Short and sweet.

I've been doing a lot of automation for work lately - so I've been learning as much as I can about Arduino in as little of time as possible.  So far:

• I have learned how to control motors, sensors, and other generalities with Arduinos (nothing too complex - as of right now seven segment LED displays scare the crap out of me!)
• I've used three different Arduinos, including the Uno, Mega, and Pro Mini. I have some Nanos on order (because I hate dealing with TTL), and I can tell you right now, ORDER CLONES FROM CHINA!!! Honestly, eBay has been my best friend. Why spend $30+ on an Uno when you can get something identical from China for $4? It just makes sense. If I was getting a Raspberry Pi or something else closed, sure, I'd get it locally, but Arduino is open-source, so any clone is just as good as the original!
• By all components from China too. I have a steady stream of mailed parts coming in (much to my wife's chagrin), and it is glorious. Also a pittance compared to local shopping.
• I have also learned that small is good, but more space and less stress is better. I've done the Pro Mini thing, and I'm pretty sure that I did it wrong, but honestly, why not just go bigger anyway?
• Soldering is both way easier, and waaaayyy harder that you think it should be. Wow, there is learning to be done here!

Thanks for coming to my site, and I should be posting some lovely documentation of projects and failings, so that you can learn, or at least enjoy the stupidity.

Cheers,
sc.