I worked in hospitality from '85 to '96 until i finally got fed up with the industry. I then went to uni to do info tech. one elective there was Large Scale Structures of the Universe (cosmology). I LOVED it and have been hooked on galaxies, etc since.
I currently work 6 months/ year as a linux/ bsd admin and trainer and the other 6 months as a national parks fire fighter. I have done this for the last 3 years, and never get bored.
I also started a pc recycling non-profit which gave away around 150 computer systems last year to families that had difficulty accessing them. <a href="http://itshare.org.au">itshare</a> build the systems out of donated hardware and opensource software.