[Berniek]

Been there done that and reversed. Manual labor (of any sort) can be very fulfilling, particularly if you enjoy it. You can do manual labor that you love, its easy. But when you look around and see the little old men still doing the same as you and you realize those little old men are only 50 years old and will still be doing it when they are 65, then its an eye opener. If they live to 70 they will probably have arthritis and other wear and tear on their bodies. Do you want to do that? This is reality check time. If you are going to do it, do the retirement plan first. Put the nest egg away for retirement, then go for it. Reckon you can keep working when you have the flu? You can at your present job, but you will ruin your long time health if you do hard physical labor when you are sick. First think about what ELSE you can use that physics degree for. Sales in finance is probably the low end of using your knowledge. One other thing to consider, is that if you change your mind 5~10 years down the track (you did once :) )can you go back and put up with the younger brighter more recently experienced who will be your bosses?