After 25 Years of FS, I'm Turning in my Wings

[beoingrocks 0]

Good, decision everything has to be balanced, good luck to you on whatever you decide to do!!!

[TechguyMaxC 516]

I hope you can overcome this addiction and wish you all the best in so doing. I can relate, I've had to give up computers altogether at one point.

 

Sounds to me like you're making the right choice and for the right reasons. Just remember that if you're tempted again.

 

Good luck, and God bless

[FIVE-BY-FIVE 453]

I think they should overcome this MAJOR blockage to their child's' welfare.

 

At 21 years of age this is not good.

 

I'm upset at the parents also for not helping much, I also forgot to mention that this kid has 2 Siberian Husky dogs that he walks for less than 15mins a day because he has to go back to his room and play. I get into arguments with him over this. He will only walk his dogs for more than 15mins a day if I go with him on the walk to supervise. It's a sad thing to see this from across my street.

[CoolP 283]

Other than the OP, who has chosen to leave a hobby behind, your guy from the example seems like having entered a very different sphere.

 

If he is that bound to the box in his room, he also is need of professional help. You can't rationalize irrational behaviour if it has grown that strong. Speaking about the difference between an enthusiast (doing somehow silly things at times) and a drug addict. That's a big difference, FlashIsisMayia, hence the note on the professional help.

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

Other than the OP, who has chosen to leave a hobby behind, your guy from the example seems like having entered a very different sphere

 

I have. Back in 2006 I moved from Toronto to Nova Scotia and lived 2 years without a computer and walked away from FS2004. I remember seeing FSX when it first came out in a Staples Store on Gotengen Street in Halifax and having a bit of a laugh. My Flight Sim rig was in storage intentionally back in Toronto so no point in buying the latest release of Flight Simulator. This was a first for me.

 

I have been on top of the latest releases of Flight Sim since Sublogic's FS2.0. Everytime their was a new one on the shelf I was there the day it was released. With FSX I picked that one up over 2 years after it came out.

 

That was my longest break from Flight Sim and was a 2 year break from Computers. I also got rid of owning a car. I was living a very simple life in Nova Scotia during that time and very happy. My former career was a Manufacturing Engineer in the Automotive Industry so this is one of the reasons I don't like cars. I know too much about how that industry works.

 

Today I am very minimal with my materialism and no where near as caught up on things as I was 10 years ago. I Flight Sim occassionally now. I still don't own a car and cycle to and from work (or take the train when raining)

 

Living in New Zealand now is the best place for me as this is very laid back and far away from all the troubles in the world.....This is where we are going to raise our kids and not in that rat race back in North America.

 

Cheers

[Anthony1968 19]

@ytzpilot. that's a great post.

 

I was made redundant from my very well paid previous job a few years ago and decided to start my own business. Although it was a risk I was simply returning to my original qualification/occupation ( Horticulture) only this time I decided to work for myself. Now, four years later my life has changed dramatically and on the whole for the better. I earn less money and at times I am under a lot of pressure, sometimes from too much work, other times from not enough. However, I feel I have got a large portion of my life back and now feel much more in control despite many "uncertainties and variables" in my working life and occasional ( but always brief) financial struggles at home. My wife is totally behind me on this move as she also sees a huge change in my character over the past few years.The biggest perk of all is that I work outdoors and outdoors is my passion. Looking back I now realize that I was compensating for my "lack of soul" by spending huge amounts of my spare cash on gadgets, toys and holidays, all of which only brought temporary satisfaction. One huge regret is that I didn't channel that money into my PPL but if I am to honest I don't think I would have been able to focus on it at that time.

 

However, one thing that has followed me all through my life is my passion for "planes". I still stop what I am doing and look up when one passes over. To that end simming is my route into the aviation world and I reckon it always will be, unless of course it ever gets obsessive .

[betelgeuse 41]

Best of luck to anyone who recognises an addiction and deals with it. Life is not a dress rehearsal - we just get the one shot at it.

 

I began flight simming around 30 years ago. It led to me doing a PPL and taking this to IR level. Then I was blessed with a son and a wife who stayed home and flight simming had to take a back seat. Now, I'm retired. I cannot afford to fly for real and, in northern UK/Iceland, where I live, the weather is so unpredictable that VFR is a frustrating business anyways.

 

So, I fly all kinds of planes - vintage, modern trainers, old trainers, turboprops etc. I fly them all over the world and visit places I would never otherwise visit. I do it relatively cheaply and in total safety. I write missions and tours for VAs and I do a bit of scenery design. I spend a lot of time at this. Some might say I'm addicted.

 

I have a good friend who is a philatelist, and another pal who plays golf three times a week. I reckon they spend as much, or more, time at their hobbies as I do at mine. My wife is an avid reader and gardener. She spends as much time reading and gardening as I do on flight simulation. ( I enjoy gardening too!). I reckon I am no more addicted to my hobby than my friends and my wife are to theirs.

 

I used to be addicted to work. For 40 years it consumed my life. I am free now.

[mcoomer 1]

You know, instead of dumping your controls in the garbage, I could probably be talked into holding on to them for you in case you change your mind and decide to fly some more. I'm jes sayin...

[Nico Gill 0]

The story of my life........ Done the same, few years break, and guess what! Here I am back doing it all over again!

[Scatterbrain Kid 1]

i have a 21yr old male neighbour who quit high school at age 14 and has been addicted to Xbox video games ever since. He has no friends and never had a girlfriend. The parents tried to remove the xbox from his room but he attempted suicide by slashing his wrists, he survived the wounds.. etc..

 

I grew up in the 1960's when parents were glad their kids stayed safe at home watching TV or reading or listening to pop records or building model kits instead of hanging about in street gangs and getting in trouble.

But nowadays parents want their kids to switch off their computers and practically force them onto the streets at gunpoint, times have certainly changed..

[FIVE-BY-FIVE 453]

I grew up in the 1960's when parents were glad their kids stayed safe at home watching TV or reading or listening to pop records instead of hanging about in street gangs and getting in trouble.

But nowadays parents want their kids to switch off their computers and practically force them onto the streets at gunpoint, times have certainly changed..

 

i'm trying to help him kiss a girl and have a coffee with friends........no luck! :( I saw him earlier in his MassEffect t-shirt and Call of Duty sweatpants(no joke, he has xbox pyjamas also) when he came out of his home to walk his dogs. I convinced him to stay out over 30mins with his dogs. Now he's back to killing Aliens and Terrorists :lol:

[Noodle 626]

Time to get outside.

 

Bob,

 

I started simming at the age of 9 when FS4 came out in 1989. I've stayed with it through FSX and Flight, and spent ungodly amounts of money and time in a hobby that I can now say I am/was addicted to. I can't tell you how many times I felt as you did, wishing we could cancel planned events so that I could screw around with Flight Sim, or more recently, DCS. While out and about with my wife and daughter, I'd be on my iPhone checking the forums and answering questions. I'd lay in bed at night, surfing the websites looking for news on my phone.

 

This week, my wife decided to end our relationship; in no small part due to the amount of time I spend on the computer.

 

I just got back from the post office where I dropped my rudders and stick in the mail to their new owners. I uninstalled 220Gb of FSX and DCS related programs, and I'm in the process of deleting all of the websites from my favorites. I decided to take one last peek at the forum before I deleted the Avsim link, and lo and behold, I found your post. What are the chances of that?

 

Anyway, I'm done too; flight simulation has been far too great of an influence in my life. It's not going to bring my family back together, but I'm done sitting in front of a computer screen while my life passes me by.

 

So long, friends.

 

Regards,

 

Nick

 

PS - I used to be "BlueRidgeDx" until I got banned for having unpopular views about Flight.

[1mikel151 71]

i'm trying to help him kiss a girl and have a coffee with friends........no luck! :( I saw him earlier in his MassEffect t-shirt and Call of Duty sweatpants(no joke, he has xbox pyjamas also) when he came out of his home to walk his dogs. I convinced him to stay out over 30mins with his dogs. Now he's back to killing Aliens and Terrorists :lol:

 

first thing you need to do is go in and get rid or disable his freaking consoles and computer and then go slap his parents for letting it get this bad.

 

Even though I get a little crap from the GF about PC time, she has her PC hobbies also and in reading this thread i know I have nothing to worry about now. I have an addictive personality, so it's very surprising I am not like some in this thread. I guess i don't feel to guilty as I had a pretty full and exciting life prior to my PC hobbie time as a rock musician and I still find time for lots of non PC related activities, so I guess it's justified that way. It was kinda hard explaining to the GF last week why I spent 13 hrs straight in a COOP Ghost Recon session with 3 others, LOL

 

Bob, best to you!

[FIVE-BY-FIVE 453]

first thing you need to do is go in and get rid or disable his freaking consoles and computer and then go slap his parents for letting it get this bad.

 

Even though I get a little crap from the GF about PC time, she has her PC hobbies also and in reading this thread i know I have nothing to worry about now. I have an addictive personality, so it's very surprising I am not like some in this thread. I guess i don't feel to guilty as I had a pretty full and exciting life prior to my PC hobbie time as a rock musician and I still find time for lots of non PC related activities, so I guess it's justified that way. It was kinda hard explaining to the GF last week why I spent 13 hrs straight in a COOP Ghost Recon session with 3 others, LOL

 

Bob, best to you!

 

 

i'm trying to find a support group around my area for his addiction, parents don't want to spend money on therapy. I'm not giving up on this kid. Remember a few years ago in the states when a parent took away an xbox game cd(Halo and Call of Duty) and the child got mad and killed his parents.

 

 

 

"Defence lawyers representing Daniel Petric, 17, from Ohio, said that the teenager had developed an obsession with his Xbox, especially with the Halo 3 game taken by his parents.

 

But the judge hearing the case said that although the boy's mind had been "warped" by his obsession, he had plotted the shooting for weeks and should face a life sentence without parole.

 

"I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents they would be dead forever," said Judge James Burge Lorain County Common Pleas said.

 

Nonetheless, he rejected the defence attorneys' argument that the teenager was insane at the time of the shootings.

 

Petric was found guilty of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and other charges related to the shootings in October 2007.

 

 

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  Son 'arrested after parents shot dead'08 Jun 2012
  

 

Tried as an adult, he faces a maximum possible penalty of life in prison without parole. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Susan Petric, 43, died of a gunshot wound to the head. Her husband, Mark Petric, a minister at New Life Assembly of God in Wellington, Ohio, was was shot in the head but survived.

After the verdict was announced, Petric turned to look at his father seated behind him in the courtroom. Mr Petric, who previously said he has forgiven his son, gave an encouraging nod. He did not comment when leaving the court.

Prosecutors had argued that Petric planned to kill his parents because he was angry that his father would not allow him to play the video game, in which players shoot alien monsters that have taken over the Earth.

On the night of the shooting, Petric used his father's key to open a cabinet and remove a 9mm handgun and the confiscated game.

Mr Petric testified that his son came into the room and asked: "Would you guys close your eyes? I have a surprise for you."

He said that he had expected a pleasant surprise. But then his son opened fire and his head felt numb.

Anthony Cillo, the deputy prosecuting attorney, argued during the trial that the teenager had planned to make it appear to be a murder-suicide by putting the gun in his father's hand.

James Kersey, defending, said that when the teenager fled the scene he only took one item with him: the Halo 3 game.

Bungie LLC, once part of Microsoft, developed the Xbox game. Microsoft, which owns the game's intellectual property, said in a statement: "We are aware of the situation and it is a tragic case."

[Captain_Barfbag 31]

My wife used to complain about all the time I spent in front of the yoke and pedals. She suggested I pull the old model trains out of the attic, to get me away from the computer.

 

Now, she complains about how much time I spend with the trains. OK, OK, after 6 years I've got yoke and pedals set up again.

 

But, you're right. Don't miss nice days sitting inside. Save that for the rainy days. Don't miss your kids' games, or dance recitals, or plays. There will be plenty of time after they've left the nest.