Well I'm extremely glad to report to my long term colleagues and fellow battlers here in the wannabes forum, most of whom I've never met, so many of whom I've drawn inspiration from, and quite a few that I feel I know like good mates, after a decade of running my mouth off around PPRuNe :
I have finally, after
- 10 years, 9 months and 17 days since my first day of professional flying training
- 3,265 flying hours
- One year of unemployment
- 5 and a half years in crap, poorly paid, single piston instructing jobs
- One and a half years flying multi pistons
- 2 years, 9 months on turboprops
- Two professional flying licences in two different countries
- 8 house moves
- One across-the-world move
- Three failed long term relationships
- One incredible, lovely, fantastic, understanding and supportive wife
- Two abortive jet-job interviews
- NZ$55,000
- UK£20,000 - ish (possibly more, to be honest I lost count halfway through the IR conversion)
- About 970000000 times where I felt like jacking it all in, and going & working as an office drone
... I have just received the golden phone call of all golden phone calls, and I'm starting on the A320 with a large UK operator in a few weeks.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Was it worth it? Hell yes. Raise a glass to me tonight!!