I’m in my fifties with a Masters in Electrical Engineering and lots of practical field experience..... My hobbies are car repair, woodworking and refrigeration....
When my son decided to go to college with a football scholarship ( division 1 school) , I told him he needed a degree that was also a vocation .... He went EE...
He graduated last year and walked into a $60K job which is promising to increase to $80K next year based on his performance...
However when he was sixteen he wanted to change the oil in his car by himself... He accidently drained the transmission fluid and added 5 quarts of oil to the engine thinking it was empty... I watched with amusement... He got to the end of the driveway before the car wouldn’t shift... Lesson learned... Lol...
He’s much more me mechanically adept now and has practical engineering skills....
As a side hobby I buy and sell used construction equipment.
I never buy equipment if it says runs and operates, they go to high on the auction block.
However if it looks like it needs a paint job and the description say condition unknown or has been sitting idle for a few years but has low hours on it I can usually buy it cheap. Bring it home, fix it if needed, new paint, sell it and make a very nice profit.
My mother told me that one of these days I’m gonna get a dud. I told her most everything I buy is a dud at first glance but anything can be fixed.
The duds are the moneymakers.