u/coffeemonkeypants

So recently I decided to get back into RC airplanes and found I could print my own - shout out Eclipson! I bought some expensive LW PLA and then made a mess. I dabble in 3d printing only. I make some woodworking jigs and little parts here and there. My printer mostly sits unused.

I also used to have a resin printer, but I quickly learned I did NOT have the ventilation or space (or patience) necessary for that hobby, so I got rid of it.

Anyway, I live in the LA area and it's dense here, but we surprisingly lack maker spaces like a lot of cities have. They're probably just too expensive to be worth it for the real estate. Still, I'm sure there's like a billion people near me with printers or other tools that already know how to print aero PLA, or can laser cut or whatever, but there wasn't an easy way to find them.

Well, my day job is working in software, so I figured I'd build something for this - makermesh.net

Quick note for whoever wants to roast this or be super cynical (or mods). I am super cynical. I think everything is a scam or a scheme. MakerMesh is totally free. It doesn't have ads. It never will because I fucking hate ads. I just figured there must be a lot of people who've got equipment and knowledge that might like to get to know local people who can help make stuff and maybe make a couple of bucks. The only 'monetization' is a simple donation link if people find the site useful.

It's pretty simple at it's core. You create a profile, explain what tools and skills you've got. A patron (or a fellow maker) can reach out with a project idea, a 3d file, link, whatever, and facilitate a conversation. The site even has a built in 3d file viewer, so you can get an idea of a model before downloading (files are scanned for viruses). How you price it, or not, is entirely up to you. MakerMesh doesn't handle transactions, take a cut, etc. It's a community endeavor.

As a patron, you can search nearby for people with talent, contact them and go from there or you can post a project without picking a maker if you don't know what you need. It has a very simple, positive rating system (and a reporting option in the unlikely event it comes to that). It's also very private. Unless the user's share their info, locations, emails, phone numbers are not publicized).

Anyway, that's it - I'm not selling anything, just trying to get local people together to make stuff. Please check it out and give it a spin.

Tl;Dr: I normally don't do these because reading is fundamental, but here - I made a totally free maker community site called makermesh.net and I'd like you to give it a try. Or don't if you don't want to.

Let me say this first - I'm a 50 year old dude who loves tennis. I play on a 3.5 and 4.0 USTA team. Overall, I just want to have fun and play with fun people. In fact, a couple weeks ago, my partner and I played doubles against a team and at the end of the match, one of our opponents said that was the best USTA match they've had. We had a blast, playing hard, complimenting each other's shots and generally bantering with each other.

I'll also preface this story with how I really need to work on my mental toughness, and I'm not without blame.

Anyway, So, let's set the stage. I'm playing S1 at some high school courts in the middle of a city, with a baseball game going on immediately next to us, fans, sirens, airplanes, the whole thing. We're in the 3rd game of the first set. It's 1-I hit a good serve on deuce, win the point, and now it is is ad-in. I'm standing on the baseline, bouncing the ball getting ready to serve, and my opponent just... walks off the court. He says nothing to me, and just walks over towards the other court. I'm like "what's going on?". He doesn't respond to me until he gets to the fence at the next court and says "Is this your captain?" He apparently complains to this person on my team (not my captain), that my wife - who has been sitting on my bench in the shade - can't be on the court with me. Her tiny golf claps are bothering him.

So, I walk up to this guy smiling, and I say "Dude, it's the middle of a game. Also, if she is bothering you so much, just tell, you know, ME, and I'll ask her to leave"

"No, I'll talk to your captain, I don't talk to you."

"My guy, this is 3.5 tennis. There's a whole ass baseball game going on over there, it's loud as shit. Again, act like an adult (the guy is around my age) and just say something to me"

My wife leaves the court, and he's now just complaining to me as I'm still standing there on the ad baseline ready to serve. So now I'm yelling at the guy - "Are you ready to play now or not? I've been standing here for 5 minutes at ad in. You have to play to my pace"

"Not if I have my hand up..." Da fuk. He's still not 'ready', as he's still running his mouth, so I just drop my racquet on the court, like are we done?

At this point, I have zero desire to play this guy at all, and I just want to grab my bag and go home - which is just sad - but you know, I just want to have a good time and a fun match.

Next thing, his son from the next court over starts yelling at me to just play "It's 3.5 tennis, just play!!" and I'm all "I'm trying to, and this isn't your concern".

We finally start playing again, and I finish the game. I honestly don't even know if I won or lost that game. I tell my captain that I think I just want to default, but he convinces me to 'not let him win' and we play on.

This guy then proceeded to play the most gamesmanship full match of tennis I've ever seen. Taking an eternity to get every ball - fucking stretching before points while I was serving. He also returned literally every serve I hit, even if it was like baseline deep - making me have to go retrieve a bunch of errant balls between serves.

I narrowly lost in the TB, sadly, but holy shit - I just wanted to quit tennis. Has anyone had this experience where an opponent just got in your head so much that you were just done? If this was for like, money or something I probably would have been able to deal with it better, but it was just one of those situations that I only played to not let my team down.

Anyway, there's no point to this, I just wanted to rant. Enjoy your day and hit them well.

Edit: thanks for all the kind replies. Also I actually played and beat this guy a few weeks ago at my home courts. He was pretty insufferable then too but what has now dawned on me, is that his team and possibly family were sitting on his bench and cheering him on in the second set. Of course I said nothing because I didn't care, let alone give it a second thought.