A farewell to my past life- towards something new

Sounds familiar (the IT part), what are you doing now?

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Social media at its best. You are great, guys. Encouraging is what he needs now.

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More by luck than judgement, and with the help of some pretty amazing people along the way, I ended up as the pilot of a business jet.

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This thread reminds me of a discussion I had with my dear old mother, after I was discharged from my military service. I told her that I contemplated applying for flight training, or study for a civil engineering degree as an IT tech.
Her response was: «Well, the future is looking good in IT»
In her defence, what loving mother would encourage her son to go flying :smile:

She also said, when I left for flightschool, «Remember that home is never farther away, than the distance you travel.»
Words I carry with me, every day.

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Nice, been thinking about doing that myself for a few years but haven’t been able to pull the trigger.

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The way things are developing with regard to a pilot shortage, which seems to be a real phenomena, this is a great time to jump in and get your foot in the door.

There are a number of pilot career paths you can follow if the airlines don’t appeal. It will be quite an investment in time, effort and of course, money, but I can honestly say it was the best thing I have ever done. I just wish I could have started earlier.

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Yeah, I’m actually starting to believe it, this time…

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Dear @komemiute,

I’ve been where you are right now and I’m about to do it again. It’s terrifying and thrilling all at the same time. I applaud your bravery; there’s nothing more soul-crushing than realizing you have reached the pinnacle of your career and won’t progress any further. The truth is, so many people in this world will stay there in that narrow path because it’s comfortable, it’s sure, it’s predictable and dependable and nothing is more terrifying to mankind than the unknown. People don’t generally change until the pain of where they are is so much more than the pain of striking out there on your own and doing something different.

I started out in communications and went into teaching when the tech bubble burst in 2000. I’ve been in teaching ever since. And I’m about to leave it. Why? For the exact same reason you’re considering your new venture. I realized I’ve reached the zenith and there’s no further place to go unless I’m willing to uproot my entire family, and even then, I’m still doing the same thing I’ve done for 17 years and could still do with my eyes closed.

I will be praying for your (and mine) good fortune in the coming years. It’s terrifying when you’ve got a family to support and you want only the best for them. Consider this. Your kids are going to see their father taking a chance, trying to improve their lives by improving his own. If you’re happier, they’re happier.

God’s fortune go with you, and if there’s anything I can do, let me know. We’re always looking for great talent here in Texas!

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Good luck guys. When is your first day komumutte?

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Remember… there is no right or wrong decision. There are only decisions.

We just cant go back in time to change decisions. And even if we could no one can tell if it turns out beter… or not.

Just keep going… and doing decisions :slight_smile:

GL!

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Scuderia?

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El Duce wishes you good fortune.

And informs me he has a position as chief coffee maker / minion going if you want it. :grin:

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Fingers crossed for you, my friend. I’m also about to wade into the unknown- both exciting and terrifying at once, isn’t it?

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Finally saw the light and going into software development, right?-)

Good luck on your new adventure Ted!

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I’m actually kind of glad to be reading these responses in light of my own impending career change.

  1. There’s a lot of us that are not settling for just anything; we’re not satisfied with status quo and we’re doing something about it.

  2. Many of us have kids who will see us doing this. Hopefully, what they take from this is to have courage even when you’re scared and push it. I may fail at this new endeavor, but I can look myself in the mirror and be comfortable with the guy looking back at me. He rolled the dice.

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Trust me, it’s for the best for all of humanity that you keep me as far away as possible from any sort of software development. This is actually maybe a sideways move into an adjacent industry - that’s all I can say for now - more happening tomorrow.

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Software development isn’t a career. It’s a rabbit hole. Please teach your children that.

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A few years ago I bought a RaspberryPI. And for about a year I got sucked in deep hole learning Python and a touch of C++. My daughter and I played with Scratch. I thought it was about as satisfying an experience as I could have outside a perfect snap on a downline after a hammer. My daughter felt differently mind you. And given the posts above, I guess that’s a good thing. But I would submit that no form of engineering is time completely wasted when done as a profession. It is applying a technical skill to creatively solve problems. Not everyone gets to earn a living using more brainpower than that required to drive to work. And in this modern world the rest of us would be completely lost we’re it not for those people who do.

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Indeed. Without talented software developers to create and update the sophisticated modeling programs we use, my job would be much, much more difficult to do, and my industry would be much more expensive and run much slower.

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I think to @Linebacker’s point, coding can’t be all that you know, that is unless you are extremely gifted and well compensated (the minority). At some point, you are going to have to either get an MBA or start your own company. If you stay on the traditional vertical, you will eventually be less appreciated for what you know, but rather what diplomas are hanging on the wall. I would venture that most CTO’s have a graduate degree.

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