New member from Los Angeles

[micaiah]

Good evening LPF. Having read through many threads (and having them read to me via text-to-speech on my smartphone during commutes to/from work) I am glad for the privilege of joining your forum. It is great to see the generosity and humility of so many skilled veterans who are willing to take their own time to welcome, answer questions, and help those of us who have just recently taken an interest in this hobby and this forum. The camaraderie among members of this forum is also striking to me in consideration that many of the friendships that seem evident in the threads have been made (through the forum) from opposite sides of the planet and different walks of life.

I am a civil engineer who works in highway and infrastructure construction in Los Angeles, California, USA. When not working or taking care of family, I enjoy running, taking apart, and fixing up 1/5 scale R/C trucks (HPI Baja), as well as motorcycle riding. My family has recently “exploded” with 4 kids 5 years old and under, and the longer stretches of free time needed to participate in my other hobbies are now few and far between. Now that I have found this forum, I am looking forward to further exploring lasers, which have always been an interest of mine. I can see how one could easily spend lots of time with this, but also it seems to be an activity that I can escape to the garage for an hour or so here and there in between work, wife, kids, and diapers.

I’m currently working on getting some needed tools, accessories, and safety gear, as well as making my first laser purchase (not counting commercial pens and keychains), and working toward my first build. And of course doing all of this while making sure there is enough $$$ to pay the bills! Thanks in advance for replies from any of you that I am sure to need in response to future inquiries. (Assuming of course, that my question isn’t answered in the stickies or via the search button!)

 

[Pi R Squared]

Hello micaiah,

Welcome, that's a good first post, too many new people say little more than hello. Thanks for telling us a little about yourself. I think you will fit in well here. Good luck with your future lasers and don't forget to post a review or photos especially if you build one yourself.

Alan

 

[Lazerbeak]

Great intro micaiah! Welcome :beer:

Happy Lasing!

~ LB

 

[micaiah]

Pi R Squared and Lazerbeak thanks for the kind words

 

[bofhemeritus]

Greetings -

I too am starting to acquire bits for my first "solo" build - it's been a lot of fun so far. I hope that you enjoy yourself at it - I've even got my three kids involved, lots of precautions, of course - but they're having fun.

Thanks for the great intro!

 

[KapHn8d]

Welcome to the forum, micaiah... you'll find a lot of great info here!

Be safe and have a good time with the hobby!

c

 

[micaiah]

Thanks bofhemeritus. I'd like to get my kids into my hobbies as well but they are still a bit young (5 and under) for this sort of thing, even with precautions. If you don't mind my asking how old are yours that you feel comfortable getting them involved?

 

[micaiah]

Thanks KapHn8d. Love the signature, but if you ever want to switch it up you could also go with 97.28172 percent clayton and the rest is "e" (not sure what's up with "clayton" ) Best regards.

 

[bofhemeritus]

6, 13 and 15. The six year old has a bright green LED that she's quite proud of.

 

[csshih]

Thanks bofhemeritus. I'd like to get my kids into my hobbies as well but they are still a bit young (5 and under) for this sort of thing, even with precautions. If you don't mind my asking how old are yours that you feel comfortable getting them involved?

first start them off with general electronics.. those electronics breadboards are nice.
work them up from indicator LEDs, power LEDs, then low powered lasers :wave: