\_ SMTP quoth Gilbert T. Gutierrez, Jr. on 3/5/2002 08:54 as having spake thusly:
\_
\_ I agree though, more than $125/hr is close to scalping.  Either they are 
\_ scalping, or they are paying their employees (consultants and/or execs) to 
\_ much money.

Let's not forget the supply/demand curves.  If you're the only
available person and they're desparate, you *can* charge the moon.

I lifted this from:
http://www.worldoil.com/magazine/MAGAZINE_DETAIL.asp?ART_ID=1521&MONTH_YEAR=May-01
but that's not where I originally saw it.

  | There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all
  | things mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30
  | years, he was forced to retire early. Several years later, the company
  | was having problems with a multimillion-dollar machine. The company
  | had tried everything and almost everyone to get the machine to work,
  | but to no avail. In desperation, the retired engineer, who had solved
  | so many problems in the past, was called.
  | 
  | The engineer reluctantly took the challenge, and spent a day studying
  | the huge machine. At the end of the day, he marked a large X with
  | chalk on a particular component of the machine and stated, "This is
  | where your problem is."
  | 
  | The part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again. Then, he
  | sent the company a bill for $50,000 for his services. The company
  | demanded an itemized accounting of the charges.
  | 
  | The engineer responded briefly, "One chalk mark, $1. Knowing where to
  | put chalk mark, $49,999."

:-)

David