I handle IT Project Management, typically as a "cleaner" to get troubled projects back on track. I also have a law degree I earned while working full time. Taught computer science at a community college. Wasn't easy. Through all of that, I collected and operated trains as a hobby and still do. My kids don't get it. Neither do the rest of my family, but none of them belittles my hobby.
In the grand scheme of things and dealing with people in my personal and professional, I've found that to a person everyone knows more than he/she is given credit for and no one is as smart as he/she thinks he/she is. I suspect the father-in-law's comment was more of a cheap shot than anything else. When faced with the facts it will be interesting to see if he's smart enough to concede the point.
