I was a plumber in construction for a year and a half, worked at/managed a lube center for close to five years, and ran a vehicle inspection station for about four. None of those jobs I'd still want to be doing, nor did they pay very well. I've always enjoyed the car wash side of things, even when I was an attendant at 16 years old. The only part I didn't like was the administrative/warehouse/shipping parts of working for a distributor. I didn't go to college, but now that I have both the time and money I've been considering studying music and a foreign language (or spanish) and/or picking up another trade skill like welding. I know a guy who makes over $200,000 a year at welding.
I'm sure if I'd gone to college I would have gotten into music and chosen a more interesting instrument to master than the tuba.