I spent 5 years grossing $20k/yr or less (often much less), working from home, part-time, on small-potatoes remote sysadmin 1099 jobs. Then, last spring, I got

I spent 5 years grossing $20k/yr or less (often much less), working from home, part-time, on small-potatoes remote sysadmin 1099 jobs. Then, last spring, I got a full-time "real" job as a senior-level admin/engineer in the retail/PoS managed services space. It paid $80k/yr. While the tech-level work was really cool, I hated the job. I put in a year of service, then gave my notice, with no prospects lined up (taking a month off to decompress). Sometimes money isn't everything. I hope to pick up where I left off, working part-time for small-ish companies remotely from home, offering nearly 20 years of unix admin experience at an affordable 1099 rate because my financial commitments are very low and I tend to enjoy life more when I'm bringing in less.