@pjwestin @nateno12 I see your point, but Star Trek has a long history of ignoring that sort of thing, or at best giving a nod to it as they decide against it. TNG - was ANYONE promoted before Worf in Generations? Oh, yes, Deanna became a full Commander, but she had to specifically seek it out - it was clear she could have remained at her lower rank indefinitely, as long as she didn't want to jump into Command track. Certainly Riker stayed where he was for an unbelievable time. DS9 - Sisko got a promotion, Jadzia got a promotion to command Defiant, but Julian, Miles, and Odo stayed at the same rank the whole time, and Nerys only got bumped to Colonel near the end of the series. Voyager is a special case, but even so, Ensign Kim is a running joke in the fandom. We've seen very old lieutenants including Picard himself in Tapestry. And those are heroes on the hero-ships right at the front lines of the biggest events in the Federation. Our merry little Lower Deckers could stay at their current ranks for a long time, even while exhibiting great personal growth, without it being unbelievable.
@foofiepie @wjrii Shapeways was my go-to for awhile, and they have an amazing variety of materials they can do. But for your basic PLA/PETG pieces, it doesn't take very many orders to make buying your own printer cost-effective.
@RealFknNito @A_magician_named_Gob
You're right, that does make more sense, but...yes. Even tap water varies greatly from city to city or region to region. It took my Hoosier wife a long time to adjust to Georgia water when we retired down here, and she still only drinks it filtered through the refrigerator spigot.
@thantik @scross01
"Printables gives points that can go toward getting their filament..."
Yep, that's why I post my stuff there. I also like the badge system they have, especially that some of the badges are themselves printable. It's silly to print them and display them near your printer...but I'm just that silly. https://www.printables.com/@MarkHall