I find that my history as an instrument-rated pilot is inhibiting me as a #HamRadio operator.

I find that my history as an instrument-rated pilot is inhibiting me as a #HamRadio operator. I learned to use no extra words on frequency, so now I don't have anything to say on a rag chew. I carefully learned official phonetics, and now I'm immersed in kilowatt radio sugar Japan etc and I have to think twice to understand. I taught myself to use "affirmative" and "negative" as unmistakable "yes" and "no" and now it is all "Roger Roger Roger QSL" — an interesting mash-up since "Roger" officially means basically the same thing as QSL ("I have heard and understood your transmission"), but has morphed in the ham community into instead meaning something like "affirmative."

I'll probably "speak with an accent" for quite a while.