> if handyman work was paying $600/hr your fingers would un-clums themselves reaaaaaaly fast

I don't believe that. When it comes to motoric skills, including dancing etc., I am probably in the lowest quintile of the population.

Of course, I could become somewhat better by spending crazy amounts of time on training, but I would still be non-competitive even in comparison with an average person.

OTOH I am pretty good at writing prose/commentary, even though it is not a particulary lucrative activity, to the degree of being a fairly known author in Czechia. My tenth book is just out.

Talents are weird and seem to have mind of their own. I never planned to become an author, but something inside just wanted out. My first book was published just a few days shy of my 40th birthday, so not a "youthful experiment" by any means.

Just chiming in to say that in this — my era of AI Anxiety — it’s pretty cool you found something new and interesting to apply your talents to at 40.

It feels like we’re all going to have to have a reinvention or two ahead of us.

Handyman work can pay very very well for those who are good at it