On a recent trip from the West Coast to the Midwest, I’d just checked in with Center after a couple of sectors in NorCal. A few minutes later, the controller gave us a climb to our final altitude, FL230. Then, after another few minutes:
Center: “Uh, 40N, did I give you FL230? I know I thought about it, but I don’t remember if I actually gave it to you.”
Me: “Well, as it turns out, you thought about it so hard, I heard you. 40N is already climbing FL230.”
Was that Brian Schiff? Funny guy!