i am a software consultant / independent contractor. as i have been in the game for a while, i pretty much insist on out-sunday-night, back-thursday-night schedule. Am willing to compromise by being available for conference calls / remote work on Fridays. Its tough on the family life, but there are ways to cope with being away so much (eg: my wife and daughter sometimes tag along and then we make a 2 week trip out of it). Even though I managed to get PM on DL for 2007 (by a strange fluke), I currently drive to & from TUL (~300 miles each way), as the reimbursement for driven miles gives a greater return than the monetized value of miles / segments I would earn by flying.