Am I doing this wrong?

[futurecrime]

Hi all, I joined a couple of months ago and posted in the introduce yourself bit so didn't want to do it again really. I just want to type out this stuff out and here's the only place I feel like I can do it.

I found out about mechanical keyboards from a Polygon article which ran through a bunch of Razr boards in Dec, maybe Jan. More accurately I really found out about them from one comment on that article, which talked about Filcos and a couple of other things, and slated the Razrs.  I started googling. A world was revealed to me that I never knew existed. I've been obsessed by buttons and clicky plastic my whole life. Nintendo controllers, the battery compartment on the TV remote... why had it never occurred to me that everyday I typed on cheap computer keyboards and chiclet Mac keys and never felt anything but ambivalent? All these keyboards in these forums looked amazing. So I dipped deeper, got an fc660m (white blanks with red mx) like new from someone on Deskthority and started to learn Colemak (lifelong hunter pecker). It quickly started to feel amazing. I watched hundreds of youtube videos of people typing. I think I discovered I have mild ASMR. I bought some cheapo rgb mods and transparent caps from Aliexpress and ghetto pimped my Leopold. It looked amazing.

Then I researched and built a PC for the first time in my life (lifelong Mac user) which stopped the keeb research for a month. But I finished that last weekend and now, this week, came back hard to keyboards. I bought into the Planck Massdrop, I dropped a couple of hundred bucks on DSA Granite, and today I bought enough Zealios for a 66% and a TKL. Hoping to make an aluminium case Clueboard, to basically upstage my beloved fc660m in every way, and am amazed to see that the absolute best board I've seen in all my browsing is just about to get a GB (the Lightsaver). So I'm already making it in my head with SA Oblivion. And already feeling nervous about not getting lucky enough to drop $400 or whatever on it. Which is insane. I'm also constantly thinking up ideas for keycap sets and wondering how people get that stuff started, but realise it's a bit soon for that.

So anyway, I realise I'm a total noob and have all that buzzing noob enthusiasm which is probably annoying or amusing to a lot of you keyboard grandmasters, but Lord knows I can't tell all this to my partner, I just hope she doesn't answer the door when the postman is demanding hefty import fees. Does all this sound familiar to people here? I feel like it might. Please tell me your stories about how you got into all this so I feel a little more sane.

TL;DR: I've spent a lot of money and need reassurance that everything is going to be OK.

[Puddsy]

welcome to the addiction

i have the problem of incredibly minimal disposable income so it's taken me 5 years to get a keyboard with an alu case

i remember when gmk was $200 a set with 500 moq, and you didn't even get compatibility

i remember when that korean guy ran off with like 100k in stolen GB money and lz got banned for a while

now is the best time for keyboards, so keep doin you

no such thing as stupid questions, that's why we have the stupid questions thread

or something

[tp4tissue]

You know those people that keep painting their car a different color..

Or people who need many pairs of shoes..

Or people who wear different color pants..


It's essentially the same thing..


At some point in your life, You made the connection between mental relief and shopping/acquisition..  So now whenever stressors appear in your daily routine, You attempt to de-stress by going into this shopping/acquisition mode,  Because doing so can temporarily take your mind off the stressor / having to deal with it...

This is not different from procrastination, only it's a more convoluted Active response..   A form of escapism

[Puddsy]

TP4, i wear lots of different colors of pants

i don't think it's as weird as being a keyboardist

[tp4tissue]

TP4, i wear lots of different colors of pants

i don't think it's as weird as being a keyboardist

I got 3 different colors myself..


I was referring to people who have much larger closets with many more colors.

[futurecrime]

I have a few different colours. Not enough to make me worried I've got a trouser problem tho.

To be fair to myself, I've had a crazy amount of work on so far this year, and I figure seeing as a keyboard is part of my computer, which I sometimes work on, I can claim all this as expenses against my earnings.

But you're right, I'm definitely getting some endorphin hits off the spending. I felt like I was coming up when I clicked confirm on those Zealios.

[tp4tissue]

I have a few different colours. Not enough to make me worried I've got a trouser problem tho.

To be fair to myself, I've had a crazy amount of work on so far this year, and I figure seeing as a keyboard is part of my computer, which I sometimes work on, I can claim all this as expenses against my earnings.

But you're right, I'm definitely getting some endorphin hits off the spending. I felt like I was coming up when I clicked confirm on those Zealios.

I'm not a believer of agency..  So, this will turnout however it will turn out..  But I think it's at least important to be aware of what's happening, so that there's no chance for regret later..

[futurecrime]

I've regretted plenty of things I was well aware I'd regret while I was actually doing them. But I suppose I've probably done things I thought I'd regret which turned out fine.

I think I'm happy for now at least. But I've been sleeping an average four hours a night for at least the past month and I'm grinding my teeth a lot. Like, constantly.

[Puddsy]

that aint healthy

see a doctor

[futurecrime]

I'm pretty sure the problem is coffee. I've been working late a lot. I actually have the weekend off this weekend. Although I'm still at work now (it's 2:30am in London). I'll attempt to go without.

[tp4tissue]

I'm pretty sure the problem is coffee. I've been working late a lot. I actually have the weekend off this weekend. Although I'm still at work now (it's 2:30am in London). I'll attempt to go without.

It's real tough..

2 things you might feel,

--The brain requires sleep to arrange/encode/parity check incoming information.

So, the longer you go without sleep, the more detached you will be from your immediate reality.

--The brain also needs to clear itself of toxins and rebalance local chemistry..

This is partially responsible for involuntary physical manifestations such as your teeth grinding..   For me my left eye begins to twitch real badly, but no teeth grinding.

[futurecrime]

Quite. It's now 4am. I'm finishing up. Now to go home. Tomorrow I will build a desk, put my new computer on it, and tidy away many of the boxes that all the various bits came in.

**** I just realised I don't have my bike with me today. Bed is a little further away now. Well anyway. Thanks for the interaction.

[ander]

OP: It sounds to me like you're doing everything right. MK enthusiasm is a mania. It's beyond reason. You do it just because you want to do it, because you have to do it, and everything else be damned—career, finances, relationships... Yep, entirely normal.   

[Gdubb90]

Welcome back! Although there is nothing wrong with being a noob (we were all there at some point!), it sounds like you've flown past the noob stage faster than most! You are already modding and ordering parts for a custom KB, that's awesome! Glad you are enjoying yourself, keep it up

[Kavik]

This appears to be normal for any enthusiast type interest. I got my first two mechanical keyboards when I built my first PC (Sept 2013). I was happy with them and didn't really think much about them for about two and half years. For some reason, my MX Blue keyboard at work started to annoy me. Somehow (I have no recollection of how), I came across IBM Model M keyboards when I looked up alternatives. But I thought it would be more economical to try out o-rings first.

I tried out o-rings for about four or five months and ended up not liking them. My keycaps were getting sticky and shiny, so I got some cheap doubleshot replacements and mixed up the colors a bit. Finally, I'd had enough and just ordered a couple Model Ms (Aug 2016). This is what really got me into the mania. Since then, I've joined four group buys (I think) and ordered a few things on Massdrop and mechanicalkeyboards.com, equaling somewhere around $1,700. I'd like to join The Moon GB when it's live, but I don't think I can afford anymore KB stuff at the moment. I've hit the point where I can't really hide how much I've spent on this and spending anymore would be irresponsible.

For me, it was really gradual and then all at once. Sometimes the mania dies down long enough for me to realize I shouldn't buy anything else, at least not until I have this GB stuff to play with first.

[clappingcactus]

TL;DR: I've spent a lot of money and need reassurance that everything is going to be OK.

It's not going to be unless you

a) Figure out a theme for what you want. Everything in the world can look cool, but you don't have to buy a planck and enough zealios for a TKL simultaneously. You don't have to own everything. Just something that expresses your personality and looks cool is sufficient. It's easy to think 'It's only $400 a pop for a new one'.

b) Tell your partner about your new hobby and help her help you keep it in check.

[tp4tissue]

TL;DR: I've spent a lot of money and need reassurance that everything is going to be OK.

It's not going to be unless you

a) Figure out a theme for what you want. Everything in the world can look cool, but you don't have to buy a planck and enough zealios for a TKL simultaneously. You don't have to own everything. Just something that expresses your personality and looks cool is sufficient. It's easy to think 'It's only $400 a pop for a new one'.

b) Tell your partner about your new hobby and help her help you keep it in check.

OR

a)

Buy whatever you want.
/ never enuff..

b)

lie to her, come home early to intercept packages, only open boxes in the bathroom with the water running..
/ Stealth mode