What he said....

Sky...ultimately the problem with you and OUR ( not your ) profession is that YOU want it ALL on YOUR terms. Unless you work for yourself ( as you do ) ( and even then it really isnt so ) there will ALWAYS be someone pulling the strings, demanding something of you, or quite literally making your life suck. You didnt like the business and what it cost YOU to be in it, fair enough, that however doesnt validate all of your opinions for everyone else. There are lots of professions that cost many years of training and much money to get into that dont pay squat. My brother ( who was a career Navy Helo pilot ) got is BS then a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning.... best job he could get way back then didnt pay squat ( less than O-1 pay in 1980 )..so he surveyed his options and ended up a career military officer. Teachers..that is another prime example of a profession which requires lots of training, and continual training and a masters degree eventually and for what... LESS than most 6 or 7th year regional CA's make.... and thats after a whole CAREER in teaching!!!! Im sure there are others.. and it really doesnt matter, the fact of the matter is that every career field has GREAT paying jobs, GOOD paying jobs... and CRAP paying jobs. Any there are people at ALL of those levels who might stay there for there OWN reasons...and thats OKAY!!! I suspect that NO Major carrier or any carrier for that matter would meet YOUR needs because you want it on YOUR terms with no give..... thats just no reality and it wasnt even reality in the Golden years you so fondly have spoken of.