Please excuse my ignorance. I'm sort of in the same boat albeit 30 yrs old, not 40. Anyway, wouldn't it be advisable to train while the jobs are scarce so that when the market begins to pickup you are primed and ready to look for jobs? Otherwise, if you wait for the good times to come you will still have to train anyway and then be stuck back in the next lull.
I know it's getting a little off track but I just thought I'd ask those in the game. Only hang up I can see is that even after training you will still have low hours....