Wow TF you seemed to have stirred up a real hornets nest but I'm sure that you expected the sort of reaction that you have got and that you're big enough and old enough to cope with it.
Like you I came to flying later in life as a career changer, after saving enough spends to finance the training and I have a wife and a 10 year old son. Thats where the similarity ends as you have succeeded in securing a job where I have not and kudos to you for that. Despite the fact that you are unfulfilled by the career that I wish for I have no axe to grind with you and no personal beef with you.
We're all individuals and we deal with separation from those closest to us in different ways and how we react depends upon a number of things, the individual, the strength of relationship with our partner, the strength and size of the support network of friends and relatives etc etc. Before I started flying training I was in the military so I spent lots of time away from my wife and family, putting myself in harms way on long operational deployments scaring my wife witless and missing huge chunks of my sons development and formative years. I was lucky to have a fantastic wife who was strong and supportive who had a good family network around her.
Since finishing flying training I have reverted to my previous engineering career to keep money coming in and keep the licence, ratings,medical etc current and I'm fortunate enough that my place of work is close enough to allow me home every night. The job pays well(ish), the people that I work with are great but the work itself is mind numbing, uninspiring and completely unfulfilling (sound familiar) but, on balance the positives outweigh the negatives.
Would I swap situations with you? In a heartbeat I would but I suppose you can guess that and I'm sure your boss knows that if you do leave there will quickly be a disorganised queue at their office door to take your place.
I genuinely hope that things work out for you and that you find a solution (inside or outside flying) that grants you the work/ life balance and peace of mind that you obviously seek.
Last edited by magicmick; 18th Jan 2013 at 20:04.