[Shajen]

[ QUOTE ]
I am 30. I work in software development. I commute an hour and a half to and from work. It is Monday through Friday 800 to 600. I get a hour lunch which I rarely take. I am paid a decent salary, but since it isn't six figures in NYC, its not that great. I have acceptable benefits. I have been here for 8 years. Here is a typical day:

Get in somewhere between 8:30 and 9:00. Read hundreds of work related e-mail. Begin a list of daily assigned responsibilities. I will do this for about 1-2 hours.

Mid-morning I will begin working on whatever projects I am currently assigned to. Typically, I will have 4-5 things to me assigned at a given time, so there is a lot of context switching back and forth.

Lunch/bathroom break if I can get away from the desk.

More work, interrupted incessantly by meetings.

If its a typical day, my passive aggressive boss, who works bizarre hours, will pop by my desk and yell at me for not keeping him abreast of what I am doing.

I tell my wife that I hate it, but she tells me that I am being paid to support our household and it is something for my marginal resume.

Obviously I hate it and I feel like I am wasting my life. But I am making money (relatively very little) and I pretty much bust my ass all day and am a dick to my wife when I get home because I am so cranky/exhausted. Quit?

[/ QUOTE ]

Patrick's advice for the OP is awesome for you too.

This part here:

[ QUOTE ]
I pretty much bust my ass all day and am a dick to my wife when I get home because I am so cranky/exhausted.

[/ QUOTE ] seals the deal. Find a better/better paying job and then quit.