Reintroduction (Been away for a long time)

[Archmage]

Good evening everyone!
I've been a member for quite a few years now, but for one reason or another (mainly kids and work), I had neither the time or money to continue with the hobby we all love. Well, that's sort of changed, mostly in favour of rig building. Three months ago, I had surgery for colon cancer and I now face 6 months of Chemo, during which time I'm going to be mostly stuck at home. I probably won't feel up to fettling all the time, but I intend to use a good chunk of it building a couple of new rigs for myself and my eldest son.
And so, this is where I humbly call apon your wealth of knowledge and experience, for help and advice.
I've seen a few familiar names floating about (been catching up on Tom's reviews), but quite a lot of new ones.
So this is a "Hello" to all the new members and a "how's things" to any who remember me.
Thanks in advance for all the help I know will be offered. Please go gently with me, it's been awhile
Regards,
Andy

 

[paulstung]

Hello there mate. I'm a relative noob, around here, but let me say, welcome back. And the best of luck with the chemo, lets just hope it kicks the cancers arse.

 

[nepas]

Woot,another old name is back.Sorry to hear about the big C,I really pity you having to go through Chemo,sure you will be fine!!!

 

[Archmage]

Cheers guys, I have every intention of smashing the C out the park!
I wish I could say the same about the first rig we're on, but I'll save that for another thread

 

[WillSK]

Welcome back and as i'm sure you already know we are all more than willing to offer our thoughts and advise when it comes to a new rig. All the best with the chemo!!

 

[alpenwasser]

Welcome back from a more recent member, and best of luck with your health!

 

[Archmage]

Cheers guys, thanks for the support.
Love the sig alpenwasser BTW

 

[alpenwasser]

Love the sig alpenwasser BTW

Hehe, thanks :blush:. My life has been somewhat derailed by bad health as well; have been on the operating table some 4 to 6 times since fall 2007 (I have in all honesty lost count); last time in Sept 2011, and I have at least one more time to go (the docs can't figure out how to get my wound from the most recent operation to close, it's been open forever :headscratch: ).

Having said that, it's nothing life-threatening, but I do find it exhausting and unsatisfying, having to run at 50 % the whole time, being delayed and derailed again and again. Had to drop out of college (just wasn't productive enough anymore, couldn't study as much as I would have needed to and failed exams), hopefully get to start a new degree next fall (at 28 ).

On the other hand, I'm actually pretty lucky I'd say. I mean, it's estimated that ~ 115 billion people have existed so far. Out of those billions, I suspect only a very minuscule minority have had access to health care good enough to keep them alive this long, let alone let them enjoy a still very high quality of life. Had I lived 100 years ago I would either have suffered a severe case of deadness or been seriously crippled and disfigured. And even today, there are a lot more serious things to suffer from (mental illnesses and cancer are the first that come to mind, but I once made a pretty long list for a friend who asked me about more serious stuff than mine).

Anyway, ramble ramble ramble... apologies :lol:

Basically I just took that theme and applied my recent stint in web programming and C/C++ to it, and voilà, there's my sig

 

[Excalabur50]

G'day Welcome back to OC3D hope all goes well

 

[Archmage]

Don't worry about rambling, I can compete with the best.....
I wish you all the best with getting the wound to close, I have a lot of sympathy in that respect. They took about 12" of my large bowel out, but I'm quite lucky that the bit they left seems to be working OK. I couldn't shower for 10 weeks (phew!). My 10 inch tummy scar got infected during surgery and I only found out 8 days later when it burst. They ended up cutting it open completely under a local, packing it with seaweed and then basically left it open until it grew from inside, out. It took 7 weeks to close so I could get it wet.
Now I've been waiting for the NHS to get there act together, to start my Chemo. Was due to start 4 weeks ago but they didn't have enough resources to treat me!
So much for getting early diagnosis.
One thing you can be sure of; get some kids, then you don't have time to think about yourself, lol. My two run me ragged.
So now I'm cheering myself and my eldest, by seriously denting my credit card on components
Desperate to complete them as I got Bioshock Infinite and Crysis 3 free with both GPU's.
As a Controls Software Engineer, I revel in all geeky jokes and quips; my old favourite being the "There are 10 types of people who understand Base2(binary), those who do and those who don't".

 

[alpenwasser]

Don't worry about rambling, I can compete with the best.....
I wish you all the best with getting the wound to close, I have a lot of sympathy in that respect. They took about 12" of my large bowel out, but I'm quite lucky that the bit they left seems to be working OK. I couldn't shower for 10 weeks (phew!). My 10 inch tummy scar got infected during surgery and I only found out 8 days later when it burst. They ended up cutting it open completely under a local, packing it with seaweed and then basically left it open until it grew from inside, out. It took 7 weeks to close so I could get it wet.

Oh bloody hell that sounds messy. I actually had a roommate the time before last who had a part of his bowels removed (not sure why though). The poor guy was not in good shape (elderly man).

I myself had to have part of my muscle tissue removed between the coccyx and the lower back due to an infection/abscess. Of course, they have no idea how it originally came to be there in the first place, which is always fun since it's more or less certain to come back as soon as I'm in shape again (at least that's the pattern so far)

Anyway, left a hole in my lower back/upper ass about 15 x 5 wide and deep enough to go right to the bone (yes, bring the jokes, I've not only heard them all, I've bloody told them all :lol: ). About 95% of it has grown back but for the last 12 months there has been about zero progress with the last 5%.

One thing you can be sure of; get some kids, then you don't have time to think about yourself, lol. My two run me ragged.

I'd probably not want to procreate myself though. It's quite likely that my problem is at least partially hereditary (one of my brothers has similar problems, if not as severe), and I wouldn't want to pass something like that on to my kids.

As a Controls Software Engineer, I revel in all geeky jokes and quips; my old favourite being the "There are 10 types of people who understand Base2(binary), those who do and those who don't".

Oh fucking hell I bloody love that joke! :lol:
And yes I too share the affliction for geeky humour

 

[Noz_God]

Welcome and Hello

 

[Mark3Max]

Hi Archmage and welcome back to the OC3D forums,
I hope all goes well with your health issues and you get back to 100% healthy.

 

[airdeano]

a belated welcome andy.. welcome to the OC3D forums

 

[Archmage]

Thanks again for all the kind words and warm welcome.