BESIDES Flying, what do YOU talk about with non-aviators?
Non-aviation party, etc...What are your topics of discussion (besides aviation)?
Oh, and for those who love to bash fellow PPRuNers, have a read-through before some of you certain so-n-so's reply with the inevitable "blah-blah-blah" response... For those that truly have something to add, please, feel free to write what you yak about.
Back to the party...I just say I'm in high-speed transport when people ask me what I do. That leaves them stumped enough. Who bloody cares what I do...! Let's talk fishing, or diving, or travelling, or something interesting!
Of course, it's great to talk aviation with fellow aviators, there is no escaping that, and my love for this crazy profession. But to non-aviators?? I'm tired of the same bloody questions over the years, that is is nice to escape from that for a change. Never-endings of "so have you been scared before?" (yes) "has anything happened to you when flying?" (yes, just about everything except explosive decompression...including engine failures, fires, bird-strikes, hijack situations, a crash, bad weather, etc...bad rostering... ...panicky crew-members...scared passengers...strange sounds from the engine/airframe/cargo area/headset/tyres/)...you get the picture.
I'd rather talk (when talking to non-aviators...) about something interesting like how to maximize a mortgage or the best chassis and engine combination for rebuilding a hot-rod, or where is the best beach on earth, or how CAN you tell the best pashminas (for granny, mmkay??!) or the best fertilizer mix for a home garden, or how it is to volunteer with a group of youths and see them progress over the course of a year's program, or swimming with a school of inquisitive squid, or what breed of dog they have found best with kids, or how rewarding it is to finish a project on your home that you always wanted to do, or how on earth does beer taste so good, or watching your loved one wake up surprised when you bring her brekkie in bed for a change and spend the morning watching the clouds drift by and talk about nothings, or tour some factory "just because"...
There's so much more to life than wearing your bars to a party. Want to see how tacky that looks? It's such a boorish way to break the ice.
Those that do, do - and usually low-key -which is the best.. Those that wish they do, wave a flag saying they do.
Fishing... I tell the story of how I landed a trout the size of my thigh with a trolled line from the back of a rowboat at Lake Waikaramoana in New Zealand. The only fish I've ever caught.
Mortgages... It's hard at a party where minds have been softened by drink to delve into the time value of money. But I've tried.
Hotrods... I don't know a thing about cars and can't seem to get interested.
Beaches... Twilight Beach, just south of Cape Reigna on New Zealand's North Island. Camped on it alone for six days. On the seventh, packed my gear and hiked up to the cape.
Pashmina... It's goat hair. But nice I spin and weave, so prefer alpaca over 18 microns. Easier to handle, except it has no lanolin as wool does.
Fertilizer... My fiance is deep into commercial-scale strict organic agriculture. "There's a lot to know about dirt." I'm just starting to find that out. Humic acid, micro- and macro-fauna, etc etc etc.
Volunteering... Young Eagles... whoops... sorry, that's aviation. I've learned a lot doing this.
Dogs... I have cats. I manage to shut up about how cute they are for ten minutes every two weeks.
Squid... PADI Dive Master, here. Scapa Flow! Belize Blue Hole! Truk Lagoon! Giant red octopus off Vancouver Island! One could drone on and I often do.
With other chicks... Getting married. Being the bride-to-be's a big chore.
Beer... I don't drink, but I'd like to build a small alembic still to make some eau de vie for my fiance. That would be fun.
When people ask what I do I say, "I'm a teacher." Talking about the above has gotten me more students than ranting on about the performance envelope of a 172SP or how glam it is to swing gear in a CRJ (I'm on my way out of this business and into finance).
But if someone at the party wants to talk about how to sequence Aresti figures to build a good IAC Intermediate Unknown... it's huddle in the corner time and energy management's the topic of the night.
Everyone seems to be considering subjects that THEY will talk about. Doesn't anybody LISTEN any more? THEN you can CONVERSE with others on a subject that interests THEM.
G-CPTN, to listen was of course, implied (convo's being two-way and all), however I can twist it into a non-implied question...what do you like to listen to others talk about?
Interesting replies...I've enjoyed "listening" to all of them. By the way...I can't wait to dive off the B.C. coast (GOD'S COUNTRY!!) once I get the lovely lady certified in warmer waters! Cats - dogs - cheetah's (if only they could be litter-trained!!) - any pet's a good thing...!
(By the way...sorry about the loss of one of your kitties, con)
Good, because I could have joined and exclusive gentlemans club for less money. But I wouldnt have got a swanky shirt, or be mistaken for a traffic warden in the car-park
Agreed, I am already cycling through the possible excuses for not attending a cocktail party next Saturday week, it will be dull, dull, dull beyond belief, the majority will be from an investment bank, and I just know that the conversation will turn to golf or what car you drive. Nothing against the people personally, I'm just not interested.
I cannot possibly conceive of anything worse to do on a Saturday night, so I shall obsessively check the met Forecasts for the morning, stay home with the kids, and go fly aeros early in the morning, which means a saturday bedtime of 2130.
excuses for not attending a cocktail party next Saturday week, it will be dull, dull, dull beyond belief, the majority will be from an investment bank,
Yak !
The sheer bloomin' looxury of not having any social committments whatsoever is a treasure greater than Solomons.
By the way...I can't wait to dive off the B.C. coast (GOD'S COUNTRY!!) once I get the lovely lady certified in warmer waters!
It's cold water. Some drift dives. Some stiff currents. Very little silt. Good viz. Lots of interesting stuff in the water. Considerable chop when it blows a bit. Chop = the boat's rockin while you're tryin to get aboard wearin gear. And most definitly drysuit! 60+ dives and being reasonably fit should enable a person to enjoy the experience.
PM for best dive operators in those waters. I've been there a few times. Know some folks.
...panicky crew-members...scared passengers...strange sounds from the engine/airframe/cargo area/headset/tyres/)...you get the picture.
), our Great Pyrenees (2 and a half years old) and our Arctic White Timber Wolf.
And I spent all that money on licences as well 
