geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: KillerBee on Sun, 12 February 2012, 09:37:41
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How do you guys cope with the Spouse and the Boards?
I only had one Model M (1390120 Feb. 1986) but then I got the itch for a 1985 board again... 45 dollars (wife alert!! bananas) I was approved for the buy... Industrial Case 30 dollars... (paid with Money Order as a sneaky move to avoid the wife) box-o-parts 15 dollars (told wife free) hahaha
When she was my GF and Fiance I had about 10 Model M's but because of her I sold them all, kept one for sake of hobby and habit...
The 1986 will go to the office the 1985 will go to the house, receive a bolt mod, RGB set and a pretty industrial case and lavender WASD jajajaja
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Thats some sneaky stuff for a few bucks. I can't say I haven't ordered something on the down low. I'm sure your wife spends money on pointless stuff? Nails, hair? :D
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I do pretty much the same thing as you.
My garage and basement are large enough that multiple boxes can lurk in the clutter.
A Post Office box and Paypal can be helpful.
PS - my wife thinks that the only truly great keyboard is whatever Apple has manufactured in the past 6 months.
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Thats some sneaky stuff for a few bucks. I can't say I haven't ordered something on the down low. I'm sure your wife spends money on pointless stuff? Nails, hair? :D
No thing is that purchases must mean something for her... I used to be a COMPUSIVE Buyer... hehehe but now I am more controlled I just ask myself "do I need this?" YES "will I use it?" YES....
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Sounds like something you need to solve at a higher level. Sneaking stuff in to the house is just a solution for a much bigger problem. If she can't understand you have hobbies, then she needs to. And it's not a matter of "We need to save money." You work for a living, and you need to spend money sometimes to remind yourself why you work. This goes for anything, boutique keyboards, videogames, movies, etc. It seems like she has an issue with you buying stuff in general, which is really easy to combat. Unless she's the breadwinner.
I would NOT mention the "Well you spend money on hair nails etc", because then you've dwindled the argument down to a "he said she said". Additionally, a lot of women who like to spruce themselves up with make up and hair products take serious offense when you put all that in question. Just say, you have a new hobby, and that's how it is. And if money is an issue, then reminder of The Shining. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy :P
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Time to explain to her that your purchases don't need to mean **** to her as long as they mean something to you. Of course, it would help if everything else of any real importance is taken care of first :)
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Sounds like something you need to solve at a higher level. Sneaking stuff in to the house is just a solution for a much bigger problem. If she can't understand you have hobbies, then she needs to. And it's not a matter of "We need to save money." You work for a living, and you need to spend money sometimes to remind yourself why you work. This goes for anything, boutique keyboards, videogames, movies, etc. It seems like she has an issue with you buying stuff in general, which is really easy to combat. Unless she's the breadwinner.
I would NOT mention the "Well you spend money on hair nails etc", because then you've dwindled the argument down to a "he said she said". Additionally, a lot of women who like to spruce themselves up with make up and hair products take serious offense when you put all that in question. Just say, you have a new hobby, and that's how it is. And if money is an issue, then reminder of The Shining. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy :P
Well said.
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I agree with most of the general advice people are giving you. Hobbies are important, even if the activities or things involved aren't important per se. Assuming that you can afford to buy key caps and keyboards periodically, whether or not your wife "gets it" shouldn't be an issue. She should recognize that it's important to you.
Just remember to keep it reasonable. I would have waaaay more keyboard junk if my only responsibility was myself. I actually think my wife's skeptical eye is good for me in that sense.
And also remember that sneaking around implies that you feel constrained, and feeling constrained can lead to resentment, which can ruin a marriage. So definitely talk about it with her.
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Sounds like something you need to solve at a higher level. Sneaking stuff in to the house is just a solution for a much bigger problem. If she can't understand you have hobbies, then she needs to. And it's not a matter of "We need to save money." You work for a living, and you need to spend money sometimes to remind yourself why you work. This goes for anything, boutique keyboards, videogames, movies, etc. It seems like she has an issue with you buying stuff in general, which is really easy to combat. Unless she's the breadwinner.
I would NOT mention the "Well you spend money on hair nails etc", because then you've dwindled the argument down to a "he said she said". Additionally, a lot of women who like to spruce themselves up with make up and hair products take serious offense when you put all that in question. Just say, you have a new hobby, and that's how it is. And if money is an issue, then reminder of The Shining. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy :P
AAAmen.
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Sounds like you need to find a new wife... ;) (jk)
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Man, you are not the only one facing this dilemma. I have my whole collection at work ;-)
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Whatever you do... don't let her see these forums :D
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i dont know what's going on in this thread
foreveralone.jpg
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I make most of the money, so I decide what I buy when. Never a problem.
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I am lucky in that I can buy as many keyboards as I want. My wife does not care. I have also spent serious money on fountain pens. One time seeing how much I liked a Sailor fountain pen, she wanted to buy it for me. I did not let her because it was a $400 pen. It's actually me who tend to ask if I need yet another keyboard. My last three keyboards (2 AEK and 1 AEK II) have been used ones costing about $20 each.
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Thanks Guys, I really wanted the second board and she allowed me to but the other stuff was extra, the dillema started when a PM notification came in to my email about me wanting to bolt mod my Model M and offering money to others for the service... she defenetely blew a gasket since I had offered a cool 100, she allows me to have my hobbies, one of them saved her life in some way...
Last December she needed her gall bladder removed and I did not have all the funds for it, so I sold my NES and SNES collection and completed her operation, its things like these that I can be happy about... I now have a NES and SNES but no games hahahahaha...
My relationship is fine with her and my hobbies too I cant just go OVERBOARD... 2 Model M's are good and The NES and SNES are good and she even when the time is right is alowing me to go back into the Audiophile game again...
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Communication is the key. Like O2dazone has said, sneaking things is a sure recipe for disaster. You don't want your relationship to be based on secrets.
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And it's not a matter of "We need to save money."
My rule of thumb here is: "A penny saved is a penny that goes half to her and half to pay for the divorce." :D
Not to be hostile or nothin'. With inflation as it is and the current economic situation, saving beyond a 3-6 month buffer doesn't sound like a long-term wealth strategy. I'd say trading > investing > quality of life spending > saving...but that's a topic for a different thread.
And whatever you do, do it though a manager-managed LLC that has at least one more owner than just you (even at a 2% stake or something...). :)
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i do what i want, i get a PC budget every month. I swap and sell all the time.
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She should be glad it's just keyboards you're into (correct me if im wrong)... and not modding cars, bikes, etc lol.
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Pcs and KBs lol. PC costs a lot. bought about 10 GPUs last year and 2 exp LCds and various cases. Lian Li x900 costed a bit.
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keyboard is the actually one of the cheapest toys out there, even cheaper considering how much we use them.
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She should be glad it's just keyboards you're into (correct me if im wrong)... and not modding cars, bikes, etc lol.
jejeje...
AUDIOPHILE
CAR MODDING (2 AE86's)
KEYBOARDS
VIDEO GAMES
MARETIME BOOKS
CYCLING
jejeje so I think she has reason to bicker sometimes...
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Wife and I compromise.
Granted I may not love my keyboards as much as you guys do, but I have personal expenses that I need to take care of too. Recently I've invested in a nice set of PBT keycaps (which should arrive shortly!), customized StarCraft II keycaps, new mouse, new gaming surface, new headphones and even a brand new rig that I built myself.
In the meantime, she's bought loads of shoes, bags, and makeup.
We're both happy, both satisfied, and we're living within our means and budget.
The important thing to keep in mind is for both of you guys to know that you have your own hobbies and they should be respected. While I'm not necessarily a big fan of my wife getting more shoes/bags/makeup (what's wrong with the stuff you have now?!), I understand that for women it's an accessory in the same way new gear is for us. She probably feels the same way about my computer and gaming gear.
We still respect each other's decision, and we don't knock each other for buying new stuff. We each see how getting these new toys make us happy, and isn't that what we want for each other?
Always communicate with your spouse and let them know what's up. If you're planning on a purchase, let her know. No need to be sneaking around as that could cause trust issues and lead to bigger problems. There needs to be a mutual understanding of you both having your own thing, and the other should respect that.
tl;dr - Compromise. Respect. Communicate.
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You know what they say......"Marriage is betting someone half your sh!t that you will love them forever."
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You know what they say......"Marriage is betting someone half your sh!t that you will love them forever."
and that they'll stay with you, too! haha. this thread has some pretty kickass quotes, i must say
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Compromise. Respect. Communicate.
^ this
Well I'm **** out of luck because I love technology/gadgets, have a nice purse collection going, and buy pricey make up--but hey at least I'm not into shoes, although 10 pairs of boots are a bit much lol.
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this thread has some pretty kickass quotes, i must say
Heh....yeah, well, I know whereof I speak. Divorced once already and round 2 isn't looking that great either :doh:
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Personally, I think it's this easy: Budget
Create a budget both of you agree on. Then, whatever money you have to spend, you spend it on whatever you want.
There may be a lot of discussion when creating a budget, but I think that is necessary. As others have said, you have to prioritize what you spend money on. If you can only afford to spend $100 a month on stuff like keyboards, you probably shouldn't spend more than that... If you can, then she shouldn't be complaining what you spend it on.
I think it's immature to spend whatever you want without thinking about necessities and savings, et cetera. However, like others have said, there needs to be money for hobbies and entertainment. Even the most strict budgets out there say that!
P.S. For anyone that is not married yet, you NEED to discuss stuff like budgets during marriage counseling. I'm 100% serious about this, because this is one of the things that causes divorces. Ask any marriage counselor, and he/she will tell you that budget/money is almost always the top concern for couples. Personally, my wife and I did a money budget very easily...but "time budgeting" was much harder. It was hard for her to understand the amount of time I like to play video games. We worked that out, though.
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You guys are further convincing me that I should never get married.
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You guys are further convincing me that I should never get married.
Well, my situation is completely the opposite of what's being expressed here. I didn't think it was necessary to pipe in with 'this is how a healthy relationship works' but if it makes you feel better it's not impossible to find someone and develop a healthy relationship from the start rather than try to hammer a healthy relationship out of something that's not as close as it should be.
My wife encourages me to spend money on my hobbies. She frequently brings up the possibility of going back to work (she's a mom taking care of our kids @ home) so that she can 'contribute.' She has no issue spending money on her own hobbies but knows that frivolous spending is a bad idea.
This is how our relationship has been from the start. We combined our personal lives (aka banking/credit) well before we married. We cooperated to pay down both our debts that much faster. Then we also paid for our dream wedding (well hers, but that's what it's about) since there was no chance our parents could do anything to help.
We've been married for 10+ years and I have never doubted my choice in the slightest. I trust that she feels much the same way because we talk about everything.
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^ Congratulations, sounds like you found your other half ;-)
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Mind PMing me some pics?
Videos OK too.
[video=youtube;JzJhAHvyW6Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzJhAHvyW6Q[/video]
[video=youtube;8lmom4FHbBY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lmom4FHbBY[/video]
What is this...I don't even... well at least they're not kittens *vomit*
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You might also not want your wife to do the taxes. I am fortunate enough to be able to expense my keyboard purchases (it's job-related, loosely), but then the wife asked how much I've spent in the last year on keyboards. It wasn't as much as my wife spent on shoes and bags, though, but it was pretty close.
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Well, my situation is completely the opposite of what's being expressed here. I didn't think it was necessary to pipe in with 'this is how a healthy relationship works' but if it makes you feel better it's not impossible to find someone and develop a healthy relationship from the start rather than try to hammer a healthy relationship out of something that's not as close as it should be.
My wife encourages me to spend money on my hobbies. She frequently brings up the possibility of going back to work (she's a mom taking care of our kids @ home) so that she can 'contribute.' She has no issue spending money on her own hobbies but knows that frivolous spending is a bad idea.
This is how our relationship has been from the start. We combined our personal lives (aka banking/credit) well before we married. We cooperated to pay down both our debts that much faster. Then we also paid for our dream wedding (well hers, but that's what it's about) since there was no chance our parents could do anything to help.
We've been married for 10+ years and I have never doubted my choice in the slightest. I trust that she feels much the same way because we talk about everything.
You are my hero. Living the dream. This is EXACTLY how it can be, I have no idea why people don't put more effort into being with the right person...it changes every day of your life. Your best friend relationship.
Ripster posted some heavy-hefties dancing on keyboards. I exercise my right not to watch. Ick.
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Ripster posted some heavy-hefties dancing on keyboards. I exercise my right not to watch. Ick.
I still don't understand why someone would make a video of keyboard trampling.
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does anyone ever need any reason to have a fetish?
Nope:whip:
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No thing is that purchases must mean something for her... I used to be a COMPUSIVE Buyer... hehehe but now I am more controlled I just ask myself "do I need this?" YES "will I use it?" YES....
If its something you're going to use, don't feel bad about it! I can kind of understand your wife's concerns regarding your purchases.. my husband collects record albums. We live in a tiny apartment. There are record albums everywhere. But they are easy to store away so it's not that big of a deal. If he was collecting bulkier items, like if he had piles of keyboards everywhere, I might freak out a little bit.
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My wife never see or hears my keyboard because she is always in the kitchen or bedroom. BOOYA! :rapture:
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My wife never see or hears my keyboard because she is always in the kitchen or bedroom. BOOYA! :rapture:
Funny ****!
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I just want to second everything that alaricljs said. :) You could combine that with my post to get an even more complete picture of my thoughts!
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My advice: don't keep secrets from your wife. (Unless you have a feet-on-keyboards fetish, that is.)
But seriously, unless you are spending the rent money on keyboards, your wife needs to be more understanding that a man needs something in his life besides work, eat, sleep. And $45 for a keyboard is hardly a budget buster.
Now with that said, spending money on keyboards is still a tricky situation for two reasons: (1) the "He doesn't really love me" problem: women hate it when you buy something for yourself, because they think, for some irrational reason: "If he really loved me, he would have spent that $45 on me." Now you can try to talk to her reasonably and calmly about this, and she may even admit that she knows her feelings are irrational, but she will feel it anyway. It's just how women perceive the world. I have no idea why. (2) The "clutter" problem: simply put, your wife thinks that your house is hers. And so everything you bring home is just clutter in HER house. Everything that she brings home of course, is an essential item, that your home cannot do without. I'm no anthropologist, but I'll bet the first caveman had a problem in that first cave when he brought home a few extra hunting clubs, and then he caught bloody hell, when his cave-wife saw that pile of clubs in her cave.
And finally, I have to LOL @ whoever said when women spend money on makeup, hair and nails, it's wasteful. I sincerely hope you guys are gay, or willing to experiment, because you are never going to have a relationship with a woman, until you realize that spending money on makeup, hair, nails and shoes (and handbags), are necessities, not luxuries, to a woman. If you keep your girl-friend/ wife well-stocked with that stuff, you can do almost anything. Oh you should learn to buy jewelry too, preferably Tiffany. Just my advice. You can continue to do it your way, because spending time with men is fun too. Personally, I like having sex with women, but everybody has to make up their own mind about that, I guess.
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And finally, I have to LOL @ whoever said when women spend money on makeup, hair and nails, it's wasteful. I sincerely hope you guys are gay, or willing to experiment, because you are never going to have a relationship with a woman, until you realize that spending money on makeup, hair, nails and shoes (and handbags), are necessities, not luxuries, to a woman. If you keep your girl-friend/ wife well-stocked with that stuff, you can do almost anything. Oh you should learn to buy jewelry too, preferably Tiffany. Just my advice. You can continue to do it your way, because spending time with men is fun too. Personally, I like having sex with women, but everybody has to make up their own mind about that, I guess.
Well, this is not universally true. My wife has not bought or received jewelry from anyone since I gave her the wedding ring. Her shoe budget is smaller than mine (I do enough labor to destroy shoes faster than I would like), she has no purse collection. She goes to the salon for hair and what-not once or twice a year. She buys makeup with even less regularity but she does wear it for special occasions.
Let me just clear up your likely first impression having said all that... the only reason she doesn't get hit on a whole lot more is because I'm one intimidating MF.
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Wives. Just don't understand my Keyboard Science.
(Attachment) 40398[/ATTACH]
i tried to get my misses to have a tappa tap on my new Filco MX brown. told me to **** off and she don't care lol. Made her a hot chocolate then was all good. Hmmm browny points.
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My advice: don't keep secrets from your wife. (Unless you have a feet-on-keyboards fetish, that is.)
I disagree. If he has taht kind of fetish, maybe they can work out some kind of compromise :-)
And finally, I have to LOL @ whoever said when women spend money on makeup, hair and nails, it's wasteful. I sincerely hope you guys are gay, or willing to experiment, because you are never going to have a relationship with a woman, until you realize that spending money on makeup, hair, nails and shoes (and handbags), are necessities, not luxuries, to a woman. If you keep your girl-friend/ wife well-stocked with that stuff, you can do almost anything. Oh you should learn to buy jewelry too, preferably Tiffany. Just my advice. You can continue to do it your way, because spending time with men is fun too. Personally, I like having sex with women, but everybody has to make up their own mind about that, I guess.
I am lucky financially in the sense that my wife does not care a lot for jewelry. Besides the wedding right and the engagement ring, she only asked me to buy her another ring once, and that was because we were able to get it duty free.
I like her buying shoes, make up, etc because I love seeing her well dressed. She is the most important woman in my life after all.
Every couple is different. It's up to each to find what works best.
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Well, this is not universally true. My wife has not bought or received jewelry from anyone since I gave her the wedding ring. Her shoe budget is smaller than mine (I do enough labor to destroy shoes faster than I would like), she has no purse collection. She goes to the salon for hair and what-not once or twice a year. She buys makeup with even less regularity but she does wear it for special occasions.
Let me just clear up your likely first impression having said all that... the only reason she doesn't get hit on a whole lot more is because I'm one intimidating MF.
Your wife sounds similar to me. I don't have much face-to-face interaction at my job so I don't wear much makeup, just moisturizer (men should wear that too) and lip stuff. If I am fancying-it-up, I put on mascara. Some women, on the other hand, were raised to have like a 20-step leaving-the-house makeup process. My mom takes about an hour to get ready. Eye liner, lip liner, etc etc. She cannot understand why I would ever leave the house without mascara! Gasp gasp gasp
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Perfume is nice, too, if you have a good sense of smell.
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I buy tons of jewelry for my wife. Trust me, it works very, very well. Especially if you have good taste like I do.
So then, they are all little keyboard chains and earrings?
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So then, they are all little keyboard chains and earrings?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]40446[/ATTACH]
My Valentine's Day conundrum is now solved, thanks Ripster and Derverica!
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(Attachment) 40446[/ATTACH]
My Valentine's Day conundrum is now solved, thanks Ripster and Derverica!
haha I would love that. :rofl:
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Hey, how'd you make that? You use a drill?
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...one of them saved her life in some way...
Last December she needed her gall bladder removed and I did not have all the funds for it, so I sold my NES and SNES collection and completed her operation, its things like these that I can be happy about... I now have a NES and SNES but no games hahahahaha...
Back to the problem. This comment tells me that there is a lot of thing that we don't know. I am not saying that you need to tell us everything, mind you. What I am saying is that we don't know your whole situation. She could be against you buying a lot of keyboards for some reasons that we, outsiders, don't know.
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Thanks Guys for the opinions and kind comments...
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She is the boss... jejeje she is Antonia Danza jajajaja
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She is the boss... jejeje she is Antonia Danza jajajaja
Mine is not the boss, she never was. I was not her boss either even if at the beginning my decisions ended up the final ones. I come from a different culture, and things did kind of follow the earlier generations even before we knew it. I started to sound more like my father, adopting the things I did not like from his part. Little by little, I started to change. I am still not perfect.
That said, we both have a boss: my daughter.
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That said, we both have a boss: my daughter.
:D
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COMING SOON
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COMING SOON
You have a boss coming soon?
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Haha this thread is hilarious. I'm glad I'm not married yet, but I know if I married my gf I would never hear the end of it.
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I expect a Daughter Boss in the next 2 to 3 years
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I expect a Daughter Boss in the next 2 to 3 years
It's a wonderful boss to have, trust me. One day, my daughter walked on my MX-11800 which was on the floor in my office. I did not get mad at all. She was less than 2 at the time.
Come to think about it. Maybe your wife's unconscious maternal instinct is causing her to react this way.
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You may have a good point...
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I expect a Daughter Boss in the next 2 to 3 years
And daughter bosses love our crazy keyboards :blabla:
My 5 yr old asks everyone else why they have such boring keyboards and her favorite key cap is a ClickClack skull
My 3yr old doesn't like the "scary guy" (ClickClack skull) and prefers the awesome face smile key caps. She is also my designated key cap installer asking me when we can change keys again (hurry up USPS!)
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And daughter bosses love our crazy keyboards :blabla:
My 5 yr old asks everyone else why they have such boring keyboards and her favorite key cap is a ClickClack skull
My 3yr old doesn't like the "scary guy" (ClickClack skull) and prefers the awesome face smile key caps. She is also my designated key cap installer asking me when we can change keys again (hurry up USPS!)
My daughter (9 months old) is trying to slap the keys on my Ducky right now.
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both my 2 and a half year old and 8 month old girls love my keyboards. i've got a spare rubber dome that i keep around for when i need to get some work done, but they wanna pound on the keys.
Heh yeah, my old cheapie Logitech keyboard is now in the toybox. :)
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both my 2 and a half year old and 8 month old girls love my keyboards. i've got a spare rubber dome that i keep around for when i need to get some work done, but they wanna pound on the keys.
In 2008 I got a Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse combo for CDN $10 (pricing error). While not as compact as a TKL keyboard, it was compact enough to bring the mouse closer. However, I did not like the mushy keys. I gave it to my daughter when she was about 6 months old. She played on it for a while. When she was a bit older, she preferred the clic clac sound of mechanical keyboards. I've have made 3 videos on keyboard: G80-3000, Customizer 104 and IBM Model M. She prefers the Model M one.
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Yeah you are not alone out there. Take it from me, someone who had gotten called out on a miniscule infintesimal tiny white lie by their signifigant other. If trust is not the most important ket to a marriage it's close to the top. Once you lose someones trust, no matter the issue, it's hard to get back. After my first TSS (Thrift Store Score (tm) c 2012 Bacon enterprises) I have unrealistic dreams of funding my new habit with my local finds. Ahh if only....
BTW - Ripster's videos answer the unasked question "Is there a fetish for everything?"
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Well, this is not universally true. My wife has not bought or received jewelry from anyone since I gave her the wedding ring. Her shoe budget is smaller than mine (I do enough labor to destroy shoes faster than I would like), she has no purse collection. She goes to the salon for hair and what-not once or twice a year. She buys makeup with even less regularity but she does wear it for special occasions.
Yeah, that's the way my wife is, too. However, like eth0s said, makeup, hair stuff, and those things are necessities - Just like if you wear hair product, chapstick, et cetera. Make sure you don't make sexist generalizations guys... :D
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I have said this before but it seems relevant here as well. My son (nearly 5) has a unicomp spacesaver because he wanted a keyboard that clicked. Every time I get a new keyboard he shows a lot of interest. He also has a keycap puller (Chinese seller shipped me 2 for some reason) and an old pos keyboard that he likes to change the keycaps around on.
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I grew up on a Model M, so wth not? :)
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I am currently in Bangkok Thiland on a Business Trip, and I am making the wife happy by bringing back some purses and watches jajajaja...
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didnt know about this Damn... wait wait Patpong is where all the girlie bars are ehhh...?
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Last December she needed her gall bladder removed and I did not have all the funds for it, so I sold my NES and SNES collection and completed her operation, its things like these that I can be happy about... I now have a NES and SNES but no games hahahahaha...
Have you considered emulation?
I have an original xbox which is now a NES, SNES, Game Boy, Gameboy Advance, Atari 2600, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC464, N64, Sega Master System, and Sega Genesis.
I worked out that it cost me a total of $67 to buy everything I needed, and emulation is flawless for the most part, especially the console games.
The advantage of using an xbox is that the people who coded the emulators knew exactly what hardware they were dealing with, so for the most part everything just works 'out of the box'.
Plus, used original xboxes (xboxen?) are dirt cheap nowadays.
I made a launcher that boots into a fullscreen photo of each system, all you do is cycle through to the system you want, select it, and then select the game you want to play.
My wife complained when I started buying stuff for the project, but now I have it all set up properly, she plays on it more than I do!
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The wii works quite good for emulation. Easy to "modify" as well.
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I did consider the wii, but I went with the xbox because:
Very cheap
Standard controllers are perfect for emulators
Easy to mod (I had to buy a copy of Splinter Cell for $5)
Good choice of 'dashboards' (I went with unleashx)
I had modded many in the past, so the learning curve was less
Did I mention cheap? Everything I needed came to $67. This included four OEM controllers, two games (one to update dashboard, one to perform softmod), two extra breakaway cables to modify into USB adapters, larger HDD, and some wood-effect contact paper to make it look retro like a 2600 :D
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I picked the wii because they are more quite and eat less electric. I do have a xbox with xmbc in my son's bedroom for him to watch films of my data server.
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...not to mention a lot smaller than the xbox.
The wii is a fine choice, but the xbox won out for me for the above reasons, mostly the familiarity aspect.
I could probably softmod an xbox with my eyes closed, and I'm really comfortable ftping into it etc.
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I am currently in Bangkok Thiland on a Business Trip, and I am making the wife happy by bringing back some purses and watches jajajaja...
Instrumental gifts? Hahaha. I wish I could make a trip to Asia and pick up a Seiko Orange Monster.
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Have you considered emulation?
I have an original xbox which is now a NES, SNES, Game Boy, Gameboy Advance, Atari 2600, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC464, N64, Sega Master System, and Sega Genesis.
I worked out that it cost me a total of $67 to buy everything I needed, and emulation is flawless for the most part, especially the console games.
The advantage of using an xbox is that the people who coded the emulators knew exactly what hardware they were dealing with, so for the most part everything just works 'out of the box'.
Plus, used original xboxes (xboxen?) are dirt cheap nowadays.
I made a launcher that boots into a fullscreen photo of each system, all you do is cycle through to the system you want, select it, and then select the game you want to play.
My wife complained when I started buying stuff for the project, but now I have it all set up properly, she plays on it more than I do!
This sounds like a fun project. Where can I learn how to do this?
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This sounds like a fun project. Where can I learn how to do this?
Seconding this request.
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I agree with most of the general advice people are giving you. Hobbies are important, even if the activities or things involved aren't important per se. Assuming that you can afford to buy key caps and keyboards periodically, whether or not your wife "gets it" shouldn't be an issue. She should recognize that it's important to you.
Just remember to keep it reasonable. I would have waaaay more keyboard junk if my only responsibility was myself. I actually think my wife's skeptical eye is good for me in that sense.
And also remember that sneaking around implies that you feel constrained, and feeling constrained can lead to resentment, which can ruin a marriage. So definitely talk about it with her.
Agreed.
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For those interested in my emulator project, rather than hijack this thread, I'll start a new one.
It's late now, but I'll start one tomorrow and link to it here.
If you want to do sone research in the meantime, google the following:
xbox softmod
unleashx tutorial
Edit: Ok, here it is:
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?27896-My-dedicated-emulation-machine-based-on-an-original-xbox&p=527955#post527955