BTW, I took that RIASEC and found out I am best suited to be a belly dancing, whale watcher! That's AWESOME! Just can't seem to find the training to get certified... lol!
jk of course, there was some good insight into possible career ops. Thanks!
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Regarding the bit about my W and money...
My W's grandmother was an accountant for a large firm, her husband (second, not bio father of MIL) was an ex forces pilot turned lawyer turned entrepreneur. MIL was a sales exec at a retail chain (turned entrepreneur and then back to sales) and FIL was a booze rep (turned entrepreneur, now handyman).
W had quite an affluent upbringing. Family home was site of gatherings every weekend (lots of booze in the garage) and had an in ground pool back in the day, that meant you had arrived.
Brand was very important to them at the time. Likely still is, although W is more likely to grab brands at second hand, although no longer good enough for D13.
I wish I could say that there is something underlying the money. Perhaps it's a sense of security. Although W does put a good chunk of earnings into long term, the months tend to have more days, than pay... She was constantly borrowing money from her friends for things. That was normal for her and her friends, amongst themselves. She would not normally ask me, although I'm sure she assumed I would say no, or that I had no money to offer.
I could say that my W does try to live the "keep up with the joneses" life, although we've not had enough marriage nor career to compete with some of her more affluent friends. Still, she tries... as with the current RV purchase a couple years ago.
My life has always been "feast / famine" around money. Likely my upbringing. So I like to be more careful about where money goes. Money in hand is dangerous and will be spent, but there is also a well developed self control when it comes to spending money. I can have a few hundred bucks in my pocket and window shop and come home having spent no money, except that for gas.
I do not know if she is drawing any wrong conclusions about my behaviour around work or money. Although I am not sure if she is drawing ANY conclusions, other than I needed to contribute more money to the household, and the only way that was likely to happen was for me to leave my consulting business and get hired on with a big company. I suspect she saw my skills as being more valuable than my job hunting experience showed the local market would bear.
One particular job which had the potential to provide a significant annual earnings, did not turn out well. The work was way ahead of the sales payout curve and it ended up with me leaving. That was actually requested by my W. She later indicated that particular job was a HUGE let down, as it was the one she had the most belief in, that would finally "pay out" (my words, but they're paraphrasing my W's words)...
Can I empathize with her mindset...? I don't know. I struggle with that. The reason why I struggle is, while I truly believe money does not buy happiness, I am well aware that money helps pay for things while one is out being happy. Or put another way, I can ask people to donate food or money to help feed 1000 hungry children, or I can make enough money to feed 1000 hungry children. Yes, there are many intellectual arguments in that. The point is, if one can provide enough value to earn a significant enough amount of money to live comfortably, with a certain level of "luxury" or "fun money", all excess can go towards contribution. Over and above what one will contribute with their own hands, directly on project.
