Or buy a pocket gadget that cost more than a month’s income. They didn’t HAVE those types of pocket gadgets back in the dark ages.
Its also a very British list. I don’t think many of us 'Mericans haven’t shot SOMETHING before our 30th birthday, even if it was just tin cans with a pellet gun.
I’m 31 now, but all of these were done before age 30. There are a few on that list that are just too stupid or unapealing to do. The Purity Test is a better scorecard/list of goals than this, IMO.
1. Have a really stupid accident which necessitates a hospital visit
I sometimes tell people who ask about a scar on my arm that it’s from a knife fight. I actually put my arm through a window. There are a few other stupidities, but that’s the fun one.
2. Shoot something
3. Take a weekend break more than 1000 miles from home
4. Boot Linux on your home PC
pffft, big deal
5. Get lost in a country where you don’t speak the language
I don’t usually get lost. I assume he’s talking about serendipity and dealing with stressful situations. I’ve done the equivalent.
7. Post bail for a friend
I still don’t know how he ended up there.
8. Break a really large plate glass window
Drove my dad’s Cougar through the window of the fish store when I was 4.
10. Use a whole roll of gaffa (sic.) tape in one day
I guess this is duct tape. Used up three making modifications to the bed of a buddy’s truck; we made it into a hot tub.
13. Pull a shemale by mistake (but realise in time…)
It was no mistake. I was at a party with about 95% gay men. She was very convincing, but I’ve never met a cross dresser or transsexual who fooled me for more than about 30 seconds. I’ve got nothing against flirting, but I let her know that I wasn’t going to bed with her. We had a good time hanging out, and she took home a much hotter guy later that night. Fun all around.
14. Buy a samurai sword
Not only have I bought one, I know how to use it properly.
15. Delay paying a bill until the summons arrives
I had to serve community service for a speeding ticket once because I moved so many times that the summons to appear was the first thing to catch up with me.
17. Refill an inkjet cartridge
<yawn>
21. Make a bomb
22. Smash a CRT
23. Require medical treatment as a consequence of kinky sex gone wrong (STDs don’t count.)
Girlfriend got a bladder infection that probably was the result of an inadvertent transfer of bacteria from anal sex. I had a chafing problem once, but that’s it. Even if you do heavy bondage, if you hurt yourself badly enough that you require medical attention, it’s because you were stupid and screwed up. Not praise-worthy, not something to put on your list of things to do.
25. Light a fire with petrol
27. Park inside a motorway service station
I’ll assume, like an earlier poster, that this translates to making out in a public place. Several times, and it didn’t stop at making out.
29. Live abroad.
Still there.
30. Drive at more than 140mph.
My first car was a Ford Escort station wagon handed down from my mom: give me a break. The round speedometer was marked to 85 at 170º, I drove it fast enough to hit “M” on the MPH. I think that counts.
32. Give yourself a mains electric shock.
By accident. Touched the prongs on a plug when I was stretching too far to plug something in behind the desk.
33. Completely dismantle an object larger than yourself
Helped tear down a house.
34. Write off a car
A couple of times.
35. Fall asleep and get really hilarious sunburn
Just once. Almost blistered too.
37. Stay up all night listening to a girl have an emotional crisis
That used to be my idea of a relationship. I got better.
38. Lick the terminals of a 9 volt battery
Hell, that’s how you know if it’s still good.
39. Take part in motorsport
Does impromptu street racing count? I was going “P” miles an hour when he gave up.
41. Set off a fire extinguisher
To put out a fire.
42. Drive at least 600 miles in a day on two lane roads
45. Shag an ex-girlfriend by mistake
How could you do that by mistake? Even if my count were in the hundreds, I know I’d remember everyone, even if I’d only nailed her once. There’s no way I would not know who the hell one of my exs was.
46. Dial 999
911? Yes. Not fun, not recommended.
47. Commit a faux pas which means that a friend will never speak to you again
I must have. I still have no idea what the hell it was.
49. Read a 500 page book in one sitting
Often.
50. Escape a perfectly justified parking ticket.
Blew the speed limit on my motorcycle coming home from a date’s place. I’d gone through a several month drought. The female officer asked me where I was going in such a hurry. The smile on my face when I told her that I was going home from a goooood date and was feeling too good to pay much attention must have convinced her that I could be let off with a warning.
I’m only 24, so I’ve got time, but I’ve only done eight. My life is apparently rather boring, although I didn’t realize that I could spice it up merely by refilling a printer cartridge.
2. Shoot something
Does paintball count?
3. Take a weekend break more than 1000 miles from home
In Puerto Rico, about six weeks ago.
5. Get lost in a country where you don’t speak the language
About four years ago, in Thailand, my friend and I found that the Bangkok central bus station wasn’t quite where we thought it was. We found someone who was probably the only English speaker for a significant radius, and not only did he walk us twenty minutes in blazing heat to the bus station, he found the proper ticket counter and arranged for us to buy the right tickets, pointed out the correct bus, and wrote out instructions in Thai for us to give cabbies once we got there. He was awesome, and he wouldn’t even let us buy him a bottle of water.
15. Delay paying a bill until the summons arrives
I was contesting a bill with my health insurance, which ended up refusing to pay; by then, I’d already gotten a couple of letters from a collection agency.
19. Do a J turn in order to beat somebody to a parking space
Hasn’t everybody? Not a particularly exciting highlight of my life, I have to say.
21. Make a bomb
I’ve made small dry-ice bombs in controlled settings, because that’s what biologists do when we’re bored. Does that count?
34. Write off a car
My brother totalled my car (with me in the passenger’s seat - I saw it, and it wasn’t his fault). The car was pretty much done at that point. Is that what this question means?
37. Stay up all night listening to a girl have an emotional crisis
I am a girl, so this isn’t that exciting, but my Friend Whose Life Most Closely Resembles a Soap Opera knows that I’m up late and there for her if she needs me. Emotional crises happen about once a year, on average.
49. Read a 500 page book in one sitting
Sure. More than once. Probably by the time I was twelve.
14. Buy a samurai sword. It wasn’t a very good one.
15. Delay paying a bill until the summons arrives If the “if you do not pay this ticket, you will not graduate letter” that you get a few days before graduation counts, then yes.
21. Make a bomb: It didn’t work very well, but I tried.
31. Get something for free through a masterpiece of complaining. Got a free upgrade to a hotel room due to accidentally blowing the fuse for the room when there was no one at the hotel who knew how to change a fuse/flip a breaker. And then complaining that the room didn’t have electricity.
37. Stay up all night listening to a girl have an emotional crisis. Multiple times. No gender barrier.
38. Lick the terminals of a 9 volt battery. I was ten-ish. My uncle convinced me to try it. Jerk.
46. Dial 999. If 999 = 911, then yes.
47. Commit a faux pas which means that a friend will never speak to you again. Yeah. Never lie to a guy who’s interested in you by saying you broke up with your boyfriend when, in actuality, you didn’t. Now, you’d think this would’ve been obvious to me at the time, but. . .
49. Read a 500 page book in one sitting. More than once.
…not bad for 22, I think :).
That’s 27, by my count. I think all of them were done before I turned 30, except perhaps #46 (dial 999 – translated to 911 here), and definitely # 11 (Make a pointless modification to your house) and # 4 (boot Linux on your home PC). I didn’t have a house or access to Linux until I was over 30. For #20 (break a sledgehammer), I counted the time I broke a mattock, since I also attempted unsuccessfully to use a 10 lb sledge for the same task and did it no good at all, though it didn’t actually break, unlike the mattock.
I probably can’t count this, but I’ve broken a rib on the bumper cars about a year and a half ago. I never went to the hospital, but I later confirmed that it was broken. This is stupid enough, but I won’t count this one. But do I really need another stupid injury?!?
Since this is basically a poll, I’ll move it to IMHO for you.
Cajun Man
for the SDMB
I’m giving myself loose credit for a few of these – it may not have been 500 pages, but I did read Jaws over a weekend at age 11 or so, which is a long book for a kid.
It was a perfectly justified SPEEDING ticket, which seems to be consistent with the tone of the questionnaire.
Fractured my skull at age 4, guess I was off to a good start.
And I just the other day set off a fire extinguisher (11 yrs too late, apparently, but it HAS to count); I kept the thing under the driver’s seat in my car & I was cleaning the car out, removing food debris, fast food cups and bags & baby toys (with the kids strapped into their seats). Tried to slide the seat back into place – WHOOOOOOSH!!! Yellow powder filled my footwell, yellow cloud filled the driver’s seat & advanced towards the kids. Ye gods, what a mess!
#1…Check
#2…Check
…and that’s it. I turn 30 next month, so this thread has me depressed now. I’m printing this list off and going for the gold. Watch out central Ohio, RancidYakButterTeaParty is on the loose!
I doubt seriously that anyone responding here has had a tea party with rancid yak butter before the age of 30. 
I personally think this is all a pissing contest. 50 things to do before you’re 50 might have some small relevance to “shoulds” for real people’s lives. Better still would be 50 things to do before you’re dead.
…after noting that the OP only racked up 7/50.
14/50! I am TWICE as…whatever…as the OP. Woot, as I believe the youngsters say thes days.
:dubious:
That’s 28/50 by 37. Not too bad.
According to spirit of this list maybe before I turn 60 I need to forget a child at the grocery store, flush something important down the toilet, visit a nudist camp and get stuck in the bottom of a well for at least 24 hours in order to say I’ve really made the most of my middle age.
Eli
Shoot something: I don’t think I’ve ever shot anything alive (unless you count paintball), but I’ve shot targets and the like.
Take a weekend break more than 1000 miles from home: Maybe not before I was 30, but I’ve gone from Florida to Canada on a long weekend.
Boot Linux on your home PC: I started with Linux when I was 21 or so, and it’s damn near all I run at work and at home now.
Break a really large plate glass window: I found this out when I was 10 years old or so: hitting rocks with a tennis racket is a bad idea.
Use a whole roll of gaffa tape in one day: I think that should be “gaffer’s tape,” but having worked stage crew in high school, yes, I’ve done this.
Neck a pint of peppermint oil: I have no idea what this means.
Make a bomb: I take the 5th…
Smash a CRT: That’s what old computer monitors are for, isn’t it?
Tip a waiter with something other than money: I got horrible service from a waitress once and “tipped” her with an inverted glass filled with water. In my defense, I was 17 or so at the time.
Light a fire with petrol: Oh, hell yeah! <Beavis & Butthead>Duuh-duuh duhduh duuuuh!</Beavis & Butt-head>
Drive at more than 140mph: I’ve flown a plane at those speeds, does that count?
Give yourself a mains electric shock: I did that before I was 20. More than once.
Write off a car: Not quite sure what this means, but I’ve totalled a car and I’ve given one away to a charity…
Stay up all night listening to a girl have an emotional crisis: Ahh, high school…
Lick the terminals of a 9 volt battery: I first did this as a kid and still do it to this day to check my 9-volts.
Shag an ex-girlfriend by mistake: Well, I can’t ever say it was a mistake…
Commit a faux pas which means that a friend will never speak to you again: I didn’t mean to, but it happened…
So, what’s that, 16? Not bad.
I’ve licked the silly 9 volt, but that is the only thing on the list that I would ever consider doing.