JDarr,
Yeah, I like my job as a fishhead since I finished college in early '76. Only worked a few different jobs in this field, plus a little free lancing, and have regretted Monday mornings twice now, I think, and one of them was due to being kinda' hung over. I've had the opportunity to work in harvest management, hatcheries, and habitat management. Also some budget management and supervision, which I found I liked the least. I saw that the future of fisheries would be habitat management, leaped into that and have never looked back. I didn't make much money in my early years, but it was enough to live on, and I was having too good a time to change. I've been with federal agencies for 18 years now, and like what I do all the more as time goes on. I'm pretty good at what I do, working smarter if not harder, and have developed important working relationships with many biologists, engineers, lawyers, and a few policy wonks who enrich the working environment and help make possible the many successes I've experienced.
If I had it to do over, I'd do it about the same, only I'd plan better. I'd stay home sick on the days I made major mistakes, and only go fishing on the days the river was in shape. Now I'm looking at retirement looming on the horizon and don't know how I want to feel about that. So I'm going to keep on doing what I know and like until I feel differently about it.
Sg