I remember when I was in the Navy, assigned to the ship, and had spent enough time on board that I was reasonably comfortable that I had learned what I needed to do my various jobs effectively. Then we'd go out to sea, the hours of not much anything to do with my mind began to wear on me, and I began to feel like my brain was dying. So I started supplementing my fantasy/sci-fi diet with some serious literature and taking correspondence courses.
Mind you, this was a process I felt I was undergoing as a fairly young man.
These days the responsibilities of my job keep changing violently every couple of years, so I'm always learning. Plus, I'm currently immersed in learning about the nature of giftedness and teaching myself to play guitar.
Gotta feed the beast.
