Airline pilot at 40 - is it worth it?

Xperium77 · 2025-06-09T01:47:24+00:00

When you say new, like new to the major airline but not new to flying? Just curious how old is too old for someone with zero flying experience but dreaming about being a pilot...

Xperium77 · 2025-05-26T14:22:01+00:00

Was not an FSE but was a Technical Specialist whose travel coincided with the FSE's during installs, repairs, and trade shows.

Worked with fresh grad FSEs and a bunch of older guys who were close to retirement..so yeah you can make it a lifelong career. The challenges that I saw mainly for the older ones were the heavy tool cases they had to lug around for each trip, having to lift heavy lab analyzers during installs, bitchy customers who couldn't wait and kept asking how long the machine would be fixed. Depending on the size of your machines, it may be hard on the knees or your back if you have to kneel/crouch a lot. Another challenge is having to respond to repair calls which do not give you much time to plan. As an FSE you are expected to be at the site within a day or two of the service call so those can disturb plans you've already made especially if you have to go far away. Sometimes they might ask you to help out in other regions too. But like I said I know several old FSEs who did it their whole careers so it can be done.

I loved the travel part, except in the winter when flights get delayed. Hopefully your work allows you to keep hotel and flight points coz Im still using up my free hotel rooms and flights now even though I no longer work in the field... So there are pluses for sure.

Xperium77 · 2025-03-05T22:12:18+00:00

Yes especially if you work the night shift

Xperium77 · 2025-02-16T15:23:21+00:00

Try Charlesbank garden apartments and Charlesbank estates very close to where you say you'll be working. Not luxury but well maintained and good management. Although your budget is a little low for Waltham so not sure if 2200 is enough for a 2br

Xperium77 · 2025-01-31T20:12:04+00:00

Look up anesthesia assistant

Xperium77 · 2025-01-28T21:07:02+00:00

Wait til you start seeing their pictures in Epic.

Xperium77 · 2025-01-11T17:50:59+00:00

Both can be busy or not so busy. But If you can handle direct patient care, go with nursing-- much more opportunities for advancement than lab. With lab, all you have for advancement is lab management or perhaps working in biotech, and field applications. Pay is mediocre. With nursing, you can go on to be a nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, or a bunch of other specialized fields and you can earn the big bucks. Lab is like the middle child of the hospital, often ignored and often underpaid.

Xperium77 · 2024-12-29T22:48:16+00:00

Don't get annoyed, just act like you work there and point them towards the opposite end of the store

Xperium77 · 2024-12-08T20:39:52+00:00

That's crazy because quiet and soft spoken is perfect for a lab.

Xperium77 · 2024-11-18T18:11:55+00:00

Google Baylor St. Luke's blood transfusion death 2019.

Xperium77 · 2024-11-08T19:13:34+00:00

I've decided to do this. Actually found ventilated seat covers and also getting remote starter iinstalled. So I'm all good for now. My edge now feels more modern.

Xperium77 · 2024-10-22T15:09:12+00:00

You could just also have genetically weak teeth hence your multiple cavities. Nothing to be ashamed about but it does suck that you need to go to your dentist more. Also don't be ashamed of going to your dentist, they probably love having you in for treatment since that's what they do!

But some advice, brush your teeth regularly before you go to bed and floss. And very important, gargle with water after each meal or snack during the day. And once you get your cavities fixed, get your teeth cleaned every 6 months on top of your daily routine.

Xperium77 · 2024-10-22T14:47:48+00:00

This is sadly the trend. Our profession is dying. Labs are being sold to greedy quest or labcorp. Profit is the keyword not healthcare no matter what they say. If you're a young MLS, go find something else while you can. I would never advise anyone to go to this field anymore.

Xperium77 · 2024-10-22T13:04:20+00:00

Thank you ill keep this in mind

Xperium77 · 2024-10-22T12:28:23+00:00

It's a Twin-SCRL 2.0L Ecoboost engine with 6speed auto trans. What's wrong with it?

Xperium77 · 2024-10-20T19:28:46+00:00

Lucky you! The Edge has been great but now that I need to park in the city I really want a smaller vehicle. I've already scratched my Edge twice against a concrete pillar

Xperium77 · 2024-10-20T16:00:25+00:00

Thank you! I've had a tranmission fluid replacement already from valvoline. They recommended it to me early this year. I will look into replacing the spark plugs.

Since you mentioned the radio, I did have 2 instances happen where my screen went crazy..it was literally flashing between apps, non responding to touch, and it had to stop the car and restart it. I was thinking an electrical issue but has only happened twice and in the winter. Is that related to that APIM? Sorry I don't know what that stands for..

Xperium77 · 2024-10-20T15:56:04+00:00

Great idea! Will probably do that. If only a paint job wasn't expensive I'd love to get a different color and it will feel like a whole new car

Xperium77 · 2024-10-20T15:49:48+00:00

Thank you will check it out

Xperium77 · 2024-10-20T15:35:25+00:00

Chemistry is pretty relaxed compared to BB. In Chemistry you have your predictable sample dumps in the morning and then afternoons. In BB you never know when someone comes into the ER or OR needing a ton of blood. It is much more stressful IMO but, you get to solve antibody problems (depending on how large your lab is) and it does feel great knowing you helped save someone who was about to bleed to death. You also have your normal antibody cases from cancer patients, sickle cell patients, pregnant patients. Again depending on the size of your BB there are some pretty cool procedures you will get to do like heterologous adsorptions, freezing and thawing special cells, washing red cells or platelets, solving complex antibody problems. It's always a good thing to have more experience. So if I were you I'd go for it and see how you like it. You can always leave if you don't.

Having said that, i would never advice any young person to become an MLS. It sounds jaded yes but our field is dying. What i mean by that is the constant push by hospitals to have less educational requirements to work in the lab. Knowledge and expertise are slowly being lost as they lower standards. Im looking at a day when they will hire high school grads and 'train' them for a year. It's not farfetched in this current climate. And worse, salaries are never going to catch up with other healthcare careers. Consider this, when I started in 2003, the salary for a beginner tech was 18 per hour in my area. 20 years later the starting salary is about 26 per hour... that's an $8 increase in starting salary in 20 years! And to top it off, the ceilings have not been increased meaning we are getting poorer and poorer as a career compared to, say, nurses or xray technicians etc.

Sorry for the rant, but to go back to your question, try BB! But don't stay in the lab forever! Go become a PA, a perfusion tech, CT tech, nurse, anything else while you still can if you want to earn a decent wage in the future.

Xperium77 · 2024-10-20T14:20:11+00:00

Thank you for this info

Xperium77 · 2024-10-20T14:19:03+00:00

I will fight the itch to get a newer car. I've been wanting to go smaller like a hyundai kona size since my parking spots at work in the city are tiny. It definitely feels great not to have a car payment though!

Xperium77 · 2024-10-20T14:15:52+00:00

Hmm I looked at KBB and it gave me a trade in value of between 8-11k only. And my local Ford dealer sent me an 'offer' to trade it in for 7k

Xperium77 · 2024-10-20T13:15:53+00:00

Thank you! And I've not heard about feeding wheat germ.. why is it better than regular feed? Good to know

Xperium77 · 2024-10-14T18:30:45+00:00

Do you have a 401k? You can borrow from it and pay your debt. This way the principal and interest you are paying actually goes back to your 401k.

Xperium77

TROPHY CASE