That's why they call it work - (half kidding, half serious, I tell my friends this all the time when they complain about their day job). The economy/job market

That's why they call it work - (half kidding, half serious, I tell my friends this all the time when they complain about their day job). The economy/job market isn't the greatest so be glad you're able to do something you semi-enjoy in a comfortable environment and make a decent income. When you're working on your own projects, learning new things, can change direction at any time, chase new things that is fun and exciting. I think rails and web application development is a great career and good way to fund your side projects make a good living for now. I would focus on being a great developer at work. Volunteer to take on new features/new technologies that are interesting to you. Start working on side projects outside of work. Keep in mind what your employment agreement states as far as IP. Always work on your side projects on your own hardware and outside of work/the office. You don't need to share anything about them with co-workers. Listen to startups for the rest of us (podcast) for inspiration building your own product/company that would be more exiciting. If you like doing your own thing then start planning for building your own products and/or SaaS. Hacking on your own, building side projects sounds like what you enjoy so do some of that in your own time. Do some fun side projects and see if that recaptures some excitement. Good luck.