Blacktop
This thread has opened up my eyes about how badly things are going out there in flying land.
I hope that the next time one of our forum members is given such instructions, just say: unfamiliar, say distance from airport for turning point.
I grew up flying at KPAO. Words like "SLAC" "midspan" and red roofs were all reporting points on the VFR terminal area chart*. As an instructor I taught my students that this was fine for our little home airport. But in the real world, one must quickly be able to say your position, VFR, in terms of the compass and distance. EG: Seven miles south of the airport.
Not by way of an excuse, but ever since the controllers went on strike (over 25 years ago) and were fired (employment terminated) the FAA has never really caught up.
I would like to know about "sucking eggs", and while I thougth bumbing a fag was begging for a cigarette and a lorry was a truck, I don't know what going off the pavement means.
There is a great old song that includes the lyrics, "while you've a lucifier to light your fag", in this, the word lucifier means a common match (ignition source)
*by the way: SLAC means stanford linear accelerator, RED ROOFS was the university itself (distinctive spanish style roofs) and Midspan was the middle of a significant nearby transbay bridge (dumbarton)