I wrote software for a few decades, and finally burned out. I am getting interested in hardware, and was thinking about staying in Colorado for three months or so to be close to Sparkfun. (I visited the area, made it to an art museum near the current SF location, but chickened out at the last minute because I didn’t want to make an impulse purchase of stuff I couldn’t assemble until I returned home.)
I know nothing about electronics other than many of these kits look incredibly fun to play with. I watched an Adaptec 1542B die in a puff of smoke once, so I know what that I’ll probably lose some percentage of stuff through the learning process. What I don’t want to experience is waiting too long to resume a project if I do, due to shipping. (I’m in a remote area of the Appalachian mountains. Having somebody suggest ‘overnight shipping’ is… precious.)
As SF is moving to Niwot, I was thinking about checking out executive suites or the equivalent within a half hour drive or so.
My question is roughly: how much should I reasonably consider dropping for a three month stay in the extended area, assuming modest lodgings, and several hours a day futzing around with simple projects in the beginning, and moving up increasingly challenging stuff?