Last year, summing it up.. The PhD blues?

I'm a European PhD student in Computer Science. This is my last year (more or less), and I think I'm having some kind of PhD blues... Let me pose it this way, during the past (two) years my adviser was really absent, I may say he couldn't give less of my research but I won't... To stay focused I'll say I failed to learn from him the skills needed to stand on my own two feet... Or at least it seems like that. Further, I think the subject I'm in is too narrow and I think I would like to move toward another one.

I'm still young enough to quit and find another occupation in my country, unfortunately I'm of the stubborn (and quite passionate) kind. I would like to ask you the following questions:

-Did you ever thought of a set of "must have" skills for an about-to-finish PhD student?

-Do you suggest me to start trying to work on my own? Starting from January I'll visit another university for four months.. It may be a good starting point.

-Do you think it's possible to switch research topic right after your graduation? If so, how would you do it?

Thank you in advance for you kind advices... I perfectly know how naive it may sound to you but I really want to go on in the academia ...

Regards.

Randal.

PS: Yes, it's just a nickname.