Should I go back to university?
endtime: Going back to school is kind of a reset button, and generally something you can only do once or twice.  It sounds like your situation might make it worth it, but only if you actually want a reset.  If you just want to weather the economic storm, 1.5-2 years might not be long enough.  But if you want to change your direction a bit, either out of programming (sounds unlikely) or to get a more theoretical background (which you may have; some of your spelling and terminology is [are?] foreign so I may be misunderstanding what you mean by "technical school"), then go for it.  Especially while you have no kids and no real expenses.It also sounds like you aren't going to be happy if you're at a school where you're just an account number, as you put it, so maybe you should visit some schools and talk to professors and students.  Then you can save yourself the time/effort/money of applying to, or even attending, a school that you won't like.  Though this might not be practical for you if you have strict geographic constraints (e.g. you don't want to move).Disclaimer:  This is from the perspective of someone who went from high school to a four year university (studied CS) and then went straight to a CS master's program, which is where I am now.  So I thought about some of these issues, and talked to a lot of people about them, but I don't have actual experience to justify some of the above.  Also, I'm biased towards grad school, which is hard work but a hell of a time.