[missizii]

I must agree with brlewis. Another way to look at it is Option 1: Spend 50% of your time honing your skills, gaining valuable experience Option 2: Spend 100% of your time honing your skills, gaining valuable experience Another thing to consider is how awesome it is to work with people who are as good as you (or better), love what they do, and have things to teach you. Even if option 2 pays less, take the cut and get the experience that will propel you into a higher pay bracket. BTW, none of the supremo hackers I've worked with have begrudged me time to play with some cool new tool - as long as I willing to share my knowledge.