"and that's AFTER he got his Maths Phd? .. that's rather discouraging - I don't have anything like that mathematical ability. Maybe I would better be suited to Russian brain surgery - or even worse .. applied physics .."

Tom's father was a rather demanding guy and drove his only son a bit hard. Tom's Ph. D. was in "applied math", and his father, a math professor, kinda sneered at it for the "applied" part. By the time got his Ph. D. Tom was sorta free of the influence and could do what he wanted. Which wasn't really math.

The good to come out of it was that Tom learned to learn.

So, I'd say if you're already doing what you want to, you're set. These people fell for the old, "You'd be good at that" line instead of following their interests. And if it's not fun, folks usually won't stay with it.

And they eventually moved on to their interests.

I certainly wish you the best of luck, and think you'll do great if that's what you want to do. And if you don't, then don't do it. (Sort of like getting married, now that I think about it. But that's another story.)

Have fun!!

Arf