Years ago I had a long conversation with a guy who was a captain on a large piston transport category plane. He was in his early 40's never married and in a remote part of the country. He was living in a rented house because he never planned to stay with his company as long as he did, but he owned a nice car and motorcycle.

He claimed that he always though of himself as a family man and can not believe that he was still single. He was distraught that the airlines did not seem interested in his resume because it was all piston time. He had not amassed any large assets and was not able to save a lot. In general he was not happy with the path that his life was taking. I told him to quit, get a job at a regional and move to the city. Make the sacrifice and start over in more fertile grounds.

His response was that he could not quit. He had a good left seat job and was making enough to meet his needs. Overall in the moment he was satisfied and having fun at work, however when he took stock of where he wanted to be in the long run he knew that he was on the wrong road to getting there. In the end as far as I know he has stayed where he was flying a dead end plane in a situation that is unlikely to change his relationship status.

I know a lot of guys like that, having fun in the moment but building little else.

Skyhigh