>>>Long distance running clears my mind at least a bit, and hitting a heavy bag or sparring forces me to focus
>>>on something right in my face which is NOT a screen. Works best for me - give it a few tries when you are down.
>>>Give it enough tries to get you hooked into another, better habit.
>>
>>Thanks, Thomas. That's good to know you are a runner. I am rusty but used to do it pretty seriously, including four marathons. It would definitely be good for me.
>
>You are way ahead in running compared to me - running is more often than not my fallback when other options are unavailable.
>Charles pointed out, you need to stroke the self and recommended finding new work. But if that does not pan out immediately, make the best of it: use the time for an H on the tennis court each day or visit a lake when the sun is shining or public bath if it is cold outside. As you have the time then, after working out in the gym or dojo visit the sauna as well. Give yourself less chances to skimp out of such activities... For me, in our densely populated area, parking at cetrain day/H/location combinations takes more time than the actual driving. So I have nice bicycle to ride as well as a clunker for the times when there is a more than trivial chance of the bike being stolen if parked outside. I also have a small motorbike again for those activities too far for bicycle ride or when I'm in a hurry and will have car parking problems. Swim trunks, spare tennis racket, shoes and fresh towels *always* in the trunk of my car for the times I have to work a bit more... Leaving the house for activities for me is much better than working out or swimming at home - but while that may be ideosynchratic, it also forcefully removes you from the computer screen<g>.
>Back when I had a fireplace, I also bought a couple of axes even as we had power tools: there was ALWAYS enough reason each week to swing the axe for at least an H<g>. Make your body again a thing you are proud of [or at least not ashamed in our age...] and enjoy the process. See the times without work as a chance to balance, as I am guessing that you also have a tendency to work foremost if there is a job which is challenging.
>

Right now in the States most people are grateful to have any job at all. The company where I have been contracting for 9 months is crap in a thousand ways and most of the employees dislike it intensely. It was kind of OK and then the beheadings of 10% of the staff took a serious toll on morale. When the job market warms up again they will pour out of there in droves.

I went for a bike ride this afternoon. My legs felt like logs, lol. I am not in horrible shape for a 53 year old guy but have definitely been out of the exercise habit.

And yes, I plan to use whatever downtime there is usefully. The first choice is going to be what to focus on. I have books and study materials on C#, WPF 4, Entity Framework, ASP.NET, ADO.NET (apparently dead so forget that) and need to choose a focus. I know enough C# to be dangerous but the rest are mysteries to me.

Thank you again for your support. I will not forget it.

http://s0.ilike.com/play#Gram+Parsons:In+My+Hour+Of+Darkness:153219:s30803711.8792630.2257504.0.1.75%2Cstd_f98594a45eacaad9298ee3ba164f26cd