You have my sympathies. Sorta like you've got the worst of both worlds. All the complexity of a visual with few of the benefits.
ONe point to keep in mind... alot of the folks here write very complex apps that have to share data. Just because tables are a part of a DBC doesn't mean you can get to them for other applications.
But, I've heard of similar resistence.
There are a number of excellent books on VFP. Go to
www.hentzenwerke.com for a list of the ones they publish.