Will, my boy, It's absolutely for certain
you'll regret that you're not in
college for the rest of your life. That's true even if you eventually do go
back and get a degree. The experience will be different and you've no way
to reclaim it. Since you've little or no chance of getting most of these
old machines you gather up and running, it's unlikely you'll learn much from
them. Unless it's your goal eventually to become a scrap dealer, I'd say
you're making what's probably the biggest and most far-reaching mistake you
could possibly make.
Sometimes college doesn't work out, and knowing when it ISN"T time for you
to be there is good. I quit school after 5 years (note I didn't say five
focused single track years), got married and worked for 3 years, then went
back part time and ground out the quickest degree I could (BSCS instead of
physics) in a little over a year.
Some of us, and my guess is that this list is a collecting point, don't fit
well as corporate pegs. If I ever get the desire to have all my square
edges ground off and start kissing some moron's butt for a paycheck I will
be very surprised.