Thank you Mrs. Cac. I have been properly put in my place.
Good for you!!
Cac. Fck you. And I'm not saying that to be abrasive. You are making choices. Don't blame your son. Don't blame your wife. Don't blame me for poking at you.
We all make choices. Don't you DARE blame. Do what needs to be done, or not. BECAUSE you are a pilot. Not a flippin' victim.
I gotta call BS on that one! Most of the pilots I know are not all that wealthy, in fact most are solidly middle class. Instead, they've made compromises in their lives in order to be able to fly (me included). That means not buying new cars, living perhaps in a more modest house, forgoing the latest electronics and the annual vacations to resort destinations. An aircraft can be co-owned among several partners to decrease each one's share of the expenses, or you can join a flying club or rent. Sure, some of the expense will take away from other things you could do with the family, but then what doesn't. Everything is a compromise. If you want it bad enough, you can get it. It isn't nearly as far out of reach as you indicate, especially if you settle on going the Light Sport Aircraft route. Sure, it isn't fast pointy airplanes, but it beats sitting on your couch making airplane noises pretending you are flying by a long shot. Heck, my 14 year old son is working odd jobs to get the money together to get his ticket, and he's already got about half of what he needs. He's also gathering the info and skills to build a plane from plans. If he can do it, I'm sure you can too.....if you want it bad enough.
It is all about how much you want it and what you are willing to sacrifice to get it. If you want it, do what it takes to get it. If not, then don't carry on that it is not accessible. If I understand you correctly, you already have your PP certificate from years ago. If so, then the cost for you would be a couple hours of instruction to brush up with and either renting or getting into a flying club. If you've already got a ticket, you could polish up your skills and buy into a club for very little money. So CAC, what are you going to do?
I gotta say I disagree with you. We are completely compromised out in order for me to stay home and for S4 to go to preschool. I realize I shouldn't even be justifying here, but I'm gonna do it anyway.
Both of our vehicles are 7 years old. We live in an EXTREMELY modest house.
I'm the only one in the house with a cell phone because I drive around with S4. cac does not have a cell because he doesn't think he can justify spending the money and he doesn't think he really needs one. No blackberries, no IPODs, no other newfangled electronic crap that I probably don't even know the name of
We have taken THREE, count 'em THREE,"vacations" in our 22 years together: our honeymoon, which was very modest; a week in a cabin owned by friends who charged a modest fee (in the past we crashed with cac's parents in their cabin); and a cruise, when we were DINKs at the height of our earnings and in the throes of infertility. I thought we deserved to treat ourselves. All other vacations have been spending a week with my parents in Florida until we started camping a few years ago.
So don't give me any crap about making compromises! We live an extremely modest life by today's standards.
GGB - That means not buying new cars, living perhaps in a more modest house, forgoing the latest electronics and the annual vacations to resort destinations.
Corri,
Mrscac4 never said that they didn't have choices. She merely answered GGB's post to show that they aren't doing any of the things that he lists to give up.
It does sound to me that they have chosen to invest in their son's future with pre-school and with having MrsCAC4 stay at home. I do not get the feeling that either of them regret that choice.
It seems to me that others here are telling them that they should be making different choices in order to get cac4 up in the air but I have not heard them regretting their choices.
But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads? ~Albert Camus
It does sound to me that they have chosen to invest in their son's future with pre-school and with having MrsCAC4 stay at home. ^5 to the Cac's. That is a very good choice.
I don't have a problem with my choices. I happen to take a lot of pride in living a frugal life, much like Lou does. I am insulted when someone (who, I agree, doesn't know anything about cac or me) assumes that we're a couple of spoiled, selfish, self-indulgent middle-class people who are whining because we don't want to give up our Jonesing lifestyle so that cac can fly.
