just accept what you are!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I said some things here a while ago about starting a new business, basically I have been trying to rUn from what I am because of shaping machines and chinese imports, well the truth comes when you are at your lowest and I make my best decisions then. I was working on an exclusive coffe van, with tucker for a very exclusive place around here, I met with everyone from the mayor to , all of them, I stood up in front of the whole council, with an audience, fuck that was a shock, I had just come back from the Mentawaiis and thought it was a private meeting, anyway, I had a moment last friday when I was shaping a board and this is it, I am a surfer shaper, I was , I am and I was going to risk my home to  do something I know nothing abt,to work 7 days a week, now I know, I went to the printer today and ordered some some car stickers, JOHN HARRIS SURFBOARDS 0424939660 SUPPORT AUSTRALIAN CRAFTSMEN, I know this is mainly an American site and your dollar sucks now, lol, Im not having a go at you, my mates over there cant buy my boards, I guess its better to go down slowly doing what you love than fucking right up, if anyone wants a sticker, pm me, cheers H.

By geezus Harry Im chockn on me sparklin ale here ol mate
Im with you…
Is there a support group…?
Count me in.

put a sticker on your car, oh it does mention , handshaping since 1970, and make the next one colder.

hey the coffee van was gonna cost 80 grand, the stickers are 150 for 50 , so I will have to be tight with them haha , I reckon Yorky will want one, I will put one of his on my car.

Coffee truck? Why would you have to work it? Can’t you hire cheap labor?

LOL!

Harris send me a sticker to put on the shop window.

The Boyz will love it.

PT’s kid allways comes to the shop.

It would be nice to Have some OZ sticker on the front window.

Hope you find your sweet spot!

Let me know how much $ to send.

Our money is not worth anything however I can have it converted at the airport into Austrialian $?

 

Kind regards,

surfding

Good move, I think, Harris.

I think that there are a lot of us looking at some kind of major change in livelihood these days. I think that the empire of finance that has been building (on a spurious foundation) is pretty clearly in the process of crumbling. The world economy, and domestic economies all round will be looking so different as to be almost unrecognizable in the next five years.

I think that low-capital indie businesses are actually going to be in a much better position - the easy, cheap trade days are going to end soon, and those that are more local and low-capital will actually fare better. I think it will be a rough transition, but if you can hold on for a few years, I think that you will positioned well.

And yeah, especially stick with what you are!

Once someone gets a board, the waves are free, that will be a factor, too.

Just my 2 cents.

We seem to be living in opposite world; where the people who deserve and merit respect are marginalized by far less talented people.  Its not easy to shape a good surfboard, but anyone can shape a surfboard.  It all starts with the shape, and those who have the ability to interpret and transform whatever medium into something useful, tangible, and sexy, but at the same time what board will work great for one surfer is exactly the wrong kind of board for another guy.

A major stumbling block to becoming a master shaper is the dichotomy between  spending thankless hours, with foam filled eyes, sweating, straining, feeling, and envisioning how a board will react to all situations, or marketing, self-promoting, relying on machines and  others to make them look good, to a surfing populace, more driven by fashion than function.

And most of the guys calling themselves master shapers, just plain are not.  Harris I feel your pain.  God Bless You!

mate, count me in, I will have a sticker, will pm you for sure

mate, count me in, I will have a sticker, will pm you for sure

Hey, gotta have a second income, I think you can get that cat-poop high dollar coffee in the Mentawis no?

No Harris, this is a global site, for surfer / shaper / craftsmen (craftspersons) gotta be PC, worldwide, not faceless sweatshop workers that have no clue as to what they are “working” on or where, or what it is used for. I wish you much success on your endeavor

i did along time ago...........

dust in the wind.

can you hear me whistle by?

herb

Great stuff harris, send me one too. Will pm address, pop it in an envelope if you want.

Being a steelworker at the moment is fun. If i lose my job soon, my choices will be

  1. Stay home and earn half what i do now, workin mon to fri, and seeing my family everyday, and still surfing almost as much as now ( although i’ll have to join the weekend hoardes sometimes ).

  2. Fly across the country for 14 days, then home for 14 days, and earn double what i earn now, but go 2 weeks without wife,kids,surf.

A smart decision would be to earn the cash, but i just dunno if i could do it, not even for the big bucks they’re throwing.

Im not worried though, could be much worse, and i’ve been through it before. No point worrying about what you can’t control!.

Good luck with it mate

dbl

I have an empty take away coffee cup sitting on the table of our market stall.

We make water bottle carriers, coin purses, glasses cases, shoulder bags out of fabric hand woven by our Lisu hilltribe family as well as didgeridoo, djembe drum and cigar box guitar covers.

On the top of the coffee cup is a square of cardboard with this written on it.

"A $5 cup of coffee lasts minutes. Our $5 products last years!

Wow, thanks guys, I really appreciate it. They are just stickers, but I was really trying to run from it, what I am. I tried the magazine adds, giving away a few boards, the 10 world champions I have shaped boards for always paid, decent guys and 1 woman, but nothing really worked as the computer took off. Some said there will always be a place for handshapers, not really buying that as things get harder. Here at the moment, in the supermarkets, it looks like war time, no working men around. They are all away working, either in the mines in WA or the builders up in northern Queensland repairing the cyclone damage. I don't expect much and Ghetto, there is no pain , more relief, just to realise what I am. I reckon $3.15 a sticker is cheap, and its not like I have to buy a thousand, same price for 10, so I will send them anywhere for you, change the names have some fun, make some yourself, fuck machines I have always said, because make no mistake, without them China would not be flooding our countries with cheap boards, so good for you guys and thanks again, H. ps I am really a 1%er, to live the life I have.

I'm a blue collar man.....I work with my hands and my back.....my trick is I work odd hours so I can surf.....whenever I can...

I don't have a "Dream Job".....I have a good job...and it's close to the coast. Work hard....Do what you gotta do.

I'll take a sticker.....

Stingray

Mate , your 2 cents are worth a lot, hang in is good advice, the guys that tried to take over the world here are in trouble, thanks for your support and wisdom, cheers H.

well john the big difference is its in your blood you just cant walk away?

just like this silly old cnut i do it cause i love it

**but i dont have to give a shit about the market place or there thumb drive jockys they will E  AT EACH OTHER
**

john  ya  gota turn the kids around     custom is alive and well

good shapes good foam well thought out glasswork

stand behind your product   the grape vine is large these days

 

cheers huie

**  oh and send me a sticker
**

by carrier pidgeon, or do you have an address on the the island, and no one thinks ure a silly old cnut here, some might think ure a cnut, not me , cheers Mate.