Bob Benzon: Over two decades ago (1990), Paul and I found ourselves in Unakaleet, Alaska...a small village on Alaska's west coast.  A MarkAir 73 botched an instrument approach and made an incredible accidental crash landing well short of Unakleet's gravel runway.  Nobody killed or seriously injured, which is the kind of accident Paul and I liked.

 

We flew into Unakaleet on an empty MarkAir 737 with just the flight attendants and pilots onboard.  The flight attendants fed us just like back in the old days...served us a real meal, soft drinks...the whole works.   Paul thought I was responsible for the VIP treatment and I never disabused him of that belief.  He figured it out later though.  The flight took us in and picked up fishermen for the return flight to Anchorage.

 

At the time, I was a young IIC, a mere 41 years of age.  I ran Paul's legs off up and down the tundra hills.  We only had a limited onsite availability...helicopters in and out and all that.   Onscene time was very tight...we had to document everything very quickly.  We both were pretty worn out that evening in a sleeping hut provided by someone.  I can't remember.  Paul mentioned modestly....Bob, I'm 60 years old...thanks for the workout.  His youthful looks and attitude back then totally fooled me.   I am now just past 60 and admire him greatly for his help on that one.

 

Up there, in the hut, he told me the best joke I ever heard:

 

An NTSB investigator  found himself in San Francisco after an investigation with an extra day on his hands   So, he decided to see the sights on a rented bicycle.  He also wanted to buy his wife a nice gift at an antique store...she was into antiques.  Well, he biked around a bit and up and down the hills, and found an antique store.  He spotted a small bronze rat figurine that he thought his wife would like and asked about the price.  The shop owner said...well, this rat figurine is only $20, unless you want the story behind the rat.  That will be much more.

 

Nope, just sell me the rat...I am a little short of cash, the investigator said.  So, the guy put the rat in the basket of his bike and proceeded to pedal back to his hotel.  During this trek though, he saw real rats beginning to follow him on his bike.  Lots and lots of rats.   He started to get more and more worried....and eventually panicked.  He pedaled furiously to the Golden Gate Bridge with thousands of rats in his wake. Being a trained investigator, he saw a connection and skreeched to a halt.  He reached into his basket and threw the rat figurine into San Francisco Bay.  All the real rats jumped off the bridge and followed the figurine into the water. 

 

Whew, the investigator said....and went back to the antique store.  The owner said...ahh you are back now for the rest of the story about the rat!

 

Not really, the investigator said... but do you have any bronze lawyer figurines?  End of joke.

 

As an aside, I would substitute "lawyers"  for "congressmen and senators".

 

Bob