And to add to that, it is quite common for the upgrade times to vary widely in short time spans. You may choose to go to a place with almost an iron-clad guarantee that you'd be a 4 striper in 2 years, only to have the company/industry dynamics smack that down. Such a time is now, but really it could happen anytime in this industry. Just a heads up!

I informed my wife just yesterday that I could be on FO pay for a long, long time to come, and we had thought by now I'd be nearly upgrading. Needless to say she was not pleased, as she sacrifices just as much if not more than I for the 'dream'.