Currently in my spare time, I'm going deeper into things I'm interested in -- Perl, OpenGL, Linux stuff, etc -- and learning some new things I didn't pay too much attention to before -- CSS, functional programming, more AI, etc.
This is the same path I took, and it led to a job in a better environment (that includes a little perl coding). My bio has a brief description that sounds similar to what you just described. Doing extra techie stuff in your spare time can help keep you creative and interested in technology.

Your experience working for a (faceless?) corporation may be valuable, though, so don't discount the things you learn by just being exposed to the business world. It may not be 100% tech, but it's still problem solving. Psychology, time management, peer relations, how to let a manager think he's managing you, etc. All valuable skills to take with you when you land the dream job down the road.

Lastly, you shouldn't code 100% of the time anyway. I code like mad when I get inspiration, but go to all the meetings I can when I don't feel inspired. I don't think the human brain was designed to be creative 100% of the time. It's designed for about 20 years of figuring out how to sharpen a spear and where to find food. You can brain drain yourself by trying to squeeze too much coding into every single day.

In reply to Re: Avoiding "brain drain" in the corporate realm by delirium
in thread Avoiding "brain drain" in the corporate realm by flyingmoose

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