I'm in sort of the same boat. Developing things and creating software is a means to an end for me. Do I enjoy working for myself? Sure. More so than working for the man. But in the end, it's also so that I can be free from the ties of money.
One thing that I (and some of my other fellow CS graduates) have contemplated is going into teaching. It can be rewarding to teach Math or CS at the local high school, assuming your kids aren't too rowdy.
If you have an interest in photography, that could be a good break. I know several wedding photographers who charge what I would consider a very generous amount - they do a good job, and get tons of business. Personally, I've been interested in photography for a long time, but I'm afraid that I'd start hating it or getting bored of it if it becomes my job. Unfortunately, they spend lots of time in front of the computer editing photos.
Have you thought about anything in the financial field? Data modeling, trends, stuff like that?
I was a developer (programmer, architect, team lead, CTO, etc.) for about 20 years before I decided to give it up and pursue photography as a career. I was a studio photographer specializing in food. I did it for two years before coming back to development.
Photography is a tough career choice. If you're doing commercial work expect to be told exactly what to do (food is brutal this way - highly controlled). Unless you're at the absolute top (think David LaChappell) people come to you with ideas, expecting you to execute, and are rarely interested in your ideas.
You also need great post production skills, so lots of computer work, unless you want to outsource this which is costly.
I've never done wedding photography but know a few and it's a tough business, highly competitive, very stressful (think freaked out brides and mothers) and very seasonal.
I cannot stress how much I agree with this article. At work our corporate apps are all IE6 only, and even new machines purchased just last month were imaged with Windows XP. Outlook E-mail boxes were limited at 90mb. Speaking with the IT team proved fruitless - they were not interested with catching up with the times, or doing anything that required work on their part. As far as they were concerned, every XP machine came with IE6, and that's all they needed to ever support. Aggravating.
