Just had a unique experience...

[gringo]

I had, hold on to your pants now, a margarita for lunch. While working.

And nobody even so much as looked at me funny...

I'm getting used to this whole new career thing.

Oh yeah, getting to sleep with my wife every night? That's pretty cool, too. Although sometimes I miss the LaQuinta out in the boonies in nowheres-ville.... no, wait a minute. Guess I don't!

Oh well. Back to work!

 

[blackhawk911]

Good Luck!

Hey Gringo,
Sounds like you found a ticket out of the crazy airline lifestyle! What are you doing now? Anyways, best of luck to you whatever it is. BTW, is your crashpad in ATL still up for sale?

Hawk

 

[gringo]

I'm developing the sales and marketing strategy for a company that fabricates tension fabric structures for tradeshows and such other events. It's an extremely interesting and dynamic industry, and I love it. What did I know about this industry 2 weeks ago? Not a dang thing. Didn't even know it existed. My previous experience in sales and marketing? Going out to the bars and meeting girls. (Although, admittedly, it WAS highly successful!) But now I can hold a semi-intelligent converstion with 20 year veterans of the industry. In another month....

I'm also persuing a possible move to the tropic to develop some real estate. Again, I know practically squat about it, but God or Allah or Steve gave me a fairly adaptable brain, quick to adapt and open to learn new things. Although at this point, I think I'm going to stick with my first choice- the potential here just boggles my mind.

The point is, once you make the decison to move on, opportunities of all kinds open up just about anywhere you look. The world is an amazing place, and there are so many ways to make a great living and enjoy life at the same time. I'm actually going to make more money doing this than flying the DC-10, and I'm not constantly strung out from jet lag. The guy I'm working with is wildly successful, and he wants to see me succeed, and he's giving me the tools and space to grow and develop. This is a VERY refreshing change of pace from the whole "screw you, I've got mine" mentality from the airlines. I might be putting in 10-12 hours at the office, but it's fun, and at the end of the day, I feel like I've accomplished something. Yeah, sure, I don't get 2 weeks off a month, but you know what? When I'm sitting at home while my wife's at work, what's the point? Do you know how many Christmass's I'm going to miss with my wife in the upcoming years? Birthdays? Anniversaries? None. Nada. Zippo. If I stayed in the airlines? Most of them.

Something else that's cool? The boss and I are both avid pilots, but he's working on his instrument rating. When we want to go fly, we go to the airport and rent a Cirrus. No TSA. No union scumbags. Just us, a couple hundred horsies and some 100LL. The way it was meant to be.

Yeah, the crashpad is for sale. I'm open for some flexibility- I doubt I'll be going back to Atlanta anytime soon. PM me and we'll chat about it- I would really like to sever all ties with my previous life and just get on with my new one here in Chicago.

 

[blackhawk911]

Yeah, the crashpad is for sale. I'm open for some flexibility- I doubt I'll be going back to Atlanta anytime soon. PM me and we'll chat about it- I would really like to sever all ties with my previous life and just get on with my new one here in Chicago.

Sent you a PM.

 

[mynameisjim]

I haven't worked in two weeks, but still get paid. I think that beats the hell out of a 9-5. But to each his own.

 

[gringo]

Like you said, to each his own. Spending time with my wife every night is now more important to me than getting a lot of time off so I can stay home, alone, while she's off at work... but if I was single, I'd be all over it like white on rice!

I do, however, like, no, LOVE the fact that my "9 to 5" will never have me sitting on reserve for Christmas, New Year, Easter, the 4th of July, birthdays, anniversaries and other assorted holidays, though. "Sorry kids, can't make it to your birthday... daddy's gotta go to work..." will NEVER be heard at my house.

But hey, if it works for you, and your spouse is happy, then I'm happy for you too!

 

[Regul8r]

That's what it's all about, trying to find a balance (in my opinion). Different situations call for different tactics. I'm all for a great quality of life

 

[Uncle Bunkle]

Agreed, balance is the key.

 

[acpilot]

Like you said, to each his own. Spending time with my wife every night is now more important to me than getting a lot of time off so I can stay home, alone, while she's off at work... but if I was single, I'd be all over it like white on rice!

I do, however, like, no, LOVE the fact that my "9 to 5" will never have me sitting on reserve for Christmas, New Year, Easter, the 4th of July, birthdays, anniversaries and other assorted holidays, though. "Sorry kids, can't make it to your birthday... daddy's gotta go to work..." will NEVER be heard at my house.

But hey, if it works for you, and your spouse is happy, then I'm happy for you too!

Preach! I used to bash the 9-5. Then I quit flying and actually got a 9-5. Now I know where I'll be on every holiday, birthday, special kid event, etc for the next decade or two: either behind the camera or in the pictures! We just buy plane tickets for vacations now knowing that I can get the time off. The freedom takes some getting used to.

I'm not employed or furloughed at the whim of a fickle economy or based on the price of oil. My career advancement is based on actual performance, not some archaic BS senority system. I'm not going to pay union dues or go on strike. Jumping to a new company gets me a 10% - 20% raise instead of landing me at the bottom of some other s**tty senority list. I can actually negotiate a real cost of living increase that actually covers cost of living increases. I've since been offered resume walk-ins to a decent LCC and a major...happily declined both on the spot.

Knock the 9-5 all you want. It's an objectively better lifestyle based on what I have observed.

You like flying? Buy your own plane. Fly when you want.