Are we Nerds, Geeks...etc.??

That's a sad story! I can't say I share your problems, at my workplace there are 4 other modelers.

I always say that I craft scale models, which seems to elevate me from the basement and out of my mother's house.

Sign me,

Fellow Geek!

Man, people think I'm cool for doing it. Then again, I am 13... All the teachers and students like my planes and tanks. They often are AMAZED

For me i'am a geek hear me roar I myself do build and work on coputers i have a degree in IT.I always thought that people that built computer or worked on them where geeks,nerds,etc, but models never herd of it shoot my ex-girlfriend even thought the models i build are cool evertime she comes over or talks to me on the phone she wants my models, i even built her a AH-64 Apache and she loves it. So i dont we are geeks or nerds I just think we are miss understood because people that dont understand, or cant build models thier selfs.

I did a bit of research in my immediate area ,here is what I found:

I model

My wife models

My next door neighbour models

My brother Models

My brother in law models, his twin godsons model

Two of my friends modeled when young.

My female cousin built a F-86 Sabre in her teens after seeing my Mig-15

My cousin's husband and his brother modeled.  The brother now owns a Ferrari memorabilia shop.

There are sure a lot of geeks, yes ?

benchman wrote:

I think the general thought in this community of a person that builds models is somebody that has no social life, lives in his mothers basement and is in some kind of fantasy world.

No thanks to that one model builder who lived in his mother's basement, had no social life, and lived in a fantasy world, now all modelers have to suffer the stereotype. 

If many of the stereotypes were true, probably 75% of the male population would be living in their mother's basement. 

smokinguns3 wrote:

I always thought that people that built computer or worked on them where geeks,nerds,etc,

Whoa!  Hold on there.  Anyone in the IT field knows it's not that simple.   In fact, the last Nerd Dinner I attended, there was a clear distinction between the nerds and the geeks.  That came down to a Rubiks Cube.  The geeks were the ones discussing the theory behind the Rubiks Cube and the least amount of moves to solve any puzzle.
 

David Voss wrote:

smokinguns3 wrote: I always thought that people that built computer or worked on them where geeks,nerds,etc, Whoa!  Hold on there.  Anyone in the IT field knows it's not that simple.   In fact, the last Nerd Dinner I attended, there was a clear distinction between the nerds and the geeks.  That came down to a Rubiks Cube.  The geeks were the ones discussing the theory behind the Rubiks Cube and the least amount of moves to solve any puzzle.

Hey cant blame me for tryin right Dave. to bad i cant put this darn degree to the test might have to get a job mcdonalds. The IT industrie stinks out here.

In Arizona?  Anything in particular?  Where have you looked for job postings?

If other people have an issue with what you do, %&^ them. If you enjoy what you do, like most of us, so what? You're not out every weekend chasing a little white ball around, spoiling a good walk with golf, or wasting ALL your disposable income at gentlemen's clubs. You get to research your projects, expand your knowledge and develope artistic skill others can only envy. And getting out to shows, you get to meet a really interesting group of people. (Thinking back to supper after last Sunday's show with a retired USCG owner of a hobby show and former over the road driver, one of his friends and two club members.) Ruby Tuesdays in Attleboro Mass may not be the same til next year.

David Voss wrote:

benchman wrote: I think the general thought in this community of a person that builds models is somebody that has no social life, lives in his mothers basement and is in some kind of fantasy world. No thanks to that one model builder who lived in his mother's basement, had no social life, and lived in a fantasy world, now all modelers have to suffer the stereotype.

Sorry, my bad!

Just kidding - for the record, I actually own my own house and am only in my mother's basement when I visit for the holidays - though the lack of social life might be true...

I get job posting from the college i went to via e-mail prob is that alot of the stuff she sends me requiers a BS degree not an Assocites degree havent been able to find any entry level positions, and since i dont have any real world experiance they say iam under qualified go figure wanted a degree so i didnt have to worry about working dead end jobs, 3 years later and no job.should have never went to college mybe id still have my old job HaHa.

Benchman not to worry,I am 44 years of age and love building models.My wife thinks it is great and sometimes gets on me for not having them all done.This is because she wants to buy more of them for me.As my friends go,they always ask me what I am working on next,but there was a time that this was not so.A dark time when Darth Deb the ex ruled and crush the rebellion of modeling in my house.Those times are gone and so is the dark lord.So I do know what you are going throught,so just keep building and if worst comes to worst and you have to find another hobby.Just do like I do,my axes are getting very sharpe,very sharpe....ha,ha,ha,Digger

Don't fret, it's perfectly normal to build models.  I'm an MP, and I always tell everyone that I build models when they ask what I do in my spare time.  Of course, it'd probably help if I had a completed project to show them.  Just keep doin' what you're doin', and disregard those who don't understand or try to ridicule you for your hobbies.  Chances are they're jealous they don't have the skill or determination to do what we do.

benchman wrote:

I'm a closet modeler. If I mention in my daily life what my hobby is I usually receive comments like, "I thought building models was something that kids did. I'm 48 and I still remember when I was in high school and a buddy of mine was in my basement and saw some of my models. Nothing was said at the time, but when hanging out before school with some classmates my "buddy" decided to try to humiliate me by declaring that I still "played" with models. This still bugs the sh*t out of me that I can't openly talk about this interest in this community. I live in the midwest in a town of about 10,000 people. In this whole town I know no other adult modelers. I do travel to neighboring towns for modeling shows, etc. I think the general thought in this community of a person that builds models is somebody that has no social life, lives in his mothers basement and is in some kind of fantasy world. Just had to get it off my chest!!! benchman

Mate as much as it pains me to say it, I'm with you 100%.  The best things I have done as far as modeling is concerned is get involved with this forum and make some great friends here as well as join my local IPMS chapter.  At least between FSM and IPMS I can talk models without feeling like an outcast.

Benchman, dont worry what other people think, I too dont have anyone except this forum to talk to about models, i find most people who are'nt modellers just dont GET IT, what we do, for instance i mentioned the other day to a friend at work that i was really excited about starting on a 1:35 Humvee and it was like i might as well have said nothing as he completely ignored me and started to talk about something he was concerned about. My wife and kids support me but they do think my hobby is a little "quaint" and my 16 year old daughter thinks i am a supernerd! This is a hobby i do because i find it interesting,educational and relaxing . I also think a lot of outsiders dont realize the effort and hours of work that  go into a good model and how realistic they can look, i think they have a conception that thay are just toys but look at the models in the galleries and FSM and they are awesome.

Well, not only do I glue bits of plastic and metal together to build robotic characters, their vehicles and enviromnents, but I then take the finished pieces and rebuild them in the computer as CAD models to create illustrations.

That makes me both a geek and a nerd!

On the other hand, I'm also happily married with a good home and two cats.
For me, the most important thing is that I am very good at what I do. My attention to craftsmanship and composition makes me a good art teacher, my work is respected and appreciated by my students, and this makes me happy.

I no longer give a crap.  I'm just a guy with a hobby.  Out here in the real world, I'm pretty disinclined to talk about myself so I'm not likely to tell anyone anyway.  If  it does come up and it disturbs them for some reason, oh well.  I've got a few friends who don't care what my hobbies are and I'm not going to fret much about people who would be my friend if I weren't a geek or whatever.

Hey, at least we can all share our pains here. Personally, I'm the only person my age, mid-20's that I know whom builds models. I met another guy once, and it did give me a strange sense of relief to know I wasn't the only one.

 

Well, at least our hobby hasn't degenerated into a bunch of guys shuffling around the lhs refusing to make eye contact like it was some sort of back room at the video store.  Not that I've ever been in one of those.  Come to think of it, maybe that does describe my lhs. 

David Voss wrote:

Whoa!  Hold on there.  Anyone in the IT field knows it's not that simple.   In fact, the last Nerd Dinner I attended, there was a clear distinction between the nerds and the geeks.  That came down to a Rubiks Cube.  The geeks were the ones discussing the theory behind the Rubiks Cube and the least amount of moves to solve any puzzle.

OMG, I have one right on the shelf in my cubicle at work.................  but then again I am 22 and never once finished or seriously tried to finish the cube.  I often found that fact almost shameful.  but good, at least i am nerd, not a geek!  (degree in engineering, got glasses, read a ton of books, own a modded sportswagon, ex-editor at school paper, job in engineering, a condo decorated/littered with unbuilt kits...  but a girlfriend and a good circle of friends in liberal arts majors plus the gym hours balance them all out.  see models will only be that little minute factor that makes me a true nerd!)

Dude, it's all a matter or perspective.  Professional athletes are paid millions of dollars to play children's games, and it's perfectly acceptable to most of society.  How is that any different than what we do?

I'll do you all one better -- in addition to my love of models, I collect Lego sets.  Talk about getting some weird looks at the store . . . .  I just figure, if they got a problem with it, screw 'em.  I figure you should be able to do whatever makes you happy, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else.

-Jonathan

wow... a lively bunch here!  first, I build models and I love it!  My coworkers love it because whether or not they at first thought it quaint, geekish or whatever... I now supply their childrens' bedroom ceilings with authentic replicas of WWII aircraft and beyond!  So they love it!  Some were even quite surprised when they saw what my models looked like.  "I thought you built things like my little brother did when he was a kid" was one response... I thought it a horror when I realized I was running out of room at the house for models... now it is nice because I have people asking me if I am doing any models soon as their son/daughter were asking about it... I even found one guy who snickered when I was talking about models once, finally fess up and tell me before he got married he was big into car models and was getting good at doing flames with his airbrush...

2.  As far as IT being geeks or nerds... I challenge that!  Let them call me that the next time the switches at their location go down and I have to fix it.. let them tell me that the next time the server abends and I am the only one who can find a cure for it!  And lo and behold you KNOW my response if they ask me a question about their home PC!!!  (::blank look::  you want me to WHAT??  I'm sorry you'll have to take it to Best Buy... I don't do work after hours)  ***edit***  and if they still insist on calling me a geek I will throw my rubiks cube at them!!! 

 

And as far as smokinggun3... how close are you to Phoenix?  that is becoming a miniature Silicon Valley, as is Salt Lake and Provo, Utah... rent is cheap for them, and so is the non skilled labor!  you need to go post a resume on www.monster.com and let some people see it!  Don't wait for the college job placement people.  www.computerjobs.com is good too... go online and find as many places to post a resume as possible... even back when I was not as marketable, I got a lot of calls just by posting a resume everywhere I could... someone will give you a break.  Certifications help.. even the www.brainbench.com ones... I almost got hired for a NT support job once just because I had a brainbench cert for it even though I didnt have the Microsoft ones (declined it as it was in the middle of downtown and I was new to the area)...   if you haven't already, learn some Linux... it is becoming a big thing in the field to find someone who knows Linux as well as the big-name NOS's...  and good luck!!  don't act nervous in an interview and talk like you know what you are talking about!  (it helps to know what you are talking about as well but if not, sometimes the people who are interviewing you won't know a lot about it either)  Also.. biggest thing... look for an IT placement agency... it's contract work and not steady but some even provide you with funding for certification tests!  And in the meantime you have experience on a resume...

 

And the biggest... don't be proud.. if you have to get a job at Best Buy just to make money and get experience do it... I am on the hiring team at work and even that is experience, if we see a huge gap we question it.. but if we see they were even working in the field it is USUALLY acceptable!  I started out at my current job as a general PC tech... 6 years and several certifications later I am a Network Engineer making an easy 20k more than I started at...

Good post!

Ever since I was a kid I had an apprehension of telling people what I do in my spare time.  I did get picked at by school mates and my father. 

 

But to H*ll with them all! 

 

The coolest thing about these boards is there are people from all walks of life that share the same interests...after a long week or even a rough day it is nice to escape for a while in here...Thanks!

You know I wouldn't consider modelers Geeks or Nerds.  We are all a little "eccentric" but then again it is a requirement since we are all "artists" by avocation.  Our craft needs a certain amount of skill to be good at it.  This skill requires that we think "out of the box" (with all due respect to the OOB builders out there... :) )  Anyway, we are still a long way from becoming Van Goghs and shunning the world... that, in my opinion is the definition of Nerd and Geek - social outcasts.  I've known a lot of modelers and the term "social outcast" never came to mind.  We are a bunch of happy-go-lucky, foot-loose people who enjoy expressing our feelings through our craft.  That is not being Geeky.

John

i think we are the coolest persons on earth

We are most certainly not nerds or geeks! I tell all my workmates about my hobby and show them what I build too. Some have even asked me to build for them. I've never come across an adverse reaction from others when asked what my hobby is.

If someone looks down on you because you enjoy model making they are the one with the problem-not you.

I never have seen the correllation between a modeler and a nerd/geek.  Sure we had some in the club who never ventured out of their bedroom in daylight, never bathed, lived on Dorrito's and Mt.Dew, and built nothing but vinyl models of dark lords and women with over-sized busts.  Then again, they also lived in a comic book world and were more than geeky, for instead of a pocket protector, they would wear a shrunken head around their neck and carried a sword,  they were just weird.  The rest of us were MVP footbal players, members in rock bands, fighter pilots and KC135 tanker crew members, motorcycle and stockcar racers, politicians, nurses, bartenders, construction workers, and engineers. 

Now I do get the quizitive looks when people come to my house and see my models and my dungeon that is my workshop, but more out of interest and respect than a sense of "boy, he's in a far off world".  I guess I do not show as compulsive/obsessive attitude that sterotypes the personna of geek/nerd.  Maybe I am a closet case?

I also do RC planes and rockets, the later, no thanks to all the old Estes adds and Model Rocketry  showing kids with BC glasses and pocket protectors, will never erase the image of rocketeer = geek.

Scott

A serious reply this time

It rarely comes up in conversation at work - but I don't go out of my way to hide it.  There's a couple other builders at work (since we all fly, aircraft is the main subject - one dude even has a few on his desk, but over in my office there's too many imprompto nerf football attacks for me to do the same!).  I also have my "better" completed projects on the large bookcase in my living room, so anyone who comes over to my house sees it and most are at least intrigued if not necesarily "wow"ed..

I guess that way they see the results first, so there's none of the comments like the one mentioned above about "I thought you meant like what my little brother did when we were kids."  They instead see something with a modicum of craftsmanship and that took a bit of effort.

And when all else fails, the Harley in the garage counterbalances most thoughts of geekdom

tho9900 wrote:

And as far as smokinggun3... how close are you to Phoenix?  that is becoming a miniature Silicon Valley, as is Salt Lake and Provo, Utah... rent is cheap for them, and so is the non skilled labor!

Man iam about 60 miles out thats like 120 miles round trip the closest town to me is supirior az about 15 miles away and thats like a gost town and then there apache juction not much there either ive used temp agencys tech agencys they tell me there isnt any openings right now but they would keep me posted, as for unix/linux not my stronge suit as same thing goes for novell,netware iam better at windows OS's i even have the CCNA book that came with router sim. As of right now iam just trying to get my foot in the door so to speak.