Tony good post......you know my story we had a long discussion on it this week........... I'm on the verge of retiring soon, with some apprehension because I really enjoy my day job work in the IT field, if it weren't for the relocation of our headquarters and the monster commute in the metro Boston area I have I may have stayed on for a couple more years. Bottom line computers became my hobby in the late 90s when the Fortune 500 company I worked for equipped those of us in field sales with laptops. When the opportunity arose at 48 years of age, I took the early retirement program, went back for another degree in the computer support and network sector. Much of the cost of the education was courtesy of the company I worked for, they called it retraining, I liked the program and took it. I've been fortunate getting paid to do my hobby. I'd probably rather play music full time to get paid for it, but I'm real about my talent and/or limitation of talent. There are quite a few fine musicians here, I'm not one of them.

As far as punching a clock the last time I did that was at 18 years old, I do however have account-abilities to the people I work for as we all do in life. Come 2014, I've already had an offer to do remote support on a part time basis for a network consulting company, best part I can work from anywhere in the country, so if we do move south to Florida or any other state in the country, I can work from home and never have to leave the house.

My escape will be with my other interest playing entertaining seniors in NH or assisted living facilities. Working full time has put a damper on that since many ADs were only willing to hire me if I could work during the daytime hours Monday thru Friday. No matter what I do I won't be sitting in the rocking chair for many years to come.