Spud, thank you for the kind words that means a lot! I do my best to talk on this forum like I would if I was face to face with someone, so I hope that has been working out.
Fr8trsh (great name) Im really gonna miss you guys. I will for sure be in touch, and just like those that came and went before me and helped me along the way, I will absolutely pay it forward for those also looking to move on.
Huey, totally understand where you're coming from. My thoughts were directed to the general reader, and I probably should have used a better term than "whining," more like frustration. I can't blame certain people for having the goals they do based on personal preference or even just not knowing a whole lot about the industry, after all, I couldn't for the life of me score an interview at AA or US (my hometown airline) and as we all know based on my posts plastered all over the AA forums, I thought I was going to be in an AA uniform, meeting with AA twice at WAI and OBAP (where I was coined "the elevator guy" for my hilarious and hopefully positive encounter with the AA reps), maxing out my internal recs, and having people making calls to Dallas for me. But somehow, very fortunately, I got the DAL interview instead through the help of some very important mentors, those who helped me "see the light." So despite my misguided efforts, someone was looking out for me and I couldn't be happier with the results. There are people sitting in class at AA and US as we speak, ready to bail for DAL once they get the call. I realize how lucky I am now, and I'm all in with DAL now (if they give me a class date, which is still tbd), but it took all of this for me to learn that. Your buddies will soon realize as well.