Highly Stressed

rdy4er said:
Update: I've reach the tipping point and decided to pack it in. Life's too short to be miserable 3 weeks a month. I'm currently on the other side of the world, but will be giving my two weeks notice when I get back. The wife is on board, although probably slightly worried. I plan on taking six months to a year off and try to figure out the next step. It will be strange to see the savings decrease instead of increase but I believe I will figure something out. I don't know what the future holds but who does?
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Congrats.

With your level of savings, you do have choices, just enjoy the time off and start downsizing expenses. Life's too short.
 
Good for you for making a sound decision. No job is worth your sanity or your life. I'm glad DW is on board. Supporting partners through difficult decisions is what spouses do for each other (or so I'm told). For now, fly safely, and when your last day of work arrives, take a couple of weeks to relax and recharge before considering future options. You deserve it!
 
Thanks for positive thoughts, I can hardly wait till it's over.
 
Good luck ryd4er and congratulations on making the decision. The hard part is now over with clear skies ahead. It's all gonna be good.

Nano
 
Good decision, and I bet having made it takes a load off of you! Congrats, carpe diem!
 
I know from experience leaving the security of a high stress but well paying job is a bit scary. I did it first, then DH. In hindsight we were both glad we left and probably sorry we didn't leave sooner.

But there are a lot of careers to explore and in the scheme of things if you are willing to look around and maybe go back to school you might find something you love to do. With your kind of responsibility now almost anything you end up doing has to be lower stress.

I had a few fails on my second career search and then kind of stumbled into something that has worked out great. I wish you the same luck on your new job search.
 
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Congratulations on your decision, rdy4er. I am in a similar position, and I will be doing as you are at the end of this year. As others have stated, you are fortunate to have sufficient savings to hit "pause" for a few months or a year, decompress and figure out what's next. That is precisely what I will be doing. It will hurt to pull dollars out of savings, but you (and I) will both need to focus on the pragmatics of the situation and not let emotional fears get in the way. Good luck and keep us posted!
 
Here's today story about a 747 cargo plane that landed at a wrong little airport a few miles away from where the pilots were supposed to land. I did not know that a 747 could land and take off with a runway as short as 3,200 ft and only 75 ft wide. Regular jet runways are 10,000 ft long and 150 ft wide.

Could pilot's fatigue be part of the cause? I think these poor guys will get ridiculed for a while.

Massive Boeing 747 'Dreamlifter' Mistakenly Lands At Small Kansas Airport

PS. Correction needed! The "wrong" airport was 6,100 ft long, not 3,200 ft. I got the wrong number from another web page that also described a similar incidence earlier which involved a much smaller aircraft. It reads

"... a Silver Airways pilot making one of the Florida airline's first flights to Bridgeport, W. Va., mistakenly landed his Saab 340 at a tiny airport in nearby Fairmont.

The pilot touched down safely on a runway that was just under 3,200 feet long and 75 feet wide — normally considered too small for the passenger plane."​
 
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NW-Bound said:
Here's today story about a 747 cargo plane that landed at a wrong little airport a few miles away from where the pilots were supposed to land. I did not know that a 747 could land and take off with a runway as short as 3,200 ft and only 75 ft wide. Regular jet runways are 10,000 ft long and 150 ft wide. Could pilot's fatigue part of the cause? I think these poor guys will be ridiculed for a while. Massive Boeing 747 'Dreamlifter' Mistakenly Lands At Small Kansas Airport
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The good news is if he is your pilot, he can land planes with the best of them. The bad news is it just might not be at the location you were wanting to be.
 
Gonna give DW an extra big hug tonite.:)

Life is hard, and then ya die!:flowers:
 
Missed this thread the first couple times. Congrats to the OP and his wife for making choices about how to live their lives (and having built a nest egg to allow it).

I can't help but speculate if the choice of the word "highly" in the title was a piloting pun.
 
NW-Bound said:
Here's today story about a 747 cargo plane that landed at a wrong little airport a few miles away from where the pilots were supposed to land.
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What's more, it was the "pregnant jumbo", the Dreamlifter that they use to transport airline chassis, wings, etc. I guess they had to empty it out, but they did manage to get it airborne today.

That's an "oops" for certain, but it pales in comparison to the crash in Kazan, Russia, a couple of days ago:

Shocking video: Boeing?s nosedive in Kazan captured as cause of crash debated ? RT News

The Boeing 737 dove straight into the ground. Initial reports suggest that there were no mechanical problems with the plane, but that the captain had never done a go-around on this model of aircraft before. Apparently he elevated the nose, which risked a stall, and then overcompensated, which put the plane into a dive. If that's what happened, more training and simulation might help prevent it in the future.

I have a friend whose colleagues were passengers on that plane. It must have been terrifying.
 
Meadbh said:
...
Shocking video: Boeing?s nosedive in Kazan captured as cause of crash debated ? RT News

The Boeing 737 dove straight into the ground. Initial reports suggest that there were no mechanical problems with the plane, but that the captain had never done a go-around on this model of aircraft before.
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Perhaps they meant that he had not done a go-around on a real airplane. I would think that he would be trained on a simulator already. That accident happened at night, and maybe that added stress to the situation.

I just now remember a 747 cargo plane crash in Afghanistan earlier this year. So, I searched the Web and found that they already discovered the cause. Tanks or military vehicles carried onboard were not properly fastened down, or the chains broke. The cargo inadvertent movement in take-off caused a large shift in center of gravity of the plane, which was too much for the pilots, or rather the plane horizontal stabilizer, to compensate.
 
meierlde said:
I do recall from trying to learn how to fly (gave up because it was to nerve racking) that one technique taught is short field takeoffs. As this article suggests the first step was to remove all unnecessary weight, and likley that meant going to minimum fuel as well:
Boeing Dreamlifter takes off safely from wrong airport [UPDATE] - UPI.com
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At least they had "cold, windy weather" going for them.

747s used to be flown into Sanderson field in Shelton Wash. for dismantling. Sanderson is 5000 feet long, but of course they never had to take off again, and they were empty.
 
I read another report that they offloaded fuel, and one would assume anything else they could, in order to get it out of there. Sure, with no cargo and minimum fuel that would cut the required runway distance by a third.

The oft-quoted required runway length of 9100 feet is most likely for a fully fueled and loaded airplane.
 
rdy4er said:
Hi folks, I've been a reader for a couple of years now, and have made a few posts. I'm looking for some career advice and opinions. I picked the wrong career for myself (airline pilot) and feel really trapped. I have always felt the stress of the job, but recently it is becoming unbearable and affecting my health. I've finally come to the realization that I'm not cut out for this line of work (only took me 20 yrs). We've been saving and cutting expenses as much as possible over the last couple of years to try and get out. We have no mortgage and about 18 times annual expenses saved. DW is a SAHM with our 9 year old. I'm probably within 3 years of FIRE but don't know what kind of health problems this stress and lack of sleep etc.. is doing to me. At 49, would you try to stick it out for a few more years and FIRE or quit and work a lower paying lower stress job for many more years? Thanks for any replies and wisdom
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I have observed people react differently to the same stress. I think you need to experiment with different jobs before you know what best for you. I found pay and stress are connected. For me more money always came with more stress. In my work I have shouldered more stress for the money.

I have been flying for 15 years and each flight has stress, but I fly only for the fun of it. I enjoy this stress as it reminds me that my life is in my hands and I am alive.
If flying did not have that stress I would not enjoy sport aviation as much as I do.

This kind of flying would be too much stress for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=HE0HEtHFemQ
 
It was in Kansas, they sometimes just taxi between those 2 airports:)

MRG
 
Boy, can I relate to this thread. I started one a few months back asking for advice on hanging in there for a few more years at work. I have a high paying but high stress job as well. I have figured out some ways to take some stress out at work - basically figured out how to deal, for the most part, with a high maintenance, difficult boss.

The wife part is familiar too. When I have talked about retiring early with a much more modest lifestyle that we currently enjoy, my stay at home, hasn't had a job in 20 years wife makes some negative noises.

Now I just say: "I guess you will need to get a job if you want all that fancy retirement stuff".

Then she makes more noises...........
 
redduck said:
Apparently, you haven't met her.
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Well, we all make our own choices. Purporting to veto a spouse's wish to downsize so that they can afford to take a less stressful job, while at the same time refusing to go out and work oneself, is pretty strong stuff: and perhaps should cause a re-evaluation of the desire to remain married.

It's not like the issue is something minor like what colour to paint the dining room, or where to vacation next year. A veto in those cases is inconsequential and quite appropriate. But insisting that a partner continue to toil away at a job they hate is not even close to be a reasonably supportive and loving spouse.
 
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rdy4er said:
Thanks to everyone for the advice. After reading all these post it would seem almost all are in favor of getting out of the stressful situation now rather than keeping my head down and plugging away for a few more years to reach FI.

I tend to agree, it's not worth the toll that the stress takes out of you.

It seem like my DW is getting a lot of the blame in not helping or sympathizing with the situation. I have to admit that I am not very good at communicating my feelings, actually terrible at it.
I can open up here anonymously better than one on one with her, so she probably doesn't fully grasp the problem.
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Honesty is the best policy. Understanding, and being compassionate are two different things, she may never understand but at least if you are honest she has a chance at being compassionate.

I did the opposite, I took a high-stress job so my wife could quit her high-stress job. It's worked as well as I imagined, I am stressed...and she got bored so she found a job (albeit part-time).

I have learned through the years a lot of the stress is caused by myself, or poor decisions. When you make good choices, decisions and don't get down on yourself when things don't go the way you thought, it doesn't seem as bad.

I have friends whom are young pilots and there complaints right now are that they don't make enough money.
 
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