When You Come To A Fork In The Road, Take It.

The photo above is what I look like today.  It was taken on a recent bike riding outing with friends and family.  As we approached this intersection we were  a little confused by the seemingly contradicting direction signs.  As we rode closer, we realized the direction sign pointing to the right was for opposite direction riders, telling them to turn right on the trail, after crossing the tracks.  Typically, we had thought it was all about us.

My brother and I dreamed up the funny photo and I sent it out to nearly everyone on my email list.  It generated some interesting replies.  My son, Mike, advised me to, "Choose wisely".  A friend sent me the following Robert Frost poem.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

by Robert Frost

Somehow, I think that might be what Yogi Berra was trying to say in the quote I used as the title to this edition.

Another friend, the one who is responsible for me beginning this blog, thought it would be a good basis for a new blog.  At first I thought it was a little too soon in the narrative, but literally slept on it and when I woke up thought it just might be the perfect time.

Remember that the subtitle of my blog is "How Not To Build An Aviation Career".  Looking back on my career, which is what the blog is about, it is obvious, that I took the path less traveled.  It is also one I would not advise.  

The major obstacle in becoming a professional pilot is that it is very expensive.  There are two kinds of expense.  One is money and the other is time.  It might be possible to avoid most of the money expense by joining the military to learn to fly, but that increases the time expense, with a commitment of several years and then there is the risk of injury or loss of life.  Nothing worthwhile is easy or free.  Considering that every airline pilot job virtually requires a college degree, it can be argued that the money and time expenses rival those of becoming a doctor.

The reason I say that this is the perfect time to discuss my road less traveled and that it has made all the difference, is that my story is about to get to the part where all of my decisions at the many and various forks in the road are about to pay off.