Vortex, you say you changed from senior telecomms technologist to a lowly medical technician - can I ask why?
A combination of:
- wanting to get away from big cities ... the writing is on the wall for all sorts of reasons ...
- wanting to be self-sufficent for the same reasons
- being 49 in a 35 or younger office culture ... risky!
- wanting to be near home and not 32 miles ... or 1000s of miles .. away most of the time
- wanting a "portable" job ... mobile phone companies exist in only a few towns
- wanting to be my own boss so I can help my wife with the plants and animals at random times
- wanting a job which will be there as long as I can do it ... no risk of the Brown Envelope on my desk one Friday afternoon ...
- needing a job which matched some of my (rusty!) skills
It's not an ideal career move ... BUT ... it was a technically optimal choice .. and has worked out mostly as planned. I do miss having loads of money 'tho ... but that might not have continued for 2 or 3 years more anyway .... and what would I have done at say 54 having been made redundant?
As for being lowly ... I have met more decent people in the Real World than I ever did in high-tech! I can also go home for lunch ...wonderful!
My commute time is 15 minutes walking, or if wet under 2 minutes in the car ... and I no longer need to carry my passport at all times, just in case I need to fly abroad at very short notice.