| As for why the thread dies out, I'm guessing that most visitors to CC are approaching college. That's the nature of CC discussions and questions. Thus, there are very few working engineers wandering around this thread. Even fewer find a way to answer the questions without giving too much personal info.
By the way, I found a good, descriptive title for the work I do now. I just talked to somebody in a parallel position to my own, and he calls himself an "embedded consultant". So, I guess that's what I am, too.
And how do get to one of those late-career lucrative positions? Management is one choice, of course. But if you just want to be compensated for your services, you need to have worked on a wide variety of subjects and in a wide range of roles. The persona you're aiming for is 'eclectic', which is an SAT-invented word for "blooms where planted". | 
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keep it up guys :P
