Caught up in life
Been meaning to update, but just got busy and then very sick, but it’s all better now.
All this “alone time” has actually become very boring. My friends are either out of town or out of commission and I’m left with not a lot to keep me occupied. I’m so used to having my constant companion, Kidzilla, that it feels weird to do stuff by myself. But I’m making the effort. Tomorrow is my big splurge, some time at a spa after work.
A finally really finished his IOE and is already out in CA, miserable. Through some fluke and a friend’s bad advice, he missed his chance to bid for a base closer to home so now he’s stuck out there for a while. His aug schedule is all 2 day breaks, ie not really long enough to come home (I have a fear that we’ll end up having to plan a rondevue in the handicapped bathroom on concourse C of random airport X if we want this baby thing to happen). He says it’s smoggy, smells like a dairy and just generally sucks. And once we sat down and did the math, we found that it was only saving like $400 over the course of 4 months for him to stay for free with a friend out there. Neither of us feels that it’s really worth it. He got out there too late to be able to get a line after only 1 month of reserve, so really there’s no reason for him to be out there.
We’ve made the decision to move to IAH and live in base. It’s not a base that is likely to change any time soon, so we feel safe going there. Now the only decision is when. Should we go now and leave me to find a new job that I hope to leave once we have another child? Should we wait it out and try to move after a new baby when I won’t have to worry about a job? If we move to IAH soon, we can take advantage of his being home during reserve and enjoy our time together vs. him being in a crashpad and only home during breaks. Decisions, decisions…
Even though I’m not a pilot myself, I spend a lot of time reading posts on forums, trying to understand the industry, union and management roles and just general stuff. For fear of being flamed, I rarely post. One topic that seems to come up frequently is salary. It’s always about the salary and how much pilots *should* be paid vs. how much they are. Yeah, pilots used to make a lot more but really, right now they aren’t and people just need to deal with it already. Really, if you can’t live off off $100K, then you need to reconsider your lifestyle. Maybe you can’t be the highest roller on the block, but it’s a pretty respectable income. And for someone with only an AS degree (ie someone who topped out at Regional CA) that’s a pretty darn good salary. I have a BS degree and I’ll never make close to that. And that is certainly higher than the average American income. I was living in one of the most expensive places in the US and doing fine on less than 1/2 that. Heck, we’ve been living on less than 1/3 of that for the last 1.5 years and we are fine. If you were making $2-300K and didn’t put any away for a rainy day, then that’s your own damn fault. I bet all those auto workers in Flint, MI thought that their well paid gig’s would also last forever. Would I like the pilot salaries to go up? Absolutely. Do I think they will? I have no idea. But you sure won’t see me crying poor about the salaries they are making now.
5 Comments
- Michelle replied:
Can I get an AMEN! I wrote a column in our college newspaper re: pilots salaries and almost got myself kicked out of flight school. Oh, to be young and bold.
BTW, there are several sisters in the aviation/aerospace industry that live at IAH or Johnson Space Center.
August 1st, 2007 at 7:28 pm. Permalink.
- TX Poppet replied:
Um, American Eagle pilots don’t make nearly that much and with the cost of student loans…
Anyway, no flame here. I really like your blog and I’m rootin’ for you. Take it from a gal who’s been an aviation wife for 20 years, move while you can before baby and enjoy the freedom of the two of you. Cheers!
August 2nd, 2007 at 4:59 am. Permalink.
- MSFlyerswife replied:
IAH is an AWESOME town for stuff to do; I visit family there often. Bad news for you: the shopping is great so that fabulous regional salary we’re all enjoying may not seem so fab there…Drivers are really scary too. But family first, definitely. You go girl!
August 2nd, 2007 at 7:45 pm. Permalink.
- Wow replied:
Screw it - post your opinions on JC - you have a right to your opinion. If people can’t live on high 5 figures/ low 6 figures, you’re right - they need to re-evaluate their lifestyle.
August 7th, 2007 at 1:49 pm. Permalink.
- someday replied:
Michelle- thanks for the validation! Sometimes I feel like the only one who can put a limit on how much money is enough.
TX- Thanks for the advice. I guess we’re at the high end of the regional pay scale, my impression was that they were all in the same general range. We already have 1 child so our freedoms already been limited for years. Except when Grandpa and Grandma are around.
MS- You’ll have to make me a what to do/where to shop list.
Wow- I have a serious fear of flaming so I don’t post on hot topics. Thanks!
August 8th, 2007 at 11:30 am. Permalink.