>>Came back to coding after being "promoted" to a management position, and why?
>
>Does it count if I didn't actually 'come back'? I was in a management position at a major reinsurance company when I was offered the chance to abeyance that position while acting as a 'project manager'/'user to IT liaison' on a large project to create a new Underwriting and claims system for the company. This was back in the 1980's, and I was offered the job because I had a lot of insurance experience and I had a hobby as a home computer programmer. Fortunately, it was a time when 'computer' was still a somewhat mysterious concept to CEO's.
>
>When the job was over, I decided I had no interest in returning to insurance/reinsurance work and took redundancy as an option. I then went back to school to get some papers that said I could program a computer, and here I am (poorer but happier).

Like a friend of mine who was at college doing the computer degree with me. He's in South London and works in mgmt now for HP. I think he hates "flying a desk" and would like to get back in the "left seat". However, like you said, he's considerably financially better off than I.