Seen a few comments regarding having to stand around all day to get a flight at a gliding club and thought I'd point out that the social atmosphere on the airfield is the main reason I stuck with gliding. I'm yet to find a power club that has the same kind of friendly comradery that exists in the gliding community.
Admittedly I do get jealous of a colleague of mine who leaves work at lunchtime on a Friday afternoon and by 2pm he has taken off in his Microlight from a grass strip near his home, you could never do that in gliding, but who is he going to enjoy a beer with in the bar at the end of the day?
Someone once said 'Gliding is flying for free with the atmosphere as your fuel and your intellect as your engine'. That just about sums it up really. Every flilght has a purpose and is a challenge. And imagine the sense of satisfaction when you land after flying for 4 hours round a 500km course (That's 125 km/h by the way) in an aeroplane with just the atmosphere and your intellect to power it.