Hello all,
I was a lurker here a year or so back, but stopped due to being busy. I know I'm not really anyone who would know a lot of the ins and outs of the forum; but I have reviewed the forum again and could use some advice. (sorry for the looooong post)

I've been working toward a flying career since May 1999 when I started pilot training at a local Pt. 61 at age 19. I hit Commercial SEL in '03 and snagged a B.S. in Aeronautics from '04-'08 at Kent State. I instructed Pt. 141 from the summer of '07 to '08 and picked up my IA and was working on my MEI when the Plane/weather/and Instructor was working. I got a ride with CommutAir in Cleveland, and started class the same week as I got my degree in May '08. (500 TT, 25 AMEL, 100 Dual Given)

Sounds good right? Unfortunately in the nine years from Intro flight to IOE day 1, I made the mistake of picking up some nasty personal habits (Friends, a house, a wife.) In that time I went from "I live at my parents and have no problem never being home." to "I like hanging out with my friends and sleep in the house I pay a mortgage on." This seems to be a natural change in personality over a Decade. Unfortunately, being busy with school and Instructing I didn't really notice it. Everything was Status Quo so I just didn't think about it (either Un-intentionally or Intentionally.)

Well, all of a sudden last summer I'm rocking 3-4 day trips and random mind shattering reserve schedules that I never got called in on ("you're off today at 10pm and on Tomorrow at 6am.") Which, though challenging given the total paradigm shift of lifestyle in under a month, I had under some semblance of control.

The big problem was the sudden rumors of a Newark base and Furloughs propagated by the company. The Newark Base was fact, the layoffs a month after base opening turned out to be false. Well, I took the job in order to base at home on the pocket change they were throwing at me, and commuting to ERW at under $20,000/year was out of the question. Especially so if a month later I was going to be out on the street. I let my morale slip into the gutter over the remainder of the summer and handed my letter of resignation to the Director of Operations October 2nd, the day I got my shiny new Newark schedule that had me home 2 days out of 28 and flying less then 10 of those days. And that with a company endorsed assurance of furloughs the following bid.

I ended up hating myself and the world and haven't flown since then. But now that the weather is getting nice again I find I still want to fly for pay, but I don't want an Airline type lifestyle. I was a miserable CFI and I have serious Perfection/Trust issues when it comes to the Wx and Mx standards of most small plane operators. Also I found that I really just don't seem to get along with Pilots very much. I tend to just be quiet and immerse myself in the Machine (the reason I got into flying) which is suicide from a CRM perspective (I've learned that Pilots are People persons and quiet makes them uneasy.)

I'm still doing the same job I have always done at the family business making the same pay I've always made. Really nothing else but flying makes me go "Man I wana go through four more years of University at 30 years old for that!" And now that the great white Horror of Cleveland winter has subsided and I can actually see the sun again I'm finding it awful hard not to think again about flying for pay (and how I need a full re-work of all my currencies.)

Do any of you still reading this crappy novel know of other solutions out there for flying during the day and sleeping at home? I'm not looking to make six figures, but I also know I could never do it as a hobby (because I'll never make seven figures.) Or has my 8 month self imposed excile left me with no more career?