I will never forget during a post First Gulf War Deployment, my Navy crew got tagged with a Christmas eve to Christmas morning parts run. I had a great copilot with me, but God love him, he was a good ole boy from North Carolina and every Saudi and Egyptian controller he checked in with, he wished them a 'Merry Christmas'....and he was dead serious. The rest of the crew would laugh hysterically when out of pure shock or possibly human kindness, the controllers would respond with a 'Merry Christmas' of their own.

If it makes you feel any better, I screwed up my December bidding something fierce and will get back from a trip late Christmas eve and start another on Christmas afternoon....which means I get to spend the night in the crashpad in Queens NY. I'm looking forward to my Christmas brunch at my favorite Chinese takeout in Kew Gardens.

.....Ah, the glamourous like of aviation professionals!