After being a programmer for 20 years, I never thought of it that way. I think it is one of the better jobs out there, and I've always considered myself fortunate to be able to make a living that way. I will say, however, that spending the last 5 years working as at technology director at a school has been more rewarding, but it is not so much the kind of work I'm doing, but that I really value this school and the work they do. I feel privileged to be a part of it. In fact, the most difficult thing I dealt with in my programming career was not the work of programming, but working for companies where I did not always believe in the product.