"When I do not want to say things in real life I often say them here." — Mimi Smartypants
There I was at 30,000 feet
There’ve been some changes at Pima Air & Space Museum, where I work as a volunteer docent. Our T.35 Vampire, once used as a trainer and staff support aircraft by the Royal Australian Air Force, has been moved indoors, and not a moment too soon: de Havilland used molded plywood in its construction, and those panels were taking a beating […]
A friend sent me a link to astronaut Scott Kelly’s New York Times op-ed, “How Tom Wolfe Changed My Life.” It’s a wonderful tribute to a great writer, but if, like me, you aren’t a subscriber and are limited in how many NYT clicks you get each month, here’s the part that grabbed me, where Kelly describes […]
If you follow me on Facebook and Instagram you know I post Pima Air & Space Museum photos every Monday. That’s the day I work at PASM as a volunteer docent, driving and narrating tram tours. Between tours there’s often time to take photos, and if I get enough bars on my iPhone I’ll post […]
I’m not going to be coy: my blood sugar started inching up a few years ago; this year it crossed a line and my doctor says I now have type 2 diabetes. At my age I’m probably in for the duration. It’s totally on me, of course. I couldn’t feel guiltier if, after years of unprotected anal […]
A few years ago, restoration staff at Pima Air & Space Museum parked a USAF F-86E Sabre and a North Korean MiG-15 next to one another in an exhibit hangar. As leader of the museum’s walking tour team, I was asked to write a background paper to help bring the other docents up to speed on the jets and […]
And with it, spring cleaning here at Paul’s Thing. Although I won’t rule out minor tinkering with site design in the days ahead, I’m happy with the blog’s new look and hope you are too. I was going to say spring has brought us a fresh new war as well, but I see now Trump’s strike […]
My friend John is a former Navy flight surgeon and Navy pilot, which makes him a member of a very small community. He flew F-4 Phantoms and F-14 Tomcats at the same time I flew F-15 Eagles for the Air Force. We’ve been friends since the early 1990s, when we were both on active duty […]
Having done one or two of these in my day: I think I’m qualified to give a passing grade to Elon Musk and SpaceX on their first attempt at a formation landing. — back to the Air-Minded Index