< rant > There are pros & cons to being a technician. For one, they are a dime a dozen, and for the other, they are a dime a dozen. Anyone can be a technician. Actually, a technician doesn't have too much marketability. Take me for instance. I have noone knocking at my door b/c of my uber technical skilz. Technicians are usually the grunts of the company. "Here, take this apart and find out what's wrong with it" or "There's nothing to do today, get me coffee". Technicians are also the people that are least appreciated. When was the last time the CEO came by and said, 'Hey! You're doing a superb job! Let me take you out to lunch!' or "Here's $50 to take your wife out to dinner." It doesn't happen. Since Technicians are at the bottom of the totem pole, there's no way a company would allow them to be a Net Admin. "Yeah right, you're taking our server apart!" or "You're not working on our corporate website, you'd try taking it apart... You can take things apart and troubleshoot, but you're not smart enough to code our site." You can also tell a Technician is least appreciated due to the pay the company gives you. Have you ever heard of someone say "Wow! Look at the pay a Technician gets! I wanna be a Technician!" Ok - You may be saying, "Try to learn other skills and market those to help you find a better job." Let's think about that for a moment.... Don't you think if I had the opp to do so, I would ?? You may say, "It's a matter of priority - get your priorities straight" ok - priorities - good point! umm... something else to think about... 1. I have a job - technical work - So I need to focus on doing that better. 2. Wife/Family - It takes a lot of time to meet the needs of the wife/fam - I will not neglect her/them to pursue glory and honor in my career. 3. Church/Youth Group/etc... 4. House/Home (the thing you live in) - Lots to do around the house - wow - never ending 5. All the travelling I do? hehe - refer to point number 2. < /rant > ok - I know there are faulty reasons, logic behind what I've just said. But do I get my point across? It's not so simple to learn something knew in the time I have in order to market myself better to get a higher paying job so I can provide for the fam more effectively. Yes, it would have been easier to learn something new/better a few years ago when I was single, but I'm talking about now! Believe me, I'm trying to learn some new things (new to me, anyway), but learning those things takes time - and time I don't have much of. Besides, technical work is not my passion. It pays the bills. It's something I enjoy doing. My first passion is Youth Work - Youth Pastoring - a Pastor for your teenagers. So with that in mind, I don't have even more time. Why? b/c I also have to take time to read books, study, etc... to keep my 'skilz' sharp in being a good Youth Sponsor, Youth Pastor. Anyway, I hope you see the delimma. It's actually discouraging when I see my friends embarking on new opps b/c of the skill set they have. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for them. But you know - I have to remind myself (daily) that God has placed me where I am. And for that, I'm thankful. I don't want a skill set that I can't use where God has me. errr.... better stated - although it is good to have unused skills (b/c you don't know when you'll use them), it's a waste if you're not using them. :) Don't get me wrong - I am trying. It's a slow process. Difficult at times. But I must also remind myself that I should not look for man's approval/acceptance - who cares about what a person thinks? What matters is what God thinks. Period. The one thing I must remind myself of is: "I am more sinful than I ever imagined, but more accepted than I can ever dare dream" It doesn't matter that I don't have the exact marketing skills everyone thinks I should have - "Do website development - it's easy!" or "Learn SQL - you'll get a good job then!" or even "Learn database administration" or something like that. Believe me, I'll try something new, but don't look down at me b/c I don't have the skill sets you think I should have. Don't feel sorry for me b/c I am redeeming the time for the things that are actually my priority - not someone else's priority. Now why did I say all of this? Because I'm frustrated with my position. It is an outpouring of my frustration. Not with any one thing, but in life in general. Don't look at me like that - you do it too at times. I just happen to put it in writing. What I have written may not make total sense - so what? This is where the Gospel is soooo good to us! It reminds us that I do not need man's approval for anything b/c I have all of the approval and acceptance from God. 'enough said.