[Boomer]

Chelsea, you are right. There is nothing like a calm pilot.

Several years ago, took off from Orlando in some really ominous skies. While waiting to board I had been reading an article about cowboy pilots that just happened to have been in the newspaper. The article had talked about a guy who always yelled, "YEEHAW!!!!" when he took off. (I doubt the cabin could hear him.)

So anyway, boarded the plane under those dark skies. Got all settled in. Our pilot came on and said to us, "The first few thousand might be a little bumpy, but then it will be smooooooth flyin' all the way to Cincinnati."

And he said it in a voice that sounded just like Barry White. And I totally relaxed. And up through those wicked skies we went. And he was right.

When we landed, it was like a gentle kiss to the runway.

Mr. Boomer was waiting and I told him about the pilot that I have since referred to as my "Barry White-Voice Pilot." That flight was so perfect and memorable that it is stuck in my mind.

Something else. I will confess, I have flown on the Concorde. Mach 2 Boomer. In 1993. Now before you think I was a high-powered exec or a rock star, not the case at all. It was a deal connected with a return on the QEII. I think it was $3000 total including a week at the Ritz in London.

A deal of a lifetime. Talk about a takeoff. And NY to Heathrow -- 3 hours, 18 minutes. And that flight is really stuck in my mind.

I sobbed when the French did not sweep their runway or whatever that was about.

Mr. Boomer was not with me on that trip. I used to tease him and say that we should go to London together, but he would have to fly Delta and I would fly the Concorde because we could not afford for both of us to fly the Concorde and he would not know what he was missing.

But I seriously had also told him that someday he had to fly the Concorde. He would have appreciated it far more than I did even. That plane was a beautiful creature.

Well, I think I have digressed and hijacked enough for one morning and I need to get out of here.

You can bet the Boomers will be glued to those upcoming television interviews.

Boomer