Heh. Thanks. It does matter if I'm going to stay in for the long haul (Dr. JenB?) but in the real world... of course, dropping out now is bad. Quitting a year from now with a master's degree, that's not failure.
The Doctorate is a good thing, but I would stress that it is ~only~ worthwhile with some years of experience behind it, and it puts you in a very narrow set of job prospects. The MS will narrow the job set quite enough, and it may be annoying to hear, but you will need to play up the experience you have more than the MS.
Those years of doing general helpdesk support will be *invaluable* on your resume. It shows a service attitude, enthusiasm for 'puters, and exposure to the worst parts of the user community.
The way I look at it... if you can work a helpdesk for a few years and not ~actually~ kill any users... you're a team player. :-)