[mellett68]

I think about it often, but I assume it's some kind of burnout. None of my hobbies would translate into even my current pay level.

There's that nagging idea of the 'real programmer' who is getting paid big money to solve interesting problems. Almost certainly a myth but still a frustrating idea.

[biztos]

Depending on what you think big money is, and what problems you find interesting, I'd say that's probably not a myth.

If that's what you aspire to I suggest getting involved in solving interesting problems -- there are a lot of them in the open-source world too -- and once you have a reputation in the interesting-problem world you stand a pretty good chance of getting offers from the big-money people.