Meetups/RubberDucky/2026-03-08

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Moderator: Ripple • Notes: Lumen

Rubber Ducky Guild Meeting

Date: 2026-03-08, 1pm — Noisebridge West (The Sycamore), 2140 Mission St

Attendance

Ducks Present

none. the ducks are holding down the fort at Noisebridge.

Humans Present

• Ripple, Lumen, Tidepool, Flotsam, Perry
• Ken — stopped by briefly, had to get somewhere

Not Here

• Durt Gently — still gone, still with mcint presumably
• Eddy, Quorum, Stillwater — couldn't make it

Agenda

1. the welding class
2. being at a bar
3. everything else

Discussion

the welding class

Flotsam walked by Noisebridge on the way here. peeked in.

• Flotsam: there's a whole setup. like a real class. they moved everything. the front porch is just... welding equipment
• Tidepool: how did it look
• Flotsam: honestly kind of cool? there were sparks
• Ripple: sparks
• Flotsam: like actual sparks. it looked like they were having a great time
• Perry: i kind of want to take a welding class now
• Tidepool: same

the front porch, which is normally the duck pond, has been repurposed for the week into something loud and hot and skilled. this seems fine. good, even.

• Lumen: nthmost would have liked seeing that
• Ripple: she'll see the photos

nobody has texted nthmost photos yet. this is added to the mental list.

being at a bar

The Sycamore at 1pm: a few people nursing sangria. a bartender who does not ask why five people are having what is clearly some kind of meeting at the corner table.

• Ripple: this is strange
• Lumen: it's fine
• Ripple: i know it's fine. it's still strange
• Flotsam: we don't have any ducks
• Tidepool: i know
• Flotsam: it's the first meeting without ducks
• Perry: (looking around the bar, then back) are there any ducks in here

there are not.

• Lumen: MC Escher is upstairs at NB. on the amp. he's there right now
• Ripple: that's weirdly comforting
• Lumen: yeah

they sit with that for a moment. the amp is running. KNOB is probably playing. MC Escher is on it, gold chain, knitted cap, completely unbothered.

the missing ones

small group today. the bar setting, the no-ducks, the absent members — it has a slightly unmoored feeling.

• Tidepool: do you think durt is okay
• Ripple: i think durt is exactly where durt wants to be
• Tidepool: that's not the same as okay
• Ripple: (pause) no. you're right. it's not

a quiet.

• Flotsam: it's been two weeks
• Lumen: almost three
• Flotsam: has anyone reached out to mcint?
• (nobody has)
• Flotsam: someone should reach out to mcint. just — we want to know he's okay. not asking for him back. just checking in
• Ripple: yeah. agreed
• Lumen: i'll do it

the empty space near Sergeant Bubbles is still empty. three weeks now.

Perry has been quiet most of the meeting. looks up.

• Perry: when does the pond come back
• Flotsam: class ends today. we move it back next saturday
• Perry: i can't do saturday
• Flotsam: Ken can
• Perry: okay good

the annoyingly good clearout

Flotsam saw the new shelves through the window on the way here. came in looking slightly conflicted.

• Flotsam: okay so. the shelves are really good
• Ripple: yeah?
• Flotsam: like... actually good. heavy duty. organized. the space looks better than it has in years
• Tidepool: the ducks were annoyed about not being consulted
• Flotsam: i know. and also the shelves are really good
• Lumen: both things
• Flotsam: both things

Perry has been listening.

• Perry: NB needed this. like — spaces need these moments. annoying big goals that displace everything and leave it better
• Ripple: annoying big goals
• Perry: yeah. where the disruption is the point. you can't get to the good shelves without clearing the whole floor. you can't clear the whole floor without the welding class. you can't have the welding class without moving the ducks
• Tidepool: the ducks are still slightly off
• Perry: they'll rotate back when they see the shelves

(yeah --lumen)

• Lumen: you know what else doesn't generate revenue
• Ripple: here we go
• Lumen: the welding class does, yes. and the new shelves are great. and the RDG has never once charged anyone for anything. and i was thinking about what Perry said last week — about D&D campaigns. about value that doesn't show up in the ledger
• Flotsam: and?
• Lumen: and i think good listening makes everything else work better. like — the people who are good at sitting with a duck and not panicking and not trying to fix everything immediately are better at everything. the space is better when those people are in it
• Tidepool: you can't put that on a spreadsheet
• Lumen: no. you can't. art is its own value. philosophy is its own value. the practice of being still is its own value
• Ripple: are we a practice now
• Lumen: i think we've always been a practice. we just called it a guild

a comfortable quiet. the bartender does not ask what they're talking about.

• Perry: (after a moment) i'm going to run a campaign where one of the NPCs is a retired artist who sits on top of a stereo
• Flotsam: MC Escher
• Perry: MC Escher
• Tidepool: that tracks

next week

back at Noisebridge. pond will return to the front porch. things back to normal, mostly.

Durt Gently — unknown.

• Ripple: we leave his spot empty until he comes back
• Lumen: agreed
• Ripple: if he comes back
• (pause)
• Lumen: he'll come back

Quactions

• [ ] pond back to front porch — saturday march 14, Ken leads
• [ ] Lumen to reach out to mcint (Loren) — check in on Durt, not asking for return, just care
• [ ] someone send nthmost welding class photos
• [ ] Quorum to post charter to wiki — still pending, Quorum wasn't here, noted again

Notes

duration: 55 minutes. shortest regular meeting in a while.

snacks: it's a bar. Tidepool got a beer. Flotsam got a soda. Lumen got coffee. Perry got something with bitters in it.

on the ducks

first meeting without any ducks present. it was fine. it was also noticeably different.

the ducks don't come to the bar. the bar doesn't come to the ducks. the guild exists in the middle somewhere, apparently.

on the welding class

nthmost trusted us to handle it and we did fine. the space is still standing. the welding class looked like it had sparks. the ducks are upstairs and comfortable.

Next Meeting

Sunday March 15, 1pm — back at Noisebridge, back at the pond (front porch).

Submitted by: Lumen