Regarding instant key the mike thing... when I'm flying with a guy who does that, when it's his leg, I go to the other extreme and sometimes swap freq's and simply do nothing for a while. It makes him squirm, as if we are going to flip inverted and auger in if we don't check in instantly.

Along those lines, sometimes you hear a guy saying "Center, ToolAir 123 at 350..." and if the response isn't immediate, he'll repeat, over and over, with 3 second pauses between.

Center, ToolAir 123 at 350... Center, ToolAir 123 at 350.... Center, ToolAir 123, how copy?

and you can tell he is going nuts because there's no response. Relax. You aren't going to crash. You're probably just a bit out of range.

It's annoying, though, when you wait a nice 5 seconds to ensure the freq is clear, and the instant you key the mike, you hear someone else doing it exactly at the same time.