# 50 things to do before you're 30 - which have you done? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2006, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-things-to-do-before-youre-30-which-have-you-done/340952 "2006-01-21T01:17:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-things-to-do-before-youre-30-which-have-you-done/340952/101 "2006-02-02T20:03:52Z")
1. Have a really stupid accident which necessitates a hospital visit _Ever time I’ve been to the hospital it’s because I’ve done something really stupid._ 2. Shoot something_Yup_ 3. Take a weekend break more than 1000 miles from home _Many times_ 4. Get lost in a country where you don’t speak the language _Trip to Mexico_ 5. Post bail for a friend _Roommate in college got caught with a decent sized amount of weed._ 6. Break a really large plate glass window _I don’t want to talk about it_ 7. Make a parachute jump on a hangover _My friend’s bachelor party_ 8. Use a whole roll of gaffa tape in one day _Many times_ 9. Delay paying a bill until the summons arrives _Sadly, yes_ 10. Break a sledgehammer _Yup_ 11. Make a bomb _If dry ice bombs count, then yes_ 12. Tip a waiter with something other than money _Weed in my younger stupid days_ 13. Light a fire with petrol _It’s the best way!_ 14. Give yourself a mains electric shock. _More times that I care to remember_ 15. Completely dismantle an object larger than yourself _Sure, if you count theatrical scenery_ 16. Fall asleep and get really hilarious sunburn _On my honeymoon_ 17. Stay up all night listening to a girl have an emotional crisis 18. Lick the terminals of a 9 volt battery _That’s how you tell it’s still good_ 19. Stay at the office for more than 24 hours 20. Set off a fire extinguisher _Wasn’t even on purpose_ 21. Commit a faux pas which means that a friend will never speak to you again _Sadly, yes_ 22. Make a bet you couldn’t afford to lose _Yup, and I won_ 23. Read a 500 page book in one sitting _Most recently was the new Harry Potter book_ 23 out of 50. I’m going to have a busy 2006 if I’m going to accmplosh the rest before I turn 30. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-things-to-do-before-youre-30-which-have-you-done/340952/102 "2006-02-02T21:55:35Z")
Female, 23: I’ve done the following 1. Take a weekend break more than 1000 miles from home - Thanksgiving in California 2. Get lost in a country where you don’t speak the language - France, 2003 3. Spend more than your monthly income on a pocket sized gadget - Mobile phone, £99 (Occupation: student; monthly income, £0) 4. Use a whole roll of gaffer tape in one day - Building set for play(s) 5. Make a pointless modification to your house 6. Delay paying a bill until the summons arrives - Hotel 7. Refill an inkjet cartridge - This is an essential life experience? 8. Live abroad. - 2004-present! 9. Get something for free through a masterpiece of complaining 10. Give yourself a mains electric shock. - Theatre again 11. Completely dismantle an object larger than yourself - Theatre again 12. Stay up all night listening to a girl have an emotional crisis - At least once a year since age 13 13. Drive at least 600 miles in a day on two lane roads - Home after graduating from college; not all of it was 2 lanes though 14. Commit a faux pas which means that a friend will never speak to you again - More than once ☹ 15. Read a 500 page book in one sitting - More than once… Guess I have a way to go… ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-things-to-do-before-youre-30-which-have-you-done/340952/103 "2006-02-03T03:14:58Z")
Female, 26. My list of exploits: 1. Have a really stupid accident which necessitates a hospital visit 2. Shoot something 3. Take a weekend break more than 1000 miles from home 4. Buy a samurai sword 5. Refill an inkjet cartridge 6. Give yourself a mains electric shock.\* 7. Completely dismantle an object larger than yourself 8. Stay up all night listening to a girl have an emotional crisis 9. Stay at the office for more than 24 hours 10. Dial 999 I guess that’s the drawbacks of being a geek (she-geek in my case). I’m in front of the computer too much to rack up very much of that list. Guess I should 'splain my doings: 1. This wasn’t so much an accident as a bizzare circumstance. One year when I was in highschool, I got whooping cough. I had constant, violent coughs for over a month. One day I was out with my friends and coughing like crazy as usual, when suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my side followed by excruciating solid pain. When I got home and my mom saw I was walking like I crab, she took me to the hospital. Turned out I had coughed so hard I broke a rib. :eek: 2. Me & my dad used to shoot tin cans with a pellet gun. I was an archer for about a year also. 3. Went camping way up in Northern Ontario for a weekend once. It was a solid 12 hour drive to get there. 4. I have a wakizashi. The hilt is a really nice black ebony with a dragon painted on it. Saved up for months to get that one. 5. Done it a few times. Not difficult, was successful. Reused cartridges tend to start to have problems after a couple refills though. Found that out the hard way (cyan ink all over the print feed rollers) 6. I don’t know what “mains” means. But I have given myself an electric shock. When I was developing photos once I was standing in the darkroom looking at a print, with my hand, which was wet, on the light switch. Dumb to begin with, but someone had removed the switchplate and the wires were exposed. I heard a weird hum a moment before there was a snap and I jumped about a mile in the air. A couple people ran in when they heard me yell, “OOOH! AHH! OH, SHIT!!” I was fine, but I had a small, dark welt on the tip of my finger where the current had entered my body. 7. Taken apart scaffolding when I was on the tech crew in highschool. 8. Had at least a couple friends who crisised to me over the phone for hours. 9. I was stuck completing a design project for 3 solid days once. Was awake for most of that, and a total zombie by the end. But I got it done! 10. That would be 911 over here. Once, when I was 16 and some stranger on the street flashed his handgun to my aunt & I as we walked past him, and once when an aggressive drunk guy was trying to break down the door of my apartment at 3 am. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-things-to-do-before-youre-30-which-have-you-done/340952/104 "2006-02-03T17:57:11Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > 1. Have a really stupid accident which necessitates a hospital visit . That’s it, and just the ED, not an actual stay. And it wasn’t particularly stupid, just your usual slip and fall. I’ve modified my house but it had a point: making me happy. I know that I am extremely risk-averse, but I’ve got to get out more. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-things-to-do-before-youre-30-which-have-you-done/340952/105 "2006-02-04T01:58:27Z")
I’m a couple years over 30. Before I was 30, I’d done about 29 of the things on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-things-to-do-before-youre-30-which-have-you-done/340952/106 "2006-02-04T18:13:01Z")
1. Have a really stupid accident which necessitates a hospital visit Running around drunk on campus I tried to jump off of a curb, ankle folded, went to hospital. 2. Shoot something I hunt regularly. 3. Take a weekend break more than 1000 miles from home Long weekend to Seattle 4. Boot Linux on your home PC Not home, but I did setup my own office server with Linux, and I’m not a computer guy. 5. Get lost in a country where you don’t speak the language Middle of wheat field in eastern Slovakia during rain-storm. Not fun. 6. Spend more than your monthly income on a pocket sized gadget Well…sorta…I had no or low income while studying, so many times I spent too much on stuff. 7. Post bail for a friend Once in Littleton CO. 8. Break a really large plate glass window Being stupid on a cold day and punched the full length front door window. shatter. 9. Make a parachute jump on a hangover Hangover? Hmmm…Did a static-line jump while on College trip, so I assume I was intoxicated the night before, but can’t remember being hungover. 10. Use a whole roll of gaffa tape in one day Whats gaffa tape? Duct tape? We taped a friend’s car up with the stuff, two rolls. 11. Make a pointless modification to your house Made a stupid hanging thing in the garage to bump the windshield and let you know when to stop pulling into the garage…maybe not pointless… 12. Neck a pint of peppermint oil Huh? Steal or drink? 13. Pull a shemale by mistake (but realise in time…) Never. 14. Buy a samurai sword El Cheapo samurai swords-r-us type. Don’t know where it is… 15. Delay paying a bill until the summons arrives Sigh. Far too often. 16. Destroy a speed camera Nope. 17. Refill an inkjet cartridge Many times. 18. Say something obscene on national television Nope. 19. Do a J turn in order to beat somebody to a parking space Whats a J turn? 20. Break a sledgehammer The head came off… 21. Make a bomb Lets just say I had fun as a youth with my chemistry set and CO2 cartridges 22. Smash a CRT Dropped a TV, that count? 23. Require medical treatment as a consequence of kinky sex gone wrong (STDs don’t count.) Nope. 24. Tip a waiter with something other than money Gave a flower pot to a favorite waitress on her birthday. 25. Light a fire with petrol Of course! I was a Boy Scout 26. Kidnap someone Of Course! I was a Boy Scout 27. Park inside a motorway service station Huh? 28. Own a convertible. Nope. 29. Live abroad. Doing it now. 30. Drive at more than 140mph. 3 times. Once in a Datsun Z, once in a Corvette, and once in a BMW M3 31. Get something for free through a masterpiece of complaining A nice pen from Cross because they screwed up labelling something would work for my PDA. 32. Give yourself a mains electric shock. Stripped the wires off of an old lamp, then touched the ends together to see the sparks…accidentally touched one. Twice. 33. Completely dismantle an object larger than yourself Tore down a chimney during a remodeling project. Oh, moved a wooden bunkbed between houses. 34. Write off a car Donated a car to the national liver foundation for the tax write-off. 35. Fall asleep and get really hilarious sunburn Not hilarious, but pretty nasty. 36. Get drunk on Absinthe I live in Prague…Of course. 37. Stay up all night listening to a girl have an emotional crisis Thank god those days are over. 38. Lick the terminals of a 9 volt battery Yes. 39. Take part in motorsport Raced a motorcycle once 40. Stay at the office for more than 24 hours Welcome to the hell known as investment Trust services… 41. Set off a fire extinguisher Depleted an out-of-date one. 42. Drive at least 600 miles in a day on two lane roads Between Seattle and Denver there are quite a few two-lane routes. 43. Hotwire a car Worked at a car dealership, had to even jimmy the door to get in. 44. Watch all the Monty Python films In one sitting Nope. 45. Shag an ex-girlfriend by mistake Yep. 46. Dial 999 911- a few times. Mainly calling for an ambulance. 47. Commit a faux pas which means that a friend will never speak to you again Hmmm…think so, but can’t remember who… 48. Make a bet you couldn’t afford to lose Yes, but I knew I would win it. 49. Read a 500 page book in one sitting Once turned off reality by reading from morning until night for 5 days in a row. Must have plowed through a dozen good sized books. Maybe more. 50. Escape a perfectly justified parking ticket. Delivered medical supplies for awhile. Told them I was making a delivery. Over 40…some I didn’t understand. -Thomas ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-things-to-do-before-youre-30-which-have-you-done/340952/107 "2006-02-04T19:12:59Z")
Here are the ones that I have done 1. Have a really stupid accident which necessitates a hospital visit – Fell asleep driving crashed and broke my knee 2. Shoot something–M16A2 Rifle and AK47 at paper targets (Does that count?) 3. Get lost in a country where you don’t speak the language–Korea, got on a subway, got off at the wrong stop and was in an area where I could not find any English speaking people 4. Make a parachute jump on a hangover–Several Airborne Ops in the Army while I was hungover. Jumping while intoxicated is a NO GO 5. Delay paying a bill until the summons arrives–Once with a credit card 6. Refill an inkjet cartridge–Thought it would be cheaper than buying a new one, but the value is in the convenience of replacing the used one. 7. Live abroad.–Currently on assignment in Iraq and formerly in Republic of Korea 8. Write off a car–Several junkers I have driven until I can’t drive them anymore 9. Lick the terminals of a 9 volt battery–Several times, but why, I don’t know 10. Read a 500 page book in one sitting–How about \*The Stand \* in three days? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-things-to-do-before-youre-30-which-have-you-done/340952.md?page=5)