Still ill, but still working

I guess this is the advantage of being 'young and strong'.
I'm working again today. I've avoided taking a single day off sick / vacation for nearly 5 months now, as I work for an 'entrpenuer' and he is incredibly gung-ho about having his employees work until they die.

I've been playing www.thedarkmod.com quite a bit, throughly enjoying playing a 'thief-style' game for the price of doom3 (which I picked up off steam for about $0.79 as part of a large ID bundle.)
The premise is simple - you're a thief, you steal everything from a location while exploring and avoiding guards, monsters and traps. It's much better then I make it sound.

I'm looking into investing. I'm dreaming. I'm looking at index funds and properties mostly.
My interests tend to change fairly rapidly, but it feels like a good way to go. I mean, even if I got a small apartment, and didn't 'make even' on the mortgage payment, it's still better then me simply living there and 'not' making the money that renting provides.

The only problem is getting the money to get the down payment to get the property.
Even for a really simple little property, the cost is still around $120,000 - $150,000.
And to get even to the 5% mark, it wil take a few months to get there.
The other option is to go into a 'partnership' with my girlfriend and my brother, both of whom have decent incomes. I would manage the property, and they would help to get the mortgage paid off as fast as possible.

And here I am, looking at online writing gigs to try and make some more scratch.
I think I'll work on getting a small pile of money first, and then worry about where to put it when I get there.

Here's hoping I can sleep another 11 hours tonight and feel better tomorrow.