You know you're addicted to FIRST when...

[cooker52]

[quote=ambie_o7;632839...you can tell exactly what lego peice you have as soon as you touch it, without looking...[/QUOTE]

I could do that before I joined robotics.

...when the first thing you do in the morning is getting on CD.

[Blue_Mist]

- Five months later, you resurrect this thread after reading every single post over the course of a three-day weekend, occasionally bursting into maniacal laughter and alarming your mom working on the other computer, then wait wistfully for someone to post...

- You've read all the "You Know You've Overdosed on FIRST When..." posts, too, and posted there...

- You're playing Ultimate Frisbee, one of the guys who was welding two years ago runs across the field and you lose track of the person you're guarding because your mind is on bright light, hot aluminum and flying sparks...

- One day your team's driver is juggling a soccer ball and your mind suddenly darts to an OI design for this year... Then said driver bounces the ball in your direction, but you don't notice and almost kick the ball right in his face

- You are helping your younger brother with a school project that involves traditional Chinese pastries, discover you have extra dough and promptly make cookies in the form of the FIRST Logo

- You look up into the sky and realize that the clouds are making a collective triangle, circle and square in the sky...

- You are building a catapult for the Latin Convention, which is the weekend after Davis 2008, and you've had everything planned since September 2007 so that you didn't have to build during the Build Season

- Two thirds of the people on your catapult team are in Robotics and one is in Robotics, but doesn't actually take Latin

- A teacher mentions to a freshman that they should join the Robotics Club, and you jump for joy because they already have... the earlier you ensnare them the better...

- Most that I want to say has already been said, like sleep deprivation, seeing team numbers everywhere and writing papers about Robotics. In California, high schoolers take the Exit Exam to graduate and my English essay was about our build shop. Apparently, another teammate had done the same thing . The prompt was to write about a room that had character.

[mrbob1000]

i have actually noticed my teams number in random strings of integers...

anyway.

-when you reflash your roomba's firmware so you can add a home made bluetooth adapter and drive it with your phone or with a ps3 sixaxis controller.

[Katie_UPS]

....When you finally convice your school to veiw it as a sport.


(which is completely awesome by the way)

[Joe G.]

-When you remember IP addresses by team number.
-When you are watching Phelps at the Olympics, and think about how to build a robot to beat him.
-When you think that FIRST would do okay as an Olympic event.
-When you are doing summer work for your first physics class, and keep on having thoughts like "so thats why using all four wheels at angles on a holonomic drive is more efficient than using two at full power."
-When for your birthday, you only wand a few miscellaneous tools and parts for robots.
-When you don't know what you did on the computer before you got Inventor.
-When your avatar everywhere else is some miscellaneous robot part or tool, such as a chop saw blade (Its only one of my rockets here because here I don't get PM'd "Why is xxx your avatar" -- "Tells person about FIRST" here)
-When you recognize something, like Igus energy chain, from shows like How Its Made.
-When you already have a rough idea of what you will put in dave's "Okay, YOU design the 2010 game" thread next year.
-When you have ideas for robots for games that occurred several years before you joined FIRST.
-When you have convinced most of my younger brothers' friends to join FIRST next year.

EDIT: Sorry I accidentally revived this one, rather than posting the more active General Forum one. Could they be merged? Or would the sheer volume of posts occupy the moderators for weeks on end?

[darthfroggy]

when you read science fiction and think about how it would work then go and try making it

[SlaminSwimster]

when u watch eagle eye and start thinking about making a computer like that.

[typharn91]

When you tell your girlfriend that you want it to be kick off again so you can have your life back

[bobwrit]

...When you start redesigning last years robot so that it's a von neuman machine whenever your bored...

[synth3tk]

You know we're all addicted to FIRST when we can crash whole sites by clicking links in a Game Hint thread.

You know we're all addicted to FIRST when we cause Chief Delphi to become slow-as-a-snail....

[Nin_estarSaerah]

When you run around the house shouting joyfully about the game hint.

[JulieB]

When you are going to miss the SEC Championship Game to help with FLL.

ROLL TIDE

[xxsumz]

you realize that your becoming more and more like a robot

[synth3tk]

...you constantly "hint" to your mom that you'd rather get a gift card to The Home Depot over anything else, including that computer or guitar you've always wanted.

[BlondeNerd]

...you look up "FIRST" in the pieces of flair facebook application and giggle when one of the first results is an opah