I've been away for quite a while. What have I missed?

[RC-1140]

Hi everybody,

it's been quite a while since I've last been here. University doesn't leave me any spare time, but I thought I would pay you a visit again! How have you been?


RC

p.s. If any German students happen to visit the Konferenz der Informatikfachschaften, let me know, so we can meet!

[matt3o]

nothing special.

webwit got married, with 7bit. They are talking about adopting a Korean kid and bring some custom keyboards with him.

welcome back!

[Muirium]

Round 5 is still just around the corner. As is CM's Topre switch MX NovaTouch. It's been "hectic"…

[RC-1140]

yeah, student life is also leaving me no money for keyboards, let alone keycaps. I guess otherwise I might have participated in the Granite GB. And apparently I missed the Unicomp announcement.

[Muirium]

Bit of a non announcement so far. They'll earn our attention when they have pictures of a product, rather than Emmer's renders.

[matt3o]

Bird told me that a compact Unicomp (which doesn't mean SSK) might be available this holiday.

[sth]

I started a blog using an older blogging platform. It was ok but I found that my blogging was hindered by the software. So I moved my blog to a new provider.

[RC-1140]

Yeah, I also missed all the Kishsavers. I'm a bit sad about that. I couldn't have afforded one anyway.

[tinnie]

Yeah, I also missed all the Kishsavers. I'm a bit sad about that. I couldn't have afforded one anyway.

There were free units.

[RC-1140]

Eh. I'm not sure how to feel about that.

[vivalarevolución]

yeah, student life is also leaving me no money for keyboards, let alone keycaps. I guess otherwise I might have participated in the Granite GB. And apparently I missed the Unicomp announcement.

Come to America. You can get student loans to buy whatever you want in college, and then be indebted up to your eyeballs for the rest of your life.

[RC-1140]

Well, my father earns too much, so I don't receive the German government funded student loans. (You get a specific amount of money, based on your parent's income, and have to pay back half of it afterwards. The rest is basically a gift from the government) I have a total income of 700€ per month, mainly child support from my father, but my shared flat in a basement here and Internet alone cost me about 400€. So I have around 10€ per day for food and other expenses. Now my watch needs a new battery, I got a haircut yesterday, and I need lighter clothes. Not much space for keyboards there. But on the other hand: I won't have any debts afterwards.

[Muirium]

American students get ripped off really badly. It's gotten a lot more like that here, in recent years. The government used to give every student a grant, and there were no tuition fees. These days, the opposite is true in most of Britain, while here in Scotland it's not quite as bad, but still worse than back in my day.

Regarding "free" Kishsavers, Tinnie scored two kinds. The 60% that I'm typing on right now, and a matrix board that looked quite similar and was probably its extended numpad. Kishy's site's still not loading right, so I can't link pictures, but think of a little Tipro Model F!

He sold right out of Kishsavers in next to no time (there was a long waiting list too) but the matrix boards weren't nearly as in demand. In fact, Tinnie decided to give some away in a little contest:

http://deskthority.net/off-topic-f10/ib ... t6827.html

Speaking of which: who won?

[Hak Foo]

A lot of it is selectiveness.

In most US states, there will be a handful of universities sponsored by the state government. These are often under legal mandate to offer "as cheap as possible" tuition. These schools will also hand out full-tuition scholarships like halloween candy to students, in the hopes of keeping talented students in state rather than fleeing for locations with better economic prospects.

Here, for example, the top third or quarter of the graduating class can get free tuition at the state universities. I took that, saved money by attending a local school (living at home is cheaper than room and board ) and ended up with no debt.

[RC-1140]

Hi folks,

I'm back once more.

My life hasn't been treating me nicely to be honest, I've spent about one and a half months in a psychiatric hospital.

I'll have to see if I somehow can get back into this community. Probably finally renew my club membership (sorry for not replying to those messages…). Who's even still around?

[kbdfr]

Welcome back!

[Muirium]

Aye, welcome again!

I hope they didn't try fobbing you off with talking therapy with none of the good stuff. A good friend of mine endured that, to no effect whatsoever, until finally they got out the drugs and he was a free man again. He didn't need to name his demons, he needed something to give him the space to recover for himself.

As for the DT Club, no worries about lapsed memberships. You get your old number back as soon as you step back on the path, and pay the troll!

[RC-1140]

Actually I was already taking pills, but they only worked against my panic attacks, not against the depression. In the hospital they switched meds, things got better, and I got another 6 weeks in a psychotherapy ward. Things really looked good then. I'm having a little setback currently, the meds have stopped working, probably because I'm under far too much stress from University. Because of that I'm currently phasing out the Venlafaxine, to start on Elontril/Bupropion in two weeks. Currently I'm diagnosed with a recurrent depression (F33.1 currently) and social phobia (F40.1). My current psychiatrist is also suspecting an autism spectrum disorder like Asperger's. Oh, and ADD (ADHD without hyperactivity) probably too.

The antidepressant I'll be getting soon is also used in the therapy of ADHD, so that might be an advantage. And I finally get rid of the nasty side effects of the Venlafaxine. It's not like I'm not sweating too much already, without medication increasing that as well.

[7bit]

I'm afraid, we can't help you much. But:

... probably because I'm under far too much stress from University.

I think this is the main reason. Just take fewer lectures, so you have more time to manage these and learn the stuff for real. Also, this gives you more time to do other important things. I know it too well. I also wanted to do everything a bit faster and ended up with an overfull time table.

[RC-1140]

Well, due to these problems (especially the ADD) I failed the only exam I took this semester. Thing is, I haven't really felt in control of my life over the last two years. Just barely making it somehow. Being unable to plan anything, just doing things as they come and forgetting most of it along the way.

And don't worry, I'm getting enough help as it is now, I just felt like I owed you folks an update. This forum has been the place on the internet where I felt "at home" for a long time. Actually it felt like the only community I was at home in at that time. It's better now, but yeah, you here have helped me a lot already.

[seebart]

I've been "gone" for a while but don't feel like I've missed much!

[Muirium]

Sure you have. We've been talking a lot of SHIF T for starters.

http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/fixi ... 11522.html

[RC-1140]

Aw crap. I would have loved discussing that. I've been reading several books on microtypography lately.

[Muirium]

It's still a work in progress. Probably will be for a long time, knowing SP.

[RC-1140]

Seems like they didn't really change much

But is it true that they now can make Double Shot PBT caps? I'm still a sucker for the good ole Cherry Dye Subs…

[seebart]

Sure you have. We've been talking a lot of SHIF T for starters.

http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/fixi ... 11522.html

In depth SHIF T discussions are way too complex for me anyhow. I just like looking at really old keyboards.

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