Thanks for this, Matt.  
 "it comes in handy..."  It sure does. Which is why, I think, many novelists' characters are other writers, or those associated with creative endeavours (TV producers; media people)--that's all they know!  Don't get out much.  

Like you I've bumped around a lot (and maybe like you) some of that "bumping" was unplanned, to say the least!  All good stuff, in the end.  I'm sitting here with a box of stuff I saved from my extensive time in Mexico.  Did I know what I was going to do with it, 16 years later?  Nope.  Saved it all...just in case. Man, what a treasure trove!