Interesting post and it sounds like you enjoy your work. Last year I had the opportunity of having a private 5 hour tour of CERN in Geneva. The tour was conducted by a research physicist who has worked there for over 30 years. He explained and I saw for myself that the work of a researcher is often conducted under very adverse conditions with very long hours and for the most part a relatively low salary. For that reason, after 5 years as a researcher he asked to be transferred to the safety department where he has the normal 9-5 routine under good conditions while still tasting the thrill of the research that is going on there.