18 Things I've Been Wrong About (abridged version)

I'm not wrong about things often. It's the advantage of being overly smart, analytical, and nto going out on a ledge very often, but here is a short list of some of my recent mistakes:

The Killers - Seriosly, I refused to buy into the hype until after the second album came out. It wasn’t even that I didn’t like the songs that were out. I just thought they were doing a retread of 80’s songs that I didn’t like. Easily my biggest musical mistake of the last decade. Worse than being a huge Limp Bizkit fan. I assumed they were trying to be overly 80’s, and that is something I am just not cool with. In any case, after being forced to listen to the CD while playing poker one night, I decided to give it a sober shot. It was great, so I downloaded, errr, I mean bought, the second CD, which I also fell in love with. Now I look like a jackass for fighting it for a year and a half, but at least I’m enjoying the music. Even saw them live last week and they were amazing. So much energy and it sounded flawless. Loved it, my bad.

Drinking the night before an early flight – What!?!? I wanted a few drinks before an early morning flight to D.C. I used to do it all the time for our annual flight to Vegas for a guys trip. I’ve been able to do it my entire adult life, why should that change now? Apparently, when you are 3 days away from turning 28, drinking until 1 and waking up at 3:30 for a 5:00 flight is just not a good idea. Who knew? I mean seriously. Just because they probably didn’t have to let me on the plane since I was still wasted doesn’t make this the worst mistake I’ve ever made. It just puts it in the top 18. It lost points on the mistake-o-meter because I miraculously avoided the hangover.

Taking 1 year off to finish my graduate degree – Yeah for me, I have an MBA! I was two-thirds of the way there when I was given an opportunity (financially speaking) to take some time off from work and go full-time to wrap it up in 8 months. I thought this was brilliant, b/c I really would’ve been just part-time for the last 4 months and would have no problem getting a job. Unfortunately, in today’s job market, companies do not want to have to work around your schedule. No matter how talented you may be, or how willing they are to have you call back after your done (if they have another opening like the one you were interviewing for), they don’t bend the rules. Here it is, a little over two years after the first move, and I have a crap job, now because companies are worried I took 8 months off. Blah, I think I just threw up a little.

Chinese Food – Maybe my taste buds changed. Maybe it was a mental thing. I don’t know, but I used to hate this stuff. Seriously, it made me gag. Now, I don’t care if they tell me it is made of dog meat, I won’t be able to stop eating the chicken fried rice. It is now a staple of my diet and I have my fiancée to thank for peer-pressuring me into giving it another shot. Thanks for making me look stupid for 26 years of hating Chinese food.

AM Radio – I hadn’t listened to morning radio in quite a while until recently. Let me tell you something I learned: morning FM talk shows are the biggest waste of airtime radio stations could possibly come up with. Seriously, when I wake up, I want to know what is going on in the world, not to hear some jack-ball crack fart jokes and yell and rant about nothing. It’s too early for that crap. These things should be on during rush hour in the P.M. I honestly can hardly find a station that plays more than 3 songs an hour, and that station makes up the difference by going to commercial every 11 minutes. Worthless. If you want to know whats going on, you have to go AM, be it news, weather, sports, politics, or, well, it doesn’t matter. Nothing of substance is said on the FM stations during the morning. I repeat nothing. As such, I have started doing just AM for my morning drive, and am a better person for it.

Hilary Clinton – I once said I would move to Canada if she became president. Now it appears I may have to eat my words, because I won’t move to Canada. Too cold, and too many hippies. Clinton is poised to be the democratic party’s nominee, and the republicans cannot seem to muster a single person who is likely to beat her. Of course, that is in a one-on-one race, and presidential races aren’t that. It’s about parties, vice-presidential candidates, sponsors, and values. Fortunately for me, the republicans can probably throw a due together that can beat her and whomever she pairs with, but still, this is way too close to call. I was certain nobody in the democratic party would even let her consider running. That was one level of wrong. Here representing the donkey party during a presidential campaign is a special type of top-five-hangover wrong that I really don’t like being. If she wins and becomes the first female president, that takes me to a new level that I’ve never been to, kicked in the groin while having a top 5 hangover. I don’t think anybody wants that.

The New York Knicks – I thought they had put so much into their payroll and paired some stars at the end of their careers with some young hungry players and would be an instant contender. I was way off. They are easily one of the worst teams in the NBA over last few years. As usual, when I do go out on a limb, it breaks.

I know it’s nowhere near 18, that’s the point, remember. Plus, I’m not wrong about things and stuff very often. Also, I didn’t consult with people around me to tell me about other things I’ve been wrong about, so take that into consideration too. As always, I await to be proven wrong.