda & Lincoln should buy Lalande and turn it into a donkey farm.

-I miss Kathy already.

-Is Dan the gardener homeless?

-Expensive exotic secret vacation or fix my falling down crumbling chateau? Duh, vacation of course!

 

[Toys in the attic]

In recent days, British TV news has been reporting the arrest in Rumania of social media influencer, Andrew Tate, on human trafficking and sexual charges. A whole fleet of luxury cars was shown being seized by police at one of his properties in Rumania. Part of the investigation will be to see whether his money was coming from social media revenue or from human trafficking.

I would expect that, depending on what this and other investigations find, the EU and other countries may change their legislation or procedures to bring closer scrutiny on social media platforms and the incomes of those earning from them.

Time to get those accounts in order, Ms Jarvis!

 

[Jules100]

I have linen napkins. I wash them in the washing machine, then lay them flat to air dry, no starch because hey it’s linen. Since Thanksgiving, I also have matching tablecloths. If anyone would blow their nose into my fancy, yet cool and casual linen napkins, I would throw them away, be really pissed and hold a grudge. I’m not touching other people’s gross stuff.

 

[Iolair]

During the gift grab today surprised no one commented on Fanny calling Ruby "her" corrected by Natty followed by Snorts saying gender is just a social constraint..Hmmm, might this count as an announcement by Snorts, maybe "she" was telling us something.

I watched the gift grab. I wasn't going to because however sickened by it all, I can never really think of some pithy comment to post here in display of my disgust at their wanton greed and false sincerity. However, right when it was revealed that the vacuous cloying Fanny has (wtf!) no idea what sex her own cat is, and Little Lord Fondletoy made his 'construct' comment, my black Oriental cat Jaiya (male) projectile vomited across my desk. So... thank you my sweet Jai for so expressively summing up what I could not put into words. You deserve a treat!

 

[MRShavershamsdress]

BREAKING NEWS: Kween Kathy is retiring her flog! Fed up with the negativity effecting her life. Can’t says that I blame her. Even the most well intentioned, thick skinned person can succumb to the effects of negativity if hit on a daily basis! Bonne chance and Godspeed Kathy.

 

[Le Comte de Monte Cristo]

Oh, ok. Saw something on her YouTube. I'll have another look.

Here you go. It was on her community Page. I don't usually go here but it came up in my feed!

And @Madame No seems to get a "special mention" too!

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i have the feeling Kathy hasnt read the whole thread...and missed the fact that this was a joke and not even Dans car...i have to blame Kathy for that...being on her high horse...she always seems to be on her high horse when something isnt to her liking...well i should say to her...read the context first...i hope you enjoy your read on Harries book...

 

[TorontoGWM]

Saint Kathy knows all.

By the way, Kathy is not an actual Saint or nun. Just making sure there is no misunderstanding. Don’t want to spread false facts.

 

[Le Comte de Monte Cristo]

All this fool needs is a tutu


We always had longterm staff. My parent's cook had been with them for 46 years. Then retired and retired to a cottage so was around my whole life.

we also always had staff...but we always throw our mess away ourselves...having staff doesnt mean you have to act as a pig yourself...i sometimes m clean the kitchen.myself..when i have the time.....i dont see why i shouldnt be doing that...just because you have staff?? Next month when we have the springclean i am also hands on..i actually like it..it great fun..the interaction with all the ladies who come from the village to help...they get paid...but we all have a great time together..and we always laugh a lott..

 

[graciemckitten]

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Stephanie Waters
55 minutes ago
Mary! What amazing creations! I don’t even know how you managed it! Beautiful gifts from everyone. Philip: I like the scroll at the bottom-but it was a little too fast for me. Steph-I could use a vlog that spends some time on each of Mary’s creations. I’m so curious what the rest of them look like!
REPLY
caroline gooder
16 minutes ago
Go to the description. It has from the beginning to Nov 2022. Watch the ads.

Çaroline “No Gooder” has rapidly reached obsessive stalker territory with her detailed knowledge to quickly answer every question from viewers and her zeal to instruct viewers to “watch the ads” in order to provide F4F with more ad money to use for rarely verified transactional “donations” to “charities” which provide backdoor benefits to Fanny personally. Who knows if some of the “donations” were ever actually paid by F4F. She usually shows no proof of donations, and just merely “talks” about making donations.

And, as we all know, under modified Rule No. 1 at Lie Lande, if Fanny’s lips are moving or if she is typing, there is a more 75% chance she is lying.

 

[KyBourbon]

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Yel I
4 hours ago
Strange cos it's been snowing all around France for 3 days now ?

Stephanie has proven that once a vlogger has a following, they can put out total crap and deluded fans will eat it up. Snorts doesn’t need to be a terrific editor….he doesn’t even need to be a good editor! He just needs to crap out a video…her crazy fans will love it and her detractors will hate it. She just has to keep feeding the crazies and they come back for more.