[jc4p]

I gotta say my story is a lot like yours. I'm a PHP programmer, had a very small amount of Java knowledge stored in my brain from years ago, and learned C as I went during the competition. (Turned out good for me, my autonomous period constantly crossed 3 lines!)
After the competition ended I was in the same situation as you, so I bought myself an Arduino, in fact I've started making myself an alarm clock that runs away from my body heat in the morning. I recommend you buy that Arduino you've been thinking about and make something awesome in the off-season.