I made the move from SLR to rangefinder about a year and a half ago, and haven't looked back, for the most part. I had previously used a Pentax system with primes, and simply found myself not carrying the camera with me due to size/weight -- K10D with the 31mm f/1.8 just took up too much room in my everyday bag to consider.
I ended up going "all-in" and spending way too much money on an M8 and 35mm f/1.4 Summilux ASPH, along with a more modestly priced Voigtlander 21mm, to start. It took a little bit of getting used to handle the focusing and framing, but after a few weeks I was at a point where I could reliably focus with the RF in all kinds of conditions faster and more accurately than I could ever do with a manual focus lens on an SLR.
(An aside -- I've since sold off all of my AF glass for my the still-chugging-along K10D and added a split-prism focus screen for use my older MF glass -- RF is still easier to use for me, although I'd say it's a toss-up between the RF and my 35mm SLR film bodies -- just something about those old focusing screens in MF bodies that digital can't reach)
I've been shooting a lot more film in general as of late for personal use -- I picked up a cheap Leica CL as my first film RF, which is great for wide-angle but isn't that reliable for focusing with a 90mm. This year, I added the camera I now carry with me every day -- the M3. It's got a high-magnification finder (0.92x), so you have to use an external optical finder for anything wider than 50mm (if I didn't wear glasses I could probably get away with rough framing for a 35mm by using the entire finder, ignoring the framelines), and I usually carry it with a 3-lens kit -- a 21mm f/3.4, 50mm f/2, and a 90mm f/4 -- the 50mm is on there most of the time, as I really found it's my preferred focal length/field of view (the 35mm lives on the M8 and gives me about the same FOV due to the cropped sensor).
With all that said, I have cameras that aren't rangefinders that I use for various purposes, but I consider them to be specialized tools, whereas the RF is my every-day companion. The K10D is still used for telephoto and macro use, though not as often -- I took it down to a ballgame last summer and it was so hot that day, using the big camera to take some shots of the action on the field was not fun. I ended up getting a Micro 4/3rds (Panasonic G2) with adapters so I can use the Leica & Pentax lenses with it -- it's small, and light, and gives you the SLR experience (albeit with an EVF rather than an optical). I've shot with it seldomly since I've got it, but I found that the EVF does pretty well for macro, and is aided by the large crop for that and telephoto use.
I also recently acquired a Nikon P7000 (it was a gift, not a planned purchase), and have had a good weekend with it -- I haven't had a digital compact in a long time, and I have enjoyed using it to this point. It's about the same size as my CL, actually, but the zoom range, high-ISO quality (shot a lot of RAW images at ISO 1600 -- haven't had time to really look at all of them in Lightroom, but was very impressed with the few that I did spend some with!)
You've got a ton of options for high quality in a small/light package -- a rangefinder isn't for everyone, but I'd definitely recommend giving one a spin for a few weeks to find out if it's for you. The M8 is really down in price now thanks to the M9's availability, and is still a very capable camera with a few foibles (the crop, and the necessity of using UV/IR cut filters for color shooting)... and if you want to go 35mm, you have the knowledge of knowing that if you buy a Leica in good shape and don't like it, you can probably get most or all of your money back with a resale.
Another aside -- Leica can mean big bucks, but it doesn't have to. Most of my shooting is now done with an M3 that I have put about $1100 into ($500 for purchase, $600 to get it back to original factory specs -- CLA, new curtains, new leather) and a $250 lens (Leica 50mm f/2 Summitar). I also bought my CL -- with a working meter -- for $250 -- there are bargains out there if you are patient.
Now that I've gone on way too much about the gear, the approach. I am not a volume shooter. I take a lot of photos when spending time with family & friends, and also love capturing little bits of the world that I find interesting -- whether it be a decrepit building or signage for a business that has been gone for years, some sort of interesting texture or composition at a rail station, an old gravestone, etc...
I'm not a big action shooter, and don't really do sports other than a few photos at the ballpark during the summer. I'm not a pro, just a hobbyist, so events are not my forte -- although I did shoot photos at my grandparents' anniversary party on my two 35mm RFs. They were happy with the results & happy to get prints... but it wasn't traditional event coverage. I shot a wedding for a couple this summer, mostly on film and with mostly two RFs -- they were happy, but it was more documentary style with a few posed shots, not the traditional (IMO a bit cliche) shots you'll see from pro wedding shooters -- I didn't rattle off several thousand frames.
Anyway, I hope this was helpful and not too rambling. I'd definitely recommend that you try out a rangefinder and see if it fits -- you'll know quickly if it's the right camera for you.
