Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Three Things

A reader sent me a link to his nascent blog, with no intention to spread the meme he started with, just to show me his blog, but after I thought about it for a while I came up with my own list, and decided to post it.

The Challenge

  • Post 3 things you've done that you believe nobody else reading has done.
  • If anybody responds with "I've done that," add another thing.
  • Encourage your friends to paste this into their own journal to list the unique things they've done.

My List

  • Escaped after being locked inside a morgue.
  • Been at Cannes for the world premiere of a movie I was in.
  • Hiked up a mountain, over rocks and snow, entirely in my bare feet.

Your list can go in the comments or in your own blog.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cool List!

Can't say I've done any of those.

Anonymous said...

- Nearly ran over a golfer's unseen abandoned equipment after "encouraging" him off of a grass runway by starting my takeoff roll

- Played with molten lava, as a young (8-9 year old) kid

- Had my bride "stolen" away during my first wedding dance by an (arranged) surprise visit from a good dancer in a gorilla costume.


I bet if anyone I know reads these they'll recognize me :)

Anonymous said...

1. Been in a midair collision (yes, in an actual airplane)
2. Been trapped under 12 feet of water in a swimming pool
3. Worked in the Anchorage ARTCC "flight data" center when I was 10 years old.

Yellowbird said...

1. Played in Carnegie Hall
2. Met Jim Varney (aka Ernest P. Worrell - the "Hey Vern" guy)
3. Been head-butted by a buffalo as a child (which probably explains a lot...)

Anonymous said...

1. Survived an unintentional spin.
2. Rescued an "in trouble" swimmer.
3. As an old guy, "dropped-in" into the powder at Alta -- with only a slightly twisted knee.

--ps

the Ambulance Driver said...

- Went soaring in Switzerland in a fabric glider with a non English speaking pilot.
-Flew a Convair 580 at age 15 (don't ask!)
-Was the Paramedic/Safety officer in a music video involving two helicopters, 5 police cars and a Bentley Convertible.

Aviatrix said...

Ambulance Driver: I've been soaring in France with a non-English-speaking pilot, but I don't think the glider was fabric-skinned.

the Ambulance Driver said...

It was an awesome experience, but I did get a little altitude sickness climbing in thermals and not being use to the altitude. No oxygen... not sure how high we made it.

Aviatrix said...

I felt (a) slightly airsick, cooking in the little cockpit, and (b) anxious about the proximity to both terrain and other aircraft. Glider pilots think nothing of being stacked a hundred feet apart with everyone turning.

I had no intention of sharing Ron's first-listed experience with him.

nec Timide said...

Intercepted air-to-air by a military aircraft, then had lunch with the crew.

Was in a PA28, in a fully developed right hand spin with the C of G heavy and aft of the utility category (4 souls, I wasn't the pilot)

Penetrated a solid undercast in a glider with only an altimeter, airspeed, vertical speed, wet compass and yaw string for instruments.

Aviatrix said...

I'm thinking nec timide's spin must have been unintentional, matching Paul's #1 item and requiring Paul to post another.

Critical Alpha said...

1. Chatted and had coffee with Nancy Sinatra - without knowing who she was.
2. Dodged ships whilst hove to in a small yacht in a gale in Bass Strait.
3. Landed by helicopter on the Olivine Ice Plateau (NZ).

Anonymous said...

further:

Nec timide's spin was with somebody else (how often does this happen, gad). I was a student pilot at the time and by myself.

--paul

Jim said...

My List

- Visited a whore house in Paris, told my wife about it, and lived to talk about it (there is an explanation - see my blog)

- Roasted a turkey over a campfire in the middle of a Canadian winter,

- Produced music videos - before MTV (1972-1974)

nec Timide said...

I thought I might have to expand on the spin. It was intentional, I was a student at the time, in the left seat. The instructor initiated the spin, over the extreme opposition of a more senior instructor in the back, with the intent of having me do the recovery. We had about 7000 ft AGL or we would not have survived.

It happens when you have more balls than brains to be completely frank. I wasn't happy but other than incapacitating the instructor I don't know any way I could have stopped it. From the first indication of what he had in mind, to entry was less than 30 seconds.

It was a bad flight, awash in testosterone and dominance displays between the two instructors. It was, as the saying goes, a career limiting move for the one who initiated the spin.

Anonymous said...

1. Had lunch with Hans von Ohain, designer of the first modern jet engine.

2. Flew Mach 2+ in a Convair B-58 "Hustler."

3. Worked as moderator for the DOD's advanced technology display at the 1980 Farnborough Airshow.

Eric K. said...

Well, can't say that I have any sort of aviation events to top anything y'all wrote here. But here's my own list:

* Had an all-access security credential to the '96 Olympics in Atlanta
* Bottle-fed a full-grown Bengal Tiger
* Watched the 2002 Indy 500 from the #2 pit box

Anonymous said...

Changed Boeing 787 Brake pads.
Stepped on a sea Urchin (Diadema_antillarum).
Roller Bladed through the Lincoln Tunnel(NYC)

Critical Alpha said...

Hi Arbeiter,

afraid to tell you I've also done your number 2 - very painful.

Mike

Anonymous said...

Trying to come up with things that others could have done or could do in the future.

1) Changed Boeing 787 Brake pads.

2) Stood with one foot on the Eurasian Tectonic plate, and one foot on the North American Tectonic plate. (Great Atlantic Rift in Iceland)
Replaces Stepped on a sea Urchin (Diadema_antillarum) which Mike also unfortunately did.

3) Roller Bladed through the Lincoln Tunnel(NYC)

Anonymous said...

1. Flown a glider (SGS 2-33A) with the cockpit canopy open.

2. Got kicked out of Aviation College, for a really sweet looking performance take-off and aggressive climb-out.

3. Got re-instated to the Aviation College, after an academic appeal, worthy of an Academy Award!