You definately earn your name Sphinc. AutoCAD draftsman are the workhorses of the drafting crowd regardless of what you might think. ProE or Solidworks might bring higher pay, but there are probably 10 times more (if not more) jobs out there from plain old CAD draftsman per one ProE or SW. If your are in an area that has been hit by the recession, then you can understand the benefits of job choice. I have been helping students in both Solidworks and standard CAD classes and nearly the entire class of pregraduate AutoCAD students have found jobs in Boeing, Exxon, Hughes, and several others. Solidworks and ProE, as well as Inventer, pregraduates really have to work at gitting jobs right now. AutoCAD operators have the option of working in these large companies or with your local contractor or electric company. There are simply more jobs available, and most are highering with the foresight of future training in other areas such as SW, ProE, GIS, INV, and ADT.