John McCain explains with bright, shiny code words why I am loath ever to return to federal service.

I am so sick of being characterized as lazy by elected officials, of one party primarily.

Every time John McCain or anyone from the Arizona delegation has flown back home from anywhere in the world, someone like me at my former facility did his or her best to make sure they didn't hit another airplane or a mountain, while doing everything possible to expedite their arrival.

On my last PHX push, there was a Southwest departing ABQ in the middle of the stream. I had the option to take the airplane over Drake, Arizona, if my sequence didn't permit the inclusion of another airplane. Four or five turns later, I integrated the arrival into a pack of seven or eight others within forty miles, causing minimal delay for all concerned. For whatever reason, the TMU supervisor came into the area and told me that I had been mentioned on the teleconference for the PHX sequence that day, and the Southwest representative said that I had saved them almost $1,000 of gas by doing what I did. It didn't change my pay, and I didn't get any time off for that, but my facility manager decided to change out almost a ton of ordinary gravel in the front of the building with a reddish-hued gravel because it flattered the bricks more.

You want to make government better? I like one respondent's idea:

Fire anyone who says words like "stakeholder," "lifecycle," or "resource traceability matrix" with a straight face.

Promote people who refuse to attend meetings.

As of 3 p.m. today, I no longer work for the Federal Aviation Administration.

They gave me a T-shirt with the words "willchaseambulancesforfood@" above "IleftATCforthis.com." The personal farewells of my crewmates were touching and unexpected, especially the girl who told me that my balls were huge and that she would miss them.

I have a little more than 72 hours left in the greater Albuquerque area, he suddenly realized.