I hear you on the certs...I've been knocking them out and I don't crack the vendor books...Just getting them with my years in the field / experience. In the past month I've taken the CCNA, Security +, Network +, VM Ware VCP4, and next month CISSP...

My company pays me back for the certification exam fee so I figured why not...I'm not taking any classes towards my Masters this year so the certs a re a good diversion...

I love the IT field and find it to be very rewarding...

I also like how it is always evolving and there are many areas to branch off into...Currently I'm working with UAS...Before that I was in telecom engineering for the feds...