TLDR: I like robots and I'm going to build one
When I was a kid, I was very fascinated by electronics, machinery, and robotics. I wanted badly to be able to build things that ran on electricity, or required programming, or could move autonomously. Unfortunately for me, this was before the internets had invaded the bubble of my home town, and even though I scoured the local library, the closest thing I found to a book on electrical engineering or robotics was "The Way Things Work" by David McCaulay (a really cool book, mind you, but not exactly what I was looking for). I guess I was more after a text book, or a how-to approach, or a book about parts and they way the can connect. I found no such thing in my limited ventures, and after some ridiculously simple fiddling with batteries and copper wire and, in one adventurous instance, an LED light, in the absence of any real parts, guidance, or available learning aids I gave up in this endeavor and any further attempts I made were based on gears and pulleys and cranks and that sort of thing. Besides, right around that time QBasic was the beginning of my programming experience, and it was a similar means of electronic creation, just software instead of hardware.
Setting my sights on computer science instead of electrical or computer engineering, I completely forgot about all of this for a long time.
The other day, Sam and I were watching the demolitions episode of Mythbusters and talking about how cool it all was. How great would it be to have so much expertise concentrated in one place, not to mention so much fun? They seem to know everything...electrical engineering, robotics, demolitions, mechanical engineering, special effects, physics, the whole nine yards. Suddenly I remembered how fascinated I was in machinery and robotics. "Boy, when I was a kid I would have killed to have access to the internet and all the books and facilities, not to mention the ability to buy parts, that I do now." And then it dawned on me. Why not now? I didn't major in electrical engineering, and I don't know the first thing about how to hook up parts. But that's just the point, now I can learn. Besides, I'm a programmer, so I've already got a leg up for the AI and behavioral programming if I build a robot.
Bonus, I found out yesterday that the boss of the company where I work is a huge robotics enthusiast, he's built plenty and has lots of books. He's out of town for the next few days but I'm definitely thinking about approaching him on the subject when he gets back. If nothing else, maybe he can loan me some of his literature on the subject, or at least talk to me about it. Best case scenario, he could help me learning how to build and building these things.
I went to Houston yesterday with Breckin and we picked up a book and a robotics kit. I'm going to try and build something after work. :)