[jluetjen]

I agree with the "Do you live to work or work to live" sentiment. Sure you need to put food on the table and keep the rain off of your (and your family's) head, but if you look around you'll most likely find that there are quite a number of people getting by with less then you. Conversely, being rich does not coorelate very well with happiness -- read the annual articles in People about past lottery winners.

At the end of the day, it's your life to live each day -- don't let others dictate to you what you need to do. Make your plan from A to B, and then try to make some progress on it each day. What do you want your gravestone to say? Start from there and then work back to what you can do today to move yourself one step closer to that reality. I can tell you from personal experience that nothing sucks the life out of you like a job that you don't like -- so I can understand your frustration.

Here's an different idea. I had a fun job, good income and was working in a company which had a lot of people that I respected, and I felt that I was contributing to society. Then my business was sold, and while I was still working with many of the same people, there was new Sr. management, with new priorities. Very quickly the job changed to where it just sucked the life out of me when I went to work.

Only once I started to realize that if I had been hired to that job off the street I most likely would have been happier then I was doing the same job with new management -- did it become clear to me that the primary component of my professional happiness was me. It was up to me to chose to like or hate my job. If I couldn't make myself like it, it was better for me to quit and find something that would make me happy doing it. Which is what I did. I quit without a new job lined up. I spent about 9 months as Mr. Mom -- we pulled the kids out of day care most days to save money, I took them to local kids museums and the library (cheap places to take kids), made dinner, cleaned the house (and surfed Pelican Parts BBS). While I didn't have much cash for my 911 projects, I was a world happier and got to spend some special time with my daughters. Eventually I found another job closer to what I really wanted to do, in an industry that I wanted to be in. I don't make as much money, but the people are nice, I get to work from home and see my girls off and on the bus, and have occasional travel overseas to places that I've never been to before. Am I happier? You betcha!

So go out and try something different! It can't be much worse then what you're going through right now!