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

[kireitenshi00]

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

[EricH]

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... )

[Ian Curtis]

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." ?

[dk5sm5luigi]

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

[Mike Schroeder]

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

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Big Mike

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

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

[Steve W]

Originally Posted by Cory

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

In your bare feet.

[Mike Schroeder]

while pulling your donkey towed lathe

[Henry_Mareck]

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)

[button boy 1100]

Originally Posted by Henry_Mareck

a couple from team 418

when you would prefer to be in the shop than at home (even in off-season)

thats more of a shop rat type deal... trust me i would know i grew up a little brother of a mechanic... ah exauast and radiator fluid in the morning... oh sorry i had a flash back!

[killerofkiller]

you are still wearing a Vex rubber braclet from nationals even though noone knows what it means

When you are sitting at ur desk studying for a chem exam that's in 20 min , and u think, wow i wounder whats been posted on CD today, and u close ur chem book and logon

[mechanicalbrain]

When you remember when your team used to be 9 kids and now it has 79 kids! (not me but someone else on the team)

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Cory

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

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.

[aj_girl48]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

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.

when you convince your younger sister or brother to join the team their
freshman year.

when talking you go into "in Robotics this would be like this" and all the people around you go please not again.............

lol...

[fnsnet]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

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.

$14) A little.
$15)More than you know.
$16)My step father hates when I start talking about it because I haven't shutup about it in 7 years.


add this: If you've ever been hit by a deer, wrecked your car, on the way to the meeting, and still arrived on time.

and this: If you've ever begged the only tech guy at the firstPLACE during the off season to give you a tour, AND GOT ONE, because you flew 800 miles to see it.

and this: If you worked for months in preperation for the start of competition your rookie year (and your teams rookie year) to learn the programming language required. (P-BASIC for me.. and I was the only programmer)

(all are me).
Matt