Best jobs to have and the real No. 1

Americans have always embraced the concept of work. Unlike many in other parts of the world who often take six or eight weeks of vacation a year and aren't slaves to the idea of the 40-hour work week, we in the good old USA have, by and large, really committed to the whole idea of getting something done.

Even in my retirement, I have created a minitapestry of labor that has me going to work at least 35 or so hours a week. Really, I feel somewhat like a slacker if I'm under 40 hours during a given week. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about work and jobs that really are the best.

So, I went to the folks at Money Magazine. A while back, they compiled a list of the top 50 jobs in terms of desirability, industry growth, and compensation.

According to those who toil for the magazine named for the No. 1 reason why most of us work, here are their top 10.

The tenth best job is that of being a psychologist, a job that has a median base pay of $75,892. Certainly, the nonphysical nature of the job is an enticement. While I know several psychologists, and even like some of them, I must admit to some skepticism as to how effective they really are. Personally, had I chosen this job avenue, because I'm somewhat of a complainer, in the middle of listening to another's problems I might have blurted out, "That's nothing. You should hear what I'm going through with my. ..."

No. 9, with a median pay of $98,777, is pharmacist. I suppose my rather sketchy science performance while in school sort of doomed that choice, which is too bad. I think I'd have looked very good in a lab coat although I've never understood the attire anymore than I have understood old baseball managers dressing up in uniforms to sit in the dugout and make an occasional visit to the mound. Come on, guys. You're not playing!

No. 8 is real estate appraiser, with a median pay of $82,437. What I've often wondered is, if beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, how can a real estate appraiser really render an appraisal?

No. 7 is computer and IT analyst, a job compensated at a median stipend of $130,983. Anyone who grew up in an age where the electric typewriter was considered cutting-edge technology as I did, need not apply.

The sixth best job is that of market analyst, with a median pay of a beefy $134,932. Economic savvy, I'm not, so I'd have to rule this one out. I'll leave this Money Magazine fave to my broker pal Brian Bates over at Wachovia Securities who understands the dicey game of speculation much better than I.

No. 5 is physician assistant, with a median pay of $77,395. This one sounds suspiciously scientific in terms of education and wouldn't have been a good fit for me.

No. 4 is human resource manager, with a surprising (to me) median pay of $140,996. In a way, I think some of the sticky issues involving mediation and conflict resolution and such, I kind of dealt with frequently in the classroom. My pal Larry Williams is an HR guy. Next time, he's buying lunch!

No. 3 is financial adviser, with a median pay of $100,869. Certainly, because I didn't start balancing a checkbook until I became single again in the mid '90's, probably not a good fit for me.

No. 2 is college professor. Finally, something in my ballpark! Because there is such a wide variety of pay scales from state to state and from discipline to discipline, Money Magazine used as an example a law professor and listed a median pay of $132,041. While realizing the worth of money changes through the years, I did go back and look at one of my old STRS statements, beginning with my first year in 1973. To reach the accumulated amount of the current median pay, it took me 10 years of wrestling with dangling participles and trying to communicate with fidgety, hormonally charged teenagers.

No. 1 is the job of being a software engineer. That would be someone who develops, operates, and maintains software. That would be someone not at all like me for reasons previously explained, although the median salary of $88,686 makes me wish I understood computers better.

But, despite the magazine's list and its interest to me, I still believe the study failed to mention the greatest job in the world. Sure, the pay is lousy in terms of greenbacks and the hours are long, and the job is so very challenging, because it probably includes portions of at least half the jobs just mentioned.

But, there comes eventually a compensation so great it cannot be measured when you finally see what your labors have produced, a responsible adult, the one that used to live just down the hall from you for 18 or so years and still calls you Mom or Dad.