Ninety-Eight

You are probably wondering what is so special about the number 98. For one, it isn’t the number 100. But today marks a special occasion, a special marker for the number 98. It is my 98^th hub on Hubpages. Now you may be wondering why I would pay special tribute to the number 98. Everybody else pays tribute to the number 100. But I want to be different. And frankly, 98 is different!

I like to run on the wrong side of the road. My running on the wrong side of the road is no different then choosing to honor the number 98 instead of presenting you my 100^th hub just like everybody else often times does. Will this be an extraordinary hub. Most likely not. But it is a milestone hub.

After doing a Google search and coming up with nothing special about the number 98, I was forced to ask around. So, what does the number 98 mean to you?

1. To me, 98 marks a special milestone. For the purpose of this hub, it is my 98^th hub. That means that I have invested more than 98 hours creating these 98 hubs. (Although I will admit the timing is probably much greater than 98 hours!) It has also resulted in well over 98 views and well over 98 followers. I am also more than 98 points toward useful, funny, and awesome… at least according to my feedback. Beautiful - I guess still needs work! Who knows, maybe something beautiful will come out of this!

2. On a personal side, 98 (as in 1998) was also a special year for me. It marks the year I was set free from public schooling, allowing me to wreak havoc on the rest of the world… only as an adult. I am sure there are at least 98 other people in my class that would also agree with that statement. (Not that I was the one wreaking havoc, but that they felt they were finally released as well!)

Graduating from High School is a big milestone in many people’s lives. I hit this milestone in 1998. It was a great year filled with many memories. It was full of dating and breaking up and exploring the ability to still make mistakes. It was filled with memories: special times with my friends and family and being an adult. It was also the year I took my first real road trip without my parents. On our own, a friend and I traveled to Madison, WI and continued on the journey to Great America located in Illinois. It took the entire weekend and was a great trip that I will never forget.

3. Another big milestone in my life was also reached in 1998. I was forced to grow up when I joined the Army. I was shipped off July 6, 1998. Ironic how only a few days after Independence Day, I lost my independence. With a tear in my eye, I left home, not knowing when would be the next time I would get to talk to any of my family or friends.

I went to Milwaukee the night before I shipped off. I had paperwork and lots of things to do at MEPS (military processing center) before I could officially head out. That night, I met some interesting people who I had never known before that day, and we explored downtown Milwaukee, stayed up way too late talking like we had known each other forever, and promised to make sure each of use woke up in time to eat breakfast together and get to the MEPS station on time. It was the start of my sleep deprivation. I am not sure what I was thinking. Maybe that it was my last night of freedom and I was going to take advantage of it. Or maybe I thought I was going to get some sleep while I traveled to Basic Training. It was definitely a journey of a life time. It has also been a milestone that has made me into the person I am today.

4. My husband said 98 was significant to him because it was “the year before I met my beautiful wife!” Awwww…. How sweet…. What a guy…. Romantic! Okay, now that we got that out of the way, I will tell everyone I do give him bonus points for coming up with such a sweet, I only hear that stuff in movies, kind of phrase.

What does that tell me… that was his last year of freedom and he partied it up! Shortly after that year ended so did his infatuation with always hanging out with the guys and drinking. Suddenly, his time was over consumed by wanting to spend it with me. So, either 98 marks the year before his world ended or before his world started. In reality, we didn’t know each other in 98 so it was the last year for both of us being single! And I do still let him hang out with his friends and drink the occasional beer. So, I guess in away, it marks the year before he became well-rounded!

5. The number of pounds I would like to lose! So maybe that is bit dramatic, but hey, it is summer and it is time to get back into beach body shape! So 98 should be significant of the ways you want to get healthier. Drinking Water - maybe 98 oz of water, 98 minutes of cardio a day, 98 sit-ups to complete, 98 pushups each morning after waking up, 98 painful squats and lunges… oh the list can go on. So think of it this way, the 98 reasons to get healthier and the 98 reasons why you are already beautiful!

6. Who can forget that boy band from the 90s… yep you guessed. What would be a tribute to the number 98 without mentioning that boy band 98 Degrees. There songs have melted many a girl’s heart (and probably irritated many a boyfriend). But who’s heart doesn’t melt when they hear the song “I Do (Cherish You)” or “Because of You.” They are romantic songs and they bring out the gushy mushy girl that most people don’t see me as. And I will admit, I did rush out and buy their CD with my hard earned money. What can I say, the 90s seemed to have a spin off of more Boy Bands then most people can handle. I, however, wasn’t like most people! I would probably still go out and buy their CD today!

7. Speaking of heating things up… lets talk about the temperature. 98 is definitely not the temperature in Wisconsin right now (or most times) but it is pretty darn close to that temperature here in Southern California. Okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but for a Wisconsin native who is used to Wisconsin temperatures, Southern California is really starting to get hot right about now. What can I say, it may not be 98 degrees, but it feels like it to this Wisconsin Native! Just wait until the summer… If I am already roasting, I can’t imagine what I am going to do when it really is 98 degrees outside… in the shade!

8. The percentage of time I spend procrastinating… rounding down. Now this statement came from a fellow hubber friend of mine. Might I say, I couldn’t have said it better myself! I am horrible with procrastination. In fact, I have been planning my 98^th hub since I have hit my 90^th hub. Do you think I did anything to prepare for it… NO. So, being that I can’t publish anything else until I publish 98 as my 98^th hub, my procrastination has gotten me in a bit of a bind. Therefore, I can’t continue with anything else until this hub is published. After all, if I publish something different than the number 98 will no longer be significant. Then I will have to change everything to 99 or possibly 100 and then it just won’t be nearly as special as what I was hoping this hub would be. I guess I should have started it days ago.

9. I am no longer in school, but when I was, 98 definitely represented an A. I was a bit of a school girl so every assignment, every grade I got, I shot for an A. In fact, I remember the first time that I got less than an A on my report card. I am ashamed to say… I cried a little. Ok, who am I fooling. I cried a lot. I had ruined my 4.0 with one lousy history semester. Obviously a weak spot for me. So, as a tribute to grades, if I ever go back to school again… I will shoot for those 98s! That way I can continue the A streak.

10. Obviously, since History was a week subject for me, I am dedicating number 10 on the list to my sister, who is responsible for this dedication to 98. She suggested the Spanish American War. Thanks to her, I had to Google it so I didn’t come across sounding stupid and saying this war is the reason why in the United States it is necessary to be bilingual. In reality, it was a conflict between Spain and the United States, ultimately ending with the Americans coming out on top. While the main issue was Cuban Independence, the outcome resulted in several island possessions spanning the globe. Thank you Wiki! I wouldn’t have gotten that without you! Like I said, not a History buff. My sister should have wrote me up a small review!

11. The number of bottles of beer on the wall. Who can resist the famous song, with obviously one beer bottle missing. This struck me as funny because one of my old classmates also suggested that in our small town of Pulaski, this scenario would have never been possible. All the beer would have been off the wall. I can honestly say that I can relate to that. After all, anybody who has ever been to Pulaski knows it is overpopulated with bars and that majority of free time is spent with a beer in the hand. What am I talking about… that is Wisconsin!

12. The number of reasons to be happy! This is a great positive spin! After all, sometimes in life we find it hard to find a few things that make us happy. Take the challenge and see if you can put 98 positive spins on everything you do in a daily or weekly or even a monthly basis. If you do it monthly, that is only 3 to 4 different things you need to be happy about on a daily basis. Now that shouldn’t be too hard, is it? And afterwards, think of how much better of a mood you will be in after thinking about 98 positive things on a regular basis. It is guaranteed to take the grumpy right out!

Please feel free to leave me a comment telling me what 98 means to you. I would love to hear it!

So now I have come up with several, although it really is only 12 different reasons, even though I was going to come up with 98 and figured that would be way way way to long of a hub, to help you understand the overall importance of the number 98 and why we should be celebrating that number as well as other numbers that hold just as much importance as the number 100 and that is why I have decided that I will celebrate my 98^th milestone by writing this horribly long run on sentence 98 words long!

Now that I have finished, I guess it is time I go celebrate with a Chocolate Martini! Welcome to my milestone and here is to many more!

Know your history... 1898: The Year of Gaining Power.... When put up to the challenge, another hubber thought of the Spanish War when thinking of the number 98. What do you think of?