I'm in the same boat as you, but I just dove in head first last week. My current project requires that I know whether a TV is powered or not. Even after using

I'm in the same boat as you, but I just dove in head first last week. My current project requires that I know whether a TV is powered or not. Even after using all the Google-fu I know, I wasn't able to find an off-the-shelf current sensor that was network or usb accessible. I decided to build my own. It's Arduino based with a current sensor on a separate breakout board. I was soldering connectors on to the breakout board and accidentally left the heat on way too long. Two tiny surface mount resistors fell off. It took 20 minutes, but I managed to solder both of them back on. The board even worked afterwards! That was last weekend. This weekend I now have 2 of these things built and my soldering skills have improved immensely. You're smart. You'll figure it out.