> Blue collar jobs are more rewarding and the work environment can be better for all the reasons you described but the money is worth it IMO. If the money were

> Blue collar jobs are more rewarding and the work environment can be better for all the reasons you described but the money is worth it IMO. If the money were the same I'd hand in my two weeks and get my welding certs. A few years back a large series of personal tragedies hit me at once which coincided with being screwed over at a job. I decided to leave tech for a while, and spent a few months in Portland becoming a certified bicycle mechanic & frame welder. This lead to me starting a bicycle company building very solid bikes for obese riders (like myself) who were afraid to ride on the roads. I lost many thousands of dollars and had to go back to software for the financial aspects, but I have never had as much joy and satisfaction in tech as I did building bicycles.