35 Random Observations about Turning 35
1. If one trip around the sun is roughly 584 million miles, then 35 trips around the sun is 20,440,000,000 miles. I feel like there should be some frequent flier miles for that much travel.
2. In my lifetime, I'm only on my third Pope.
3. Additionally, there's only ever been one British monarch.
4. There have been six US Presidents and six British Prime Minister since I've been alive.
5. In 1983, there were 158 members of the United Nations, today there are 193.
6. The Cubs, White Sox and Red Sox all broke their respective 'curses' in my lifetime.
7. The Triple Crown of Horse Racing has been won twice in my lifetime.
8. It struck me when I was in line at Hy-Vee the other night. I remember when food stamps were actually bills/stamps and not on electronic cards.
9. The Euro didn't exist when I was born. Neither did the Channel Tunnel.
10. We've never landed on the Moon in my lifetime. (Or Mars for that matter.)
11. Six countries have won the World Cup in my lifetime: Argentina, Germany, Brazil, France, Italy and Spain.
12. Liverpool won the old First Division four times, Everton twice, Arsenal twice and Leeds United once in my lifetime.
13. Manchester United won the Premier League thirteen times, Arsenal three times, Chelsea five times, Manchester City three times, Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers once.
14. The Iowa Hawkeyes have been to the Rose Bowl three times in my lifetime and have yet to win the darn thing.
15. The Minnesota Vikings have yet to win a Super Bowl in my lifetime.
16. Technically, ARPANET adopted TCP/IP on January 1st, 1983 and began assembling what would become in the internet but it really didn't come into existence in the form we think of it today until 1990. So I was born before the internet was a thing.
17. The Soviet Union was still a country when I was born and barely two months after I was born we had a brush with actual nuclear war during the Able Archer incident.
18. STS-9, a flight of the Space Shuttle Colombia was the first space shuttle launch after I was born. I saw the end of the space shuttle program with STS-135, the final flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
19. The Mir was launched, operated and abandoned over the course of my lifetime.
20. The International Space Station was launched and is still going strong.
21. James Michener's Poland, Stephen King's Pet Semetary, Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, John Le Carre's The Little Drummer Girl, James Michener's Space and Judith Krantz's Mistral's Daughter all appeared on the New York Times best seller list the year I was born.
22. William Golding won the Nobel Prize for Literature the year I was born. Lech Walesa won the Nobel Peace Prize.
23. The Berlin Wall was still up when I was born.
24. Cell phones were the size of large bricks when I was born. Now the sum of all human knowledge is on your phone and can fit in your pocket.
25. Bitcoin was not a thing when I was born. It is now though.
26. South Africa was still under apartheid when I was born. Namibia wasn't a country. Burkina Faso was still called Upper Volta and the Democratic Republic of the Congo was still called Zaire.
27. Less than 50% of the US population was covered by 911 when I was born.
28. The US Interstate Highway system was still under construction when I was born- I-80 was completed coast-to-coast three years after I was born and the I-70 stretch through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado was only completed when I was 9.
29. This seems like an obvious thing, but might be somewhat mind blowing to the younger generations: social media wasn't around when I was a kid. Like, at all.
30. I still remember old rotary style telephones.
31. This was a better fountain than whatever they have on the Ped Mall today. I miss this fountain.
32. Betamax, VHS and Laser Discs were still around. I purchased my first album in a Sam Goody. It was on a cassette.
33. We rented VHS tapes to watch o the weekend.
34. The Hubble telescope was launched.
35. Oldsmobile Supreme, Ford Escort and Ford LTD were top selling cars the year I was born. The Chevrolet Equinox took the top crown for the front half of 2018.
2. In my lifetime, I'm only on my third Pope.
3. Additionally, there's only ever been one British monarch.
4. There have been six US Presidents and six British Prime Minister since I've been alive.
5. In 1983, there were 158 members of the United Nations, today there are 193.
6. The Cubs, White Sox and Red Sox all broke their respective 'curses' in my lifetime.
7. The Triple Crown of Horse Racing has been won twice in my lifetime.
8. It struck me when I was in line at Hy-Vee the other night. I remember when food stamps were actually bills/stamps and not on electronic cards.
9. The Euro didn't exist when I was born. Neither did the Channel Tunnel.
10. We've never landed on the Moon in my lifetime. (Or Mars for that matter.)
11. Six countries have won the World Cup in my lifetime: Argentina, Germany, Brazil, France, Italy and Spain.
12. Liverpool won the old First Division four times, Everton twice, Arsenal twice and Leeds United once in my lifetime.
13. Manchester United won the Premier League thirteen times, Arsenal three times, Chelsea five times, Manchester City three times, Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers once.
14. The Iowa Hawkeyes have been to the Rose Bowl three times in my lifetime and have yet to win the darn thing.
15. The Minnesota Vikings have yet to win a Super Bowl in my lifetime.
16. Technically, ARPANET adopted TCP/IP on January 1st, 1983 and began assembling what would become in the internet but it really didn't come into existence in the form we think of it today until 1990. So I was born before the internet was a thing.
17. The Soviet Union was still a country when I was born and barely two months after I was born we had a brush with actual nuclear war during the Able Archer incident.
18. STS-9, a flight of the Space Shuttle Colombia was the first space shuttle launch after I was born. I saw the end of the space shuttle program with STS-135, the final flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
19. The Mir was launched, operated and abandoned over the course of my lifetime.
20. The International Space Station was launched and is still going strong.
21. James Michener's Poland, Stephen King's Pet Semetary, Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, John Le Carre's The Little Drummer Girl, James Michener's Space and Judith Krantz's Mistral's Daughter all appeared on the New York Times best seller list the year I was born.
22. William Golding won the Nobel Prize for Literature the year I was born. Lech Walesa won the Nobel Peace Prize.
23. The Berlin Wall was still up when I was born.
24. Cell phones were the size of large bricks when I was born. Now the sum of all human knowledge is on your phone and can fit in your pocket.
25. Bitcoin was not a thing when I was born. It is now though.
26. South Africa was still under apartheid when I was born. Namibia wasn't a country. Burkina Faso was still called Upper Volta and the Democratic Republic of the Congo was still called Zaire.
27. Less than 50% of the US population was covered by 911 when I was born.
28. The US Interstate Highway system was still under construction when I was born- I-80 was completed coast-to-coast three years after I was born and the I-70 stretch through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado was only completed when I was 9.
29. This seems like an obvious thing, but might be somewhat mind blowing to the younger generations: social media wasn't around when I was a kid. Like, at all.
30. I still remember old rotary style telephones.
31. This was a better fountain than whatever they have on the Ped Mall today. I miss this fountain.
32. Betamax, VHS and Laser Discs were still around. I purchased my first album in a Sam Goody. It was on a cassette.
33. We rented VHS tapes to watch o the weekend.
34. The Hubble telescope was launched.
35. Oldsmobile Supreme, Ford Escort and Ford LTD were top selling cars the year I was born. The Chevrolet Equinox took the top crown for the front half of 2018.
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