[w-ll]

There are tons of blue collar jobs that pay very well. You can also get a technical degree in less time than a MBA.

Look into aircraft mechanics, tons of jobs needed for power company's ranging from engineering to to service technicians. Even in the right markets plumbing and electrical engineers making a killing.

[brailsafe]

I have more and more friends going into these fields, and they seem great for someone who wants a long term stable uncomplicated career. But—and not as an attempt to open an argument—I find that my own diminishing lack of desire to build software increases as it feels more like an assembly line and less like the OP describes. I don't characterize all blue collar jobs this way, but particularly aircraft parts assembly and some aspects of mechanics, though I'd imagine mechanics would really help get back to a place of solving problems. Be curious what you think of that.