That was a pretty steep rollercoaster Joe! You are by no mean faint of heart...
Non-profit organizations tempted me too earlier, but I could resist and I mostly worked in the for-profit sector. The thing I am beginning to understand at age 36 is that in economics the said profit is not meant to go into the workers' pockets.
Your jobs seem to be even more taxing than a teacher's, and you probably don't get as much time off. Deep respect. I'll take my little professional woes with a bigger pinch of salt today. 🙂
But please, please don't forget a Canon is more effective than a rifle. (I won't compare Canons to Leicas though. 😉 )