One of the unfortunate things about being out of school/academia: you're no longer marching toward a single, clear objective. If you're not careful, you end up doing the drunken walk example from statistical physics: yeah, you've been doing a lot of walking, but because you're going in random directions you haven't gotten very far.

Ah, well. I have some ideas on how to break this spell... problem is, I need others to buy into my ideas. Dammit, Jim, I'm an engineer, not a salesman!

In the meantime, I'm going to relax with a cup of Earl Grey and watch the snow outside.