Who is this "Johanna" person?

[Rawhide]

Wow Johanna, I've got a tear welling up. This is my first reading of this post. To come through so much and never stop acheiving is amazing. I thank you and all that aide this forum. I think your vision of what it was to be has come to be and much more.

And to think you're allergic to leather is another amazing feat, that you seem to still overcome. I'm simply humbled.

You deserve to be the Queen of the crop!!

[Johanna]

Marlon-The more I'm around leather, the better my immune system tolerates it, and I usually only get hives. I can't wear raw veggie tanned leather against my skin though...Let's say I'm "sensitive" to leather.

We're putting the old posts back in one-at-a-time, and this is the only thread that got a bump. Did any of you "old timers" who posted in the original thread (2006-07) get an email notification? I'd like to know if that is working or not for the older posts. Let me know if you got a notification for this thread, and whether you posted or were subscribed to it.

Texas Jack- If you look at the date on this thread, it was started about two weeks after the board was originally set up in the summer of '06. We had a server fail about a year ago, and though we had back ups of the threads, we weren't able to make them show because we were missing some key parts of the table structure in the database. (Failing servers don't make good back ups!) Kate, who is a gifted leather artist, is also a geek, and she wrote some code I don't understand and figured out how to fix what was broken. I didn't mean to sound like I was tooting my own horn, but with all the "thank yous" in that thread, I wanted to point out that it's a lot more people than me making LW possible!

For those of you who wanted another update (one of you said my life would make a good soap opera- you don't know the half of it! )

Jane is 10 and in the 5th grade now, and Jack is about to be 9 and in the 3rd Grade. Jane knows more about my cell phone than I do, and Jack likes Carlos Santana and ZZ Top and wants to play the guitar like them. I am relieved that he doesn't care much for the pop music of his generation, because Jane makes me listen to enough of it. Both of them would like to do more in the leather shop than I will let them, but taking the kids into the shop has saved my sanity more than once. Busy hands aren't getting into trouble! Jane likes to braid and bead, Jack likes to stamp and generally hit things with my hammers and mallets. Wade's son, Zack, 14, shows an actual talent for leatherwork and I probably should encourage him more, but then he might get bitten by the leatherworking bug and develop a tool addiction, and it would be all my fault. We call Wade's daughter "Marilyn" after the girl on the Munsters who was so normal on Mockingbird Drive. Seriously- the one dog has two different colored eyes, the cat has deformed toes and the other dog should probably be on Prozac because he won't get off the couch and we think he's depressed. Everybody here has issues, including me. Life is good here in Ohio, and I'd be okay if there were just more hours in the day to get things done. I make websites and mop the floors. I can't complain, but as one saddlemaker told me, "Kids are quite a price to pay for a few hours of nekkid fun, huh?" I can't imagine life without them, but they keep me hopping. They are 14, 12, 10 & 9 and all you parents are nodding your heads right now. You've been here. Someday maybe they will all grow up and move out, and we will have the house to ourselves, and find things where we last set them down again, but that is just a dream right now, and I can't allow myself to get too caught up in the fantasy. I'm just happy when there is enough hot water for my bath. In my spare time, I do different things for the local historical associations, garden and do my flowerbeds, and take the kids to Pennsylvania whenever I get homesick for the hills. I do a couple of websites for guilds even though extracting content from them is like pulling teeth. The newest guild is in Cincinnati, and they are planning to apply for IFoLG membership in Indianapolis this fall. If you live anywhere in the tri state area (Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio) call the Tandy store and ask for Micheal. He's putting together another dynamic group of people who love the leather. It gets in the blood.

Now, everyone get back to work! You aren't making any money surfing the forum when you could be at the bench!

Johanna

[hidepounder]

As a newcomer, this is the first time I've seen this thread! You had told me some of your background, Johanna, but I have really enjoyed reading the "rest of the story". It's neat to have some insight into the person who is responsible for creating, what I believe is, one of the most important and enjoyable places a leather enthusiast can be!

Thanks to you and your team, I have had the privelege of meeting some of the nicest people I know...pro's and novices alike. Every day I log on and read the new posts and learn something valuable that I didn't know...happened again today...and I've gained a new appreciation for other types of leather work presented on this site, I otherwise, would never have been exposed to, if this forum didn't exist.

I never imagined I would ever join a chat room! Now I can't wait to log on in the evening and talk with the "gang", from all over the world...Austrailia, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, UK, all over the US and in all walks of life...geeks, cops, cowboys, bikers, soldiers and everyone in between...all gibbering away like we've known each other for years....bound only by the common thread which is this forum...wow!

As your story unfolds, so does ours at LW...that's pretty cool when I think about it. So, I too, would like to thank you and your "crew", Johanna, for all the hard work and the endless hours all of you put in, to make LW what it is now...and what I'm confident it will be, in the many years to come.

Beat Wishes,

Bob

[JAM]

Johanna, add my thanks to this long list. I've made new friends around the country and around the world, and learned more than I ever thought could be found in an internet forum. And this community is special - so familial! Even the flames are entertaining!

"They don't pay you for what you do, they pay you for what you know." Plus, he had the tools and the expertise.

I needed to read this! Another gem from Leatherworker.net!

Thanks,

Julia

[King's X]

Ms. Johanna "Queen of the Crop"

to infinity and beyond!!

Happy New Years greeting from Round Rock, Texas

[TexasJack]

... They are 14, 12, 10 & 9 and all you parents are nodding your heads right now. You've been here. ....

Ouch! That's about the age where they cease to have "parents" and you become "those old people I live with".

My best wishes to you!

[Wyvern]

What an amazing story and life! Thank you so very much for starting this forum. It's an amazing place to hang out.

[CygnusX1]

(...Sure RAdio Shack answears the phone " you got questions , we've got answers" but they don't know butt itch about leather...So how can the say that !!!!??

ROTFL and CHOKEING! GREAT LINE!

They don't know anything about electronics either!

[Sasquatch]

I'm new here and don't post much but it makes me smile every time I log on to see all the new posts. There are stories that teach and those that inspire and loads that make you laugh. Thank you and your staff for what you have created for all of us, this is an amazing place. No need to be modest you have created a great thing. THANK YOU!

Michael.

[rivermountainman]

Thanks for sharing your story Johanna...

I too can see me spending alot of time around here, although I doubt I will be offering too much usefull information any time soon, more than likely just absorbing as much as I can being afreshman to leatherwork really....

Its a real treasure that forums such as thus exist, and just like you have stated, it's a real treat that so many are willing to share and help....

I take me hat of too ya good lady..

All the best

Matt

aka Rivermountainman