At the age of 12 on my only holiday as a kid to LHR I decided then that I wanted to fly. Some how I managed to fool the RAF recruiters and they let me in. To my sheer disbelief I than managed to fool all my instructers and two Chief Instructors on chop rides and some three star popped a set of RAF wings on my chest at the age of 19.
I had a wonderful military career, though as cut backs after cut backs set in, I came close to saying that dreaded phrase of the knackered old sh**'s "It's not like it used to be". Then I was the subject of an accident (not of my own making I hasten to add) and I was permanently grounded.
I started to move into computing and web design and initially I didn't miss flying. Then I discovered that I shouldn't really have been permanently grounded and I managed to get a restricted class 1. Two years ago I got back into professional flying and I realised what I had been missing. Not the nice shiney high tech aircraft we now fly but I missed my fellow pilots - the banter, the whingeing, the desire to get things right etc.
The honeymoon lasted for 6-9 months and after taking off my rose filtered glasses I saw a management that couldn't give a toss and ignored FTL's so I resigned. I am now very fortunate to be flying for a small expanding airline where it is a pleasure to go to work. Yes we are away from home a lot but that goes with the job and if the marriage can't cope with that then it is not the right job to be in. Our management aren't perfect but then they have a business to run - it's up to us through the strength of collective membership to ensure our T & C's don't get erroded to unacceptable levels.
At the end of the day there are far harder ways of earning a living and if its not fun any more either give it up or build/buy/hire a little piston and remind yourselves why we entered this wonderful profession in the first place. Great thread keep it going.