The best job in the world

I was walking through a park yesterday. It is one of those parks where people drive their pimped out corvettes and cruisers, as well as their '04 Sunbirds with huge spoilers, around in circles for no particular reason. And what I decided during this time was that something was missing. None of these cars were doing it for me. They all looked rather ridiculous. Big and bulky. The side mirrors looking like little underdeveloped stubs sticking out to the side. Everything pretty much rectangular. Everything so heavy. I guess that's why I don't care too much if I drive a "cute" truck with an old-man canopy, because they all generally look the same to me. I don't know why.

Then I went to a movie last night, and I realized why. Because cars ARE slow and bulky and cumbersome. Compared to fighter planes.

I went to see Fighter Pilot at IMAX. Check out a quick trailer here. It was awesome. All of those planes and helicopters look pretty cumbersome and ungainly on the ground too. With their peg-leg landing gear and strange looking control surfaces moving around, they can't do much better than a car. But put any one of those aircraft in flight, and...wow, that is how machines should move. The engines are roaring, but the moves look effortless. No longer confined to 3 dimensions. The bulkiest transport plane up there has more grace than the sleekest sports car on the road, and the slowest helicopter looks smoother than a luxury sedan. Then there were at least 7 different fighters planes, the most powerful things in the sky. I could watch those things move all day.

Until I can get in one. Three more months. I can't wait to get up there again.Note: No, I won't be flying one of those