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

[dipmeinaluminum]

I know your addicted to first when...

I get a tattoo of the innovation controller. and yeah it did hurt.

[Jeff Rodriguez]

...you give presentations about FIRST in spanish class.

[ALIBI]

.... my two teenage sons start calling off team names as the speedometer goes up while driving down the road. My youngest wants to be able to say "WildStang"! Although, most times I prefer the "Beast" or "Hot"! Maybe someday I'll treat the kids to the "WO-BOT"!

[Joe Matt]

Originally Posted by Ogre

...you give presentations about FIRST in spanish class.

Tehehehehe

I'm doing a persuasive speaking speech on FIRST in about 2 hours. Attention grabber, proof of authority, etc.

[Otaku]

Originally Posted by dipmeinaluminum

I know your addicted to first when...

I get a tattoo of the innovation controller. and yeah it did hurt.

I saw that, and it was AWESOME.

[StephLee]

Originally Posted by ALIBI

.... my two teenage sons start calling off team names as the speedometer goes up while driving down the road. My youngest wants to be able to say "WildStang"! Although, most times I prefer the "Beast" or "Hot"! Maybe someday I'll treat the kids to the "WO-BOT"!

I know some people on the team who should NOT see this post...that's just too tempting of an idea.

You know you're addicted to FIRST when you warn your teachers a week in advance that you'll be paying very little attention for the entire week of Championship; you'll be too busy wishing you were there and trying to sneak a peek at the webcast. (Yay for understanding teachers!)

...When it's the day everyone has left to go to Atlanta...you know that a large contingent if not the majority of FIRST'ers are in Atlanta at the Championship event, not checking/posting on Chief Delphi...and you are still checking CD simply because that's what any sane person would do at 5:40am.

Or something like that.

[StephLee]

...you wear buttons/bandanas to school from the teams you're keeping a close eye on in Atlanta.

...you also wear t-shirts from Atlanta, and your sweatshirt from last year.

[ScoutingNerd175]

While studying for a Physics mid-term, you have to tell your friend to hit you if you mention Championships again because you keep talking about robots when you should be talking about rolling without slipping, massless pulleys, and frictionless turn tables. Even though you aren't going to championships.

[ambie_o7]

...you posted on this thread with more than one team number...
...you stay up late making a spreadsheet of each event station with each team and the amount of ringers they hung, their strong and weak points, and if they can score and descore points...
...this is the second time within the last month or so that you've done this...
...you do all of this while knowing that you have 2 chapters worth of calc, 2 chapters of latin, and 4 essays to write because you've missed about 10 days of school this semester...
...you're sick of airports because you've made 3 round trip flights (2 of which are to the mainland) within 4 weeks, from the big island of hawaii...

[Storcky]

...you STILL carry your safety glasses in your coat pocket a month after your last regional
...you beg and plead to all of your teachers to let you watch the webcast
...you have a legit reason for how robotics is related to each class and why we should get to watch it
...all of your teachers would consent if they had the correct technology
...you wear your team shirt and a necklace with all of the buttons of teams that you know that are going to Atlanta to school and end up sounding like windchimes, but really don't care
...you try to make out the speeches of the opening ceremony by lip-reading because the computer that you are watching the webcast on has no sound

[Zyik]

... When your on spring break and all you can think of are robots.
... When you know theres other thingsyou should be doing, but your too focused on robotics to do them
... When you spend all your time wishing you were in Atlanta
... When you keep trying to contact other teams your friends with, even though you know they won't respond.

[JBotAlan]

When you've decided that you are wearing the championships team party armband until due to wear it no longer complies with the FIRST logo guidelines.
When your friends all tune out whenever you mention robotics or anything related to the Segway.
When you see a worm gear pictured in your physics book and notice that you'd better let the mechanical team know--there's no grease on it.
When your boss immediately assumes that when you mention you will not be able to work certain days that you are doing something FIRST related.
When your teachers have given up on trying to get your late work from you; they take it "whenever they get it".

[Storcky]

...you spend all afternoon on Saturday of Championships watching robotics, then spend approximately 5 minutes getting ready to go to a dance afterwards

...you attend the dance wearing a long dressy dress...and the 375 bandanna in your hair to celebrate their National Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" Award

...you freak out when you find out that your after-prom is called "007 in 07" and wonder if you can invite 007 or at least their robot to come

[BlondeNerd]

...everyone on the same MARTA trains as your team in Atlanta now knows about FIRST

....The pilot of the plane you took home also knows about FIRST

...you are more excited about the fact that Dean Kamen signed your robot than your upcoming birthday

[cooker52]

...When all you can talk about on the way home is about the IRI in July.
...When you talk about making a segway and designing it on the way home (all of our mentors just sighed at us, and looked like that wanted nothing to do with it)
...You hate the fact that your dad is going to kick you off of your only connection to any other robotics teams.

[Dizzy_Lizzy]

... you have loads of work to do but blow off your frees watching the webcast of Atlanta wishing you were there
... you get home and find at least three pairs of safety goggles in your bag
...you plan your team's trip to Atlanta when you're not even going
..you wear the buttons and bandanas of the teams you're supporting at nationals, around your house

[ambie_o7]

your team becomes your "ohana" *giggles* hawaii joke

[vic burg]

....you continue attending championships even though you are sick.
....you cheer during the matches even though you can't talk.
....you are sad that you came back from championships with only one shirt from other teams.
....ChiefDelphi is the only site you want to visit DURING competition. lol
....even though your mom goes to championships with you and you know she doesn't understand 'robot talk', you still talk like she understands you.
....you come back from a competition and 3 days later you are still talking in 'robot code'.
....you make references to real life using terms associated with ther current and past fields and games.
....you understand all of those references.

Edit:
....you are already planning off-season events.
....2 flashdrives at 1 gig each aren't big enough to hold all your robotics pictures. from one year.
....you think of things to put on CD while doing other things then forget once you finally get on CD. ((more of a CD addiction, really))
lol

[raymaniac]

You're suffering from Championship Withdrawal

[waiakea11]

...you wonder what life will be like when robotics ends...
...you attend the championships and you wonder how you got there...
...you just got off a plane from oahu after missing your flight to hilo because the plane from atlanta was delayed...
...in the whole experience you notice that you took a total of 8 planes, 2 for your regional, and 6 planes to atlanta and back to hawaii...
...you start to panick if you got more then 5 hours of sleep in one night...
...you realize that your friend has a hat full of buttons in his suitcase plus more...
...your group dosnt want to leave the airport because the bonding that went on was too much to just leave behind...
...you already plan for the next upcoming trip on oahu for another competition that you notice you only have a week to complete because you were working on first...
...you are still running off caffine from the coke you drand yesterday...

[Zyik]

... Your still on competition reflexes
... When people start saying "Awwww" you look for the fallen robot
... Whenever you hear music you want to start dancing
... your constantly hearing music from competition
... you can't get the one two step out of your head

[StephLee]

Originally Posted by raymaniac

You're suffering from Championship Withdrawal

When you're getting withdrawal, and you didn't even *go* to Championship this year!

[Graham Donaldson]

When even though the season is over, you still spend your mornings going on CD. A team member comes in, shakes his head at you, and then goes on CD himself.

[vic burg]

....when you absolutely FREAK OUT after meeting Woodie Flowers, Dave Lavery, and Dean Kamen....even though you've meet them all before.... but you got to see them al again on the same day!!!!.... and 2 of them signed the same shirt!!!!....and you try telling your non-robotics friends about these awesome guys but they jsut stare at you like your retarded.
....the only way you got away with going to championships was because your spring break was between your second regional and then.

[BlondeNerd]

...when all you ask for for your birthday is FIRST Robots: Behind the Design...and you get it

...When you take it to school and show all your non-robot friends, despite much eye-rolling

[BrittanyV]

You have your own personal Lego Talbe in the basement. Yes, I really do.

[Graham Donaldson]

Originally Posted by vic burg

....when you absolutely FREAK OUT after meeting Woodie Flowers, Dave Lavery, and Dean Kamen....even though you've meet them all before.... but you got to see them al again on the same day!!!!.... and 2 of them signed the same shirt!!!!....and you try telling your non-robotics friends about these awesome guys but they jsut stare at you like your retarded.

... When you're at the Atlanta airport waiting in the line to go through security. You see Woody and a woman (who you assume is his wife) talking, standing in the opposite line (the ATL airport has two lines, they snake around each other, etc...). You watch Woody as he goes through the security lines, seeing how close he'll get to you so that you can get his autograph (on a printed-out sheet of HW no less). Finally, right at the end, he's as close to you as he's been, and you reach across another line to hand him the paper and a pen. He signs it, and goes into security. You gloat to your team that you got Woody's autograph. Then, after the team has gone through, you see Woody standing there. The team goes over and mobs him. ~5 people pull out their boarding pass envelopes and have him sign those. Someone on the team finds a button in their bag, and someone else pulls an unworn shirt out of their carryon. You give them to him, and let him go (this is after like 10 mins). After he leaves, your coach comments that everyone else in security probably went through scratching their heads in confusion because they couldn't figure out who he was but we were treating like a rockstar/celebrity/______.

^^- so much fun...

[Taraxacum]

....when you put on a pair of safety glasses and they make feel at home.

(as well as extremely miss the pits.)

[Zyik]

... When you spend all of one class period looking through the text book to see what specifically numbered pages have on them. Aka, what your favorite team numbers have on their page.

[raymaniac]

Originally Posted by Zyik

... When you spend all of one class period looking through the text book to see what specifically numbered pages have on them. Aka, what your favorite team numbers have on their page.

Now I'm going to have to do that next time I get bored in class (which shouldn't take too long)

[ambie_o7]

...you can do a head count and tell exactly who is missing from the team at the school assemby...
...when the Lt. Gov. of your state knows your name because he flew to GA to support your team...
...when you have successfully memorized all the songs that were played at nationals and regionals...
...when you speak fluent robotics language to others and wonder why they're looking at you funny...
...when you finally realize that you missed a week of school for the atlanta trip, that you have a weeks worth of quizzes and hw to do, and that your team is flying out tomorrow night for another robotics competition...
...when you and your boyfriend (who was on the robotics team, but graded last year) compete to see who is better at robotics...

[Nica F.]

(I just had to share this because it's really funny to me)


You know you're addicted to FIRST when during your free time at the Las Vegas Regional, you have the reflex to put on your safety glasses without realizing youre entering a casino and not the event...


...resulting in you looking like an idiot with your safety glasses on in New York New York for over 30 minutes

[popo308]

You get staight C's second semester because of robotics

You sneek into the bot shop some nights to work on the robot because it could be "better"

You are always thinking about ways to improve the robot when you arn't actually improving it

All you think about is robotics

Robotics come above a g/f

You are always eating pizza or fast food

Ductape is your best friend

You would rather stay and work through dinner than drive to subway and eat

You think FIRST should be a year round thing with a competition in the winter and then one in the summer.

You love the segway

Dean Kamen is you idle

You have tried to skip school to go to the shop and work on the robot

You have spent some school nights at the bot shop at 3 AM and completely forgot you had homework, went home, said "screw it" and fell asleep

You have sat in class without taking note or paying attention daydreaming about FIRST

You have made inventor sketches of the robot in CAD class instead of the project you are supposed to be doing

You have used metal shop to make robot parts instead of the projects the teacher assigns you

I might have more but its to late to think





MUST EAT MORE FOOD

[ambie_o7]

...you have graduated from high school after attending 8 robotics competitions, 2 mini robotics competition, taught at 2 summer camps, designed a robotics challenge, and are currently planning to attend ANOTHER robotics competition (botball nationals) just becasue!

...on the day after graduation you wonder what the robotics team is doing tomorrow in school...

...you miss having daily robotics meetings...

...you can tell exactly what lego peice you have as soon as you touch it, without looking...

...your team wonders what they will do with out you, and you wonder what you will do without them in college... then realize your robotics friends who have already graduated within the last 4 years have been waiting for you at college...

[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?