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SixSigma

Me: 30 years professional programming

Certified AutoCAD technician

Certified TIG Welder

Degree in Supply Chain Management

Certified Bicycle Wheel Builder

Potter

Wood Turner

Proficient in 3D Modelling

Launched an ISP in 1995 that is still going

Project leader for a charity market garden supplying produce to a food bank

Assistant director / Assistant Producer of a feature film released on DVD (you can buy it on Amazon)

Producer of 4 music videos that have appeared on MTV

Made most of my own furniture from scratch - bed, table, freestanding kitchen unit, chairs

Was resident VJ at a successful rave series for 5 years

Appeared in stage plays for paying public

Qualified scuba diver

Arrested twice on TV on environmental protests

Occasional data analyst for a Superbike racing team at the national level

This isn't even my final form & this list is incomplete

Live life, box sets are for the dead to get buried in.

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Inspiring list!

One thing I notice is quite a few qualification. Obviously, some of them are more-or-less essential if you want to do, e.g., scuba diving -- but for the others, how valuable have you found them?

I got certified for AutoCAD because I was bored doing programming all day, I could already do 3D modelling but couldn't prove it to anyone because it was just a hobby thing.

From that I got jobs doing CAD, first at an electrical place and then acoustic insulation.

I qualified as a welder because I was doing CAD of metal enclosures and wanted to understand welding enough to talk to our proper welders.

Then because I was doing CAD, I designed and built my own furniture - I had used the Ana White website as a place to find practice things to build in Autodesk Inventor during my certification [1]

[1] http://www.ana-white.com/

I ride bicycles so wanted to be able to build my own wheels - so that was handy.

It really is just the choice between "I'll go home and watch tv until I go to bed" and "I'll go to my local technical college one night a week and do a course in something"

WOW! I'm truly inspired!

PS: Which feature film did you produce?

Just an indie, I don't want to reveal myself tbh.

When I read my own list I can never quite believe it myself, especially as I'm so lazy !

My motto is "don't consume, produce" and it goes from there.

All those hours watching other people do stuff, it could be you. Get involved. Just walk up to people doing the thing and ask how to join in. Most people are keen to share.

Oh, and the last thing: I've never really made much money but I've had plenty of fun being poor.

A great place to do this is at your local maker/hackerspace! Since we started ours (sparkcc.org) I'm constantly amazed at the amount everyone learns from one another.

And as you say, that one night a week at the makerspace meetup could just as easily be spent in front of the TV.

That's awesome man! Great example

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