Perception vs Reality:
Perception: I work an hour each morning, then spend the rest of the day napping on a pile of cash.
Reality: That would be nice, but it's not what happens.
I bet my house and family's future on the success of this web site, so I pretty much spend every waking second trying to market it and make it better. I'll maybe get out to the airport two, sometimes three times a week for what will cumulatively add up to less than an hour in the air (my flights are usually .2-.3hrs and local). Unless I'm asleep, I rarely go more than an hour without sitting down at the computer. Not having a commute and self-employeed means you're working three minutes after you wake up, as well as sixty seconds before your head hits the pillow. I work every evening.
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Perception: We are rich.
Reality: We are not.
Historically maybe one in five regular readers actually end up sending in their yearly honor system donation. Self-employed health insurance for a family of four costs more than the house payment, and does not include dental or vision. Bandwidth, backups, patches, server space in a data center, and all the other computer stuff costs more than all our other family expenses. I cut my own hair, and don't see a pool, airpark home or owning my own hangar in our future. Kids are expensive (and worth it). There is no other paycheck...just this site, and it is enormously expensive and time consuming to run. I thank God every single day for the advertisers and donators that have helped keep it afloat.
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Perception: You can take off work whenever you want.
Reality: That's a good one.
I go to Chick-fil-A for lunch instead of Whataburger, because they have free WiFi. I have a WiFi hotspot in the hangar where I rent a corner. Old joke: "Being a small business owner means you can work half-days if you want. The best part is you get to choose which 12 hours that is."
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Perception: This site will be online forever.
Reality: Maybe. Maybe not.
The intent from the beginning was to 'virtually' feed the soul of the ten year old kid still inside each of us that wants to fly more than just about anything else. You held your hand out the car window as a kid and pretended it was a wing. You had a cardboard box in your room with a control stick and drawings of instruments on one side, and you sat in it pretending you were upside down over the mountaintops. You watched every single airplane that flew over your house with rapt, unwavering attention. Me too. I've taken great pains over the last decade to duplicate some of those feelings here. To convey the dream and promise of RV flight, a sense of happiness, of accomplishment, of motivation, of friendship, of caring, of compassion wrapped in a Christian, positive tone. In other words, the exact opposite of most websites on the planet these days. But sadly, the banker man doesn't care much for these uplifting emotions. The stone cold, brutal reality (the point I need to drive home) is that unless more of the regular readers donate $25 yearly, the site will go dark and I'll go get a technology job somewhere to better support my family. It's a simple matter of cash flow. I do love airplanes, and especially RVs, but my family comes first. Always. If you are one of the regulars, PLEASE donate yearly. It literally means the difference between the site staying and going away.