So go out and get a degree. You can gets points awarded for atpls etc you can do it extramurially and part time. How many times over a nightstop have you p*ssed about looking on Trademe when you could have polished off that degree in 18 to 24 months.
It isn't difficult and the older you get the harder the study becomes, and you can get it underway by applying and getting credits and updating with air NZ telling them you're already well on the way through.
So may bleeding heart stories on here, what happened to the good old days when people rolled up their sleeves and got the job done.