I'm labeled at work as a rocket nerd..:-(

I'm sure it wouldn't take too long to put together a list of testosterone-charged, high-ego, "A"-type personalities that are CEO's, GM's, venture capitalists, etc. starting with Elon Musk, Steve Jurvetson, Dirk Gates, etc. on the left coast and crossing the nation, even the globe. Then put that list of the top 100 folks up against any list your workmate can assemble in his hobby. I bet you'd beat him hands down.

(--from a CEO that relishes any challenge)

I work at a software company, so the engineers think it's pretty cool and are genuinely interested. The sales, marketing and finance folks, not so much.

I brought in a pink Ultimate Darkstar and left it on the file cabinets for a week. Had a steady line of admirers. The president if the hospital came to see it. I am a senior hardware geek and oversee end user computing. I have 11 x 14" framed photos in my office. Yup, nerd here. I can make your background wall paper Justin Bieber in a thong with one minute of keystrokes. Insult me at your peril.

(We had t-shirts during our Data Loss Prevention software implementation: "DLP Implementation Team - We Read Your E-Mail")

Why would you screw with the nerds?

Another rocket nerd story:

I met Vern Estes at the 2014 NARCON held in Florida.



I shook his hand and said:
"Mr. Estes, I wanted to thank you.
My involvement in Model Rocketry kept me out of trouble during the teenage years.
I didn't date a lot, but I was happy."

I don't think he got the nerd joke.

H_Rocket said:

I brought in a pink Ultimate Darkstar and left it on the file cabinets for a week. Had a steady line of admirers. The president if the hospital came to see it. I am a senior hardware geek and oversee end user computing. I have 11 x 14" framed photos in my office. Yup, nerd here. I can make your background wall paper Justin Bieber in a thong with one minute of keystrokes. Insult me at your peril.

(We had t-shirts during our Data Loss Prevention software implementation: "DLP Implementation Team - We Read Your E-Mail")

Why would you screw with the nerds?

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Okay.... did you do that solely to implant that mental image in my head....?

hcmbanjo said:

Another rocket nerd story:

I met Vern Estes at the 2014 NARCON held in Florida.

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I would be honored to meet YOU!

Interesting...
With me it's the complete opposite. I frequently get asked on the status of my rocket projects.
When I come back from my vacations first thing I get asked is how my rockets flights went
I've even been asked to show some of my stuff at work
They especially like the small dual deploy rockets

JERRYR708 said:

I often go on TRF, Estesrockets.com and other related sites while at work. A co-worker happened to pass by and saw me buying rockets from Estes during the sale and sorta giggled. Now I'm labeled at work..:-(
They say it's nerdy, childish, gay, etc. They tease me now with: "Who flies rockets these days anyway?" "Doesn't he have anything better to do?" "He's got too much time on his hands." "He never grew up." "Rockets are nerdy."

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The fact that they are calling something gay to be insulting, in 2015, tells us all we need to know about them.

watermelonman said:

The fact that they are calling something gay to be insulting, in 2015, tells us all we need to know about them.

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I completely agree. It sounds like he works with a bunch of middle schoolers. I am actually having trouble visualizing anyone in their 20's or 30's actually saying something like, "You like rockets? That's so gay." And at work? Unbelievable! What kind of company is this?

JERRYR708 said:

Most of the employees are in their 30's with interests in Facebook, Xstation, Playbox, and I phones with all the new apps. The employees in their 40's and 50's are into Harleys, and hot rods. They say "sell that Toyota Tundra (rice) and buy American."

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Wow and they are telling you to grow up lol. All I got to say man is to each his own. Dont let these weak insults bother you.

Edit: I just noticed the funny joke on the gaming consoles lol.

Sounds like you work at a frat house. In the 80's.



Everyone at work knows I'm a rocket nerd. I try to bring in a rocket every week and leave it on my desk to start conversations. I also have degrees in math and physics, and advanced degrees in statistics, so the rocket stuff is just the icing on the cake. They also know that on Tuesdays on my lunch break I go to a local organization for at-risk youth to run their rocket club.

As far as buy American, your truck was probably manufactured in Texas. Don't sell it - it holds its value better than trucks from the big three. I've been shopping for trucks recently - in the price range I'm looking (3-7 years old, under 20k, under 120k miles, 4x4, super or crew cab) it's almost strictly American - Tundras are rare and at the upper end of all three of those variables. <Gets off soap box>

Seriously, have you considered looking for another job? From what you describe, it doesn't sound like all that great a place to work. Somewhere between unhealthy and downright hostile. If it's OK to be made fun of by your co-workers in the way you describe, I'd be headed for the door. There are places where nerds are actively recruited!

SinfulDarkLord said:

I've got to ask, how old are these people?

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+1. First thing I thought.

My 6 year old said the following:
"Daddy, if making propellant is chemistry, and if making rockets is physics, how am I going to help if I don't know physics and chemistry?"
My response: "Well Sweet Pea, we can learn this stuff together, then you can help all you want and do it yourself too."
Her response: "Can we go to the bookstore? I need a book so I can learn physics and chemistry."

Designing, scratch building and flying rockets is interesting and fun for me, but what it's done for my kids has been literally astounding. They're inspired, and when they see something about the world they don't understand, they're learning to ask why. Yes, I'm a geek. And I'm proud to be turning my kids into geeks too.

And to determine where you sit on the nerd/geek/dork/dweeb comparison, please reference the following Venn diagram:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/scott/nerd-venn-diagram#.udpXrZ4qXd

My 10 year old daughter just asked me to teach her openrocket and solidworks.

Ravenex said:

My 10 year old daughter just asked me to teach her openrocket and solidworks.

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If you do, in ten years you will be walking into her office and asking if you can leave early...

Ravenex said:

My 10 year old daughter just asked me to teach her openrocket and solidworks.

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That is a good daughter. Yer gonna teach her,... right?

Wait, we are nerds?


TA

Wear that label with pride. When I got started, I straight up outed myself at work, talking about it all the time. Eventually, I got a couple coworkers to a launch, and while they wouldn't exactly build their own, they enjoyed coming with me.

And within a year, I got paid to teach rocketry at a summer camp. Obsession is a good thing.

A lot of people think of "model rockets" as a childish hobby, but I always say that rocketry isn't just for Webelos any more.

But, on a serious note, if you're being called "gay" at work, you should file a complaint with HR.

JERRY - Dude - get back to work!

I see your problem now: Apple Valley, CA. :wink:

My grandparents lived there from '74-'13. I lived there from 80-89. I graduated from AVHS, joined the USAF and got the hell out of there.

Apple Valley is only a couple hours from Hawthorne. You should move over there and join a company where the rocket nerds are gods.

Yes, but then he'd have to live in the LA basin and nobody deserves that.

True! It's a heck of a trade-off.

Too many replies to read all at once, but here I go anyhow.

JERRYR708 said:

I often go on TRF, Estesrockets.com and other related sites while at work. A co-worker happened to pass by and saw me buying rockets from Estes during the sale and sorta giggled. Now I'm labeled at work..:-(
They say it's nerdy, childish, gay, etc. They tease me now with: "Who flies rockets these days anyway?" "Doesn't he have anything better to do?" "He's got too much time on his hands." "He never grew up." "Rockets are nerdy."

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If they're using "gay" as an insult, then anything else they say can safely be ignored. They could say the Earth is round and it wouldn't mean ****.

I blew my cover at work and got caught. Now they see the real nerd that I really am.

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To put it another way, you no longer need to hide your true self. Congratulations.

dmgrime said:

I'm a recent BAR and have openly shared my new enthusiasm at work. Largely people are genuinely interested, though I've got a built in advantage being in IT - we're all nerds already anyway

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I work in an old money company where half the building is manufacturing, repairs, shipping, and receiving. The other half is a mix of engineering, program management, and finance. Most people here think it's odd and/or cool, while some don't show any reaction, but I've never had a negative one. Jerry, you work with a bunch of jerks!

CzTeacherMan said:

Better that than gambling, drinking, strippers, etc.

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Hey, now don't be so quick to judge others. What's wrong with drinking, gambling, and strippers? "I think your sims are wrong, I'll bet you two drinks and a lap dance that thing doesn't go a mile!"

LW Bercini said:

Them: You need a haircut.

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ME: I'm 54, I STILL HAVE HAIR, it is still mostly brown, & I wear it in a ponytail.

F*** 'em....



{EDIT: That was NOT meant to be a "HIT" against any rocketeers on this forum who are "folically challenged". I just wanted to clarify that....}

To the OP--

It begs the question, "Why do certain people get picked on?", doesn't it? In my experience, people get picked on because it is in some way satisfying to the person doing the picking.

When they tease you, what is your reaction? Do they get to see that they are having an effect on you? If so, then they will keep it up. They like knowing that they can have an impact on someone else's life.

The most surefire way to avoid being picked on is to be confident. Bullies and teasers are looking to subjugate the meek. If they see that their insults don't have any effect on you--if they see that you are confident and unaffected by their taunts--if they see that their efforts are fruitless, then they will find someone else to pick on.

A disaffected air will be your best friend.

JERRYR708 said:

Well, the only employee that is remotely interested in any modeling type of hobbies, is into R/C planes. He was talking to me about how he built and flew a few model rockets in the early 80's, but eventually out grew them. He sad that he graduated to building scale model airplanes. He told me "You know, it takes a lot of skill to not only build one of these planes, but also to be able to take off, fly and land them." He said that it got redundant building the same ole rockets and pressing the same button over and over and wanted to be able to pilot a manoeuver the craft.
He asked me to come to the flying field on Saturday and watch him fly and that I would be amazed at what his planes could do. He told me that I shouldn't waste my time and money on these lil toy rockets.

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His is a cool hobby too, and he does have a point, just not a good one. If all he did was build a bunch of 3FNCs and whoosh-pop then over and over, I can see why he might get bored (unless the building engages him, but that's not the fun part for everyone.)

If you go to the flying field with him you'll probably have a good time. Tell him you'll go if he'll come to the next HPR launch. Heck, even at the last L/MPR launch I went to, there was a 13-15 year old girl who launched a boosted RC glider and brought it in for a perfect landing to copious applause.

Ravenex said:

My 10 year old daughter just asked me to teach her openrocket and solidworks.

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You, sir, are a blessed man.

Greg

Barkley said:

My 6 year old said the following:
"Daddy, if making propellant is chemistry, and if making rockets is physics, how am I going to help if I don't know physics and chemistry?"
My response: "Well Sweet Pea, we can learn this stuff together, then you can help all you want and do it yourself too."
Her response: "Can we go to the bookstore? I need a book so I can learn physics and chemistry."

Click to expand...

Ravenex said:

My 10 year old daughter just asked me to teach her openrocket and solidworks.

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Three cheers for you. Cheers three time three for your daughters.:grin:

CzTeacherMan said:

I'm an English teacher and chess coach/chess author. No one called me nerd until they knew I'm into rockets. Now they want me to start a rocket club... And call me nerd. I'm okay with that. Everyone's got to have a thing. My thing is rocketry. Better that than gambling, drinking, strippers, etc. Sports do nothing for me. Why not? Build something that can fly thousands of feet in the air at hundreds of miles an hour? Yes sir. And at a fraction of the cost of building super fast cars...

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CZ,

I remember last summer when you first joined TRF and I was curious about the "CZ" in your name (as I have "CZ" as well). Now I see you have gone from L0 to L2 in less than a year (on same motor I used). Congrats. You have obviously been bitten by the rocketry bug.