Alright, let’s talk about this mix: rubber, volleyball, engineer, board, timber. Sounds like a weird weekend project, doesn’t it? It kinda takes me back, actually. Not to building something specific with those exact things, but more the feeling of a project I got myself tangled in a while back.

It wasn’t a paying gig, more like a community thing. We were trying to fix up this old recreational space. You know the type. Everyone had big ideas, but not much cash or, honestly, much clue.

Getting Started

So, picture this: we had a plan, sort of. More like a rough sketch on a napkin. That was our ‘blueprint’. We needed a backboard for basketball, some benches, stuff like that. We managed to scrounge up some materials. Lots of old timber, mostly warped. Found a few decent sheets of thick plywood, a usable board here and there.

I got nominated as the ‘engineer‘ of the group, mostly because I owned a tape measure and wasn’t afraid to use a saw. Wasn’t exactly qualified, you know? More like the guy willing to get his hands dirty. My main job was figuring out how to make something solid out of the junk we had.

The Messy Middle

The whole process felt like a clumsy volleyball match. Ideas kept getting bounced around, usually hitting the ground. Someone wanted to use old tires – the rubber kind – filled with concrete for bases. Sounded easy, turned out incredibly messy and heavy. We tried it for one bench. Never again.

• Cutting the warped timber was a nightmare. Nothing was straight.
• Trying to attach the main backboard so it wouldn’t wobble took ages. Lots of trial and error. Shims everywhere.
• We even tried putting some thick rubber matting we found onto one surface, thinking it might be safer or something? Looked terrible, ripped it off.

It felt like we were constantly patching things up, making do. One step forward, two steps back. The ‘engineer‘ in me (ha!) was mostly just figuring out how to brace things so they wouldn’t fall apart immediately. We weren’t building fine furniture; we were just trying to make something vaguely usable before everyone lost interest.

Wrapping It Up (Sort Of)

In the end, we got… something. A backboard that leaned a bit. Benches that were definitely ‘rustic’. It wasn’t pretty. But people actually used it. Kids played ball, folks sat on the questionable benches.

Looking back, it was chaos. Pure, unadulterated, make-it-up-as-you-go chaos. But, you know, it was also kind of satisfying. Taking a pile of scrap timber and dodgy boards, throwing in some questionable rubber ideas, playing that back-and-forth project volleyball, and having the ‘engineer‘ somehow hold it together… it worked. Barely. But it worked.

It taught me a lot about just starting, even if you don’t have the perfect materials or a perfect plan. Sometimes you just gotta work with the junk you’ve got. It’s a good reminder, honestly. Not every project needs to be polished. Sometimes, ‘good enough’ is actually pretty great.