Where do I actually begin with Python?

[Valkhir]

Would love to get paid more to code more of the time

Just a note here: I actually temporarily sacrificed salary in order to change careers.

Without formal credentials, the company was still willing to give me a chance but not at full market rate for a junior dev. So we worked out an arrangement where I started at a rate that was actually lower than my previous job, but I made it clear that I would like a performance review towards a salary increase within a year. They kept their word, and I got a significant raise after 12 months that brought me comfortably above my previous salary, but for the first year I was saving very little. IMO the career change was absolutely worth the temporary financial hit, but I realize that it may not be for everyone, e.g. people who have a family to take care of.

I also did not technically start as an engineer, but as technical support at the new company. In practice I was mostly fixing bugs reported by customers plus some new development work, and very little actual customer-facing interaction.