Bob Olea:  

Hi Everybody! Leave a note if you stop by - it's always great to hear from an old friend! Life has been pretty good so far. I kept pursuing my dream of being an airline pilot and it turned out great! After finally finishing college in '85, with an Associate of Science degree in Commercial Flight (Mt. Sac), and then a BS degree in Aviation Administaration (Cal State LA), I started flying full time. My first job? Towing banners at Chino Airport for a whopping $7/hr! That was painful, and I even had to stay with my parents for a few months. But then I was able to get a job flying Convair 440's in Dallas for much better money. That led to a job flying DC-8's for Emery, which led to a couple of other DC-8 jobs, flying all over the world. That was a really fun and adventurous time, but I wouldn't want to do it again! Eventually I had enough time and experience to get hired by United in early '89, and I've been there ever since. I've flown DC-8's, DC-10's, B-727's, B-747's (I'm on that plane now), and the A-320. Life there has had it's ups and downs, but overall it's been pretty good. I feel very lucky. I've had some fabulous adventures, and been paid well in the process. Then along comes 9/11. I was an A-320 captain then, and I was in NY on 9/10! We almost cancelled the flight home (mechanical problems) and we would have been downtown when the chaos hit. Thankfully, we decided to take the plane home, and I made it back at about 2 a.m. Then the phone starting ringing a little after 6, and nothing in the airline business has been the same since. That one event started the downward slide of all of our pay and benefits. We had our pay slashed by about half, and we lost most of our pension 'promises'. My big takeaway from all that? In today's world, nobody can be single skill set or single income source dependent. You have to have an 'emergency parachute' in todays world! So, following my own advice I worked part time as a real estate appraiser. I also concurrently worked on the broker's license. I really w...Expand for more