After taking a closer look here's what I do:

Boom chuck a boom a chuck a.

That within the space of a regular boom chuck boom chuck. I start out with a boom chuck but quickly get fully wound into bcabaca. It keeps that pick moving for the next little flat pick lick which I love to throw in. Nobody has ever said 'don't do that'. But I'll talk to them about it. (I'm pretty sure they didn't come up with 'dum chic' over a beer talking about moi).

The biggest problem with rhythm I run into is losing the strength of the rhythm during those long bass runs which I dearly love. But, I have found if I hit the booms loud enough they still fill in to a degree. Let's face it, we're there to fill in.

It's so hard to unlearn something. I wouldn't call it a bad habit, but it gets so ingrained in your head and hands, that I understand why he would want to try and make the music fit his tendencies. I do the same thing. Fortunately I learned boom chuck from the get go. Maybe I love bright ringing guitars because a long clear chuck-a will buy me a little time to sneak in as many bass runs as I can.

Willie-O, do you think the 'a' is a bad thing if it stays on rhythm?