I was doing mainframe FOCUS development when I first met SQL. We were a big red N shop and the W word was not tolerated well. An outcast from another team was put on our team because he wrote VB applications for Win3x. This was when WinNT was first released and SQL Server was at version 4.x. I had the great good fortune to be taught both technologies by Takker (nickname of the outcast). Over the years I moved off the mainframe and began writing .ASP when Visual Interdev went gold. Eventually I started doing VB and then .Net development. But the SQL always came along for the ride. I was fortunate enough about 10 years ago to stop doing interface development and concentrate on SQL development and I couldn't be happier.

A rut is somewhere you don't want to be. I had that problem with interface work. Just not my gig. SQL gives me a solid development environment that crosses many boundaries (TSQL/SSIS/SSRS/SSAS) so there is no reason to be bored. And it is maturing at a faster rate with many new features and technologies in each release so you can always find a new an better way to accomplish something.