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I haven't been in the classroom since my 1980->1983 time frame at Southwestern College. I left that position when my full time software engineering job made it impossible to devote time to teaching in the evening. I'm still working 50 to 70 hours a week at nearly age 59. I would not mind teaching at Idaho State University when I'm ready to get out of the frenetic world of commercial and DoD software activities. I won't be a "tenured old fart". Not enough time to get there. I'm simply not interested in laying around in retirement. Frankly, I think the economy is going to tank so badly that retirement is never going to happen.

I think it's somewhat ironic that the people who would be most useful in front of a classroom are the very ones who don't have the time. I've always felt universities could and should do a better job of recruiting people with industry experience, both current and former. I had three professors in my field that had extensive experience and I gleaned more usable knowledge from those three than from all the others.

Re: the economy - I recently took a $20k paycut to take a job in a very rural area. Still haven't fully moved everyone and everything there, but will have way before the end of the year. I've felt for several years that something is coming and it isn't going to be a fun ride. Would rather ride it out among those who tend toward self-sufficiency than being in the midst of the parasite class in the city. Doubly so if there ends up being no riding it out and the aftermath of the tanking becomes the new normal.

If I'm wrong, then at least I have better scenery...