40 Before 40 -- what I did instead

-- by @Josh_Suchon

My original "40 before 40" list turned into a colossal failure. I only accomplished eight of the 40 items. 

The failure can mostly be contributed to putting a bunch of ridiculous items on the list, taking a new job that cancelled a trip to Hawaii that was going to check off numerous items, and moving to another state where a lot of the items were no longer feasible.

Instead of being depressed at what I didn't complete, here's my list of 40 things that I accomplished instead.

The lesson is that while making goals and planning is helpful, life is best when you're spontaneous and just experience what's around you ... or when you just go through your iPhone, just start picking random photos, and declare that it's something you accomplished. 

1. Got stranded on the side of the road, during a wine trip to Santa Barbara, when our bus broke down. Fortunately, my friends don't blink an eye. We just crack open beers on the side of the road, and watch the girls get cars to honk as they ask for a ride. The bus cooled off, the driver got us to the next winery, we got a new bus, we kept wine tasting. You haven't lived until you've rode home on a wine bus, music blasting, all the girls dancing in the aisles, and a view o the sunset on the Pacific Ocean out the side of the window.

2. Discovered where the "Melrose Place" apartment was located. Turns out, it was less than a mile from my old apartment in LA.

3. Lucked into New Balance making shoes with my name stitched into the back. The perks of working the Area Code Games for ESPN3.

4. Saw the Space Shuttle Endeavour fly over the Griffith Observatory. It only took about a hundred photos to get this shot. Thank goodness for digital pictures that can be easily erased.

5. Attended the Poinsettia Bowl with a whole bunch of former Daily Aztec sportswriters. No need to discuss what happened in the game. Eff BYU. We're a basketball school now.

6. Spent a day as an extra on a movie. This was more boring than fun. But there was so much sitting around, I was able to proof almost half of my book. What was really sad is how many people do this for a living, or try to do this for a living. I can't even remember the name of this movie, so I can't look for myself. I think it was just a trailer anyway. I did gain a lot of respect for how tedious making a movie can be, and why it's so easy for goofs on continuity. I even got paid for it.

7. Celebrated the New Year with great friends and tasty beverages. Yep, wore that ridiculous hat.

8. Published my second book. Perhaps you heard, from one of the thousand posts I did on Facebook/Twitter to promote it? Thanks to all who bought a copy. For those who didn't, the book will make a great Christmas gift. 

9. Hiked to the "Bridge to Nowhere" in the San Gabriel Mountains. This was a little shorter than Mt. Baldy, but every bit as interesting. That guy in the blue shirt with his arms up in the air is my hiking amigo, Josh Cumming, who suggested the trip. A great excursion.

10. Was the guest of honor at a press conference ... for me. How surreal. A very nice gesture by the Albuquerque Isotopes to welcome me into town with a press conference. Even my aunt Janet was able to attend.

11. Played whiffle ball on the Venice Beach, at Sunset, during my going-away party. Thanks to all who showed up. A bigger thanks to those who played whiffle ball with me. The biggest thanks to Sean Maddison for taking this super cool photo.

12. Was faced with this decision and didn't make a U-turn. I definitely miss Los Angeles. I ended up loving it way more than I thought. But the job in Albuquerque was too good to pass up. Seeing this sign made me laugh as I drove to New Mexico.

13. Went inside a humidor that's used to store baseballs. The high altitude in Albuquerque means that baseballs travel much further. In order to try combating this, the Isotopes installed the humidor in 2013. By keeping the baseballs in a controlled environment, they don't dry up or shrink. As a result, they don't travel as far. In theory.  

14. Saw not just any Bon Jovi concert, but a concert inside the Arena where Jon Bon Jovi has a retired uniform. This was in Des Moines. Bon Jovi used to be a part-owner of the Arena Football Team in Des Moines. That's why his name hangs from the rafters. Very convenient Sunday day game in Des Moines allowed me to catch the concert that night from the rafters. 

15. Got my picture taken with Tabitha Soren. Because who could ever forget when she moderated a "Choose or Lose" program on MTV, and one of the college students asked then-candidate Bill Clinton, "the world is dying to know -- boxers or briefs?" 

16. Re-united with Daily Aztec alums Ferris Shahrestani and Gregg Lewis for beers in Round Rock. Because when we were students in San Diego, we vowed that we'd all end up in Round Rock, Texas. 

17. Interviewed my former Dodger Talk co-host, Ken Levine, about the Simpson's episode he wrote that inspired the name of the baseball team that now employs me -- with Homer Simpson listening. The ultimate example of life imitating art, and life coming full circle. Super cool that Ken came out to Albuquerque, saw the ballpark, and joined me on the radio. Great times.

18. Got the worst haircut of my life that made me so embarrassed, I bought this ridiculous hat. The reaction I got in the clubhouse from the players was priceless.

19. Visited the Civil Rights Museum and Lorraine Motel. Highly recommend if you ever find yourself in Memphis. So is the Sun Studio, where Elvis Presley and others got their start. Disappointed in myself for not going to Graceland. Next time. 

20. Watched the College World Series from a bar across the street from the College World Series in Omaha. I didn't care enough for the teams to buy tickets. I was close enough. Cool atmosphere. 

21. Visited the National Museum where the Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed. Shed a few tears. Maybe a few more than a few tears. Emotional place. Very well presented. 

22. Walked through the corn from the "Field of Dreams" movie site. Highlight of my tourist-related excursions during the season. Well worth the six-hour, round-trip drive -- even if I was exhausted for that night's game. Still get goosebumps thinking about it. Quite a special place, even after all these years. Bought a "wanna have a catch Dad" t-shirt for my old man. Can't beat that. 

23. Broadcasted live on the radio during a monsoon. This was crazy. Lucky that nobody got hurt from our grounds crew and front office. 

24. Visited the Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg, Tenn. Did you know it's located in a dry county? They make all the Jack there, but you can't buy it in town. You can buy special limited edition bottles at the distillery. Snagged me a bottle of the "single barrel" whiskey. Haven't decided when I'll drink it. Waiting for a special occasion … or when I'm too lazy to go buy something else.

25. Took a picture of a mermaid swimming above a bar. Yep. I couldn't make this up if I tried. In case you want to do it yourself, the bar is called "Dive" and it's in Sacramento.

26. Did a book signing at Barnes & Noble in Albuquerque. Where more than one person showed up. Honest.

27. Did a book signing at Barnes & Noble in Huntington Beach. Where more than two college friends showed up. Honest. 

28. Did a book signing at Dodger Stadium. Where somebody showed up wearing an Isotopes hat. Yep.

29. Signed a copy of my book to Vin Scully. My hand was trembling. Definitely the highlight of all the books I ever sold, signed or gave away. Wow. 

30. Did I mention that I wrote a book and shamelessly took photos with a bunch of people from the book? Nahhh, not yet.

31. Helped break into my friend's locked office so he could show me this picture. Because if you're climbing through the ceiling in the office of the Las Vegas public defender's office, it better be for an autographed photo of a shirtless photo of Jose Canseco and his ex-wife Esther.

32. Got food poisoning in Fresno ... and discovered the greatest product to help with dehydration. Seriously, these brought me back from what felt like the brink of death. It's called Pedialyte. It's intended for kids. It's also great for adults who are dehydrated from playing baseball in the high altitude, or broadcasters who get food poisoning. A note for the future: not that I've ever been hungover in my life. But should that day ever occur, it's a little known fact there's some magical electrolytes in these packets.

33. Snagged a copy of the greatest bobblehead ever. This is the legendary Johnny Doskow, radio announcer for the Sacramento Rivercats. He's got a big nose. He's got a receding hairline. This bobblehead captured both beautifully. Brilliant.

34. Found my biggest fan and got an autographed baseball card of him. Aiden's dad contacted me and they joined me in the booth for a few innings. Aiden wore the headphones and watched the game next to me. He departed by giving him his autograph. Hopefully, the kid waits a few years before taking my job.

35. Snuck onto the Vanderbilt football field and took a few photos. Because, you know, they have such a great history of winning football games.

36. Interviewed the great Rickey Henderson for the pre-game show. Even told him that on my ninth birthday, in 1982, he broke the single-season record for most stolen bases in a season.

37. Birdied the first seven holes in a round of golf. Sure, it was Golden Tee, but I don't care. That's still hard to do. Pretty sure my final round was about 10 under par. Best round of my life. 

38. Vastly improved my fancy socks collection. Because a day without color-coordinated fancy socks is a boring day.

39. Found somebody from Pleasanton who has recently moved to Albuquerque too. A hearty welcome to Kim Hansen (now Kim Smith). Her husband is an assistant coach for the New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team, better known as the school the Aztecs will defeat this year en route to another league title.

40. Got the map on my iPhone for places where I've taken photos to look like this. Now I need to add a bunch of red pins in more countries.

40 before 40, the checklist

-- by @Josh_Suchon

One year later, it's time to re-visit the "40 before 40" list that I created last year. The sad truth is I didn't come close to completing all 40 items. In fact, I only did eight of them. That's a .200 batting average, and you'll get released for that kind of production in baseball. 

Most of it can be blamed on a massive life change, moving to Albuquerque, NM for a new job. That forced me to cancel a trip to Hawaii that was supposed to check off numerous items on the list. However, the new job provided an opportunity to see a lot of things that I'd have never otherwise experienced.

Since I'm neurotically addicted to lists, and categories for lists, here's a list of what I wanted to do, what I accomplished, what I neglected, and why.

What I did accomplish (8)

1. Watch a movie in the Hollywood Cemetery. This was fun. One of the first things I did. Special thanks to Emilie and Ty for inviting me. I took a date. She lived in Santa Monica. Upon making the trek across LA, she told me that I was "geographically undesirable." It was the last time I ever saw her. 

2. See my mom's house in Reno. Saw her for Christmas. It even snowed. A white Christmas. Awesome.

3. Sit in "The Show" (the San Diego State student section) for an Aztecs men's basketball game. Did this for a road game at USC. Most fun I've ever experienced at a sporting event. It flat-out ruled. Hope to do this again one day, preferably at SDSU.

4. Build my Twitter following to 1,000. I was at 456 at the time. Did you know that you can buy Twitter followers? I bought 1,000 as an experiment, then another 1,000 as a second experiment from a different company. They aren't real accounts, so they slowly go away. I'm at 1,802 now. I have no idea how many are real and how many are fake. I no longer care. I actually get creeped out by a few of my followers. 

5. Write a blog post that gets 5,000 hits. Apparently, a lot of people want to know why Al Davis feuded with Marcus Allen. At last count, that entry was at 8,126 hits. The original "40 for 40" list was at 5,609 hits. 

6. No red meat for 365 days. This became very difficult, but I did it. There were a couple asterisks. Does salami count as red meat? As some friends pointed out, it is red. I thought it was pork. Put it this way, I didn't have a hamburger, a steak, carne asada, or anything similar for a year. This is incredibly difficult in minor league baseball. I starved a few times because there was no food options in the press box other than red meat. I'm going back to eating red meat now. I actually don't miss red meat. It's just the hassle of avoiding it that's such a pain. 

7. Adopt something. Turns out, you can't just write a check and adopt a highway. So much for that idea. Instead, I adopted a soldier defending our freedom. I sent him supplies. It's a really cool program. We exchanged letters, although my dream of having a pen pal relationship with somebody in the Middle East didn't materialize. I highly recommend you do this too. All the info can be found at http://www.adoptaussoldier.org

8. Pick something else to add to this list in the next 364 days. This was easy. I did some damn cool things that makes me proud. The full breakdown will come with tomorrow's list of the 40 things I did instead. 

What I didn't accomplish, but I will soon (9)

1. Camp in the Grand Canyon and/or go white water rafting down the Grand Canyon. This gets carried over to the life-long bucket list. I'll eventually do this.

2. Eat the worm in a tequila bottle. I bought the Tequila bottle with the worm, but never opened it. Alas, coming up soon I've got a bachelor party in Vegas, a wedding in SoCal, a football weekend in Texas, and seven months without baseball. I'll work on this.

3. Learn how to edit on Final Cut Pro. Almost got a job that would require this. I lied to get to the finals. Took a one-hour crash class to learn the basics. Didn't get the job and quite glad. My new job is way better and what I want to be doing. I still want to do this.

4. Headstand in the middle of the room and stay for a minute. I like my neck. I really do. I'm content doing headstands up against the wall, where I know my neck won't break. Much safer. Maybe I'll do this eventually. Maybe. 

5. Hot air balloon ride, or zipline, or bungee jump. New Mexico is known for hot air balloon rides. There's a festival coming up soon. I'll be there and do this thing. 

6. Solve a Rubik's cube. I bought the cube. I tried it without manuals. I tried it after watching how-to videos on YouTube. I'd get one side pretty easily. I'd get close to a second side, then it would all fall apart. I gave up. But I'll try this again. 

7. Attend a Cirque de Soleil show. I did attend a show, while our team was in Las Vegas on a road trip. It was called "Pin Up." My college friend Jon Gitt got us free tickets. It wasn't as naughty as they want you to believe. It was pretty good. Nothing special. I'll attend a Cirque de Soleil show one day. 

8. Say the phrase "quick, follow that car!" for a justifiable reason. I will eventually do this. 

9. Serve soup at a homeless kitchen. I suck. 

What I didn't accomplish, mostly because of the new job (9)

1. Rent a fancy sports car and drive along the coast for a day/weekend. Not too many coasts in New Mexico. 

2. Swim with dolphins. This was supposed to happen in Hawaii. Maybe another year it'll happen. 

3. Do a 5K Mud Run. Ok, I know these exist everywhere and I'm sure there's one in New Mexico. But the baseball schedule makes it tough. It's something I still want to do.

4. Go skinny dipping in the ocean. This was supposed to happen in Hawaii. The water is freakin' cold in California and I don't live there anymore. Got a plan for this to possibly happen soon though. 

5. Ride a helicopter somewhere special. This was supposed to happen in Hawaii. Maybe another year.

6. Hike to the top of Mt. Baldy. Came close to going there a couple times. Ended up going on cool hikes that were closer and (almost) as challenging. Maybe another year.

7. Go to a jazz concert at the Hollywood Bowl. That's a tough commute from New Mexico. Maybe another year.

8. Visit Hearst castle. This was supposed to be in connection with the fancy sports car. Neither happened. Maybe another year.

9. Walk the red carpet and attend a movie premiere. Not too many movie premieres in New Mexico. However, I did attend an advanced screening for "The Gangster Squad," a movie my college friend Will Beall wrote, before leaving LA. No red carpet. But it was before the actual premiere. Maybe this counts as a half check.

What I tried to accomplish, but it wasn't meant to be (6)

1. Pick a hockey team and learn every player on the team. I tried. I really did. Narrowed my list to five and wrote letters to each team. Four never responded. One was a pathetic response. I scrapped those five teams and somewhat picked the Montreal Canadiens. I followed them on Twitter. But most of the tweets were in French. I never watched a game. I never learned a player's name. I have no idea how they did in the playoffs. Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a hockey fan.

2. Write my will. I went to a few websites. It was more expensive than necessary. I don't have much stuff. I basically just wanted everything to go to my sister and her son. 

3. Open a Swiss bank account. Turns out, you can't just put a couple hundred bucks into an account. You need a lot of money, which I don't have. I just wanted to be able to work into conversations, "I can join you on that vacation, if I dip into my Swiss Bank account." Oh well. 

4. Floss every day for 365 days straight. This was really hard. I went two weeks straight and got to the point where my gums stopped bleeding. Then I was flossing about 4-5 times a week. Over the last few months, baseball season got to me, and I slacked off big time. I'll estimate that I flossed 150 days. I went through two canisters. That's more than the previous 10 years combined, so mission accomplished. I can still do better. 

5. Obtain a copy of "The Sleepy Floyd Game" and it has to be the one with Greg Papa doing the play-by-play. This is incredibly difficult to find. There's a copy on YouTube of the fourth quarter, when Sleepy goes crazy scoring points against the Lakers, and you hear Papa's famous line: "Sleepy Floyd is Superman!" But finding the entire game is damn near impossible. 

6. Donate blood. I tried. Twice. But they can't use my blood. It's a long story. Let's go with, "I'm too healthy." 

What I didn't accomplish, because I forgot or thought it was stupid in retrospect (8)

1. Visit a psychic. Seriously, this is stupid. We all know it.

2. Paint something. Painting is stupid. We all know it.

3. Go zorbing. Zorbing is stupid. We all know it. 

4. Hand out a $100 bill to a homeless person in need. Never saw the ideal situation and I don't keep Benjamins on me. The meal money we get for road trips is actually $50s, but I'm so paranoid of being robbed, I usually kept all the cash at home and just used my debit card everywhere. There's better way to help people in need, and I did. 

5. Ride a Segway. Segways are stupid. We all know it.

6. Attend a murder mystery dinner. These are stupid too. 

7. Sleep under the stars. In retrospect, I'm sure I've already done this. My parents took us camping damn near every weekend when I was really young. I'll do this again, but it was a stupid item for a bucket list.

8. Milk a cow. What the hell was I thinking?

Coming tomorrow: the 40 things I did instead.