My problems? I haven't mentioned any of those.
No, you didn't - that's kinda the point. If I were somehow granted a wish for any one thing, it would have to be an all-expenses-paid (including my current recurring bills like my mortgage, electric, etc - fortunately, though, I am debt free, other than the mortgage) chance to return to school, to get an advanced degree. I'm not sure what good it would do me, now that I am 38 - probably more than anything, though, maybe a chance to show myself I could do it. Much like you, my interests lie in robotics (and artificial intelligence).
All I'm able to do currently is learn what I can on my own, via books and the internet, among other sources.
I did sign up and register for this online "program", offered by Stanford:
**broken link removed**
I also signed up for the following program, but I haven't heard anything back on it:
http://www.ml-class.org/course/auth/welcome
Gotta see what's going on there this weekend. Both programs start on the October 10th; I had to buy a book for the AI class program, but the Machine Learning one didn't have any book requirements, thankfully (as you know, textbooks aren't cheap).
I hope I do well...
I think I will apply at Stanford, it's a harder school to get into but it would be great.
Good luck to you, then! Stanford not only has a great program, but also an interesting history when it comes to robotics and artificial intelligence (though so does CMU, and MIT, for that matter). If it interests you, you might want to research some of that history (I find the history of robotics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and computing in general to be a very fascinating subject)...