captainv

Spot on, and for me at least, that part has been easy to deal with. What I've found difficult is being on R1, or home reserve. If called, you have to be at the airport within 4-5 hours. No big deal, all what I expected.

The tricky part is the chaotic nature of our scheduling. A few days out, I would see that I had been assigned a trip, and we'd make arrangements for day care or baby sitters or weekend plans, etc. Then the next day, the trip would disappear, and we'd cancel everything. Then another trip would pop up ... You get the idea. Same thing with volunteering to work off days, you never really know if you'll get called or not, but so far I've always had at least 24 hours notice when I am called out.