[noss]

I think you are on to something. Maybe the ability to code with flow is also a major factor to liking a language and the task it is used for. To sit in an uninterrupted "Aha! I fix!"-loop with the feeling that there is progress and one get kick out of it continuously.

When doing maintenance on patchy code, working with a flub-language, or having a edit-compile-debug cycle that is annoying, one is more likely to be in a "Uh! Wtf!"-loop.

Now... how can one turn these theories around to something useful that one can apply to our day-maintenance-programming-job to make them fun and tolerably? Because they do pay well, and there is typically much to learn.