I’ve been using the GF at my makerspace for months now and have had access to this wonderful forum as as result. As I compared options for getting my own laser, there were a lot of factors, but one of the biggest is how supportive this community is. I couldn’t imagine leaving it behind. The irony is that Discourse has not been my biggest fan and I was regularly being blocked for replying too much! It has a bug where it says that as a “new user” I had posted too much on my “first day.”
Yesterday I snagged my GF from UPS (they really didn’t seem to want me to have it) and got my “Owner” badge. Suddenly, I’ve gone up three trust levels to regular overnight, which means I am now rewarded for my comments instead of penalized. Yay!
In any case, I’m looking forward to having more time to cut things and being able to contribute even deeper content to the community. Yes, this is sappy, but it’s this forum that ensured me that the purchase was a good one, that I already had all the skills I needed to get started, and that the font of inspiration runs deep. Thanks to everyone who has shared their incredible work, answered my questions, or just posted generally helpful info!