Thanks for the feedback.
I'm much in your situation Michael, and I'm in Cali-LA.
I have been forced to do all sorts of other work, which I don't mind at all, and enjoy, but the money is at the point of polishing up my resume. I'm not single, and have a family.
I like the idea of rekindling past clients, but its not that "personal" when you do product. Maybe I need to make it so? I don't know.
Yes a number of past companies went inhouse, some closed doors, but have reemerged as something else.
What I see activity in is the local work... portraits, corp headshots, family, kids, events, and I can enjoy that work(wedding is a tough to crack), but the creativity potential to the ~$200-500 in such work is minimal.