When I was 16 I worked part time at an auto mechanic's shop just doing odd tasks, like sweeping, moving stuff, doing inspections. I didn't know much about cars.

When I was 16 I worked part time at an auto mechanic's shop just doing odd tasks, like sweeping, moving stuff, doing inspections. I didn't know much about cars. One of the mechanics there was a fairly young guy. You could tell just by looking at him that he was not happy to be there. He would smoke all day in the shop - not very safe, and strictly forbidden. He was studying for the CCNA exam, looking to get out and start a career. When he found out I programmed and used linux, he was really excited. We would talk about networking tech a lot. One time I told him I wanted to learn about cars so I could do all of my own maintanence. He said, "Keep learning computers, so you can make enough money to pay someone else to do it." At the time, that was a disappointing non-answer, but I know now that there was wisdom in it.