First off, welcome to "Continental", glad we could at least get you back into the cockpit. A LOT of guys come on here and huff and puff and are going to blow the airline away, but after being furloughed for a few months/years, they get itchy to get back where they really belong, the cockpit. My question to you is "what are realistic expectations" to you? UAL was in major distress until a couple of years ago. Your planes are dinosaurs and your flying was evaporating at an alarming rate. Yes, you have B-747's, but when they aren't making any money and are soon to head to the boneyard, what good are they? Your DEN presence was vanishing and the RJ's/SWA were getting a LOT of your flying. How long do you seriously think without the CAL/UAL MERGER you'd be furloughed? I have friends at AMR (ex-TWA)that have been furloughed for as long as you and they've just been pushed back even further...............so what were their career expectations? Most were resigned to the fact they'd NEVER see an AMR cockpit again and have moved on. I think what's unrealistic is this "rosey" picture so many furloughed UAL pilots have. I'm glad to see you here, but if UAL was so "great", then why are you working for us now? That's not a "dig", but a serious question. BTW, I have a few friends who were furloughed from UAL a long time ago that I recommended to CAL and they've been here for years now and have no intention of going back to UAL. Good luck to you, and if you end up in EWR I'll buy you a nice steak dinner to welcome you aboard.