I can’t even BEGIN to drop all the names of people here who have helped out, inspired, and much much more, so I won’t even try. @ 10 name drops per post, it would take a while. Like many others getting into DIY I surfed around, spent a lot of time on ECF, Reddit, ATF, and more. Some good people, some good tips/help, but there was not a great VIBE that made it stick. What’s a VIBE ?? It’s something that when you DON’T have it, you can’t always put your finger on it, BUT your are left WANTING (i.e searching), but when you HAVE it, the search is OVER. I cannot even remember what random giggle search popped me up here, probably a recipe, which tossed me on the recipe side (forums, WHAT forums ?). Start clicking around, FOUND the forums, and started lurking. “Hmmmm, seems like a pretty cool crowd here, doing what I WANT to do, no flamers, no bashing, no bot moderation, … hmmmmmm, let me add it to my bookmarks and check back later”. Come back, same same, maybe time to make a post, and rinse and repeat.
I’m assuming many of you had the same experience out there on the WWW, lotta stuff out there, but just not quite the right VIBE to make you set up camp. As I said, just TOO damned many good people, mixers, friends here to list. There isn’t time, I’d never remember all, and forget someone. As best as I can remember, @TheTinMan was the first to figure out I wasn’t a total jackass, and we started talking. Everything happened following, as it should.
I’ve done props to ELR, and props to the ladies of ELR threads before, so this is no different. Nothing has changed, some more new faces, new mods, and @JoJo STILL hasn’t banned me yet, so that’s a good thing.
Rather than thank the few, thanks out to ALL of ELR.
P.S. Yes, I actually DO play the drums, and YES, I have a Steam Crave problem…
a much better tune to have stuck in ones head than Kumbaya 
🖒
. Come back petal!
Seriously, though, you’re an amazing mixer and I’ve learned so much from you.
Before this, I would never have picked myself as being the type to have any kind of leadership potential or people skills whatsoever. I came into this having never worked a “real” job, never moderated anything, and having no experience in anything of this sort. I saw myself as passive and my greatest potential strength as being able to follow orders. The knowledge I’ve gained has taught me to be confident and assertive when necessary, to manage a crisis calmly, to negotiate fairly, to navigate and resolve conflicts, to always look for the best in people, to communicate effectively even when I disagree, to accept that I cannot please everyone all the time, to admit when I am wrong, to make a decision and stick to it, to listen hard for the motives behind the words, the list goes on. I’m still far from mastering them, but these are lessons that will stay with me throughout my entire life and will likely have more impact on my future than anything I’ve learned in school the past five years. You have given me this gift and there are not enough words in either of our languages to say how humbled, honored, and grateful I am.