You are absolutely right about boring.
However, My time online was great, though I am back in the school house for upgrade again. VERY quickly I accumulated enough seniority in Miami to do whatever I wanted on the panel. After two months I was 47 out of like 180 for domestic FE. Could hold lines that matched my sched. I would still be doing it if they based 727s where I live, but they don't, so back to school.
If I lived in Miami I would be on the panel till they threw me off...
I came from being an A320 captain to this, and it was REALLY hard to psyche myself up for ground school and almost quit several times as well. The 80 percent paycut had my eyes crossed as well, but now that I am through boot, I am really glad I stuck it out. For a while it was really close. I could have gone back to my old job and really thought about it everytime the alarm rang for some O'Dark early class.
Now I wouldn't be anywhere else.
Cheers
Wino