You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

Hey everyone, I found this little list while I was digging through some of my old school stuff. Some members of our team made this list up at about 2 or 3 am on the way back from nationals. So please enjoy and feel free to add your own.

10 things that tell you if you've been in FIRST too long (courtesy of 677):

1. You know all the words to the Vengaboys Party Album
2. Red Bull and coffee are food groups
3. You start incorporating you mentors' mannerisms into you own everyday life
4. Your mentors no longer feel bad about calling you names
5. 3 AM becomes an early time to go to bed
6. When "CAR" does not refer to a moving vehicle
7. When one of your team members is considered a possession of VEX
8. When baked goods are the preferred form of currency
9. You spend Easter Sunday inside Home Depot looking for the PERFECT pair of safety glasses
10. You know stories about your mentors' childhoods complete with song and dance

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

11) Half the things (or more) in the You Know You're Addicted to FIRST When... thread apply to you.

12) You don't have a life outside robotics anymore.

13) You start losing track of how old your team really is and which game (or robot) is from which year.

(Uhoh. At least numbers 12 and 13 apply to me... :ahh: )

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

Shouldn't "2. Red Bull and coffee are food groups" be "2. The three sides of the food tetra are Caffinated Drinks, Coffee, and Pizza." ?

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

There are some here: http://www.first-a-holics.com/symptoms.html

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

when you can say back in my day, and state an interesting anecdote about how you used to build the robots.

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

And you had to walk uphill both ways, in the snow to get to the shop ;)

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

In your bare feet.

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

while pulling your donkey towed lathe

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

14) Your team has actually been snowed into your shop* trying to finish your robot to meet the ship deadline.

15) You actually understand the true meaning of FIRST, and you're loving it.

16) You now try to get everyone else around you involved in FIRST, until their faces glaze over because you talk to them so much about it.


*This actually did happen to our team a few years ago. There was about 18 or so inches of snow during the day while we were working at the school shop, and when we decided to try to leave, the team could not get the doors to open because too much snow had piled up against them. It was too late at night (about 2 AM) to call someone's family to dig us out, so our team cleared off the work tables and slept there for the night.

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

a couple from team 418

when you are outside the shop and notice how contruction equipment works
when pizza folding becomes an issue
when building a paper airplane, you draw it in inventor and put fold lines on it
doesn't all food come with aluminum flakes and sawdust in it?
when you would prefer to be in the shop than at home (even in off-season)

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

You first design your pumpkin (down to the mm) in inventor before even touching or carving it... oh, wait... that's what I spent my day doing....

You look forward to kickoff more then Christmas (or whatever you celebrate)

You have had plans to spray paint a giant FIRST logo on the floor of the quad... never gonna happen, anyway....

You design gearboxes, arms, and other strange FIRST related devices all over napkins at resturaunts, then attempt to explain the diagrams to confused waitpersons.

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

eh. i always knew christmas was overrated anyway. now kickoff is the real holiday!

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

When you are on Chief Delphi checking out everything and anything.

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

You still remember the calibration procedure for a Tekin speed controller...

Re: You know you've been in FIRST too long...
 

You remember seeing Dave L. in a tie and sport coat but you can't remember where it was.

Ken