Monday, September 18, 2006

Ask Josh The Pilot, Vol. V, Day 1: UFOs and sudden realizations

Many thanks to Mary Beth for entrusting me with the Blonde Champagne reins while she’s off globe-trotting with her dad. You know it’s the 21st century when someone says “I love you” by giving you control of their blog for a week. I promised Tink before she left that I wouldn’t scare away her readers, so y’all please do me a favor and come back next Monday even if I horribly gum up the works these next few days.

For the first question of this week-long edition of Ask Josh The Pilot, I went waaaaaay back in the archives, back to an unanswered question in response to Vol. IV:

Red pill junkie said…

Hey Josh, I've been wanting to ask you, and I know this is kind of a stupid question for most people, but anyway... Have you ever seen a UFO during one of your flights? Or have any of your flight controller buddies had a weird experience with any unidentified "traffic"?

Now I know that you bought the Independence Day DVD, so unless you are a hardcore Will Smith fan (as MB clearly is :-) ) I assume there's an interest in the topic.

I'll be waiting for your reply, (which I guess will arrive by August
or something, judging by the rate of answers you've given so far and the numerous questions still on the list!)

Saludos!

RPJ, it's now September, thank you for your patience. Also thank you for your patience with the director's commentary of MB's reading of The Waltz. That project is on hold right now, pending resolution of some technical problems I keep running into.

You’re not the first person to ask me about UFOs, so don’t feel stupid. There are no stupid questions here on Ask Josh The Pilot. No, I’ve never seen a UFO while flying, and no controller I know has ever spotted one on a radar screen. I have no doubt UFOs exist, but they are not the extra-terrestrial kind. I am convinced all stories of UFOs are either desperate attempts by really bored people to get attention, or times when secret research projects were spotted by chance, but the technology is so far from the mainstream that it truly is “unidentified.”

I bought Independence Day because I think Will Smith is funny, and I like watching stuff blow up, so a movie with both was irresistible to me! Moving on…

The buxom wench said...

Okay, JTP, when was it that you first realised MB, in all her witty and blonde champagney glory, was the one for you? :)

Rather than a single moment, realizing I wanted MB around for the rest of my life was more of a gradual process, and it still continues to this day. However, if I had to point to the start of the process, it would be about two weeks after we met. Shortly after our second date, I took her to a comedy show at the University of Airplanes (this was before she started teaching there) and to make a long story short, after the show I attempted, keyword attempted, a cheerleading stunt with one of my old teammates, and I made a complete fool of myself. Tink got really mad at me (but didn’t show it, bless her), not only for making a fool of myself in public, but for touching another girl while on a date with Tink, something I thought nothing of because the other girl was a former teammate, nothing more.

When we got back to the car, Mary Beth very calmly and gently told me she was upset with what I had done, but she understood I would never intentionally anger or embarrass or hurt her. I apologized for my thoughtlessness and stupidity, and thanked her for not flying off the handle and storming out of my life. It was that moment when I realized how special a woman she is, and I wanted to get to know her more. I’ve spent the last almost two years falling more and more in love with her, and hopefully soon we’ll get to make things more permanent between us.

Well folks, that’s all for now. It’s past four a.m. CDT, definitely time for bed. This week my class is on night shift here at Controller Boot Camp, so tonight I meant to stay up late to get used to working long into the night, but I didn’t mean to go this late. Good thing I don’t have to be at work until 1530. That’s 3:30 p.m. for you civilian types. :)

Please keep the questions coming, and I'll do my best to satisfy everyone’s curiosity. Feel free to dig back in the archives and re-submit any questions I haven’t answered yet. I remembered the UFO question, but I’m sure there are others that I missed during my quick check of the archives.

Depart northeast, turn right heading zero three zero until joining Victor Four Seventeen, climb and maintain seven thousand at: josh_hunter04@yahoo.com

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

When you and MB finally take the plunge, will there be flight/NASA/blonde champagne themes during the big event?

Anonymous said...

Hey I didn't think you'll remember the UFO question!! Thanks for your response vato.

Gotta go now. Mother ship is calling... peace to you my carbon-based friends, and say NO to rectal probes ;-)

Heather said...

Thanks, Josh :). What a lovely relationship you guys have and what a lovely answer :).

Anonymous said...

Make sure that when you give a direction of departure that you verify that the clearance will provide for terrain and obsticle avoidance. :)

Josh The Pilot said...

Hey I'm still learning! Nobody else knows what I'm talking about anyway. lol

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