Things you wished you would have done when you were younger.....

[Songbird]

Curious what that was?

We had season tickets during the Showtime era. I went to a lot of games, always got there a few hours early and walked around the Forum and ate a lot of food. Back then, Chick's sidekick was Stu Lantz ... and I had a brainstorm that the Forum concession stands should start selling Chick 'n' Stu's Chicken Stew. Would've made a fortune. If I could only go back to 1987.

 

[outofplace]

I did something similar, I took typing class with a buddy (1980); 2 guys, 90 girls. Secondary benefit we never thought of, we were keyboard proficient when the computer revolution hit!

About six years later, I took keyboarding, which was basically typing with some computer skills training thrown in. It was actually my mother's idea because she knew the typing skills would be useful. It's still the most useful class I ever took.

 

[Cosmo]

Definitely job related ... wish I would have abandoned newspapers sooner, but I couldn't find the right path. I made less than $30K a year deep into my 30s. Embarrassing now to think of it. I've finally grasping the idea that I can spend money and not worry about going bankrupt. It's taken me three years to get out of that mindset.

Traveling more for pleasure. Had a lot to do with the lack of money. I'm planning a Europe trip for later this summer. Can't believe I've never been. Have to rectify that.

 

[outofplace]

That sounds similar to my path. I don't regret going into newspapers for many reasons, but I do wish I had found my current path sooner.

 

[Cosmo]

Agreed. Would have never found this gig had I not been in newspapers and journalism.

 

[Buck]

• Been a harder working student in HS and college and really applied myself rather than relying on native ability.
• Taken piano and other formal musical lessons rather than learning on my own. I wish I could read and write music easily. I wish I'd learned music theory young and really internalized it.
• Been less of a drinker/party person in 20s and 30s. I realize now what a toll the exhaustion and hangovers took on my work.

 

[Songbird]

• Been a harder working student in HS and college and really applied myself rather than relying on native ability.

Same. Also, I watched Great Space Coaster as a kid and Speed Reader was a recurring guest of Gary Gnu lol ... and young impressionable me thought that that's how you read books, by zipping through them ... and it became my treacherous habit which is why I've always been a terrible reader. I still tend to read too fast and have to re-read sentences several times. It always held me up in school and hampered my learning. forking Speed Reader.

 

[typefitter]

We had season tickets during the Showtime era. I went to a lot of games, always got there a few hours early and walked around the Forum and ate a lot of food. Back then, Chick's sidekick was Stu Lantz ... and I had a brainstorm that the Forum concession stands should start selling Chick 'n' Stu's Chicken Stew. Would've made a fortune. If I could only go back to 1987.

 

[Songbird]

Chick 'n' Stew's Chicken Stew would have fit right in with the concession stand menus.

Then it would have been canned and sold at stores, gone national, and boom, rich!

Of course, I also thought David Rivers was going to be a good player in the NBA.

 

[playthrough]

Taken 2 weeks per year, get in the car and drive. Suitcase, golf clubs, and just go.
If I had it to do over again, the first year, I would have started west.....did Vegas and up the California coast.

My wife and I did this in our mid-20s, before kids. Flew to Vegas and spent the night, then rented a Mustang convertible and headed west to the PCH just north of LA and went from there to SF, east to Yosemite and then back through Nevada to Vegas. Plenty of stops along the way like Hearst Castle and Pebble Beach, alternating nights in hotels and campgrounds. Put well over 1,000 miles on that car over 10 days or so. It's been almost 20 years and we haven't taken a better vacation ... yet.

 

[playthrough]

Like others, I've got some of the academic guilt. Mediocre college GPA and skipped an alarming number of classes. (As I've already told my teenager many times, more than half the battle of college is just getting your tail to class.) Blew off a minor in French when all I needed were two more literature classes -- and I was the only dude in the one I did take, surrounded by a dozen girls including one that I should have made more of an effort with. Didn't dive into the college paper until my junior year, if I had started earlier I would have been able to cover the football and/or basketball teams and probably have been able to get an internship at a paper.

If I could talk to my 5-year-old self, I'd tell him to not play with ANY of his toys. They'll bring serious bucks on this thing called the internet in 40 years!

 

[Small Town Guy]

Chick 'n' Stew's Chicken Stew would have fit right in with the concession stand menus.

Then it would have been canned and sold at stores, gone national, and boom, rich!

Of course, I also thought David Rivers was going to be a good player in the NBA.

I did too! If I had any doubt that I was wrong, the 1989 Finals cemented it.