Reflections of Three Decades

So -- this old man turns 30 on Monday. That is so old, but as I bid my 20s farewell, I wanted to take a little stock of things and reflect a bit. Bear with me as I recount the last three decades.

First decade (ages 0 to 10)

• I remember I liked dirt.
• I liked pickles.
• I enjoyed the transformers and baseball cards.
• I think baseball cards were my first real dive into financial markets and stocks. As a player did better or worst, his cards got more valuable. So the challenge was to know which players would be stars before they became stars. I still feel bad to this day, but I probably swindled my friends out of hundreds of dollars in cards via our trading. But they should have done their research and figured out that Conseco was a junkie and Griffey Junior was going to have a phenomenal career.
• As much as I liked dirt, it did not taste good.
• My best friend, the Atari 2600. Awesome.
• Dude, multiplication tables are lame.
• I had sweet high-tops.
• What is a comb?
• You can never wear too much Neon.
• Saturday morning cartoons are the best TV shows ever!
  

Second decade part 1 (ages 11-17)

• Who are these girl creatures? Have they been here this whole time? Why won’t any of them talk to me?
• My best friend was a flannel tied around my waste and Pearl Jam was my God.
• I am clearly not going to be much of an athlete.
• I dig music.
• I want to be Zac Morris
  
• Why aren’t the girls talking to me yet?
• A powder clue Camaro Berlinetta was the coolest car ever.
• I wish I could gain weight and build some muscle – do not enjoy being a twig.
• I like people watching. Maybe I could have a career that involves getting inside the heads of people and trying to influence their decisions regarding discretionary income at a large not-for-profit corporation. Naaaah – I want to be a radio DJ or studio producer in a music studio.
• MTV is the best TV ever!

Second decade part 2 (ages 17-22).

• See, I was never much for math, so I consider my second decade ending after college, because I became a new person.
• I met a new friend at college – a pirate fellow named Captain Morgan
• Girls are talking to me. Unfortunately, none of them seem sane.
• If you get together with 300 friends and wear head to toe red polyester in front of 86,000 people and make a giant letter N, people will cheer very loudly.
• Dude, living away from home rocks. It’s like camp, only longer.
• I have this college thing licked, but classes are going too fast. Is there anyway I can stretch this out a few more years.
• I lived with an Alaskan, a Kansan, farm boys, Chicago guys, engineers, musicians, architects, business wannabes and has some of the best times ever when 8 of us lived together
• By the time I graduate from college, every building at UNL will be connected to this magic Internet thing.
• ESPN is the best TV ever!
• My landlord is a bitch
• Woo hoo. I got a degree.

Third decade (22-29)

• This Ashley gal seems OK. If she can put up with me, this may work out.
• Who is this FICA asshole and why does he get 11% of my money every month?
• Holy crap. I just signed a loan for over $100K to buy a house.
• Mmmmm – opportunities to be had in the Asian markets!
• I love my job and my boss is a fantastic mentor.
• Wedding showers are the shit. Guy shave to do nothing, and the ladies go and do something for a few hours and she comes home with all this stuff you registered for.
• My boss is now allegedly a crook being investigated by the attorney general
• I wish I could lose weight and build some muscle.
• Hmm, I still dig music. What other instruments do I want to play?
• Ok friends. Bye – as you all leave and go your separate ways.
• I had no idea I would attend 7,000 weddings in my 20s. Glad that’s over.
• I think I’m turning into Bob Vila.
• HGTV and the history channel (and CNN during the election) is the best TV ever.
• Eh, what the hell – I’m bored, so let’s go get another degree.
• Who needs a comb.

Wow. What an interesting evolution. I’m still not sure I am an adult yet. But I’ve come to grips with my own mortality and the heart problems in my family and have been doing a lot about it. On my 30th birthday (unless I really pig out on the 4th) I’ll be roughly the same weight as I was my freshman year of college and my running/biking stamina is the best it has been since I played outside all day as a kid.

I’m generally the same guy as I was when I was 18, only a lot more worldly. A sane girl finally talked to me. I concluded that there is a God, and I know that I’m not him. The rest I’m still trying to ponder.

I generally enjoy the road I took to 30, and the bumps and bruises made me who I am. Ash and I were happy and lucky (and ahead of our time) to live well below our means and save – which means the current economic mess isn’t really impacting us a whole lot like it is some of our friends who bought too much house or figured they could roll up debt forever.

I wonder what entering my fourth decade will bring? Likely children, possibly an opportunity to relocate or change careers, mastery of the guitar and Playstation 5 when it comes out, an iPhone, the country’s first libertarian president in 2016? Hair restoration surgery?

I’m not sure – but I can’t wait to find out.