d&tm writes:

Now dont tell me someone who relies on handouts for groceries know all about
investment as well?

Experience has taught me never to trust anyone. Nevertheless, I occasionally
slip and trust people when I shouldn't. Once such occasion concerned
investments. That's why I'm living on handouts today.

What ever the problems you have got , if you can spend so much time playing
a computer game or using Usenet then you could be doing something to earn
money.

The former requires only me; the latter requires clients or employers.

You talk about money as if it is simply something that some people
have and some dont, like good looks.

Hardly, although it's easier to earn money in some environments than in
others.

I know a quadraplegic who earns $500 an hour singing. I know many people
who wouldnt have half your intelligence who through their enterprise make
more money than I do.

They may be very extroverted, or simply dishonest.

you obviously didnt read what I and others said. the time is insignificant
to be a private pilot. You clearly already do more studying about aviation
matters than almost all of the private pilots I know. Most of them learn
what they have to to pass the exam. As I said , I spend 50 hours a year
flying and perhaps another couple of hundred wishing I was flying.

It sounds like an unhappy existence, with so much wishing and so little
gratification.

Maybe I'm better off not having flown. Were I to try it and develop the
addiction that some here have, I'd be permanently unhappy and frustrated
because I'd never be able to get in as many flying hours as I might like.

I don't think I'd become addicted to it, though. In fact, I think there's
about a 50/50 chance that I wouldn't like it.

I know people who make good money proof reading, technical manuals and the
like. You can do it in your own home and your own time.

That requires clients. The difficulty is not in being able to do something,
but in being able to find others who are willing to pay to have it done. And
often it's difficult to convince others that you know what you are doing,
since most are prejudiced by credentialism and ego.

Do you have any goals or aspirations in life?

I'd like to have as much money as possible. Other than that, nothing in
particular. Of course, there are many things that I would do if I could
afford to, including flying.

if you rely on handouts to feed yourself . you are CLEARLY wasting your
time. How can you justify taking handouts from people who have presumably
worked hard to pay for these, while you sit back and enjoy playing computer
games?

I don't spend my time playing games. I was only on VATSIM for two hours in
March, which is hardly what I'd call spending all my time playing games.

Again I accept you have some health problems of some sort but they
cant be that constraining if you are prepared to tramp around Paris all day
as a tour guide.

You can be in good health and still fail a medical.

i am not down on simulators at all, I am sure many find them good fun. I
have been meaning to get one myself one of these days. I just havent got
around to it. I would see it as something to kill a bit of spare time or to
wind down at the end of the day. I wouldnt see it as something more
important than earning a living.

Who said it was more important than earning a living? I'm just saying that
it's a satisfying and very low-cost alternative to flying for real.

It costs me nothing to fly a sim. For this reason, it is my main leisure
activity--anything else would cost money.

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