Originally Posted by
Cogf16
Dude,
I(We)have a very good job that pays well, requires almost no "home work", is very low stress (at least to me) and only requires my presence about 12-16 days a month. I get 5 weeks a vacation and have a sick leave policy that allowed me to have shoulder surgery and stay home to rehab, and I lost NO PAY!
Yeah, I've paid my dues and have been at it since college and the AF, but I consider myself lucky and blessed to have the career and the future retirement that I have.(Hired at 29 in a good time certainly helped) Most of my friends would trade me in a second!
Good on ya for branching out and having other careers and options. I always felt my best career path was this one.
I'm with you Cog, this is a great career path for all of us. It is my profession of choice by a wide margin. Looking at the ups and downs of this profession over the last 30 years from both the outside and the inside though didn't leave me the luxury of making it the
only option.
Many friends were furloughed, thousands of co-workers lost pensions, many lost houses, cars, wives, etc over the uncertainties in this industry. Thousands of us lost five years of upgrades during a time when we planned on putting aside extra for retirement. We are all one doctor visit away from long term unemployment. The level of risk in our collectively preferred careers dictates we also have prudent backup plans.