To be fair, that also describes a large portion of politicians.

I don't agree. Politicians aren't perfect, but they hear from their constituents a lot, especially the unhappy ones.

Yes, I've found that it gives me more variety in the work I do than I get in my day job. I find that for me an extra ~20hrs a week is all I can do without losing the will to live, but it's nice to know that if I got laid off from either position, I would be fine, and if I don't then it gives me investing money.