Nah, I switched to the manga after the anime disappointed me and didn't get much farther. If it's seeming to be going somewhere now though I may try to pick it back up again. I've been missing manga terrible because it's just too hard to find anything really treuly good out there anymore.
your right, this also has alot to do with the fact that we're older now so we demand more out of a story vs cliche story telling sprinkled with sub-par action scenes. though, I will say that bleach is indeed worth finishing. gets pretty epic towards the end.
as of right now the only thing I read is naruto, bleach,soul eater, and fairy tail. i'm finding the same problem you described in fairy tail-- the writer keeps pulling story arcs out his ass that don't go anywhere. but the characters are so great it keeps me reading.