Speaker 1:
0:16
Well, here we are, episode number one. Good morning everybody. My name is Doug Cistorius and this is the Zennial Aviator. If you like what you hear today, or if you don't, just please be a bro, go to Apple Podcasts. Leave me a five star review. You can also put something in the comments like I'm the greatest thing you ever heard, or something Zany, I don't care, but please just leave me some love over there. I'd appreciate it.
Speaker 1:
0:42
If you have any questions, comments, concerns or a show idea, or maybe you'd like to be a guest on the show, please hit me up on the socials or email me at thezenielaviator at gmailcom. I will make sure that I put the socials in my show notes, so take a look at those. So I just want to start out today and say this I've recorded this episode probably about three or four times and I really start to feel like Dr Dre, because I start to get irritated as shit with it and I delete it. I don't like what I hear, or I don't like the way it sounds, or maybe I don't like the way I said something, so finally, I decided, after taking a couple days off, of not doing this for my own mental health, that the hell with it, full send. I'm going to send this regardless because you only get better from practice. So hey, dude, I love it. That's probably going to end up naming this episode. Anyway, you're going to get what you're going to get here for this first episode. It's probably going to be a little bit short. I'm just going to do an intro of who I am, things I like, things I hobbies and whatnot. Also, I'm going to talk about what is any is why I named it that, why I feel I have kind of a unique perspective to talk about that stuff, and then we'll do a little bit of a preview of what some of the next episodes are going to be coming up as well. So, as I stated before, my name is Doug Pistorius. That's P-I-S-T-O-R-I-U-S. People love to misspell that.
Speaker 1:
2:14
I'm a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy. I am a Naval Aviator. I've been one for going on upwards of, I guess, 15 years. I'm a husband, a data two. I have call sign. It's Pew Pew, kind of like Boba Fett with lasers Pew, pew. I've had a couple older ones Flounder and Oscar but we'll talk about those in another episode. I'd like to dedicate a whole episode to talking about call signs. I'll bring on some of my pilot buddies, because there are some good ones, there are some bad ones, and then there's some you're just like holy shit, where did that come from? Before I was a pilot I've done a lot of random stuff, so I'll probably just start from the top.
Speaker 1:
2:53
About two weeks after high school I graduated, and then I went into Navy Boot Camp. I enlisted, I went to school to be an electronics technician, where I started working on radars and satellites and communications equipment. I did two deployments. A couple of those were during 9-11 timeframe, so it had a pretty profound effect on my life and it was definitely an eye-opening experience. Overall, I've decommissioned three ships and one aircraft, so I'm kind of the grim reaper of the Navy when it comes to that respect.
Speaker 1:
3:23
After my enlistment I came back to Tampa where my family and friends were. I really thought I'd missed the college experience, because I left at 17. And during my time in the Navy I would take a few college courses, but I just felt like I overall missed partying and going to class and joining fraternity and all that zany stuff. Come to find out, though, I did not miss anything, so I rushed for fraternity. I learned really quickly that fraternities. Comparatively partying to the partying I did as a sailor, it pales in comparison. It was a night and day difference and it very much opened my eyes real quickly that I did not miss anything During my time. In fact, I was getting paid to party and paid to have fun, while these kids were using mom and dad's money to do that. So Learned a valuable lesson there, and it cost me some money.
Speaker 1:
4:17
During that time I kept going on and off with college and jobs. I would go to school for a semester to do okay, then decide that I want to go work. So then I'd pick up some job I I want, from being an employee at blockbuster video to a cable guy, worked at Publix a few times. I've done a call center. I worked with electronics repair and scrapping things. So I've been all around the board when it comes to jobs. But finally I kind of started to get my shit together and I got lucky. I got a job with the FAA as a glide slope and ILS technician Down in Tampa international. For those of you who aren't savvy on what that is Basically your glide slope and your ILS instrument landing system. They're instruments that are on the ground by the runway and they help bring an aircraft in safely. During my time in the FAA I also decided to get my act, together with going back to school and I was taking classes. But I Started to get an itch and I was getting bored with Tampa.
Speaker 1:
5:19
Those six years I was gone and when I was enlisted I I felt like I was missing something like I didn't have. You know, I didn't have something but it it wasn't until I was out that I realized it was the Navy. I missed all the camaraderie from my friends in the Navy and I missed the traveling and being able to go different places. So I had an itch to go back in the Navy. Luckily, at the time now I had good grades in college so I was awarded a two-year ROTC scholarship to finish my bachelors, got my bachelors in political science and I Initially planned on just going back in the Navy as a surface warfare officer because I didn't know any better. All I knew was boats at the time. But luckily I had a couple buddies who were in aviation squadrons and they kind of coaxed me into taking my ASTB that's basically your aviation Battery test to determine if you can get a flight score or not.
Speaker 1:
6:15
Ended up doing that, did pretty good on it and, god willing, I got blessed with a spot to go to flight school. So From there the rest is history went through flight school We'll talk about that in another episode because that's an experience on itself. But I ended up selecting fly the P3. Charlie Did that for about five years. That was a anti-summery warfare plane, did two deployments with that and From there I went to stand up the Navy's first drone squadron, vup 19, where I flew the MQ4 Triton, which is basically like the Global Hawk, did that for about six years.
Speaker 1:
6:51
Got a good story about how I was part of a mishap where it crashed. We'll talk about that as much as I can, I think, in another episode. From there I went to the Army Staff College in Leavenworth and I was awarded two master's degrees. I got my first masters in military operations and during the night I was taking other courses at the University Kansas and I got my masters in project management as well as a PMP certification. So I really love to integrate project management into things I do, especially with naval aviation and life in general. I Think there's a lot of the tenants of project management that a fit well in our organization. So probably talk about that a lot too as well. All in all, basically, I went from being a Renaissance bum to a jack of all trades and a master of none.
Speaker 1:
7:43
I like to dabble my hand in a multitude of things. I Like to switch it up, I like the variants, but I've definitely fell in love with being a pilot. I enjoy it wouldn't change it for the world. It's. It's been a blast and I'm gonna keep doing it until they tell me I can't do it. Let's talk about hobbies now.
Speaker 1:
8:02
I have a very huge retro video game collection like obscenely huge Pretty much any console, from the Atari 5200 onwards to the PlayStation 5, chances that I own it. That includes some Japanese variants as well. I have a Famicom. I have a Super Famicom. I have the Famicom Disk System, where you can put little floppy disks in it, as well as a large library of games. We'll definitely talk about video games in a couple episodes. You can bet on that for sure, I would say. Overall, though, my favorite console is probably my Super Nintendo or my TurboGrafx 16, mostly because the Super Nintendo I have a lot of memories with because it's what I had growing up. Turbografx 16, I never had one, so it's kind of cool to experience a whole new library on itself. I do play my PlayStation 5. I do play modern games here and there.
Speaker 1:
8:57
Being a dad of a three-year-old and a six-month-old doesn't allow me to go hard in the paint like I used to on some games, so that's why it's easier for me to go to the retro consoles. I can just pop in a game and play for a little bit and shut it off. That's dad life. It's just an adjustment to things. It's definitely been a culture shock, that's for sure. I went and traded for the world. I love my kids to death, but it's definitely been a learning process. We'll talk about that as well, probably in another episode, because I'm sure a lot of you guys have kids or maybe kids on the way. So dad life's a thing for sure.
Speaker 1:
9:31
When it comes to music, I love 70s, 80s and 90s music, especially rock and roll. I grew up with 90s gangsta rap and hip hop. I definitely can pride myself on saying I would take a gentleman's bet. Any day of the week you can name a notorious BIG song. Most likely I can probably start spitting out the lyrics to you. It'll sound very zany in a white boy fashion, just like I sound now, but I can do it nonetheless. So it's a fun little hidden talent I have. I especially love yacht rock too. For those of you who don't know what yacht rock is, once again, we will talk about this in another episode. Close your eyes and think of late 70s, early 80s, being on a boat sipping on maybe a vodka with ice, listening to the smooth sounds of Kenny Loggins or Michael McDonald or Phil Collins or Hollin Oates. That's yacht rock. It's basically where folk meets rock and a very Southern California vibe.
Speaker 1:
10:34
In terms of sports, I love football. Love college football, definitely. I got to go with Florida Gators because that's my wife's alumni and, honestly, usf hasn't done shit in the last couple years. Go Gators. I love watching the J Hawks. Obviously, when it comes to football, I'm basketball, so rock chalk there. Pro football, I've kind of fell off like most people have in the last couple years, but I still pay attention, especially during playoff times. Being from Pittsburgh originally, I do like the Steelers, but definitely, I would say, a Bucks fan. If I had to side, it would be with the Bucks Hockey. I'm also torn in that respect with the Penguins and the Lightning, but I definitely rep the Lightning all day, every day, when it push comes to shove. So love the Lightning, love hockey.
Speaker 1:
11:24
I like to work out, I like to run Once again, dad, life kind of gets in the way of that so I get it when I can in terms of workouts and running. But I also love to do obstacle courses and mud runs, like the Spartan Race. I've done multiple Spartan races, I've done multiple Tough Mudders, I love to do 10Ks. So that's, I wouldn't say, a hobby in mind, but I enjoy doing it when I can. It's always a lot of fun. Plus there's always the motivation of the beer at the end of it, which gets into one of my other hobbies beer and whiskey. I love Good Craft beers. I do brew beer. I haven't done it in a while just because I've been pretty busy, but I do enjoy doing that.
Speaker 1:
12:00
I'm not going to say I hate IPAs. I'm not going to be that big of a snob, but not a fan. I prefer a more of a traditional list. I prefer a stout or a good German beer. But the West Coast does do some really good hazy IPAs. I do enjoy them. We'll talk about beer and whiskey as well. I love Kentucky Bourbon probably my two favorites, maybe three Bullet, blanton's Gold and Four Roses, but I'm always open to different, different variances as well. I like different things and then I love to grill, I love to cook, I love to smoke different meats. So we'll talk about that for sure, and we will definitely jump down the rabbit hole of the paranormal sometime in some of these episodes. I know that might make some people feel uncomfortable or laugh, but it's always been a, I guess, knack or hobby of mine, so we'll most definitely talk about those things as well.
Speaker 1:
12:59
So now that we talked about me and my interests and who I am, let me talk about what is a zennial? So obviously the title of the show is the Zennial Aviator. You probably know what an aviator is, but some of you might be asking what is a zennial? Well, the internet and its infinite wisdom. They've come up with a multitude of different definitions for it. I'll try to lay it down the best I can or the way I interpret it.
Speaker 1:
13:27
But it's basically a micro generation in between generation X and millennials. Some people on the internet have put a specific set of dates to it, basically 1977 to 1983. If those dates ring a belt, because it's the original Star Wars trilogy. So yeah, congratulations, dude. A lot of thought went into that one. I would argue it's probably a year take of slop on the front and back end of those. My sister would probably agree with that, because she was more than 85 and I don't think she considers herself a millennial. I think one of the best phrases I've seen put out there was a zennial has had an analog childhood into a digital adulthood. I think that definitely would be a good descriptor for it If you grew up with basic cable, with the cable box, or maybe not even cable at all, and you played with a computer in computer class, or you didn't have a computer until maybe you were in high school. Overall, though why I'm unique, I think, to talk about this kind of stuff Well, I spent most of my young adult life influenced by Jenax people.
Speaker 1:
14:37
Like I said, I joined the Navy at 17. So pretty much everybody was older than me, and that includes people who were in charge of me as well as my co-workers, so had a lot of influence by them. They could relate to me on some things, but not a lot of things. And then, later on in life, when I commissioned and I became an officer, I now find myself in charge of millennials and once again, they can relate to me on some things, but there's definitely a disconnect in other things. To use a video game analogy, basically the Jenaxers if you make a joke about Super Nintendo, chances are they may or may not get it because they grew up with the Atari 2600 and Nintendo, whereas your millennials, you make the same joke, they may or may not get it because they grew up with Nintendo 64 and Gamecube. So there definitely is a little bit of a micro generation in between these two and I don't feel right being called a Jenaxer, because I was definitely a kid whenever that term was coined. I don't feel like a millennial at all because that definition was coined well into my adulthood.
Speaker 1:
15:46
So I think the Zennial definitely is a thing and we'll talk about it more and we'll kind of explore it more and we'll peel back that onion throughout some of these episodes. So what's the show going to be about? Obviously, it's going to be about a lot of those things I talked about in terms of things I like, because it's my show. So I want to talk about my hobbies, I want to talk about the things I'm passionate about and that I enjoy. Essentially, to break it down, though it's going to be about alcohol, aviation definitely not at the same time antics, the good life and just all the fun shit. We're going to get into a plethora of different topics and have fun with it, keep it light-hearted, and we'll have some serious conversations about some things, but for the most part, I want to have fun with this. This is meant to be a hobby for me and not to be a part-time job, as my wife has mentioned, because of how OCD I've gotten with this.
Speaker 1:
16:40
Starting off Just to give you guys a preview of the first season and what I'm looking to do with it. Obviously, this is going to be an intro teaser, kind of kickoff episode, but down the pipeline, availability pending what I want to do is I got a couple of people lined up for interviews Buddymind he just got out of the Navy and he's a pilot for Delta Airlines, so we're going to talk about his experience as a pilot and his experience transitioning out of the Navy and into the civilian airlines and how that process went for him.
Speaker 1:
17:13
I have another buddy who is an Army veteran. He is now a cop in Oakland so he has a lot of good stories about being out on the streets and some of the crazy shit he's seen. So that should make for some good talk. I have an active duty, master chief, who is also a distiller, who works with a group of guys. They make their own whiskey as well as they have a charity organization that they help out local veterans in the community. So it's going to be pretty fun.
Speaker 1:
17:43
If you ever want to hear a good sea story or a good military story in general, always ask a chief petty officer. They will let you know the unfiltered version and it's always good for a laugh or two. So we'll have master chief on the show. We'll talk to him, we'll talk about some sea stories, we'll talk about whiskey, talk about some of the good things he's doing and probably do a tasting as well. I also have another enlisted gentleman. He's going to be coming on the show. I wanted to get him on the show for my first episode before he left but he ended up getting sick, so it was important that he got better. He just got picked up for officer candidate school to go to be a pilot, so he was enlisted for about 10 years. I went through the process and applied to become an officer. He's heading up to Rhode Island actually as we speak, and hopefully we'll get a hold of him when he graduates here and he's an officer in about 13 weeks and we'll talk about how he did that, his pathway to success, some of the trials and tribulations along the way and what he's got to look forward to in flight school.
Speaker 1:
18:49
It is something I do want to hold on. In these episodes and these shows as well, I want to talk to ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things, and I want to also talk about not only their successes but their failures and how they overcome failure. That has definitely been one thing that's been prevalent in my adult life is both success and failure, and I really, really believe that I've learned much more from all the failures in my life than I have from the success in my life, and I think that's definitely something that needs to be conveyed to people, especially younger people, is that it's okay to fail. In fact, sometimes it's good to fail because you learn to pick yourself up, you learn to be better, you learn to move forward and sometimes there are opportunities that are opened from failing that you would have never seen before. So I think failure is a very important thing to talk about and it's a very important thing to discuss on how to cope with and how to use to your advantage. So we'll definitely be talking about that for sure.
Speaker 1:
20:04
Yeah, and overall we'll have some top five episodes, especially because this whole thing's going to be dependent on my schedule and how busy I get. Currently, I'm in training to learn how to fly the P8, basically think militarized version of a Southwest Airlines 737. So I'm pretty excited. It's been a lot of fun so far. I'm going to try my best to do one of these episodes at least once a week, but we'll see how that goes. But definitely we'll like to do some top five episodes of things I like, rant on some things, maybe even have my wife come on the mic as well and she can make fun of me and we can go from there. Well, that about doesn't fit the show.
Speaker 1:
20:52
Everybody. Thank you very much for listening and, once again, please go to Apple Podcast and leave a five-star review. That five-star review will very much help get my show into a lot more search results. Anything less than a five-star review won't help, so please make it five stars. Head over to my socials They'll be in show notes and give me a follow. I'll start adding some content there and we'll get the word out. Expect a teaser for episode two to come out soon after I drop this. And yeah, take it easy. God bless, see ya.
Speaker 2:
21:26
Mexico. Isia quick. He claimed to be the best. He insisted that we play some chess as the evening shed. His gown with larka grow His life by now beats me to interpone, Smiling silently. His vision takes my palm. I decided this is gonna put too long. I go for my gun. Yeah, it whips out a knife In the midst of a man. That reconsidered my worst of these lies.
