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

[Joe Matt]

Originally posted by Scooter
- You earn the nickname "Scooter" because you love Segways so much
Bill B.

I'm Joseph, wanna be my friend. (BTW www.segwaychat.com)

-You wonder how specificly a Segway works.
-You wonder why they act up on moving things
-Your teacher head has 5 names you can call him (and one he dosn't like....)
-You'd rather play with the bot's programing than play Metroid Prime
-When asked how to reduce the weight of the robot, you respond "Anti-matter".
-Gerbal's CAN'T run your robot
-Gerbal's CAN run your car
-You want a Segway more than a car
-Car rimes with smar
-You listen to Blue Man Group just to stay awake doing homework (specificly, Opening Mandelbrot)

[Raven_Writer]

-.- When you sit at the dinner table, having a conversation about your day, then you say "So how was your FIRST day at school?"

[Ryan Foley]

- when you have 3 FIRST binders: the rule book/ manual, one for all the innovation first stuff you can get your hands on, and another with all the team stuff in it

- when you find that you spend most of your free time and class time drawing and designing robots

- when you are desperate to get your own Isaac 32 system

- you are willing to/ considering spending money most people would use to buy a car, to buy parts for your own robot

- when people ask you if you are going to the semi/ prom with the team robot

- when you talk to your mentors/ advisors more thn some of your friends

(edit, 2-15-03, 10:35PM)

-when you hear a number, you immediately attempt to recall the correspondin FIRST team name, school, and curent robot design

- you are the captain, only programmer, and the person who knows the electronics/ control system better than the rest of the tea (including the mentors/ advisors)

-checking mail becomes checking mail AND checking chief delphi

#1 reason for me:
- when your team is inactive for 2 years and you STILL spend most of your freetime doing stuff for the team, or FIRST related

[Raven_Writer]

Originally posted by Foley350
- when you find that you spend most of your free time and class time drawing and designing robots

- when you talk to your mentors/ advisors more thn some of your friends

Done both (acutally, 2 of our engineers recieve more mail from me, than I get from all the spam I recieve [which is bad]).

- when you figure out how to program the perfect bot.

[Vincent Chan]

--you make up pickup lines that only work with a robot. (e.g.: "Would you like to connect serial cables?" "I can program your drivetrain and pump your pistons.")

--you change movie quotes to incorporate electronics parts.

[Raven_Writer]

Those are pretty funny really.

-.- Your pickup lines mainly deal with wires, metal/steel, and ramps

[Matt Krass]

-- You made it this far in to the list

-- You can recite the whole thing without thining about it

[Daniel Brim]

...When You Come home on Valentines day and your candy heart has been eaten.

[DanLevin247]

..."checking your mail real quick" has turned into countless hours of sitting on CD


...you begin to think in |IF| |THEN| format

[skrussel]

..... you KNOW it's Valentine's Day, but you just can't leave to get something for your husband, because the robot is not done yet.

[WakeZero]

You know you are addicted to FIRST when you honestly think that telling your girlfriend you were late to dinner because you had to test out the drive system is a good excuse

[Vincent Chan]

I think the beauty of these is we've experienced them all...

Here's a few I left out while we were building (someone needed the computer to go through the shipping/drayage rules...):

--teenage females become dubbed 'the distraction' and are asked to leave the build area.

--zip ties are to FIRST as duct tape is to the universe.

--the soldering iron becomes known as the 'cauterizing iron.'

--you don't have time for food.

--the first thing that pops into your head when you hear 'build' is 'robotics.'

--you can't help but make a joke every time someone talks about 'nuts.'

--half the time your commands incorporate pauses in the wrong place so that what you're saying can be interpreted as something rather sexual.

[Curtis Williams]

...when your shopping list is: mountain dew, steel cable, pizza, bolts, mountain dew, pizza, #6 ring terminals, pizza, bolts

...when you coordinate distractions for school security so you can go to the hardware store while skipping class

...when you figure out how to bypass the school security system so you can continue working beyond closing time

...when you figure out how to hotwire the machine shop master power because the mentor forgot the key

...when discussing with your mentor about how to obtain a part, you say "give me an hour - no questions asked"

...when you are lost and confused when the build period is over

...when you figure out how to gain control of every computer at school so you can render animations faster

...when people ask you about what the robot does, you just hand them a video and continue working

...when you figure out that the robot could wrap the entire school in toilet paper in less than 8 minutes

...when you and your teammates start placing bets before the robot is weighed

...when you realize that you used over 500 zip ties this season

...when you answer every question with: "DUCT TAPE!"

...when you have to play music while sleeping so you dont dream about robotics

...when you figure out how to access the PA system from any school telephone: "Teachers please release the following students to the machine shop...."

..when you planned out this season on the drive home from nats last year

[Jeff_Rice]

When you begin loathing anyone who so much as mentions battlebots

[seisenberg]

-You can EASILY identify the type of a material, its size, quality, and the process by which it was formed, simply by looking at the shavings near a drill press, on your work table, the smell near a grinder/sander, etc.
-You've stopped complaining about the lack of tools/parts, and the selection of tools/parts in your school's shop, because you are contributing to the problem by breaking them.
-You find herding your FIRST Lego League team balanced by the fun and rewarding aspects of playing with Legos and getting recognized for it.
-You're no longer embarrased by your FLL teams
-You've even considered applying to an engineering school.
-You analyze, criticize, and discuss Dean Kamen's "inspirational" speeches.
-You realize how stupid you sound while discussing the combinations of stackings of rubber storage tubs with "other" people.
-You don't mind the quotes at the top of the forum, but hate the mindless gushy ones by your teammate, and are embarrassed to know him.
-Even though you yell at others for being so ignorant as to think that "next year's game" (insert any year) might be in water, you secrectly pray for FIRST submarine warfare.