[CarolK]

Pattye and Josh,

Yes. You are both right, and it's discouraging. But, at least you can sleep well at night.

I hope I didn't offend anyone by seeming a polyanna--I just wanted to get a jab in there at greedy managers. I switched careers from graphic design to engineering, and was appalled at the superior attitude of managers at Ball Aerospace, where I worked. These managers didn't know how to program or design anything. They just strutted about like royalty manque.

Their salaries were multiples of mine, but when it came down to it, they each looked insecure, because they really didn't know how to *do* anything. They never learned the satisfaction of hard work for itself. The engineers didn't respect such managers, no matter how much money they made (bonuses of $100K and up).

That's the context for my friend's remark.

I don't have your guts, that's for sure.
CarolK