Here is a little background information.

1. I have been working for Java 10 years.
2. The product I am working on went to live about 3 years ago. Now, the product is getting stable.
3. After all the post-product drama, I gained a lot of knowledge about Oracle & SQL. People(mainly management) were desperated enough to give me deep oracle-related task over DBAs. I admit I considered becoming DBA but eventually decided to remain as a programmer.
4. DBAs & Management are demanding all the DB & Query related task back to DBA, which makes me a bit sad.

In short, I anticipate a lot of time next year. What would you do to improve your skillset??

I am thinking to upgrade my Java version(Not from experience though, we are using JDK1.5) to 1.6 getting certificate.

Any good idea from fellow developers??

-----------Edit ---------------------

How about data modeling for application? Do you guys think it is developer role??