Ah. That's the difference-I hated the job with an absolute passion. Didn't want anything to do with the hobby after hours either. For various other reasons, never got my ham ticket. One of the jobs I did have had me on the bench fixing portables all day-*that* I loved since portables and handhelds are my forte'. Would've done that till I retired and I told the company that... but noooo... you're going back on the road. Portables are the one thing I'm good at and enjoyed. I was the only one that would take on an MX300 frame change.
I didn't last long after that.
It does make a huge difference, most of the time. I love my job, I've been there 25 years. I really love the people I get to work with.
My job and seniority gives me a whole lot of flexibility. The handful of people I manage are all professionals, so very little 'management' needed. That's actually the easiest part of my job.
Downside is we're under the larger IT organization. We either get totally ignored (which is awesome, no one bugging us), or we get totally ignored (which really sucks when I need help from senior management). Fortunately the senior management wouldn't know which end of the radio to talk into and would more than likely poke their own eyes out with the antenna if not closely supervised. Even had a few of them refer to them as "CB's" a few times. Whatever, just as long as the paychecks keep coming in, you can call them whatever you want.
IP is the big change. I came in under TDM systems, analog, etc. I've taken a lot of Cisco and other classes, but it's not where my passion is. I've got two guys that do that stuff for me, and help me out when I get in over my head. If someone was trying to get into the industry now, it's almost a given that you'd need Cisco/IP certifications to even be taken seriously.
Not the job if you want to stay sober or have an anxiety disorder.
